Pay Attention To The Cracked Streets And The Broken Homes
Caleb's POV
Visiting Day. A big punch to my face. The bruises are visible. I plan the whole day in my head, my mom won't come so I am left free for today. I need to go to factionless to visit Jordan McCullough to glean information about Norton and Jeanine.
I go to the bathroom and go through the rigmarole of getting ready. I go to the café and grab three sandwiches for myself. I stuff them in my mouth hurriedly and stow the other two in my hoodie pocket. I'm too distracted to eat them now. I should take some more food with me, I'm going to factionless. So, I grab a bag from the bag and stuff bread, cheese, apples and some candy in it.
Everyone's awake. I need to schedule going to factionless after an hour and a half so that I am not visible amidst the chaos.
I go into the library discreetly. I need to find something to do for one and a half hours. It's so bad that Erudite has made me so impatient. I press the flash drive into my shoe. I go to the library hurriedly.
I trip on my own two feet in the process of going to the library. I grab a teen romance novel from the shelf. (I know, it's really cheesy but don't tell anyone) I look at the bright red faded cover with pukey pink hearts on the cover page. The cover still retains some of its glossy, glittery graphics. People would question either my mental state or my gender if they see me with this book. Silly, stupid people. I really don't like stereotyping.
"Hello, intellectual soldier." A voice says very close to my ear. It is a really recognisable voice. My face grows a big smile and I turn around. Rhiannon. I don't have much time to talk to her but I am happy to see her at least for a little while.
"I won't comment on your choice of reading." She says.
"This was only what my half-asleep brain decided to pick up." She is still very close to my ear. My heart rate touches the sky and when it decides to burst out of my chest, Rhiannon takes up her seat beside me.
"I need give back what is rightfully yours." I bend down to take the flash drive out of my shoe.
"What happened? Are you finding something?" She asks.
"No, I wanted to give the flash drive back to you. It is inside my shoe." I reply.
"Weird hiding place, isn't it? I hope my flash drive doesn't stink. Well, your sentence rhymed and mine almost did."
"Trust me, it won't. It is tried and tested." I laugh.
Her mouth goes wide. "So, you mean to say that my flash drive has met your feet before? If so, how many times?"
"In an indirect way. My feet are covered with my socks. Once or twice." I reply with a smile.
"Ew, gross." She flicks my head in 'you-sold-your-brain' way. Her hand messes up my hair in a way that Beatrice usually used to do. I am really sad. The energy travels up my head next. I could whoop with joy but I decide to pout, yes, in the sticking-your-bottom-lip-out way. I am such a baby.
"What happened?" She comes nearer and pokes my cheek. Wow, twice in a single day.
"Nothing, I was totally thrown off my track of thinking, or whatever you say, by an action or another thought. Imagine, thrown off your track of thought by another thought. I wanted to say something else to you but I totally forgot what I was saying. I was supposed to think what I had forgotten to say to you but I am here, speaking something totally different to you while I was supposed to say something else." Ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble.
"Whoa soldier, calm down, calm down. Follow me." She takes in a deep breath and grabs my shoulder. It is totally unnecessary. You can probably guess the reason of my being thrown off. I take a deep breath and collect the mess I made.
"Well, I do that sometimes. I wanted to ask another favour. I want the news articles of last year. I need something to compare the data of twelve years ago to last year."
"Alright, but don't expect any more stuff from me. The source will probably whoop my ass after this request."
"Who is this source, may I know?" She swore? There goes another layer of unpredictability on top.
"No." I decide to pout but she already stops me.
"Don't even think of pouting, you sixteen year old baby. I have given my answer." She raises her index finger in a 'don't even think of it' way.
"Is anyone from your family coming over today?" I am such a sadist sometimes.
"No, as I would be going to them." I laugh.
"Will anyone from your family come?" The laugh dries up.
"Abnegation" This word explains everything. A tear slips out. I thought I could handle this but I overestimated myself.
"I am so sorry." Her eyes are pools of regret.
"It's okay." I put my head on the table. She pats my back. As soon as her hand sets itself on my back, I shoot up straight from my seat and hurriedly wipe the tears. Her hand gets caught in the way but she takes it away.
"You gave me a heart attack there." Her eyes blow wide, displaying even more of their hazel-ness.
"We'll do something that witch Jeanine. Don't worry." Something about her words tells me they aren't empty ones.
"Okay, I'll fly off then. There are places to be, and they are waiting with an empty seat for me." I run away. The sign-off was excellent wasn't it?
I fly away. If I go any slower, her magnetism would pull me there back again. I need to run faster than the world record. What was the name, Jordan McCullough, isn't it?
I plan the day out in my head. I need to take the public bus which leads to Abnegation. From there, it's a short walk.
I go to the main hall, where the initiates are already lounging around, waiting for their parents. It is ten a.m. now but it doesn't seem like it. The atmosphere resembles the ending of the initiation. It is just a brief respite from initiation. An illusion. A lie.
The scene is too much to bear. I get out of the main hall and set into a run. My sneakers slap the well-maintained road and I turn my head a ninety degrees to look at the marsh. The defunct Ferris wheel sticks out like a sore thumb in the sky. It used to be functional a long, long time ago.
Somebody said that thing and the long piece of land used to be lit up like a carnival and had a lot of visitors in its halcyon days, millennia ago. The marsh used to be a big lake, Lake Michigan. It is very hard to imagine such a big expanse of water in one place.
My mind goes back to the flash of long blonde hair and the illusion of Beatrice. Another question mark. I turn my head to the front again; you never know when an Erudite will bonk his head against you and demand the medical fee from you.
I walk slowly, there's nothing much to do today. I cross the huge empty land surrounding the Erudite compound and go into the common area bordering the Candor area.
I'm going in. The Candor compound sticks out like a huge cement pillar. It is really that, a tall, rectangular pillar of cement, chrome and steel. There is the Merciless Mart in front of the huge building. I don't think anyone would need to get out of that ginormous building. There are a few black-and white-clad souls roaming before that enormous building. The comparison looks ridiculous, like that story of that beanstalk my mom used to tell me. The people are smaller than half of Jack.
The bus stops at the bus stop. It is a luxury (stopping at least) that the Dauntless do not enjoy. I get on the bus and it feels like only yesterday that I got on this bus, on my way to the choosing ceremony. Such a contradiction, in Erudite the ceremony felt like 2000 light years away. I am panting like crazy; I am really out of shape.
I attract a lot of weird looks from others. I am the only blue clad person on the bus. Many grey people look at me in a way that they think is discreet but it is not. I don't bother giving up my seat to somebody. Pity, the older Caleb would frown hard at me with pressed-together lips.
The bus stops in the Abnegation sector. My old home is not my home anymore. The cookie-cutter houses don't hold that appeal of routine and peace anymore, because I know, beneath this grey and quiet façade, this is the faction which has the most discord among its people. Marcus Eaton seems to be the only person in this faction who is recognisable to other people. The rest seem invisible.
Marcus Eaton also doesn't seem as golden as before. The image is tarnished, if the accusations of child abuse of Tobias Eaton are correct.
The rebel rose bush greets me again. The coral hue of it doesn't seem as ghostly as that day. It seems normal, and at the same time abnormal. I wonder where Susan and Robert are. I cannot gather the courage to enter the Black household right now. The public building where all meetings of Abnegation are held is the only change of scenery in this sea of conformity.
I need to get moving. No need of unnecessary nostalgia. I need to go to the edge of the sector. The factionless sort-of headquarters is situated here. The factionless are concentrated here, although there are isolated pockets of them near Amity and in the common areas.
The challenge is that it is almost too far a way to walk. I am sorry to say this, but I am really out of shape. Wonder why I denied those free car rides offered by Susan and her dad almost every day.
I am panting like a dog when I reach the end of the Abnegation sector. Not far away now. I'm tempted to sit on the sidewalk for a while to catch my breath. The mud and dust on it spoil the plan just a little bit. I pause for a while.
I can see the cracked walls streaked with millennia old grime of the factionless sector. There are people uselessly milling around but most of it is empty because most of them are in Amity for a low-paying, crappy job: weaving fabric. I look at the place, how could people ever live here? The road is nonexistent; the buildings are on the brink of nonexistence. The hungry, blank faces stare at me and the big backpack I carry but are too afraid to talk or steal the bag. The vacuous eyes, malnourished people with the torn, dirty clothes are the picture of desolation.
"Do you have a bit of food? I didn't eat since yesterday." A tiny boy, barely reaching my hoodie tugs at it and asks in the way that only little children can; his shining brown eyes reflect hope. He looks to be about six, but I couldn't be sure, it could be malnourishment.
"Yes, what food do you want? I have some candy for you." I give him a wide smile. Her face smiles wider, the cracked lips stretch broad and threaten to snap the face in half. His wild black cloud of dusty hair nods wildly.
"But before you give it to me, follow me." He leads me to a lonely alley not far away.
I hand over some candy, a loaf of bread and some cheese to him.
"Thank you so much, sir." He says solemnly, like an oath.
"Tell me your name first."
"My name is Ashton, also known as Ash. Thank you so much for the food, my mother and baby sister will be so happy. Thank you once again. Well, I should run, before someone snatches it from me." The little boy hugs me (the side of my legs really). The smile on my face grows automatically.
"You're welcome, now run along; you wouldn't want your mom and baby sister to go hungry, would you? But before you go, do you know where Jordan McCullough lives?"
"He lives there." He points to another broken building, boarded with plywood.
"Thank you, I only had candy once on my birthday two years ago." He gives me another big smile and runs away with the food. Ashton is smart. I have to give him that. It is so bad that these little children do not even get education. Everybody knows the things they go through, but no one knows the things they go through. I thought Abnegation children had less, but these children have lesser.
I go over to the building. I wonder why it is boarded up like that. Maybe for the illusion of invisibility. The people of the other factions believe that they live isolated, but it is the natural tendency of people of any kind to form communities.
I go over to the cracked door. I knock on it. I know I have extra food in my bag, but these people are unpredictable. They don't fit anywhere. You don't know whether you'll be greeted with a kind smile or a kick to the gut.
The cheap door does nothing to conceal the sound of footsteps. The door opens, the door to all answers and the person providing them.
The door opens and a man peeks out from them. He is dressed in a Dauntless jacket, Erudite trousers and a torn red Amity shirt.
"What do you want?" His voice is surprisingly amiable.
"I am Caleb Prior, an Erudite initiate. May I know your name?"
"I am Jordan McCullough. What do you want?" Bingo. The one I was looking for. I say a silent thank you to that little boy, Ashton.
"I want to know about Erudite and its initiation process." Better to put all of the cards on the table immediately.
"What's in it for me?" His voice turns bitter. Anyone's would, if they were talking about their persecutors. I don't blame him.
"You won't go hungry for at least a couple of days."
"Okay then, come on in. I can't very well refuse, can I?" He leads me inside. It is a rundown room with a pallet and dirty blankets for a bed and some wooden boxes for chairs. There is a table, with one leg half broken and the table threatens to spill whatever food is on it, a couple of soup cans that any Abnegation volunteer can recognise.
"Yes, what do you want to know exactly about the initiation process?" He rubs at his unkempt stubble, which is coated with probably today's breakfast or yesterday's dinner.
"When you went through your initiation, the leader was Norton, wasn't he?"
"Yes. He was probably equal to or worse than Jeanine. He expected from all of us to do things a certain way. Those who didn't fit in, you can see them here. It's only getting worse; the most factionless come from Dauntless, the close second is Erudite. There are a handful of Amity here, those who got sick of the puking-rainbows-and-sunshine life."
I get a heart attack (figurative, of course) I gulp and utter a silent prayer for Beatrice. I definitely do not want to see her here.
"Did you ever hear of aptitude flexibility, the same as not 'fitting in'?" I ask.
"I know, kid, I did my research when I was in Erudite. I have been watching all of this for so many years. Aptitude flexibility is known as divergence now. The supposed divergents, who are rejected by their faction people, end up here. I don't know ending up here is worse or dying." He replies. Dying?
Okay, so this is the missing puzzle piece. He says it so fearlessly, divergence is a really dirty word in the factions.
"How do they die?"
"The favoured method of Dauntless is jumping into the chasm. The method of the Erudite is inorganic chemical poison. The method of the Amity, though rarely used is a very concentrated extract of poison ivy. It is ironic; the most painful method is the Amity poison. You know that they really aren't suicide attempts, do you?" My face goes wide. Cold, premeditated murder? Could the factions get any sicker than this? This almost compels me to join the factionless. A feeling of cold disgust wraps itself around my heart like a snake.
"Sick, isn't it? This almost compels me to join you." I say.
"Don't think of coming here if you aren't confirmed divergent. You won't find clemency here, although Evelyn would be pleased to find a new recruit."
"Who is Evelyn?"
"Don't you know she is the unofficial leader of the factionless? She is Evelyn Johnson, formerly known as Evelyn Eaton." What? A resurrection of the dead? He looks at my expression and gives me a sick smile.
"You are probably thinking about how she rose from her grave, aren't you?" He reads my mind.
"Yes" I squeak.
"But trust me, she is alive. The Abnegation just helped her fake her death. She just wanted to get out of the hellhole called home. She is alive and she is waking us up."
The revelation is almost too difficult to digest. Oh, so it looks like Abnegation aren't as good as they portray themselves to be. The whole faction was probably afraid to face ridicule about the leader's wife who wants to leave the faction. I wonder what he meant by waking up. I wait for him to elaborate but he keeps quiet.
"What about your end of the deal, I told you what you wanted to know." He breaks the silence.
"Oh, I forgot." I hand over whatever is left in my bag, which includes two loaves of bread, cheese, some apples and half a bag of candy.
"Thank you. So, I guess my job's done." He says it solemnly, although he smiles with his eyes. He cracks a small smile when he sees the candy. I guess everyone's got a kid in them.
"You're welcome. So, I guess, I should take my leave then." I say and he nods. I go to the door and He follows me.
"Thank you for the information." I say.
"No problem, bring ice-cream for me the next time." He replies.
"Sure." I give a small smile.
I exit the door. He closes it behind me.
I look at the street one last time. I wish my bag was big enough so that it could fit in food for each one of them. I think about the little boy and Jordan. I wish I could come here every three days, just like I did in Abnegation.
I resolve to bring a book for Ashton so that his mom could read it to him. I guess he was too big for the city officials to put up for adoption in Abnegation. At least Abnegation offers a better life. I think what the children who get left behind, like Ashton go through. I mutter a prayer for his family, Jordan, all of factionless, the entire city and what lies beyond.
There is an old lady going down the street who reminds me of June, another lady I met when I went for a stroll in the middle of the night before the Choosing Ceremony. I still have a couple of sandwiches in my hoodie. It is not enough, it could never be enough.
The thought brings tears to my eyes. They roll down and I flick them away.
Every little thing I can do for them will never be enough.
That what sad, wasn't it? The next chap's gonna be the visiting day from Rhiannon's POV. The last chapter's reference was from 'Know Your Enemy' which was a Green Day song from their album 21st Century Breakdown. Yes, I'm still stuck in the 1990-2010 punk rock-alternative era. I'm so ancient. Although I do listen to Fall Out Boy. Most of the stuff I listen to was made even before I was born or was a toddler. Hey, are there any My Chemical Romance fans out here? I discovered them recently, though they broke up three years ago. So sad of me to discover a band which doesn't even exist. Aaaand, like all the other fans, (I don't know what the fans are called) I'm still hoping for their reunion. Guess the reference in this chapter. (You can guess, it is a Green Day song)
Good day (the day's green for me!) (and give your goodwill to the factionless)
TheVibrantNight