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Bam turns and spits on the ground. “You’re such a freakin’ hypocrite.” Then she goes back to playing pool against kids who never beat her.
Starkey, however, has no need to bad-mouth Co
41 • Co
Co
Co
“You’ll have to tell me if it’s a problem,” Starkey says enigmatically. “Can I come in?”
Co
“There’s a TV here, right?”
Co
“Don’t need a line, and color’s not go
Co
“You sure?”
Co
He recognizes the show immediately. It’s a weekly news magazine he has seen many times before. A familiar TV journalist discusses the featured story. The logo screened in behind her says angel of division.
“A little over a year ago,” she begins, “clappers took out an unwinding facility in Happy Jack, Arizona. The social and political fallout from that event still resonates today, but one girl—an infamous player in that event—is speaking out. Her message, however, is not what you think. You may have seen her in various public service a
Co
The studio shot cuts to Risa being interviewed in some plush location by the same journalist. There’s something different about her, but Co
“Risa,” begins the journalist, “you were a ward of the state slated for unwinding, became a coconspirator with the notorious Akron AWOL, and were even present at Happy Jack HarvestCamp to witness his death. After all that, how is it that you now speak in favor of unwinding?”
Risa hesitates before answering, then says, “It’s complicated.”
Starkey crosses his arms. “Yeah, I’ll bet it is.”
“Quiet!” snaps Co
“Could you walk us through it?” the journalist asks, with a disarming grin that Co
“Let’s just say I have a different perspective now than I had before.”
“You’ve come to see unwinding as a good thing?”
“No, it’s a terrible thing,” she answers, which gives Co
“Pardon me for pointing this out, but that’s easy for you to say, now that you’re seventeen and beyond unwinding age.”
“No comment,” says Risa, and it’s like a dagger slowly twisting in Co
“Let’s talk about the charges against you,” the journalist says, looking at her notes. “Theft of government property, namely yourself; conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism; conspiracy to commit murder—and yet all these charges against you have been dropped. Does that have anything to do with your change of heart?”
“I won’t deny that I was offered a deal,” Risa says, “but the dropping of those charges is not the reason why I’m here today.” Then she does something very simple—something that no one else would notice in the slightest, except for those who know her. . . .
Risa crosses her legs.
For Co
“If you think that’s bad, listen to this next part,” says Starkey, actually seeming to enjoy it.
“Risa, would you call your change of heart a matter of convenience or a matter of conscience?”
Risa takes time to craft her answer, but that doesn’t make it any less devastating. “Neither,” she says. “After all I’ve been faced with, I find I have no choice. For me, supporting unwinding is a matter of necessity.”
“Turn it off,” Co
“There’s still more—you really should hear the end.”
“I said turn it off!”
Starkey reaches over and turns off the TV, and Co
“Why did you show me this?”
Starkey shrugs. “I thought you had a right to know. Hayden knows, but he’s been keeping it from you. I think that’s wrong and completely unfair to you. Knowing who’s your friend and who’s your enemy can only make you stronger, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Co
Starkey grips his shoulder. “It’s okay, you’ll get over it. We’re all here to support you.” Then he leaves, his mission of enlightenment accomplished.
Co
Risa. Risa. Risa.
He is hobbled. How could Starkey not know how devastated he would be? Either he’s stupider than Co
42 • Starkey
Jeeves brings Starkey a copy of the list of local unwind orders. There are only three kids on this list deemed savable, and none of them are storks. But today is the day that things change. There is a storked kid on the list, ignored and forgotten.
Jesus LaVega
287 North Brighton Lane
Well, Co
“Hey, we’re saving Jesus, instead of him saving us,” someone says when Starkey tells the Stork Club his plan. Another kid raps him on the head. “It’s pronounced Haysoos, moron.”