Page 151 of The Pacifist
Magni stopped too and crossed his arms. “What would that help? Didn’t you hear Pearl in her speech that night Khan won the democratic election?”
“Which part?”
“She said, you can’t judge the past through the lens of new morals.”
I let the words sink in. “Yes, I remember, but it’s impossible not to. For instance, now, with all the regained freedom in the Motherlands it’s hard to understand why we didn’t rebel against the rigid laws sooner.”
“Are you coming?” Dina came running back to us. “Mom and Mila are setting up the picnic and Mason is being rude.”
“Tell your brother that I’ll kick his butt if he isn’t nice to his mother and sisters.”
“That’s what Aubri said.” Dina, who was tall for a seven-year-old, gave a grin that revealed she was missing a few teeth, and then she sprinted back to the meadow up ahead where Mila and Laura had stopped.
Magni and I were carrying the majority of the food and cold drinks in our backpacks. By the time we got there, the sun had half cooked us and it was nice to sit in the shadow of a big tree.
“Did you hear about Willow’s new role?” Aubri asked me.
“No?”
“They are making the forbidden book into a movie and Willow might be playing the leading role. She’s so excited about it.”
“But what about Nora and Jackson? Does she have time for that with two young kids?” Magni reached for a large tuna salad sandwich.
“Dad, she’s not their only parent. They have a father too, you know.”
“But Solo is busy.”
“So is Jonah, but he’s still there for Faith.” Mila gave me a soft smile.
I smiled back at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I’m just saying that children need their mother,” my father-in-law muttered and it made Laura caress his face.
“Mila is right, Solo and Willow are good at working together. And they have us if they need help.”
Aubri was peeling an orange. “I hope she gets the role as Deidra. I want to see that movie so bad.”
“Me too, I love that book.” Mila sighed. “I’ve readForbidden Letters from the Northat least four times – well, seven if I count the times, I’ve listened to Jonah’s recording of it.”
“Oh, wow. Then you must know it all by heart. What’s your favorite passage in it?” Laura asked while Magni handed me a beer and took one for himself.
Mila’s eyes looked up to the sky as she thought about it. “Hmm, obviously, I love all the letters and the love scenes, but there’s a part that says, ‘For decades we’ve villainized our neighbor for being different from us. Each side of the border has felt superior to the other and shown no interest in listening or trying to understand. Like two stubborn giants with our feet tied together, we’ve been leaning away from each other and have fallen to the ground. It’s time to realize that the only way to get back up is to link our hands and work together.’”
Laura nodded. “I like that. The thought of a world with men and women at war with each other is depressing.”
Magni leaned in and kissed her. “I agree.”
“Seriously, do you two ever stop kissing? It’s disgusting.” Mason, who was sitting on the edge of the large picnic blanket, rolled his eyes and looked away, but Laura was quick to pull her large son in and plant kisses on his hair, which made us all laugh.
Mason was scrunching up his face, but he didn’t fight it. It made me think that maybe he didn’t mind as much as he wanted us to think.
“One day you’ll learn that kissing is a secret super power that holds magical healing properties.”
“I don’t need any girls to kiss me.”
“That’s what I used to think, Mason.” I gave the boy a sympathetic smile. “But then I met Mila, and things changed.”
“Take it from us old and wise people,” Laura said with a mock serious tone. “Men and women need each other, and one should never be above the other.”
