bugger off. I’ll make sure you’re paid exactly what you’re owed.’
‘Ignorant pig,’ she spits. ‘Don’t you even watch the news? My parents are in one of the factory farms up north. They’ve closed it down, and now they’ll either make them fight against your country or shoot them dead. You understand? My folks are trapped. And once your military, or mine, track me down — and, trust me,one of them’s sure to do it eventually — I’m good as dead as well. I’ve had too much Western education. They’ll see me as a traitor — too risky to their stupid war.’
‘Whoa!’ I certainly was not expecting that. Bloody hell .
Nor was I expecting Mikey, who’s tackling me to the floor, to kick me in the shins. ‘Hate you, Ashy. Go away. Say sorry now!’
My shin is frickin’ killing me. ‘Okay, okay …’
I feel like my brain’s gone on strike. There’s only so much shit it can take. The only thing I do know is that, whether what she’s said is true or not, Jiao believes it — the inflections in her speech make that quite clear. It’s one of the weird things about what I’ve been studying: by default, you end up listening far more intently than you ever knew was possible and, somewhere along the way, you start to realise you can sometimes pick up lies or truth. Mikey does this without even trying, like it’s wired into his damaged DNA. Maybe I should’ve taken more notice of the fact he likes and trusts her as a friend and not just because she’s the owner of such hypnotising tits.
I limp back to the chair and spread my hands to hide my face. I have to pull myself together. I’m acting like a total dick. ‘Look, I’m sorry. Okay? I had no idea.’
Jiao’s still standing by the TV, arms crossed and legs astride. ‘Thanks.’
It’s a marathon effort to rein my thoughts back under some control. ‘So, where are you going to go?’
She shrugs, her fuck-off demeanour slipping as her arms drop to her sides. ‘I don’t know. But I can’t stay where I am.’
‘Why not?’
‘I live in a boarding house with lots of other kids whose families work up on the farms. Our house parents are very pro-UPR.’
Now I really feel ashamed. I’ve seen docos about the kinds of conditions kids like her have to put up with. They may be living in a so-called free country, but they’re cramped into sub-standard housing and bullied like hell — and one foot out of line can see them shipped back home to scavenge for themselves or sent to work in regulated labour camps right here. Either way, their destiny is not their own.
Mikey slips his arm around her waist. ‘Stay here, Jow Jow. Don’t go away.’
‘Thanks, Mikey. But you guys have enough to deal with right now.’
‘No, he’s right!’ Jiao does a double-take. But I have to make things up to her. Dad would be furious if I let her go when it’s so dangerous. ‘Stay here — at least until we see how this unfolds.’
‘But you’ve just lost your father …’
‘Mikey needs you here right now. Besides, I’ll need someone to stay with him while I sort funerals and lawyers and all the other shit. You’d be doing us a big favour.’ Now that I’ve said it, I realise how true that is. Having someone to help navigate Mikey through the rapids of the next few days would certainly take the load off.
Jiao strokes the top of Mikey’s head, and I swear to god he purrs. ‘I haven’t any money to contribute. Everything I earn goes towards school and board.’
‘So?’ Dad would say money should never be thereferee of what is wrong or right. ‘I’d be forking out for someone to help with Mikey, why not you?’
‘Love you,’ Mikey says, ambushing Jiao with a sloppy kiss right on her mouth.
‘I love you too,’ she says through a watery smile. She subtly wipes her mouth dry on his shoulder, making it look like she’s nuzzling in. It’s pretty nice, the way she leaves him with his self-respect intact.
‘So what about it?’
‘Okay.
‘Ignorant pig,’ she spits. ‘Don’t you even watch the news? My parents are in one of the factory farms up north. They’ve closed it down, and now they’ll either make them fight against your country or shoot them dead. You understand? My folks are trapped. And once your military, or mine, track me down — and, trust me,one of them’s sure to do it eventually — I’m good as dead as well. I’ve had too much Western education. They’ll see me as a traitor — too risky to their stupid war.’
‘Whoa!’ I certainly was not expecting that. Bloody hell .
Nor was I expecting Mikey, who’s tackling me to the floor, to kick me in the shins. ‘Hate you, Ashy. Go away. Say sorry now!’
My shin is frickin’ killing me. ‘Okay, okay …’
I feel like my brain’s gone on strike. There’s only so much shit it can take. The only thing I do know is that, whether what she’s said is true or not, Jiao believes it — the inflections in her speech make that quite clear. It’s one of the weird things about what I’ve been studying: by default, you end up listening far more intently than you ever knew was possible and, somewhere along the way, you start to realise you can sometimes pick up lies or truth. Mikey does this without even trying, like it’s wired into his damaged DNA. Maybe I should’ve taken more notice of the fact he likes and trusts her as a friend and not just because she’s the owner of such hypnotising tits.
I limp back to the chair and spread my hands to hide my face. I have to pull myself together. I’m acting like a total dick. ‘Look, I’m sorry. Okay? I had no idea.’
Jiao’s still standing by the TV, arms crossed and legs astride. ‘Thanks.’
It’s a marathon effort to rein my thoughts back under some control. ‘So, where are you going to go?’
She shrugs, her fuck-off demeanour slipping as her arms drop to her sides. ‘I don’t know. But I can’t stay where I am.’
‘Why not?’
‘I live in a boarding house with lots of other kids whose families work up on the farms. Our house parents are very pro-UPR.’
Now I really feel ashamed. I’ve seen docos about the kinds of conditions kids like her have to put up with. They may be living in a so-called free country, but they’re cramped into sub-standard housing and bullied like hell — and one foot out of line can see them shipped back home to scavenge for themselves or sent to work in regulated labour camps right here. Either way, their destiny is not their own.
Mikey slips his arm around her waist. ‘Stay here, Jow Jow. Don’t go away.’
‘Thanks, Mikey. But you guys have enough to deal with right now.’
‘No, he’s right!’ Jiao does a double-take. But I have to make things up to her. Dad would be furious if I let her go when it’s so dangerous. ‘Stay here — at least until we see how this unfolds.’
‘But you’ve just lost your father …’
‘Mikey needs you here right now. Besides, I’ll need someone to stay with him while I sort funerals and lawyers and all the other shit. You’d be doing us a big favour.’ Now that I’ve said it, I realise how true that is. Having someone to help navigate Mikey through the rapids of the next few days would certainly take the load off.
Jiao strokes the top of Mikey’s head, and I swear to god he purrs. ‘I haven’t any money to contribute. Everything I earn goes towards school and board.’
‘So?’ Dad would say money should never be thereferee of what is wrong or right. ‘I’d be forking out for someone to help with Mikey, why not you?’
‘Love you,’ Mikey says, ambushing Jiao with a sloppy kiss right on her mouth.
‘I love you too,’ she says through a watery smile. She subtly wipes her mouth dry on his shoulder, making it look like she’s nuzzling in. It’s pretty nice, the way she leaves him with his self-respect intact.
‘So what about it?’
‘Okay.
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