Doorways Chapter 8a

“Do what?” Alexandria laughed. “There's sod all here!”

“True. I'm Con.”

“Alexandria. I was helping some people on the Major Sector.” She answered vaguely.

“Yeah, 'course you were.” Con laughed. “Shift over a bit Shek, this girl is freezing over here. Got any food Alexandria?”

“Sorry, no. I've not managed to get anything yet.” Alexandria apologised.

“No matter eh? What's a day or six between meals?” Con pushed Alexandria towards the fire. “Rayne! Alexandria Rayne! I remember now?!

“People know me?” Alexandria said in surprise.

“'Course they bloody do! It isn't often one of our own gets lifted by real Sergeants and whizzed off in a Military issue jet!” Con laughed. Alexandria just nodded. That alone made it pretty certain that she wasn't 'one of their own' any more. The criminal element would shun her because of her 'ties' with the Major Sector, and the not-so-criminal would shun her because they'd see no smoke without fire and she was lifted by the Military. Apart from that, Alexandria knew within herself that she no longer fit in here. She sat and listened to the loud, profanity-littered conversations and her stomach growled with hunger. She was cold, stiff and both her feet were blistered due to soaking wet plimsoles.

“It bloody does!” One man raised his voice. “Murder on Fayle Street, it says!” He wafted a torn newspaper at another man.

“I was in Fayle Street and there was no bloody murder!” The other man shouted back. “That doesn't say Fayle Street, you prick. That probably doesn't even say Fayle street!”

“Number One Four Seven.” Alexandria sighed wearily. “It says Number One Four Seven. It's the death toll by natural causes for this two weeks. It says so underneath.”

“See? Bloody murder. You arse. It's the stiff count!”

“Oh and you believe her? Piss off, Grey, she's no better than the rest of us.”

“No, no I'm not.” Alexandria lay on a pile of damp newspapers and faced a cold, wet stone wall so no one could see her tears.

Darius sat at his desk infront of fifteen students, but he may as well have been by himself, for all the notice he was taking of them. Dean Figgis ignored him these days, but that was OK. Being ignored was better than being branded a depraved pervert, an angle which the Dean had mercifully dropped. Darius strongly suspected that someone had intervened here and reminded Dean Figgis that Alexandria's passage and presence in the Minor Sector may not have been solely Darius' secret. All in all, the whole sad situation had been swept under the rug, and the rug had been neatly rearranged during the course f the last six weeks.

“It was unanimous.” One of the students was on his feet, speaking to Darius.

“I'm sorry Frederick, what was? Forgive me, I was ill during the night.” Darius lied.

“Sorry to hear that, sir.” Frederick Fox said. “The literature for our final quarter exams, sir. The class voted on it, like you advised, and all fifteen of us chose this.” Frederick handed over a sheet of paper. Romeo and Juliet.

“Nice choice. That was the one I studied too, for my final quarter exam. It's been re-worked a thousand ways and it's still a classic.” Darius smiled.

“Classic love story.” A dark haired girl called Jeanette spoke up.

“It's often classed as a tragedy, Jeanette.” Darius nodded.

“Yes, sir, but Romeo and Juliet's love wasn't tragic, the circumstances against them were.” Jeanette pointed out.

“That's right.” Another girl called Rose spoke up. “It was their separate societies that caused the tragedy. They were drowned by their own communities so their voices were unheard.”

“Hence the tragedy.” Darius looked at his desk. No matter how advanced we think our societies are, no matter how much we tell ourselves that our societies benefit us all, underneath it all we're as bigoted now as we were when history began. We tell our own communities that we're doing everything we can to better their lives yet we ignore the fact that we're doing so at the expense of other people. The Montegues told Romeo that it was all for his own good and the Capulets told Juliet the same. They were told that they wouldn't be able to exist in each other's Houses. Two separate worlds with no doorways.”

“That won't apply now though sir.” Frederick said thoughtfully. “Obviously there are no Houses but we have no class distinction here.”