Page 106 of The Genius
“Thank you so much for coming. It’s so much fun to see you all back here to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Pearl Pilotti School of Inclusion.”
Half of the group began clapping but Kya continued. “I would like to give the floor to our founder, Pearl Pilotti.”
Pearl didn’t step up on the chair; instead she signaled for us to form a large half circle and addressed us with a soft smile.
“Lord Khan sends his greetings. He wanted to be here to officially welcome you all, but unfortunately something urgent has delayed him. He asked that I welcome you instead, and that I tell you that he and Magni are very much looking forward to joining us as soon as they can. Now, there are a few practical things that Lord Khan asked me to make clear to you.” Pearl held up a note in front of her and as her eyes ran over it, she tugged at her lip. “Maybe it’s easier if I read it out loud. That way you will know that the profanities are his and not mine.”
People laughed.
“Okay, here we go.” Pearl took a deep breath, which allowed for a pause. “Tell them that every woman attending the reunion is under my protection, and that any fucker who thinks he can touch them because they used to be friends will be dealt with swiftly.” Pearl lifted her gaze from the note and looked to us men. “In other words, the same rule applies here as it does everywhere else in the Northlands. You cannot touch a woman without her consent.”
“Understood,” Storm piped up.
Pearl read on. “Also tell my Nmen to collectively behave as protectors to all the women present. That means stepping in if they see any sort of troubling behavior from a peer. Other than that, just tell them to have fun and save some beer for me and Magni.”
Marco leaned in and whispered in my ear. “If anyone misbehaves you’ll come to me.”
I dipped my head. “Of course.”
His eyes fell to my lips and he leaned in a little. It instinctively made me pull back. I wasn’t ready for everyone to know about us. Widening my eyes and moving my eyeballs toward the others, I told him without words that now wasn’t the right time or place to kiss.
Marco’s face tightened before he walked away to join the other Nmen, who seemed to have taken to heart the stern warning about not touching us women. They kept to themselves, drinking and laughing out loud.
“I thought this might happen,” Mila said, her eyes darting between the divided group of men and women. “But don’t worry. I planned all sorts of fun games for us.”
Looking on, I followed Mila’s failed attempt to organize a party game.
“Sorry, Mila, we promised to play soccer with the kids.” The men excused themselves and headed to the soccer field.
I mingled with the former students, Kya, Pearl, and Athena, whose two sons came complaining to her that there wasn’t room for them on Hunter’s team.
“It’s because all the grown-ups want to be on his team too,” the older one said, while the younger brother stood with his arms crossed and kicked at the ground with a pout on his face.
“Finn,” Athena called out. “The boys want to play with their idol.”
Finn just waved back, looking like a kid himself and shouted, “Me too.”
“Boys, go tell Dad and Tristan that they can play for ten minutes and then you’ll take their places,” Athena instructed her sons, who ran full speed back to the soccer field.
I waved to my sister, Rochelle, who looked to be in a passionate discussion with William; he had been the youngest boy when the school first started out.
“You don’t kill humans just because they can’t talk or answer academic questions. So why animals? They still have emotions, dreams, loyalty, and a right to a full life too,” she argued. “Killing animals is inhumane.”
William spread out his arms. “That’s the fucking point, isn’t it? It’s inhumane because they’re not human.”
I changed my course as I wasn’t in the mood to hear another argument on that subject. Killing animals for food was illegal in the Motherlands but here it was considered normal, and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
“Hey, Shelly.”
I recognized Nero right away. He had that same bead in his beard that I had seen so many men wearing when Tristan took me to the drone race. “Hi, Nero, how are you?”
“Good.”
“Why aren’t you playing soccer with the other men?”
He looked over to the soccer field. “I’ll play later, when there are no kids.”
“You don’t like kids?”
