“I’m out. I’ll see if Mirel has some. I’ll meet you in the stairwell.”
I slowly climbed the steps and knocked on Luca’s door. No one answered, but I heard noise inside.
“It’s Cristian,” I said, knocking louder. I took off my filthy shoes.
The door opened a crack. A sliver of a face appeared. Her eyes expanded.
“Your face is broken.”
“C’mon, Dana, let me in.”
She opened the door and quickly shut it.
“We’re here alone,” announced one of the younger girls. “But we’re not supposed to tell anyone and we’re not supposed to open the door. Our parents are out looking for Luca. Have you seen him?”
“I saw him last night around eleven o’clock.”
“Was he okay?” asked Dana.
I paused. “I’m not sure. Is the water on?”
“It’s poisoned.” She shrugged. “That’s what people are saying.”
“I just need to wash up.” I grabbed a candle from their kitchen, a pair of Luca’s pants, and went to the bathroom to change. I had to hurry. If someone was following me—or if Starfish was informing on me—I was putting Luca’s sisters in danger.
“Luca’s tall. His clothes won’t fit you,” said his sister outside the bathroom door.
Luca was tall. When he jumped up to save me, he was an easy target. Scenes from the street rolled back at me: tracer fire, pops of gunfire, Adrian falling, Luca’s shoulder and arm moving in that unnatural way. So much blood. I grasped the cold sink and shook my head to clear the thoughts.
A stranger stared at me from the mirror. My face was covered in crusty badges of dried blood. My nose was a swollen knot. I washed as best I could and rolled the hems of Luca’s pants to fit. I went into the kitchen, pinched a small piece of bread, and retrieved the pad of paper from the drawer. I wrote a note and put it in my pocket. I’d slide it under the door of Liliana’s apartment if no one was there.
Dana cornered me in the hall. “Just tell me,” she said.
“If your parents come back, tell them I was here and that I’m looking for Luca. Tell them I’m checking the hospitals.”
“The hospitals?” Her eyes filled with tears. “Is he okay?”
“I’m not sure,” I whispered.
Because I wasn’t.
73
?APTEZECI ?I TREI
A bowlegged silhouette lingered on the stairs. Starfish. Was he alone? The thick darkness of the stairwell made it impossible to tell.
I followed him outside to the back of the building.
“Mirel came through, but you’re gonna owe him.” He thrust several packages of Kents at me. I thanked him and shoved them in between the layers of scarf that Liliana had wrapped around my rib cage.
“It looks like you’re strapped with ammunition,” said Starfish.
Was that a positive or a negative?
“Listen, I slid a note under the door of Liliana’s apartment, letting her family know where she is. If you see them first, send them to the detention facility on Aaron Florian. Maybe they can bribe her out. I’ll be heading to the hospitals to look for Luca. In thirty minutes, shout up to the Reporters that you saw me. I’ll call home when I can.”
He nodded. “Hey, maybe you should be at the hospital yourself. Your color’s awful. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“That’s probably a good thing. Just tell me, what am I facing out there?”
“Mixed patrols. Militia men, Secu snipers, patriotic guards, security teams in civilian clothes. It’s been a hell of a night. You’ll see people hiding in yards, trees, garbage cans. The regime broke through the blockade at the Intercontinental and they’ve cut power to specific parts of the capital. Give me info on Jilava. How many protestors were brought there?”
“Hundreds, maybe close to a thousand. They let me out early this morning with a bunch of kids. But there are plenty of young people still there and more were arriving when I left.”
“I heard that students are recruiting people in the Titan and Berceni neighborhoods. Join a group,” said Starfish. “It’s too easy to be picked up if you’re alone.”
A car sped up to the corner. A man scrambled out and began looking around. Starfish gave a whistle. The passenger door of his car opened and another man appeared. They ran to us.
“I’ve got a hot one, Starfish. I need to hide him.”
“Okay. Take this guy to Col?ea Hospital. He’ll give you a pack of Kents.”