dropped from the tree and ran
for home base at the center of the yard. Zeke turned when the other kids started cheering her on. He tried to cut her off, but she got there first, throwing her hands in the air.
“Ha, I win!”
“You cheated!”
Liddi turned to face Zeke, her hands on her hips. “I did not. I was in the tree. You’re just too stupid to ever look up.”
He shoved her shoulders, forcing her to stumble back a step. “Don’t call me stupid.”
“Then don’t act stupid,” she said, shoving him in return.
Words were left behind as they went at each other, goaded by their gathering classmates. Liddi had wrestled plenty with her brothers, so she wasn’t afraid of a fight, especially not
with someone who called her a cheater when she wasn’t. Not even when he hit her in the mouth and made her lip bleed.
She
was
afraid of insects with stingers, though, so a
buzzing by her ear was enough to make her push off from Zeke and back away quickly.
“Stop it, both of you! Everyone inside. Zeke, Liddi, with me.”
Ms. Bledsoe arrived a minute too late. It was already broken up, thanks to Liddi’s fear of bees.
They weren’t bees, though. A swarm of vid-cams swirled around her. They never got this close, but they refused to be shooed away, sticking right by her as the administrator led the
kids into the school.
Several minutes later, Liddi sat in a chair outside Ms. Bledsoe’s office, still surrounded by vid-cams. Emil’s classroom was right down the hall. She wanted so badly to run
straight to him, but she knew the cams would follow. That knowledge held her in place. Her parents had been contacted, so she expected her mother to arrive any moment.
The swarm of vid-cams suddenly zipped down the hall, meeting not just her mother but her father, too.
“They’re not supposed to be in the school, Nevi,” Mrs. Jantzen said.
Her husband glared at the vid-cams. “Leave or start shopping for new cams. Your choice.”
The buzzing devices scattered.
Mrs. Jantzen knelt down to check Liddi over for injuries beyond the bloody lip as Ms. Bledsoe came out of the office. “Mr. Jantzen! I thought your wife would be coming alone. I’m
sure you’re very busy.”
The words made Liddi’s mother’s lips thin, but the teacher didn’t see that.
“We’re
both
very busy, Ms. Bledsoe,” Mr. Jantzen said, “but when we learn a boy was allowed to pick a fight with our daughter, we make the time. Come on,
Liddi-Loo,” he added, scooping her up in his arms. “Let’s go.”
“I’m afraid we still need to sit down and have a talk about appropriate behavior,” Ms. Bledsoe protested.
“We saw the media-casts on the way here. The boy started it, and we’re going home.”
There was no more arguing as the Jantzens took their daughter away. Liddi’s father only spoke again when no one was close enough to hear.
“Liddi, are you all right?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“What that boy did was wrong, but you need to be very careful. Remember that you’re always being watched.”
“Nevi,” Mrs. Jantzen cut in. “She’s barely five. You really want her growing up with that kind of paranoia?”
“I know, Sav. But they’re already pushing the boundaries. I’m afraid it’s the life she’ll have.”
Liddi already knew the vid-cams were part of life. She’d seen them around and heard her brothers talk about them plenty. She knew nothing was ever secret.
Someone was always listening.
“HOW DOES THIS SOUND?” Tiav asks the next morning, gesturing for me to sit at the desk in the Nyum office. “I was thinking I
could program the computer to read off the sounds for you. If you wear an earpiece, whoever you’re ‘talking’ to won’t hear anything until you have the words
ready.”
That seems like it’ll work. I can only imagine how maddening it would be for the Ferinnes to listen to all those sounds a dozen times or so for every sentence I try to say. Like Dom
listing the top-rated media-casts when
for home base at the center of the yard. Zeke turned when the other kids started cheering her on. He tried to cut her off, but she got there first, throwing her hands in the air.
“Ha, I win!”
“You cheated!”
Liddi turned to face Zeke, her hands on her hips. “I did not. I was in the tree. You’re just too stupid to ever look up.”
He shoved her shoulders, forcing her to stumble back a step. “Don’t call me stupid.”
“Then don’t act stupid,” she said, shoving him in return.
Words were left behind as they went at each other, goaded by their gathering classmates. Liddi had wrestled plenty with her brothers, so she wasn’t afraid of a fight, especially not
with someone who called her a cheater when she wasn’t. Not even when he hit her in the mouth and made her lip bleed.
She
was
afraid of insects with stingers, though, so a
buzzing by her ear was enough to make her push off from Zeke and back away quickly.
“Stop it, both of you! Everyone inside. Zeke, Liddi, with me.”
Ms. Bledsoe arrived a minute too late. It was already broken up, thanks to Liddi’s fear of bees.
They weren’t bees, though. A swarm of vid-cams swirled around her. They never got this close, but they refused to be shooed away, sticking right by her as the administrator led the
kids into the school.
Several minutes later, Liddi sat in a chair outside Ms. Bledsoe’s office, still surrounded by vid-cams. Emil’s classroom was right down the hall. She wanted so badly to run
straight to him, but she knew the cams would follow. That knowledge held her in place. Her parents had been contacted, so she expected her mother to arrive any moment.
The swarm of vid-cams suddenly zipped down the hall, meeting not just her mother but her father, too.
“They’re not supposed to be in the school, Nevi,” Mrs. Jantzen said.
Her husband glared at the vid-cams. “Leave or start shopping for new cams. Your choice.”
The buzzing devices scattered.
Mrs. Jantzen knelt down to check Liddi over for injuries beyond the bloody lip as Ms. Bledsoe came out of the office. “Mr. Jantzen! I thought your wife would be coming alone. I’m
sure you’re very busy.”
The words made Liddi’s mother’s lips thin, but the teacher didn’t see that.
“We’re
both
very busy, Ms. Bledsoe,” Mr. Jantzen said, “but when we learn a boy was allowed to pick a fight with our daughter, we make the time. Come on,
Liddi-Loo,” he added, scooping her up in his arms. “Let’s go.”
“I’m afraid we still need to sit down and have a talk about appropriate behavior,” Ms. Bledsoe protested.
“We saw the media-casts on the way here. The boy started it, and we’re going home.”
There was no more arguing as the Jantzens took their daughter away. Liddi’s father only spoke again when no one was close enough to hear.
“Liddi, are you all right?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“What that boy did was wrong, but you need to be very careful. Remember that you’re always being watched.”
“Nevi,” Mrs. Jantzen cut in. “She’s barely five. You really want her growing up with that kind of paranoia?”
“I know, Sav. But they’re already pushing the boundaries. I’m afraid it’s the life she’ll have.”
Liddi already knew the vid-cams were part of life. She’d seen them around and heard her brothers talk about them plenty. She knew nothing was ever secret.
Someone was always listening.
“HOW DOES THIS SOUND?” Tiav asks the next morning, gesturing for me to sit at the desk in the Nyum office. “I was thinking I
could program the computer to read off the sounds for you. If you wear an earpiece, whoever you’re ‘talking’ to won’t hear anything until you have the words
ready.”
That seems like it’ll work. I can only imagine how maddening it would be for the Ferinnes to listen to all those sounds a dozen times or so for every sentence I try to say. Like Dom
listing the top-rated media-casts when
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