Chapter
IV
I wandered the corridors of The Great Diggings having to stoop every so often because the place was built for dwarves. I had to stop Christopher from suicide and April was the only one I thought could do it.
Who knew why I cared about him wanting to kill himself, I mean, he wasn't the greatest guy in the world. He's a racist, sexist, whining alcoholic who complains about everything. But, then again, he's one of us, the real-worlders. It used to be just us against the world. We watched each other's backs even if we were mad as hell at them. I don't know how many times Christopher's saved my life, nor how many times I've saved his. All I knew is that I was going to make this one count.
I literally bumped into April as I rounded a corner. "Oh, Jalil! Just the person I was looking for!" She sighed with relief and helped me up. After she brushed herself off she continued, "I was just on my way to your room to check on how your calculations were coming."
I sighed, remembering that I was running out of time. But this was important. "April, could I ask a favor?"
"Sure, shoot."
"Could you talk to Christopher and stay with him through the wedding and afterwards, making sure he's ok with the whole thing? He came into my room and I gave him a small pep-talk, but I don't think it did much for him." I shivered, remembering his statement about it being the last time he sees her. "I know he's not going to be alone afterwards but I still think that it would help if he weren't given a chance to…"
I shivered again and this time April caught the meaning. She gasped and nodded her head and, helping me up, reassured me that he wouldn't be left alone for a second.
We walked together, talking about how exciting it was to experience a wedding. I'd never gone to a wedding but she had been to at least 4 and assured me that it was something you never forgot. "And if your lucky," she said, "you might catch the garter-band. If you catch that, it means you'll be then next to marry. For girls it's the same thing only we try to catch the bouquet." She rambled on excitedly for a while, until we reached my door. I told her I had some finishing up to do and that I would see her at the wedding. She smiled and walked off, reassuring me about Christopher once again.
I walked over to my chair again and looked over my calculations. 50,000 dwarves had to be wrong, that's all there was to it. Ok, where did I go wrong…that's right…that's right…ok…is that right? Oh I wish I had a calculator! Oh! I forgot to subtract the 79 from the 253! That's where I got…and then…for a total of 5,034 dwarves. I guess that's not as bad as 50,000 but it's still a little high.
I continued to work on my equations until I heard the bells. These had been set up for emergencies but today they were being used for summoning the guests for the wedding. It was time for my section to go to the main hall. I gathered up my calculations and diagrams for the king and hurried to beat the crowd.