The Testaments(72)

The fourth night was a cemetery. Cemeteries were good, said Garth, but there were often too many people in them. Some of them thought it was entertaining to jump up at you from behind a tombstone, but those were just kids running away from home for the weekend. The street people knew that scaring someone like that in the dark was likely to get you knifed, because not everyone roaming in cemeteries was completely stable.

“Such as you,” I said. He didn’t react. I was probably getting on his nerves.

I should mention here that Garth didn’t take advantage, even though he must have realized that I had a puppy-love crush on him. He was there to protect me, and he did, including protecting me from himself. I like to think he found that hard.





44


“When are the Pearl Girls going to show up again?” I asked on the morning of the fifth day. “Maybe they’ve rejected me.”

“Be patient,” said Garth. “As Ada said, we’ve sent people into Gilead this way before. Some of them made it in, but a couple were too eager, they let themselves be scooped on the first pass. They got flushed before they even crossed the border.”

“Thanks,” I said dolefully. “That makes me feel confident. I’m going to screw this up, I know it.”

“Keep cool, you’ll be fine,” said Garth. “You can do it. We’re all counting on you.”

“No pressure, right?” I said. “You say jump, I say how high?” I was being a pain, but I couldn’t stop myself.



* * *



—

Later that same day the Pearl Girls came our way again. They loitered around, passing by, then crossed the street and walked in the other direction, looking in store windows. Then, when Garth went off to get us some burgers, they came over and started talking to me.

They asked what my name was, and I said Jade. Then they introduced themselves: Aunt Beatrice was the brunette, Aunt Dove was the freckled redhead.

They asked if I was happy, and I shook my head no. Then they looked at my tattoo, and said I was a very special person to have undergone all that suffering for God, and they were glad I knew God cherished me. And Gilead would cherish me too because I was a precious flower, every woman was a precious flower, and especially every girl of my age, and if I was in Gilead I would be treated like the special girl I was, and protected, and no one—no man—would ever be able to hurt me. And did that man who was with me—did he hit me?

I hated to lie about Garth like that, but I nodded.

“And does he make you do bad things?”

I looked stupid, so Aunt Beatrice—the taller one—said, “Does he make you have sex?” I gave the tiniest nod, as if I was ashamed of those things.

“And does he pass you around to other men?”

That was going too far—I couldn’t imagine Garth doing anything like that—so I shook my head no. And Aunt Beatrice said maybe he hadn’t tried that yet, but if I stayed with him he would, because that’s what men like him did—they got hold of young girls and pretended to love them, but soon enough they were selling them to whoever would pay.

“Free love,” Aunt Beatrice said scornfully. “It’s never free. There’s always a price.”

“It’s never even love,” said Aunt Dove. “Why are you with him?”

“I didn’t know where else to go,” I said and burst into tears. “There was violence at home!”

“There is never violence in our homes in Gilead,” said Aunt Beatrice.

Then Garth came back and acted angry. He grabbed my arm—the left one, with the scarification on it—and pulled me to my feet, and I screamed because it hurt. He told me to shut up and said we were going.

Aunt Beatrice said, “Could I have a word with you?” She and Garth moved away out of hearing, and Aunt Dove handed me a tissue because I was crying and said, “May I hug you on behalf of God?” and I nodded.

Aunt Beatrice came back and said, “We can go now,” and Aunt Dove said, “Praise be.” Garth had walked away. He didn’t even look back. I didn’t get to say goodbye to him, which made me cry more.

“It’s all right, you’re safe now,” said Aunt Dove. “Be strong.” Which was the kind of thing the refugee women from Gilead were told at SanctuCare, except that they were going in the other direction.



* * *



—

Aunt Beatrice and Aunt Dove walked very close to me, one on either side, so nobody would bother me, they said.

“That young man sold you,” said Aunt Dove with contempt.

“He did?” I asked. Garth hadn’t told me he’d intended to do that.

“All I had to do was ask. That’s how much he valued you. You’re lucky he sold you to us and not some sex ring,” said Aunt Beatrice. “He wanted a lot of money, but I got him down. In the end, he took half.”

“Filthy infidel,” said Aunt Dove.

“He said you were a virgin, which would make your price higher,” said Aunt Beatrice. “But that’s not what you told us, is it?”

I thought fast. “I wanted you to feel sorry for me,” I whispered, “so you would take me with you.”

The two of them glanced at each other, across me. “We understand,” said Aunt Dove. “But from now on you must tell the truth.”