Read Online Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Leonard Richardson
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"'cause of prejudice."
Jenny cracked her door open. "What's the holdup?" she said.
"My own curiosity, I'm afraid," said Curic. She handed Dana back to Bai. "Let's take cover before we all die of heatstroke."
We escaped into the car, where Jenny had the AC running. We all sat squeezed into our seats, our feet propped up on the smaller crates, Curic sitting atop a crate despite Eduardo's offer to share a seatbelt.
"Hey, Curic," said Jenny, "Eddie wants to be an astronaut."
"Isn't he a little young to have fully-formed desires about future societal roles?" said Curic, peering suspiciously at Eduardo. Eduardo is taller than Curic.
"He's a kid who wants to be an astronaut," said Jenny. "It's cute."
"I'm an astronaut, said Curic. "It's not cute."
"It is cute," said Jenny.
"Curic, what was that you said to the immigration guy?" I said. Bai backed us out of the parking space and honked at some rubberneckers.
Curic took her tongue out again. "K'chua!" she said.
"Yeah, what's it mean?"
The prosthetic went back in. "It's a Nuk word. That's an Auslander language that's good for bringing down curses. The closest English translation might be 'fuck the system.'"
"That's very punk," I said.
"Don't swear in front of Eddie," said Jenny. "My sister is gonna think I taught him that."
"What, 'K'chua!'?" said Bai.
"The other one!"
"It's not the best translation," Curic continued oblivious, "because when you say 'fuck the system' you're addressing another person. 'K'chua' is something you say to the system ."
A car pulled out of the parking lot behind us. "Are we being followed ?" I said.
Curic squirmed to look between the huge crates in the cargo hold. "We had better not be," she said. And we weren't.
Once we got underway, sophisticated Jenny asked the same stupid question I'd asked when I first met Curic. "So, Curic, boy or girl?"
"What?" said Curic, unsure if Jenny was even talking to her. "I am both boy and girl."
"But not at the same time, right?" said Bai. "Are we talking to the boy Curic or the girl Curic?"
"Ah—" Curic muttered to herself—"the smaller gametes. The male."
"You don't just know?" I said.
"Forgive me, that's not how we classify it," said Curic. "We didn't know about sex differences until scientific times. In caveman days you'd relax in a nice tide pool, some other people would come along later and relax in the same pool, and a few tides later there'd be kids growing in the pool."
"How'd you know whose kid was whose?" said Jenny.
"Who needs to know?" said Curic. "Kids are kids."
"Wait a minute," said Jenny, "are you naked ?"
"Yes, because your planet's so damn hot," said Curic.
"Where'd you get the wood for these crates?" I asked quickly.
"It's fake wood," said Curic. "I used it as a joke. Last night I was hangin' with a Mzungu friend from Constellation Shipping, and I'm like 'ha ha, I chopped up some Wazungu-style lifeforms and made containers out of their corpses.'"
"That's a joke?"
"It was funnier when I was female," said Curic. "Anyway, my friend can take it. Is 'hangin'' really a word? I ask because there's a punctuation symbol at the end."
A half-hour of this sort of stream-of-consciousness later, Bai parked in my driveway, and we all fell out and stretched our legs. "Before we do anything else," said Curic, "there's a ritual I'd like to perform with you."
"What is it, a religious ritual or something?" said Jenny.
"I've been advised to change the subject whenever someone brings up religion," said Curic, "but it seems safe to tell you that the answer is no. We'll need some small, flat items."
"How about Jenny's tits?" said Bai.
Jenny cupped her hands over Eduardo's ears. "How 'bout your undescended testicles, Bai?" she hissed.
"Coins," I said, hands already in my pockets feeling around. "I have coins."
"I don't know what a coin is," said Curic, "but it seems like the best choice of the three."
I handed a quarter to Curic. She took it, being careful not to touch my hand, and started
Jenny cracked her door open. "What's the holdup?" she said.
"My own curiosity, I'm afraid," said Curic. She handed Dana back to Bai. "Let's take cover before we all die of heatstroke."
We escaped into the car, where Jenny had the AC running. We all sat squeezed into our seats, our feet propped up on the smaller crates, Curic sitting atop a crate despite Eduardo's offer to share a seatbelt.
"Hey, Curic," said Jenny, "Eddie wants to be an astronaut."
"Isn't he a little young to have fully-formed desires about future societal roles?" said Curic, peering suspiciously at Eduardo. Eduardo is taller than Curic.
"He's a kid who wants to be an astronaut," said Jenny. "It's cute."
"I'm an astronaut, said Curic. "It's not cute."
"It is cute," said Jenny.
"Curic, what was that you said to the immigration guy?" I said. Bai backed us out of the parking space and honked at some rubberneckers.
Curic took her tongue out again. "K'chua!" she said.
"Yeah, what's it mean?"
The prosthetic went back in. "It's a Nuk word. That's an Auslander language that's good for bringing down curses. The closest English translation might be 'fuck the system.'"
"That's very punk," I said.
"Don't swear in front of Eddie," said Jenny. "My sister is gonna think I taught him that."
"What, 'K'chua!'?" said Bai.
"The other one!"
"It's not the best translation," Curic continued oblivious, "because when you say 'fuck the system' you're addressing another person. 'K'chua' is something you say to the system ."
A car pulled out of the parking lot behind us. "Are we being followed ?" I said.
Curic squirmed to look between the huge crates in the cargo hold. "We had better not be," she said. And we weren't.
Once we got underway, sophisticated Jenny asked the same stupid question I'd asked when I first met Curic. "So, Curic, boy or girl?"
"What?" said Curic, unsure if Jenny was even talking to her. "I am both boy and girl."
"But not at the same time, right?" said Bai. "Are we talking to the boy Curic or the girl Curic?"
"Ah—" Curic muttered to herself—"the smaller gametes. The male."
"You don't just know?" I said.
"Forgive me, that's not how we classify it," said Curic. "We didn't know about sex differences until scientific times. In caveman days you'd relax in a nice tide pool, some other people would come along later and relax in the same pool, and a few tides later there'd be kids growing in the pool."
"How'd you know whose kid was whose?" said Jenny.
"Who needs to know?" said Curic. "Kids are kids."
"Wait a minute," said Jenny, "are you naked ?"
"Yes, because your planet's so damn hot," said Curic.
"Where'd you get the wood for these crates?" I asked quickly.
"It's fake wood," said Curic. "I used it as a joke. Last night I was hangin' with a Mzungu friend from Constellation Shipping, and I'm like 'ha ha, I chopped up some Wazungu-style lifeforms and made containers out of their corpses.'"
"That's a joke?"
"It was funnier when I was female," said Curic. "Anyway, my friend can take it. Is 'hangin'' really a word? I ask because there's a punctuation symbol at the end."
A half-hour of this sort of stream-of-consciousness later, Bai parked in my driveway, and we all fell out and stretched our legs. "Before we do anything else," said Curic, "there's a ritual I'd like to perform with you."
"What is it, a religious ritual or something?" said Jenny.
"I've been advised to change the subject whenever someone brings up religion," said Curic, "but it seems safe to tell you that the answer is no. We'll need some small, flat items."
"How about Jenny's tits?" said Bai.
Jenny cupped her hands over Eduardo's ears. "How 'bout your undescended testicles, Bai?" she hissed.
"Coins," I said, hands already in my pockets feeling around. "I have coins."
"I don't know what a coin is," said Curic, "but it seems like the best choice of the three."
I handed a quarter to Curic. She took it, being careful not to touch my hand, and started
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