The Star Dwellers by David Estes

Author:David Estes [Estes, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dystopian, postapocalyptic, dwellers, strong female, underground, moon dwellers, star dwellers
Published: 2012-09-30T06:20:19+00:00

* * *

I lie in bed staring at the rough ceiling without really seeing it. I want to be out looking for Roc, but they won’t let me. Ben said I would just get lost too, and then they’d have to find us both. Ben’s lying on the bed next to me, his injured leg elevated on a couple of pillows. He doesn’t try to talk to me, for which I am glad. He said I could take as long as I need before we talk about what happened with my father. But from the way Roc charged out of the room and the way I was shaking with anger and sadness when I emerged, I think he knows it’s something bad.

Roc is my half-brother. Of that I am certain. Although my father is not one to be truthful very often, in this case the truth served his purpose so he went with it. From the smile on his face at our reaction, I know in this case he relished the truth. And who knows how many other half-brothers I have out there. Knowing my father, there could be dozens. Dozens of motherless children. Dozens of dead mothers.

I close my eyes. All these years…

I’ve considered Roc to be my brother all these years, but in a loyalty sense. In a friendship sense. But it seems our bond is built of more than just shared experience. We share a father. I feel bad for Roc right away, because now he’s stuck with my father, which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and certainly not on my best friend. We share the Devil as our father.

The question that I can’t seem to answer, though, is why did he reveal this to us? Why to me? Why to Roc? My worst fears were that he would threaten me through those I care about, but that didn’t happen. There is seemingly no purpose to what he did. It’s as if he did it just to…spite me, to break my spirit. Perhaps he thinks it will drive a wedge between Roc and me, thus creating chaos in my life. Maybe he believes in his sick and twisted mind that I’ll give up on the cause, go into hiding somewhere, or even return to him. He’s so arrogant he might just think that.

But I won’t. He’s only succeeded in lighting a fire in my belly, one that won’t be extinguished until he’s destroyed and his power usurped.

I open my eyes and roll my head to the right, where I can see Ben, who looks like he’s sleeping. On the floor is a piece of paper. Roc’s drawing. The side with the portrait of Tawni is face down, leaving the drawing of the woman who is half his mom and half my mom revealed. Not just my mom—his stepmom.

It’s weird, how none of it makes sense at first, but then all of it seems to make sense. That he always felt like my brother, always felt like my mom’s son.

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