CHAPTER FIVE
Un Amigo Mio/Interlude
Ebony’s days were certainly not making her happy.
Since that dinner she had so generously yet unknowingly set up for Trudy and Zoot things were going downhill with the speed of sound. Zoot was a careless boy in love and spent as much time with Trudy as if she were his Siamese twin. He led the tribe from bed and made plans about tribal gathering in bath. He was overwhelmed with power, this magical boy, and didn’t need his strategic partner, Ebony, to help him. He totally forgot about her, actually. The two of them hadn’t spent enough time together for her to tell she had a plan. She could not form even a greeting!
Bray was no better. Every time the two of them found themselves in the same room, he made up some pity excuse and left. He avoided her as if she had the virus.
She was a stray with a home. Or house, since it had lost that warm, dysfunctional family charm.
Ebony was fed up with it. She deserved better.
She knew better.
She would get back into the spotlight, throwing Trudy off stage.
As the clock neared midnight, she sneaked into the improvised pharmacy the Locos had set up with help of one of their slaves.
The guard was sleeping like a rock. Just another proof of how much Zoot needed her, Ebony thought. Things in the tribe were falling apart and if they - no, if Zoot was not careful, all of them would end up being Mallrats’ slaves.
Ebony was nobody’s slave.
She took a bottle of Laxative off the shelf. In the morning, at breakfast, she would use Zoot’s reduced attention and put some into Trudy’s tea or whatever that annoying little uptown brat would be drinking. Above the recommended amount, of course; the amount had to unable Trudy from going to the gathering as Zoot’s companion.
Then the great leader of The Locos would have no choice but to take Ebony out for a dance! The gathering was a perfect opportunity to remind him why she was an ideal partner for him - intelligent, resourceful, crafty. She would enchant him enough to at least share the spotlight with Trudy. And eventually, she would climb back onto the top!
Oh, Ebony grinned just thinking about it!
Jay and Dal walked into Jack’s workroom and found their little genius bending over the table, frowning and cursing. Last days he was working on the wind turbine without rest but looked like he was going nowhere. It was especially evident for Lex who was getting impatient. This invention was the missing piece in his mosaic of success at the gathering.
Since he was too busy picking the right garment for the gathering with Zandra and Sasha was still in bed feeling unwell, he appointed Jay to bring Jack the little present he had thought of.
Dal was Amber’s childhood friend whose skills when it came to repairing things were impressive. Although he was officially working for Lex as an agricultural advisor, he was now told to help Jack with the turbine.
Jack didn’t hear them walk in. After standing silently for a minute , Dal felt like his position in the tribe didn’t allow him to take charge and speak up - Jay, still half asleep, drifting in his mind without any track of time finally cleared his throat.
Jack jumped up, and things he was working on flew into the air and crashed onto the ground. He turned to unwelcomed visitors with rage in his eyes.
“Look what you made me do!” he yelled.
Jay was completely unaffected. He tried to roll up the collar of his shirt to hide the hickey on his neck; the hickey everyone - minus Jack, probably - already knew about and were guessing and betting who caused it.
“Hi, Jack,” Dal smiled after finally realizing Jay was not going to say anything.
“No, there’s no need to apologize!”
“Sorry. How’s the turbine doing?”
“Look on the floor - how do you think it’s doing?”
“Lex sent me to help you making it.”
Jack stared pop-eyed.
“Ah, you are the one with magic wand!”
“No, I’m just good at fixing things.”
Dal thought Jack was about to throw him out, screaming he didn’t need any help. And indeed, this was the first thing that crossed his mind. But then he looked down, on what he had done so far - practically nothing.
He sighed.
“Well, I guess it can’t be worse than it is!”
Finally satisfied with hickey’s hiding place Jay smiled.
“Well, I’ll go tell Lex the good news!” he smiled.
And so everything was well on the morning of tribal gathering! The turbine was working; the right garments had been picked. As the two tribes were waking up before dawn, none suspected that this was a morning like no other before; nobody even dared to think that the end of the world they had known was once again nearing. Both leaders’ had intricate plans for the future so no one had any reason to believe that fate would introduce a completely different one, its own version, very soon.
See, this was the morning when two tragic love birds would meet for the very first time.