Chapter Thirteen: The Negotiators — Part 5
“Gryphon’s all right, isn’t he?” Jude says this with great concern.
“Yeah. Teri and Jon think he’s just a little sore from being stepped on.” Jynx is very cautious about talking to Jude until she is certain nobody else is around. “You heard what the sheriff said to me, right?”
“I think he said you’d better come armed. Or he said not to make a show of being armed. He’s all subtle like that. If you’d seen how things went down this morning . . . The sad thing is, Franklin isn’t the problem. He’s just a cow being pulled by the nose. It’s Dominic we’ve got to watch with both eyes.” Jude says this with no small sense of spite.
“Tell me about Dominic.” She says, her tone carefully neutral.
“That would be Opus’ brother. Dominic was the chief baby sitter for Fox Works NCE, Non-Civilian Employees. He’d oversee the engines coming and going, and handle military transfers from the Corp of Engineers and various base operations to the Compound. His mind is more military than anybody I’ve ever known. He knows the UCMC the UCMJ and the day-to-day. He lives it, he breathes it, and he expects those who took his oath to do the same, right down to the last period after the last letter in the last sentence on the last page. I don’t know what he thinks because he isn’t talking to me, but I’m guessing he’s applying the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy to civilian social relations. He’s got a small following, even in this crowd, but he’s also got a kind of charisma, and that charisma is what keeps the fence walkers like Franklin pulling for his team. He was a pain in my ass from the day the government sent him here to and I quote ‘straighten this operation out.’ ” Jude coughs gently, marking a change of subject. “You come down today because you were worried about me, per chance?”
Jynx doesn’t know how to respond. She hadn’t actually been worried for Jude at the time, and she isn’t consciously aware of her concern for too many other people other than herself. She has really only allowed herself to care about three other people, and of Daria, Kevin, and ChoCho, she worries for ChoCho most of all. She’s bothered now, because she knows she has to be honest, and as she looks deep inside, she’s realizing that yes, maybe she is worried about Jude, just a little. She takes several seconds too long answer, as that worry gives way to the real emotion behind it.
“It’s okay you know. If you only came down here because ChoCho wanted you to . . . ” Jude says gently.
“Some times I don’t feel like a very good person inside.” Jynx says. “I uh, have a hard time caring about people, you know.” Jynx adds quickly. “But I was worried, at least now that I think about it. I am starting to think I was worried, anyway.”
Jude chuckles. “You’re not a bad person, honey.”
Jynx stops moving suddenly, and Jude turns around and what he sees causes him to take a couple of steps back. He finds himself temporarily transfixed by Jynx. Her fists are tightened to balls, her knucklebones peaking through thick skin that has turned nearly olive from exposure to the light. The tension is carrying itself into her shoulders, and her face. Her head is bowed down, and her eyes are closed tightly against the world. Despite this, tears have started to drip from her eyes, down her nose, onto her cheeks. Jude feels the daddy in him come out: That over protective father persona that has a weakness for the tears of young girls will not allow him to show anything but compassion for her.
“You don’t know me.” Jynx says, as if it explains everything.
“Oh sweetie, I don’t even think you really know yourself.” Jude puts a hand on her shoulder, gives Jynx a gentle squeeze.
He doesn’t squeeze too hard, and is suddenly caught off guard as Jynx leans into him. He doesn’t let too much of his body touch, more because he doesn’t know how to react. Jude isn’t an openly physical person, and this sudden fatherly instinct is something he’s never had reason to know before. He’s caught completely off guard when she puts her head on his shoulder and starts bawling openly and brutally, tears streaming down her cheeks, her body heaving as she tries to stop the tears and sobs. She doesn’t say anything, and she doesn’t have to. It has taken Jynx such a long time to break, for the realization of what has happened to humanity to seep in, for the horror of it all to truly work its way to the core of her being.
Jude’s stomach is grumbling because he hasn’t eaten since breakfast, but he allows Jynx to cry it all out, transfixed by the strange feeling building within him. It isn’t the love he has for George, or the love he has ever felt for any person he’s known in the past. What he feels for Jynx in this odd, unexpected moment, is completely revolutionary. The tears and snot, the feeling of her eyelashes on his bare shoulder, the occasional brush of her lips against his neck as her body pulses with wracking, slowly diminishing sobs: These sensations have all combined into something powerful, intimidating, terrifying, and incomparable. Slowly, over several minutes, Jynx starts to calm down. She pulls a wet nap from a hidden pocket on her skirt, and wipes off her face and hands, then makes a show of pulling another wet nap and doing the same for Jude’s shirt and neck.
“I’m sorry.” She says, her voice almost back to normal as she dabs as much snot from his pull over blouse as she can. “It’s not hand washable is it?”
“It’s okay honey. It’s George’s anyway.” Jude says, trying not to sound too much like he’s joking.
“Wow.” Jynx says, sniffling. “That’s a lot to feel, all at once.”
“You ready to head back now?” Jude speaks gently.
Jynx answers by walking toward home. “I must look horrible.” She says, thankful that she had chosen not to put makeup on in the morning.
“Aw, sweetie, I don’t think it’s possible for you to look better.” Jude feels Jynx grip his hand in her little fingers.
Jynx has coarse, supple skin. Jude’s palm is soft, and gives way to her touch despite her gentle grip. She walks with Jude’s hand in hers all the way back to the Parkette entrance, where ChoCho is drinking a mint julep in the shadow of the center park wall. Jynx gives Jude a loving squeeze, then lets go and walks quickly to ChoCho, hugging him with all her strength, kissing him with quiet passion. She heads in to be with the others, all of whom are sitting on the porch. George has finally come home from the north side of the compound. He ignores the condition of the shirt he loaned to Jude, stained by snot and tears, because from what he can tell, Jude is starting to cry.
George gives Jude one of those sidelong, one-armed hugs, and Jude puts his head on George’s shoulder. “So, did the hard day in prison break you?” He asks, more as a way of teasing.
“I made a sling shot and lobbed bed pieces at Franklin. It was really fun.” Jude clears his throat. “It’s these kids today.” Jude suddenly sounds almost motherly. “They grow up so fast.”
Still cuddling as they walk, George and Jude find their way to the porch swing, light their pipes, drink their juleps, and snuggle until late into the night. Once the pipes are sleeping, Gryphon jumps up and makes his way onto the space between George and Jude, napping in a tiny ball. Neither has much to say about tomorrow. The house is still and its occupants quiet before either of them bother to shake off the chill of the night and find their way to bed. While Jude is asleep, George is outlining his speech. Tomorrow’s speech, he knows, will be more about success, more about hope, more about survival than anything he has ever written before. The people of the Glenn, his people, will be surprised at how eloquent George has become, how convincing, sincere, honest, and intelligent.
At least he hopes they will. Because if The People vote against him — George stops thinking, pushes the thought entirely out of his mind. George doesn’t even want his imagination to steer that course. In that quiet moment, his mind blank of good and bad, the words start to flow, and the hope to flow with it.
