The Schooldays of Jesus by J. M. Coetzee

a token that they have not forgotten their generosity. On these visits David is unusually forthcoming about the Academy. The sisters have heard him expound on the noble numbers and the auxiliary numbers and watched him perform some of the movements from the simpler dances, the Two and the Three, dances which if done justly call down their respective noble numbers from the stars. They have been charmed by his physical grace and impressed by the gravity with which he presents the unusual teachings of the Academy. But on this new visit the boy is faced with a challenge of another kind: to explain to them why he wants to leave home and live with the Arroyos.
    â€˜Are you sure that señor and señora Arroyo will have room for you?’ asks Consuelo. ‘As I understand it—correct me if I am wrong, Inés—there are just the two of them, and they have quite a complement of boarders as well as children of their own. What have you got against living at home with your parents?’
    â€˜They don’t understand me,’ says the boy.
    Consuelo and Valentina exchange glances. ‘ My parents don’t understand me ,’ says Consuelo ruminatively. ‘Where have I heard those words before? Pray tell me, young man: why is it so important that your parents should understand you? Is it not enough that they are good parents?’
    â€˜Simón doesn’t understand the numbers,’ says the boy.
    â€˜I don’t understand numbers either. I leave that sort of thing to Roberta.’
    The boy is silent.
    â€˜Have you thought carefully about this, David?’ asks Valentina. ‘Is your mind made up? Are you sure that after a week with the Arroyos you won’t change your mind and ask to come home?’
    â€˜I won’t change my mind.’
    â€˜Very well,’ says Consuelo. She glances at Valentina, at Alma. ‘You can have your wish and become a boarder at the Academy. We will discuss the fees with señora Arroyo. But your complaint about your parents, that they don’t understand you, pains us. It seems to be asking a lot that they should not only be good parents but understand you as well. I certainly don’t understand you.’
    â€˜Nor I,’ says Valentina. Alma is silent.
    â€˜Aren’t you going to thank señora Consuelo and señora Valentina and señora Alma?’ says Inés.
    â€˜Thank you,’ says the boy.
    The next morning, instead of going to Modas Modernas, Inés accompanies them to the Academy. ‘David says he wants to become a boarder here,’ she tells Ana Magdalena. ‘I don’t know who put the idea in his head, and I’m not asking you to tell. I just want to know: Do you have room for him?’
    â€˜Is this true, David? You want to board with us?’
    â€˜Yes,’ says the boy.
    â€˜And you are opposed, señora?’ says Ana Magdalena. ‘If you are opposed to the idea, why not simply say so?’
    She is addressing Inés, but he, Simón, is the one who replies. ‘We don’t oppose this latest desire of his for the simple reasonthat we don’t have the strength,’ he says. ‘With us David always gets his way, in the end. That is the kind of family we are: one master and two servants.’
    Inés does not find this amusing. Nor does Ana Magdalena. But David smiles serenely.
    â€˜Girls like security,’ says Ana Magdalena, ‘but for boys it is different. For boys, some boys, leaving home is a great adventure. However, David, I must warn you, if you come and live with us you won’t be master any longer. In our home señor Arroyo is the master and the boys and girls listen to what he says. Do you accept that?’
    â€˜Yes,’ says the boy.
    â€˜But just during the week,’ says Inés. ‘At weekends he comes home.’
    â€˜I will write down a list of the things you should pack for him,’ says Ana Magdalena. ‘Don’t worry.