Page 72 of Forever is the Sweetest Con
“Guys, guess what?” I call, breaking into a full jog. “Look what I’ve got!” I hold the lime green Tupperware aloft. “Ourphones!” I squeal.
I wait for the gasps and the cheers, the rush of excitement and praise as I tell them my story, about how I wasthis closeto leaving, but in my final act of defiance, I ended up saving the day.
But no one moves.
“Guys, I have our phones!” I say again, my enthusiasm flagging as I clock that Sue-Ellen’s Resting Bitch Face has slackened into blank confusion. This stops me in my tracks.
“What?” I ask. Trina whimpers. “What’s wrong?” I breathe, barely louder than a whisper.
Kei catches my eye. Then he looks down at the ground to break the news.
“The power,” he says, his voice cracking. He coughs and tries again. “The power’s out.”
Chapter Thirty
All around us, the cold, glass eyes of the cameras glint in the sunlight, but the familiar glow of their red lights is gone.
The cameras are off.
“What do you mean?” I say, trying to temper the panicked edge creeping up in my voice. “Is it coming back on?” No one answers. “I mean, that happens right? The power can go out in, like, bad weather, or something, right? That happens in Canada, right?” I tug Kei’s arm, imploring him to tell me everything will be okay, but he just looks up at the vast expanse of cloudless blue sky.
My hand flies to the microphone around my neck. I yank the rubber cord one, two, three times, until it snaps. I let it fall through my fingers to the ground. There is a brief moment of stillness before Trina’s wail pierces the silence. Sid puts his arm around her to comfort her, but his ashen face betrays the confidence of the gesture.
“It’s just—it’s got to be another part of the test, right?” Harmony says, looking frantically from me to Kei. “Like, they cut the power so they can get us all freaking out, and then they come back and tell us it’s all part of it?”
“The fucking cameras areoff, Harmony,” spits Isa. “There’s no fucking test.”
“Don’t speak to her like that,” Kei says quietly.
“What did you say?”
“I said don’t speak to her like that.”
“I speak however I want, hijo de puta.” Isa erupts in a torrent of rapid-fire Spanish.
Sue-Ellen puts her hand on Isa’s chest. “We need to stay calm,” she says, in a choked voice.
“All wedois stay calm! Weneedto get off this fucking island!”
“Stop fighting!” Trina cries, covering her face with her hands.
By this time, the commotion has drawn a crowd. The news travels like a current, elevating the tension. Several people burst into tears. Everyone starts talking at once.
Kei takes a step backward to separate himself. He raises his hands over his head and claps. “Okay!” he shouts. The crowd quietens. “Okay,” he says again. “Isa is right, we do need to get off this island, but we can’t start freaking out, either. The main things we’re going to need are—” he stops, thinking “—fire and light, yeah?” There is a murmur of agreement. “So let’s get that sorted out first. We’ll need a group to scour the camp to find every candle, flashlight, lantern, every possible light source. Okay? And then we need a group to gather firewood, lots of firewood, enough to keep the fire going day and night, big enough to be easily seen from the air, alright? By the time we get that set up, Damian and Giovanni will be back, so we can make a plan for how we’re going to get out of here.” No one moves or speaks. “Come on, no time to waste,” says Kei, clapping. People start to scatter and sort themselves into groups. “And start brainstorming ideas while you work,” Kei calls over the chatter.
He breaks away from the crowd and starts toward the Mess Hall. Craving the comfort of his presence, I follow, trying to link my arm through his, but he resists.
“I’m on top of the food situation,” he says, without looking at me. “Why don’t you go find some firewood or something.”
I jog to keep up with him. “I’d rather be with you,” I say, reaching for his hand, but he swats my hand away.
“No need for that anymore.”
“What? Can you please slow down?”
He doesn’t. “The handholding. We don’t need to do that anymore.”
I stop walking, but he keeps going. “Kei, stop, please.”
