Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1)(13)
I hop-skip a little, falling back from the group. “Miss Duncan,” I call, doing my hop-skip-limp. “I think I got a rock in my shoe!”
Miss Duncan half turns but doesn’t break stride. “Katherine, wait for Jane. You two catch up to us at the university.”
I wave at Miss Duncan in acknowledgment and hop over to a nearby stoop. Katherine is panting at this point, her hair half fallen down after our impromptu trot.
“Stand up straight,” I tell her. “You bend over like that and you’re gonna be kissing the road.”
She does, still gasping for breath, and gestures at my shoe. “Well, get your rock.”
I snort. “I ain’t got no rock in my shoe, I did that so you could catch a breath. You get found out wearing that corset you’re gonna be on kitchen duty for a month.”
Katherine takes a handkerchief and dabs at the sweat on her lip, her eyes meeting mine with a grimace. “And why do you care?”
I smile. “No reason at all. I’m just being a good Christian.” At her look of disbelief I shrug. “Should we start walking?”
Katherine watches me for another long moment before nodding. I climb to my feet and we make our way the few remaining blocks to the university in silence.
Outside the imposing columned entryway of the school the steps are already clear. I make to walk inside, but Katherine stops me with a firm hand. “You never told me who it was you were talking to, Jane. That coarse-looking fellow. You know courting isn’t allowed.”
I smile, showing all my teeth, and tilt my head to the side. The things Jackson and I used to do can’t really be called “courting,” but Katherine doesn’t need to know that. And now our connection is purely business, no matter what my heart might say every now and again.
“Why, that was no one, Katherine. Just like you ain’t wearing a corset. Right?”
Katherine opens and closes her mouth a few times, but she’s caught in a snare. So she says nothing and settles for storming up the steps in a fine flounce. I follow her a little more leisurely. Blackmail ain’t really my thing; I prefer more direct kinds of sneakery, like lying and stealing. But I can’t have Miss Duncan or any of the other instructors finding out about what I do with Jackson on the side, so this is what I’m reduced to.
We live in a terribly ruthless world.
I wish I could explain to you how fascinating and stimulating are the lectures that we receive here at Miss Preston’s, but I’m afraid my descriptions will never do them justice. . . .
Chapter 5
In Which I Attend a Very Educational Lecture
The Baltimore University of Surgery, Medicine, and Thanatology is located in a fine building, meticulously restored in the years since Baltimore was reclaimed. The entry doors are made of wrought iron and glass, and just past them, marble columns and impressive oil paintings of bearded white men line the hallways. Like Miss Preston’s, the building gives off the feeling that important learning is happening somewhere, somehow, someway. Unlike Miss Preston’s, there is no lively chatter or the tantalizing smells of supper. Instead, a faint, foul chemical smell and a cool, humid emptiness waft out from the main doors of the building. The tainted air is reminiscent of a tomb. It is not at all pleasant.
Maybe that’s why only men get to attend the university. What woman would want to spend time in such an awful, damp, smelly place? No learning is worth having to endure such melancholy.
Katherine is at the large entryway, her progress blocked by a couple of rough-looking white fellows. They lean against the door, their expressions amused. As I get closer I can see they wear the felted hats and long coats of the city police. Their mustaches are patchy, and even though they look stern they’re probably only a few years older than Katherine and me.
“Miss, I’m afraid we can’t let you in without checking you for weapons,” says the shorter one. He’s got a sly look to him, like a fox promising to be good around the hens. “The mayor’s inside, and we’re tasked with keeping him safe. So, are you gonna let us pat you down or not?”
As polite as they’re being they must not realize Katherine is really a Negro. No surprise there. She’s haughty and well-dressed enough to pass as the daughter of a man of middling political success.
Katherine must have decided the same thing, because she crosses her arms and gives the guard that narrow-eyed look of hers. “I have already told you I have no weapons, and I will most definitely not let you touch me. Now, will you please let me by? The rest of my class is already inside, and I do not want to miss a moment of the esteemed professor’s lesson.”
The short one smiles, revealing a gap where his front tooth should be. “Well, how about that. The pretty little lady here doesn’t want to miss the professor’s lecture.” He gives the other copper, who has a big gap between his front teeth, a bit of side-eye before looking her up and down like a sweet in a display case. “Sweetheart, what are you really here for? You a working girl? If you’re looking for a bit of coin, you ain’t gonna find anything but disappointment in there with those grandpas.” The two of them chortle a little, and Katherine flushes.
An ugly feeling rises up in me. I may be a liar and a cheat, but I absolutely despise bullies.
“Ay, hey there! Hoo-wee, I bet dis a humdinger of a lecture if it can get old Jelly Belly out of city hall. Dey ain’t serving food, is dey?” I chuckle a little, then shuffle my feet in a little dance, and the cops stop laughing. They forget all about Katherine and push off of the doorframe and move over to me.