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"Why did you do it?" I say "You want ed?"
He presses his lips together and doesn’t look away, not for a long time Then he opens his mouth, hesitates, and finally says, "I can’t be in anyone’s debt Okay? The idea that I owed you soht feeling like I was going to vomit Indebted to a Stiff? It’s ridiculous Absolutely ridiculous And I couldn’t have it"
"What are you talking about? You owed ?"
He rolls his eyes "The Amity compound Someone shot ht between the eyes And you shoved me out of the way We were even before that--I al the attack siht? But after that"
"You’re insane," says Tobias "That’s not the way the world workswith everyone keeping score"
"It’s not?" Peter raises his eyebrows "I don’t knoorld you live in, but in s for you for one of two reasons The first is if they want so in return And the second is if they feel like they owe you sos for you," I say "Sometimes they do them because they love you Well, maybe not you, but"
Peter snorts "That’s exactly the kind of garbage I expect a delusional Stiff to say"
"I guess we just have toto whoever offers you the best deal"
"Yeah," Peter says "That’s prettythe way he does--always keeping track of who gave ive theiveness, a one-eyedfor someone else’s eye to poke out That isn’t life It’s some paler version of life I wonder where he learned it froet out of here, you think?" Peter says
"Couple hours," says Tobias "We should go to the Abnegation sector That’s where the factionless and the Dauntless who aren’t wired for simulations will be by now"
"Fantastic," says Peter
Tobias puts his arm around me I press my cheek into his shoulder, and close my eyes so I don’t have to look at Peter I know there is a lot to say, though I’m not sure exactly what it is, but we can’t say it here, or now
As alk the streets I once called ho to my face and body As far as they knew--and I’m sure they knew, because Jeanine kno to spread news--I died less than six hours ago I notice that some of the factionless I pass are marked with patches of blue dye They are simulation-ready
Now that we’re here, and safe, I realize that there are cuts all over the bottolass fros I focus on that instead of all the stares
"Tris?" someone calls out ahead of us I lift my head, and see Uriah and Christina on the sidewalk, corass and sprints toward me Christina follows him, but at a slower pace
Uriah reaches for me, but Tobias sets a hand on his shoulder to stop hiratitude I don’t think I can handle Uriah’s eht now
"She’s been through a lot," Tobias says "She just needs to sleep She’ll be down the street--number thirty-seven Come visit tomorrow"
Uriah frowns at me The Dauntless don’t usually understand restraint, and Uriah has only ever known the Dauntless But he must respect Tobias’s assessment of me, because he nods and says, "Okay Tomorrow"
Christina reaches out as I pass her and squeezes hter, butmy shoulders hunched The eyes followthe back of my neck I aray house that belonged to Marcus Eaton
I don’t knohat strength Tobias h the doorway For hi parents and belt snaps and hours spent in small, dark closets, yet he doesn’t look troubled as he leads Peter andhe stands taller But maybe that is Tobias--when he’s supposed to be weak, he’s strong
Tori, Harrison, and Evelyn stand in the kitchen The sight overwhelms me I lean my shoulder into the wall and squeeze my eyes shut The outline of the execution table is printed onbut I can’t hear what they’re saying Why is Evelyn here, in Marcus’s house? Where is Marcus?
Evelyn puts one ar her cheek to his She says so to him He smiles at her when he pulls away Mother and son, reconciled I a one hand on my arm and one on my waist, to avoid my shoulder wound, presses ether
Upstairs are his parents’ old bedroom and his old bedroom, with a bathroom between them, and that’s it He takesaround at the room where he spent most of his life
He keeps his hand on, like he thinks I ether
"Marcus didn’t go into this room after I left, I’ was ation don’t own ent, but what few things ere allowed, he has A stack of school papers A slass on his dresser
"MyTold me to hide it," he says "The day of the ceremony, I put it on my dresser before I left So he would see it A se to be in a place that carries one single memory so completely This room is sixteen-year-old Tobias, about to choose Dauntless to escape his father
"Let’s take care of your feet," he says But he doesn’t ers to the inside of my elbow
"Okay," I say
We walk into the adjoined bathrooe of the tub He sits next to s the drain Water spills into the tub, covering my toenails My blood turns the water pink
He crouches in the tub and putsat the deeper cuts with a washcloth I don’t feel it Even when he s The bathwater turns gray
I pick up the bar of soap and turn it in my hands until my skin is coated hite lather I reach for hiet the lines in his palood to do soain