Page 84 of The Mentor
“Of course.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you if you like being my assistant,” I asked to make small talk.
Shelly didn’t even hesitate when she answered. “I do. It’s not very academically challenging of course, but I find it fascinating to study the Nmen and their culture.”
It was hard to hear what she was saying when I was floating with my ears under the water so I changed position and trod water.
“Did you say that you find the Nmen fascinating?”
She nodded.
“Tell me: what’s your impression of them so far?”
She angled her head and looked thoughtful. “They have some of the character traits that I was expecting such as being highly competitive, combative, aggressive, physically strong, and confrontational in their communication.”
“You’ve got that right.”
“That being said,” she continued matter-of-factly, “I rather appreciate their directness and logical thinking. What surprises me, though, is how unwilling they are to address their need for connection – both physically and spiritually. In fact, if you try to bring it up as a subject, they will either joke about it or change the subject.”
“Yes, they don’t like to talk about emotions much,” I agreed. “At least not in public.” I realized that I could stand on my tiptoes with the water covering my chest.
Shelly mirrored me, but because she was petite the water went all the way up to her chin. “Did you know that most of them are superstitious? Finn, for instance truly believes that he was cursed. And he’s a doctor.” She emphasized the last part with a shake of her head.
“I know.” I furrowed my brow. “It’s bizarre, isn’t it?”
“It’s like on one side they’re big brave men, and on the other side they’re small naïve boys willing to believe in myths and legends.”
“Why do you think that is?”
Shelly wrinkled her nose up. “My only logical conclusion is that they are trained to take orders and not ask too many critical questions. I suppose it comes with being conditioned from an early age.”
“Aren’t we all?”
She shrugged. “Some more than others, I guess.”
“And you don’t consider yourself conditioned?”
“We’re all products of the environment we grow up in, but I would like to think that I reflect on things more than the average person.”
“I would agree. You’re very astute,” I complimented her.
“It’s just how my brain works.”
Moving my hands in circles, I made small waves in the water, and took a minute to enjoy the calming sounds of the ocean and the heat of the sun on my scalp. “How does it feel to be a genius anyway?” I asked her.
A triangle formed between her eyebrows. “I don’t think of myself that way. There might be things that are easy for me, but believe me, other things can completely throw me off.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for one, I know nothing about fashion, nor do I want to. And I often bore people when I talk to them because I go into too many details and get hung up on the facts.”
“I don’t think it’s boring with details.”
“That’s because you’re fairly intelligent too,” Shelly said dryly before her eyes glazed over. “Sometimes I just wish that people would see past my brain. It’s like all they see is my intellect, and they all expect me to invent something revolutionary or cure a horrible disease because anything less would be a waste of my genius.” She sighed. “I wish I could come up with something outrageous and show everyone that there’s more to me than smarts.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“That’s the problem,” she said softly. “I’m not creative enough to come up with something outrageous.”
