Selected
Twenty-Third

The next day was Mr. Bly’s funeral. I rode with Hal in the car there. Mrs. Bly had been there since early in the morning arranging everything. Vox had disappeared with Addeck before I had woken up. The silence in the car wasn’t somber, just quiet. I stared out the window as the car took us to a part of the city I hadn’t been to yet.

As we passed the library, Hal spoke, “Um, Vox told me to make sure that you understood what you’re part in all this was.”

I turned toward her confusion was plain on my face, “What do you mean by my part?”

She shrugged, “Just that you know that none of us are really distraught or anything, but we all have to play a part. Mother has to play the broken housewife, Vox has to play the strong yet somber son, Addeck is the emotional dart wreck, and I’m the hysterically crying daughter. Its essential that the public knows that we are in mourning. That we are more than just inconvenienced by his death. Do you understand?”

I frowned. “So you all are just going to lie about being sad that you’re father has died? Do you not feel any emotion toward his death?”

“Listen, Em, I’m sure Vox has explained our family situation. He was never around. I didn’t know him, Vox didn’t know him. Even Mother didn’t know him. He was never home. The few occasions that he was, he would lock himself in his office. His work was more than just important. And we all understood that. He was a kind man, strict, but kind. Trust me, I have experienced the depth of this generosity. But it’s hard to love someone who is absent for your whole life.” I didn’t say anything. “Bottom line, we can’t look like sociopaths to the public. It’s bad PR.”

I nodded in understanding, “Okay, well, what does that mean for me?”

“It really depends on your confidence in your acting abilities. If you don’t feel comfortable just stay quiet and look sad. I don’t think anyone is really expecting you to burst into tears, weeping over his coffin or anything, but you do have to act like his death is tragedy.” She took a breath when I didn’t say anything, “I’m sorry. You probably think we are horrible people for asking you to pretend to be sad at a funeral, but when you’re Vox’s wife, the Selector’s wife, you are going to have to do a lot of acting for the public.”

I gave a faint smile and nodded, “Okay.” I didn’t like the idea of everyone acting as if they were in a soap opera. But it wasn’t as if I was going to be hysterically laughing and dancing on Mr. Bly’s grave or anything anyways. I had planned on just staying quiet and in the background. People came to mourn the death of an important figure in our society, I knew enough basic etiquette to know that it in no way would be appropriate to act anything but sad at a funeral.

I didn’t say anything the rest of the day. I sat between Vox and Hal during the ceremony. Only Vox spoke. He said wonderfully beautiful things about Mr. Bly. How he cared for nothing more than the country. How he was a strong leader and that he would truly be missed. Mrs. Bly sat on the end staring off into space. She looked as though she wasn’t actually present. Hal cried hysterically the whole afternoon. Addeck sat straight faced and focused on Vox’s words, his hair was a mess, his eyes were bloodshot, and every now and again I would get a whiff of alcohol.

After the ceremony, Vox pulled me aside. Everyone was filing out, giving comfort to the rest of the family as they left. Vox led me to the corner away from the crowd. “Hey, I have to talk to you for a second. Everything has been so hectic I don’t know if I will get a chance later.”

“What’s going on?”

He cleared his throat, “Well, they set the date for my inauguration.”

“When is it?”

“The 18th.”

“Of this month?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

“That’s our wedding day.”

“Yeah.”

“So, are we doing a two in one ceremony or..” I already knew the answer.

“No, we have to move the wedding. I’m really sorry, I begged them to change it, but they wouldn’t budge. But I mean I know that you’ve been freaking out about it for a while now, so maybe this is for the best. We can move the date back a week or so. I know that the past week has been especially hard on you. So, maybe we can just take the time to settle back down. It’ll give us time to get over everything that has happened before we start a new life together.”

“Okay.”

Vox pulled me into his arms and tightly squeezed me. What else was I supposed to say? No? Was I supposed to throw a fit and scream that “We have to get married on the 18th!“? He was right, I had been panicking this whole time about our future together. We were supposed to be getting married in four days. Four days. With everything that had happened the date had started to sneak up on me. The thought that it would be postponed until the dust settled was comforting. I took a deep breath. It felt like a small weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Then a heavier weight came crashing down. Now I would have to reschedule everything I had ordered. All of those stupid invitations would have to be resent, the flowers, the cake, the photographer, the venue, everything would have to be moved back to a different day.

“Are you okay? You just tensed up.”

I nodded, “Yeah, it’s just now I have to move everything and reschedule the wedding.”

He chuckled a little, “I’m sure Hal would be more than happy to help you out.”

“I know, it was just a minor freak out. Everything will be fine.”

He nodded, “Okay, well, it looks like my ride is leaving.”

We looked over at Addeck who was motioning to him and then tapping on his watch. “Are you not coming to the house?”

He shook his head, “No. I have to go back. Lots of paperwork to sign and problems to fix. I have to go through his stuff to figure out what he was working on and where he left off on projects. I have to get filled in on secret projects and financial reports and a whole hell of a lot more stuff. I’m really sorry. I will be home tonight though.” He gave me a promising smile before kissing me.

There was a wake that Hal and I were supposed attend, however after I told her about the change of wedding dates, she immediately started freaking out. “We have no time to mourn, we have to start damage control on this ASAP.”

We snuck past the people in black that were gathered in the living room and up the stairs into Hal’s room. She grabbed a notebook off her desk and joined me on her bed.

“Okay, we should make a list of everything. We have to do venue, flowers, cake, caterer, photographer, the band, the invitations. Um, what else? We have the dress, and the tux, and all of the decorations are in storage.”

I shook my head, “I think that’s it.”

“The invitations will be the hardest. Hopefully they go out in time for people to make a change of plans. It will be all so last minute. Damn him.”

“Vox?”

She shook her head, “No.”

I suddenly had the overwhelming sensation to tell her. I had been wondering for the past week whether or not she knew. But ever since her comment on how kind Mr. Bly was, I had a feeling she did. I felt weird that I knew and she probably knew, and the whole family probably knew. But they all thought that I didn’t know, but I did. “Hal, ” I took a breath as she looked up, “Do you know who Clinton Vaughn is?”

A look that I can’t quite describe passed over her face. It was like a combination of panic and confusion. As if she was pretending to not know but secretly panicking on the inside. “Who is he?”

I shrugged, “He was my Aunt’s match, but she died before they could be together.”

“And why would I know who he is?”

I bit my lip, maybe she didn’t know. But if she didn’t know, then she had the right to. “Well, I’m pretty sure he’s your father. I mean you guys look quite similar with the eyes and the smile. And I know he used to work here.”

“Just don’t tell anyone.”

“What? You know?”

“Of course I know. My mother was married to the Selector for crying out loud. As soon as I popped out he ran the usual DNA tests.”

“But the law-”

“If he had killed me, if he had reported the incident, it would have made him look bad. What would the public say if they found out that the Selector’s daughter wasn’t his? So, he let me live. He might have done it for the Selector’s reputation and not for me, but he let me live. He gave me a good life too. I could have been sent to some squalor of a sector, but he let me stay here. He might not have been a loving father figure to me, but that wasn’t really his thing anyways. Like I said, he was a kind man.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

She shrugged, “I thought about it. But I didn’t really know how to approach the situation. It’s not something I usually advertise. And I don’t know, I kind of figured Vox would tell you all the family secrets eventually.”

At least harboring that secret was off my chest. I didn’t have to worry about whether she knew, and I’m sure she felt a little relieved that she wouldn’t have to be wary of it either. “Are there any other Bly family secrets that I should be aware of?”

Hal stayed quite for a few minutes as if debating. “Not just yet.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“No offense, but you’re not a Bly quiet just yet.”

“So, I haven’t earned your trust yet?”

She shook her head, “That’s not what I meant. I just meant that there are some secrets that would completely collapse the family. And if they family goes, so does Selection. We just think that if you knew some of them, well, things wouldn’t go according to plan.”

“According to plan? What is that supposed to mean.”

She cleared her throat. “I think, I think I should make an appearance downstairs. You know, the Bly family is all about public relations.” With that she quickly scurried out of her room before I could object any further.