“It fits a penis better. It should be tight when the man’s got an erection,” says Anise, picking it up from the floor and dropping it in the bin. “Let’s go back out there.”
When we rejoin the men, they’re all sitting in silence. Larry points to a drink. “I got you a lemonade.”
I notice the way Anise frowns, but when she goes to speak, he glares at her, and she clamps her mouth closed again, taking a sip of her own. I follow her, taking a sip and closing my eyes at the sweetness. “Wow, this is amazing,” I declare. We’re onlyever given water or milk at home, and now I’m in the caves, it’s always water. I drink it all in one go and place the glass on the table.
“Did you meet my father?” I ask Lenny, and all eyes fall to me again.
“Can you all relax,” says Leonie. “She isn’t going to grass us up.”
“You better pray she doesn’t,” mutters H.
“I won’t,” I add, looking him in the eye. “My father hates me, and I doubt I’ll ever get near him again.” This seems to settle him, and he gives me a nod before drinking his own drink.
Lenny stands, taking my hand. “We’re gonna have some food. We’ll join you after,” he tells the group before leading me off to a different table.
I’m feeling happy, the happiest I’ve ever felt in my entire life, and when another drink is placed before me, I drink half before Lenny stops me. “Slow down.”
A woman places a tray between us, and my eyes widen. “I took the liberty of ordering for you.” He points to the various meats and cheeses, but it’s the shiny green round things that I go for, popping one in my mouth and groaning in delight. “Olives,” he tells me, laughing.
“Did you always live in Paragon?” I ask.
“Who told you the name?”
“Isn’t that what the village is called?”
“Only outsiders who join know that name. Don’t say it around anyone important, Wynter. They’ll know you’ve been talking to people who could corrupt your mind.”
“Aren’t we allowed to mix?” I ask on a laugh.
“Outsiders are given rules on arrival, one of which is to never speak about the outside world. And also to never speak of Paragon. Insiders only know your life as the village.”
“So, you came to the village too?” He nods. “All of them did?” I ask, nodding to the group across the room.
“Yes, and the other thing we have in common is we all missed going to the local bar for a drink.”
“Couldn’t you open a bar in the village?”
He laughs. “No, Wynter. Alcohol is forbidden.”
I eat some meats, and he laughs at my over-the-top reaction again. “Salami,” he says. “It comes from Italy mainly.”
“Italy?”
“It’s far away. You have to travel on aeroplanes.”
I grin. “My mother told us about aeroplanes. I’ve always wanted to go on one. We would watch them fly over the village and wonder where they were going.”
“Did your mother talk a lot about the outside world?”
I nod. “Sometimes. Her mother taught her, and she thought it was important we knew some things. And, of course, with planes flying over, she couldn’t avoid some questions. But she mainly told me how bad it was out there, and that bad people lived there.” I look around. “But it doesn’t look as scary as she said. Why did you come to the village?”
“My parents decided they wanted that life. I was sixteen, and they thought I was getting in with a bad crowd.” He laughs, but it sounds empty. “I wasn’t. I was just a teenage boy. But I don’t mind it in the village.”
“Don’t you mind all the rules?”
He shakes his head. “No. They protect the people.”
I finish my drink and notice I’m feeling dizzy. “Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just be normal and live on the outside.”
