Page 118 of The Pacifist
“Sure, if I’d been smart enough to bring my VR device. Unfortunately, I was frantic to get to you after the last meeting and I left without it.”
Mila caressed my cheek. “I love you.”
Leaning my forehead against hers, I swallowed hard. “I love you too, Milove.”
“I’ve always loved when you call me that.” Mila smiled and then she pulled back and used her hands to flatten her hair. “Do I look okay?”
My face softened as I pulled her back in to indulge in another kiss. “You look gorgeous.”
With her fingers caressing my chest, Mila nibbled at my lower lip. “You know who will be happy that you don’t have to go back today? Anne will. She thinks everyone hates her at home.”
I released a heavy sigh. “It’s not an easy situation. Intellectually, I’ve forgiven her, but I’m no saint and at times, I feel anger toward her.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Yeah, well…” I shrugged. “We should check up on her and tell her that we have another two days here before we go back.”
We held hands all the way up to Anne’s room, where we found my sister on her bed reading.
“You okay?” Mila asked in her soft singsong voice.
Anne held up the forbidden book. “I found it and I’ve already read the first two chapters. Did you two get to talk?”
Mila and I exchanged a look. “We did, thank you. By the way, the Council postponed the vote until Wednesday so we don’t need to go back today as planned.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Jonah. Why did they postpone it?”
“Isobel just made a statement in response to the demonstrations. Basically, she said that we Motlanders need to remember who we are and that the protesters should go home and trust the Council to make the right decision. I think her exact words were, ‘Shouting at us won’t make us work faster or sway our decision.’”
Mila chuckled a bit.
“What’s funny about that?”
“It’s just so typically Motlandish. You might not know this, Anne, but I was part of the first integrated school with both Motlander and Northlander children.”
“Yes, Jonah told me on the way here. That’s how you ended up staying in the Northlands.”
“Exactly, but Isobel’s words are funny to me because they remind me of our teacher, Kya. Whenever the Nboys lost their temper and began screaming profanities, Kya would stay calm and say, ‘I can’t hear your words with all the shouting. When you’re ready to speak in a calm voice like me, I’m happy to listen.’”
Small crinkles formed at the edges of Anne’s eyes when she smiled. “Did it help the boys or did it just make them even angrier?”
“Mostly it helped, but it’s like Jonah said, up here people act out while back in the Motherlands people look in.”
“As in we reflect more, you mean?”
“Yes.”
Anne tilted her head. “I don’t know about that. I feel like I acted out quite a bit. If I had reflected a bit more, maybe I wouldn’t have…”
I cut Anne off. “Let it go. We’ve all done stupid stuff we regret.”
She looked down. “Yeah, I guess.”
For a moment there was an awkward silence but then Mila spoke. “Anyway, Isobel had a point. It’s hard to have a conversation when people are screaming at each other.”
Anne frowned. “But they’re out there protesting with outrage because they want to save Jonah’s seat on the council.”
I shifted my balance. “It’s not about me so much as it’s about what I represent to them. Honestly, I’d like to think that I empowered people to find their voice and now they want to be heard.”
