Blemished, The Read Online Free PDF Page A

according to my dad anyway. The Ministry controlled everything on the screens and Dad always said that he didn’t trust anything we weren’t in control of. He believed the Ministry used it to track us and could even see us through the screens. I wasn’t so sure but I still heeded the warning.
    “There’s a reason why I bought this house, Mina,” Dad said. He commenced eating again.
    “The yellow door?” I asked with a smirk.
    He glowered at me. “No. The basement. I’m going to have it renovated and turned into a room where you can train.”
    “Oh,” I said. Then I had a thought. “Are you employing someone to do that?”
    “Yes,” he answered. “I’ve contacted a lad who is good at woodwork.”
    I exhaled, relieved. That would clear up the mystery of the guest in our kitchen.
    “I’ve contacted a local builder and he’s going to spare this lad for a few days. His name i s Daniel. He’s local and lives in the ghettos. Had quite a tragic life by the sounds of it. His father ended up executed by the Ministry and his mother ran off. A local woman and her daughter took him in.” Dad continued.
    I felt the blood drain from my face. “Did you say his name is Daniel?”
    “Yes,” he replied. “What’s the matter? Do you know him?”
    “No,” I said. We finished our food in silence.
     
    *
     
    “Mashed potato bunny?” said Angela, pointing to the huge tray of lumpy potato. She’d shaped it into an uneven rabbit. It was the kind of resemblance where you had to squint and poke yourself in the eye to see it.
    “I wouldn’t call it a bunny,” I said with a laugh. “Maybe a sheep, or a cow, but definitely not a bunny.”
    “Huh!” she replied. “I spent ages making that.”
    “You should be proud,” I said with over the top sarcasm.
    Along with the rest of the Blemished girls , we were lined up beside the serving aisle of the canteen waiting for the GEMs to arrive. It was lunchtime the next day and I was finally beginning to fit in. I’d successfully avoided any toilet incidents and the GEMs had left me alone. But as I thought about facing Elena and her friends again, my forehead felt hot underneath my headscarf and I swallowed dryly.
    Angela stood to my right with her mashed potato. Despite spending the morning together we still hadn’t talked about our walk home from school. I’d been nervous, imagining various conversations in my head, but she just started acting like nothing had happened and I followed suit.  
    “Oi, Dixon,” Billie said harshly to Angela. “Mush that thing down, they’ll be here soon.”
    “All right, keep your hair on. I was just trying to have a laugh,” said Angela , with a roll of her eyes. “Things are so morbid around here.”
    Billie glanced at her sister, Emily, who nervously stirred a huge pot of gravy. I’d found myself watching Emily all morning. The girl tended to stay silent and frequently disappeared to the toilet. She moved in an odd way, almost like a waddle.
    “What are you looking at?” Billie said to me.
    “Nothing,” I murmured , before turning back to my job – arranging the pork chops under the lights on the serving aisle.
    High-heels tapped on the floor-boards. The GEMs approached. Clicking shoes were followed by perfectly manicured toes peeking from around the canteen wall. Slender calves led to smooth, hairless thighs and a tribe of miniscule skirts of all colours. Oh, they were colourful all right – it made up for their lack of personality. Red hair, blonde curls, yellow jumpers, pink cheeks, gold shoes, all shining like a sequined rainbow, made their way into the narrow food hall. White teeth on show. Laughter, smiles and inane chatter. I fiddled with my headscarf, the sight of their flesh making me feel frumpy and uncomfortable.
    “Right then,” Billie said behind me. “Play nice and serve.”
    I straightened. My muscles tensed. There was something about serving the GEMs at lunch time which made my skin crawl. Everything else