“And you get a discount if there’s something else to fix?”
“Three jobs.” Wade reached inside his mouth and plucked out a tooth. “See? I need another one. A better fit. They printed this one when I was, like, eleven.”
Hwa nodded. “Why the abs?”
Wade pinked. It started at his ears and marched across his face, as though his blush were on a quest to embarrass him. “The oil’s drying up. Most everybody’s already left. All the other companies, I mean. That’s why they’re selling it. There aren’t any jobs. I want to get off the rig, while I still can.”
“Doesn’t everybody?”
“Well, yeah, but…” His lips pursed. “I want to go to university.”
Hwa winced. “Sounds expensive.”
“Exactly. There’s no way my parents will help pay for it. I already asked. They flat-out told me no. They think it’s a waste, when there’s still some money to be made right here. So I have to get a job. And I can, I just have to get some work done first.” The pink had become magenta. “I got an offer to do some modelling,” he said. “Online.”
Hwa willed her eyebrows to remain in a neutral, nonjudgmental position. “Do your folks know?”
He shrugged his shoulders and looked down. “You have to spend money to make money, I guess,” he said.
Well, he had that right, at least. He was probably getting naked for somebody, but if it paid enough to get the hell off this floating asylum, that wouldn’t be so bad. Besides, he’d look like a hard case once the doc was finished. Nobody would ever hit him again, after today. Not unless they paid Wade for the privilege.
“Okay,” Hwa said.
“Great!” Wade dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. He rolled his shoulders, bounced on his toes, and clapped his hands. “Let’s do this.”
Hwa pulled her right arm back. She pivoted her hips to give her maximum follow-through on the strike. One pop, and it would be done. She twisted forward, and Wade’s hands flew up. And that was how her fist got to be there, hovering in front of his glistening mouth, tension climbing up her arm as she held it in place.
“Yes. It’s going to hurt. Of course it’s going to fucking hurt.”
He frowned. “There’s no need to be mean about it. God. Why do you have to be such a bitch?”
Her fist connected with his face. It was a short, sharp strike. Wade fell to his knees immediately. He dragged the placemat with him, and his plate landed facedown on his back, streaking his shirt in beans and hot sauce. He knelt on the floor, hissing and rocking. He reached for his wallet.
“Keep your money,” Hwa said. “Thanks for the eggs.”
*
On the train to Tower Three, someone played “This Train Is Bound for Glory” on a conch shell ukulele. She found the students in her self-defence class sitting in the hallway outside the door to their studio at the gym there. Eileen gave her a little wave and Hwa nodded at her. She addressed the rest of the class. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you warming up? Is Destiny not done with Astral Yoga, yet?”
“There’s other people in there,” Sabrina said. Sabrina was one of Hwa’s best students. She was a big girl, but agile, and always had a ready smile, even when her face was glowing red with exertion and the sweat had completely soaked through her shirt. Her reserve in Ontario didn’t much take to the genetic editing; the tribe held the position that the province should expect the nearby chemical companies to clean up their act, rather than expecting the Chippewa to clean up their genes. Like Hwa, Sabrina was mostly organic. She was very popular among a certain set of clients. “One guy was really big. The other one looked just like a kid.”
“Nothing creepy, though,” said Calliope, from the floor. She didn’t look good. Her black hair was greasy and she hadn’t even bothered with eyeliner. Without a pronounced cat-eye, she looked like an entirely different person.
“Are you okay?” Hwa asked. “You look kinda sick.”
“Gee, thanks, Coach. Not like my whole career depends on my looks, or anything.”
Sabrina reached over and patted her arm. “This job isn’t just about looks, and you know it.”
Calliope gave Sabrina’s wide, soft body a long, shady look. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Hey!” Eileen leaned over to catch Calliope’s eye. “Don’t be a bitch. So what if you look like shit? We’re here to work out, not make dates.” She squared her shoulders and stared at the other two women. “And besides. We should all be supporting each other as best we can. Times being what they are.”