Two boys stood at the back door of the kitchen.
Etta and Gary.
Gary tugged on Etta’s arm, whispering, “What do you think?”
“As long as we’re not separated, I’m fine with anything,” Etta said frankly.
“That girl Rocky mentioned, are you going to look for her?”
Gary nodded.
He had been observing for a few days.
Mandy Donovan hadn’t told anyone that Archie Young was taking care of them, and she was the only girl in their group of sixteen-year-olds who planned on taking a husband.
He had no other choice.
“We’ll go find her together.”
Inside the kitchen, Rocky was still complaining that Mandy Donovan ate too much, was inconsiderate, and wasn’t suitable wife material.
“Alright, alright, go tell your mother.
I’m not getting involved,” Archie Young said, unable to listen anymore.
The welfare center’s rations were based on the bare minimum for survival, yet Rocky was still complaining that she ate too much.
“Hurry up and go home.
I’m busy.”
They had no idea their conversation had been overheard.
The eavesdroppers left.
Rocky hurried out right after.
He hadn’t gotten far from the kitchen when he ran right into a woman’s embrace.
“OOF!”
The woman caught Rocky and looked him up and down.
“You folks from the welfare center are all pretty good-looking—” As she spoke, her hand moved toward his crotch!
Startled, Rocky shoved the woman away.
“What are you doing?”
But the woman grabbed him by the wrist.
“Take me to Etta and Gary.”
The two boys she was after were in the cafeteria, separated from her by just a wall.
Etta didn’t see her, but Gary pressed his younger brother’s head down.
“That person is here for us.”
The moment he said those two words, “that person,” a look of fear appeared on Etta Moore’s face.
“Brother!”
“SHH!” Crouching down, the two of them peered out the window.
Seeing the woman struggling with Rocky, Gary made an instant decision.
“Go!”
“Mandy!
Wait up!” Mandy Donovan walked out of the kitchen and collected her drinking water.
The turbid liquid barely covered the bottom of her bowl.
Just as she was about to find a corner to wash it, she heard someone calling her name.
Two boys, covered in grime from head to toe.
But their eyes were bright, and their teeth were very white.
“Is that you two?
Did Auntie Young send you to get me?” Mandy Donovan looked behind them.
Gary was anxious, afraid Rocky would bring that woman over.
He got straight to the point.
“Mandy, it wasn’t Auntie Young.
We came to find you ourselves.
We’re brothers, and we’re turning sixteen soon.
We heard you want to take a husband.
Would we do?
This is my younger brother, Etta.”
Having just gotten a scare, and now having to discuss getting married, Etta kept his head down, kicking at the ground, refusing to look up.
“The two of us don’t mind that you eat a lot.
We’re very hardworking!”
“Huh?
I eat a lot?” Mandy Donovan pointed to her own nose.
She was as skinny as a ghost.
‘Other than the two meals they hand out each day, I haven’t touched a thing from my Space, precisely because I was afraid of looking different from everyone else.’
‘I never thought that Rocky wasn’t just a loudmouth, but a genuinely bad person.’
“My brother and I won’t mind that you eat a lot.
After we get married, we can buy a house.
The two of us can work to support you,” Gary said.
He had only found Mandy Donovan who was willing to take a husband and was afraid of missing the opportunity.
“We’ll treat you really well.”
Mandy Donovan stared at the two little, grimy turnip-heads whose features she couldn’t even make out.
‘It’s not even certain who will be supporting whom,’ she thought.
“Do you two even know what marriage means?” ‘I want two prospects with potential that I can cultivate.’
“It’s buying a house together, living together, going on gathering runs together, stuff like that!” Etta knew a little about what marriage meant; the boys in the dorm often talked about girls.
“You’re not willing?” Gary looked at Mandy Donovan nervously.
“If you’ll only take one, then just take my younger brother.”
‘As long as my brother doesn’t become a vagrant, I can handle it.’
‘Should I agree?
Two little turnip-heads…’ Mandy Donovan wanted to sigh at the heavens.
‘My own body is only sixteen, too.’ “Let me think, let me think!”
Gary’s face was full of hope as he looked at Mandy Donovan.
Though he was burning with anxiety, he waited patiently for her answer.
‘You have to at least try.
What if it works out?’
Meanwhile, Etta, who was usually so obedient, disagreed.
His eyes were red as he stared intently at Gary.
“No, we’re not splitting up!
We promised, Brother!
Are you abandoning me?”
“No, your brother isn’t abandoning you.” Gary reached out to pat Etta’s head but his hand was slapped away.
He looked sadly at his younger brother Etta.
“Be good now, don’t cause a scene.”
Etta started to cry.
His tears cut through the coal dust on his face, leaving behind black and white streaks.
Although she couldn’t really see the two turnip-heads’ faces, Mandy Donovan could tell from the thick coal dust covering them that the brothers, like her, were deliberately camouflaging their faces.
The younger brother, Etta, was crying his face into a streaky mess.
The older brother, Gary, frantically tried to wipe away his tears, which only made Etta’s streaky face even more of a mess.
“Gary, and Etta, right?
I can marry both of you.
The three of us can partner up to buy a house and manage our own finances.
If we can live together in the future, we’ll continue.
If we can’t, we’ll get a divorce.
How about that?” ‘They probably won’t understand this concept of a cooperative living arrangement,’ Mandy Donovan thought.
Etta looked up sharply at Mandy Donovan.
“Are you going to marry both of us?
Marrying just one won’t work.”
“I’ll marry both of you.
The sooner we register, the sooner we can enter the housing lottery and register for work qualifications.” ‘I wanted to be a bit pickier,’ Mandy Donovan mused, ‘but my sixteenth birthday is just a few days away.’
“Really?” Etta’s eyes, rimmed with red, grew wide, making him look like a big puppy with watery eyes.
The sight made Mandy Donovan’s ‘old auntie’ heart melt a little.
“Of course it’s real.
But we need to get a few things straight beforehand.
We’ll be married, yes, but if you fall for someone else in the future, or I fall for someone else, we’ll get a divorce.
Any problems with that?”
“No problem,” Etta said loudly, afraid Mandy Donovan might change her mind.
“What else?”
Mandy Donovan continued, “No one is allowed to bring other people to live in our house without the consent of all three of us.
Any problems with that?”
“None!” Gary and Etta shook their heads in unison.
“On major household matters, you listen to me.
Any objections?” Mandy Donovan was a bit domineering, especially when it came to the “little family” she hoped to build.
‘I’m not really sixteen.
With my past life’s age added to this one, I’m a woman pushing fifty.’
The two boys nodded obediently.
Mandy Donovan resisted the urge to reach out and pat their heads.
“Do you have any requirements for me?”
Gary held Etta’s hand.
“My brother is a bit hot-headed.
If he does something wrong, please don’t hit him.
Let me handle it, okay?”
“If we make you angry, you can’t refuse to feed us,” Etta added, his voice still choked with tears as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
‘Sigh, my old auntie heart…’ ‘I’ll just treat them as two roommates,’ Mandy Donovan thought, before asking tentatively, “You guys know what divorce is, right?”
“When you don’t want to live together anymore, you dissolve the marriage,” Gary replied, showing he understood.
He held Etta’s hand.
“We don’t hit people.
You can hit me, but you can’t hit my brother.”
‘One is a cute, obedient puppy, and the other is a warm-hearted golden retriever trying to act mature.’ Mandy Donovan waved her hand.
“Don’t worry.
As long as you don’t do anything to betray me, I won’t hit you.
By the way, I have a First Rank Wood Ability.
What about you two?”
“We both have a First Rank Gold Ability.
It’s easy to find work with it,” Gary said.
He was worried Mandy Donovan would back out.
‘There are just so many Gold Ability Users, and we’re only First Rank.
We’re not that exceptional.’
“Let’s go register first,” Mandy Donovan said, making the final decision.
‘They’re just roommates, so I can’t be that picky.
Worst case, we get a divorce.’
Having reached an agreement, the three of them immediately headed to the marriage registration office.
Back in the kitchen, unable to find the brothers, the woman showed her true colors.
She pinned Rocky down and started pulling at his clothes.
“Let me see how big you are, little darling?”
…
There were many people there to register, all from the various welfare centers.
None of them were old; every face that had just turned sixteen was etched with numbness and confusion.
“I’ll go get in line.
Etta, don’t you wander off.” Gary was actually afraid Mandy Donovan would run off, since she could back out at any time before they registered.
As he stood in line, he kept looking back at his brother and Mandy.
Etta stood beside Mandy Donovan and asked in a small voice, “You’re not going to back out, are you?”
“Of course not, you silly goose.” ‘The brothers’ worries were so easy to read.
For now, it’s a little naive and cute.
As long as they’re not actually stupid, I can accept this,’ Mandy Donovan thought.
She really couldn’t resist and reached out to ruffle Etta’s hair.
After doing it, she instantly regretted it.
His hair was also full of coal dust.
Mandy Donovan said, almost as a reflex, “I need to add one more condition.
You two are not allowed to get this filthy—” Her hand was now black.