Page 122 of The Ruler
Magni moved in his seat. “How long do you shower together?” he asked the women, and I heard the unusual curiosity in his voice.
“Normally all the way through high school, but as I’ve told you,” Pearl said, “we don’t care much about gender and we don’t sexualize the naked body.”
Magni rubbed his forehead. “Fucking hell, I’m going to have wet dreams about being a teenage boy in a community shower full of young women.”
“I really don’t see the problem,” Christina said. “You do it too. You just admitted that the boys shower together.”
“Yes, but they’re all boys,” Archer said in frustration.
“So? Sometimes boys like boys. Don’t tell me the Northlands don’t have a single homosexual.”
“It happens,” I said.
“And do you separate those boys from showering with the others?”
“No, of course not.”
“Why not? They might get sexually aroused,” Kya said dryly. “You’re being complete hypocrites about this. It’s just a shower, not a sex club.”
My eyes shot to Pearl with Kya’s reminder that the Motherlands had sex clubs, and it didn’t help my mood that I knew Pearl had once visited one of them.
Archer leaned toward Kya. “If that’s how you feel, then how about you and I go shower a few times just to test out your theory that it’s nothing sexual.”
“Yeah, that’s not fucking happening,” Magni declared firmly.
“Maybe we can wait with the showering together for now,” Pearl suggested.
“Fine, but I’m not giving up on the massage,” Kya said and this time she crossed her arms with a stubborn pout.
“Massage?” I tilted my head.
“Yes, it’s scientifically proven that human touch is important for many reasons, one being that it reduces stress and helps bond people. In my classroom the children always have half an hour of massaging each other twice a week.”
“And that obviously conflicts with my keep-your-hands-to-yourself-policy,” Archer pointed out.
“Why do you not want your boys to touch each other?” Christina asked with a puzzled expression.
“Because it always ends in fighting.”
“Of course it does,” Kya said in a lecturing manner. “How else would the poor boys meet their need for physical touch?”
“I say we vote on it,” Christina suggested.
“No.” Archer sat tall in his chair. “It’s enough that I have to compromise with Kya; I don’t want the rest of you dragged into this too.”
“Why not?” Kya said. “Every school has a board of members working to support the school. The seven of us should form a board.”
“Excellent idea,” Christina chimed in.
I held up a hand to stop them. “There are only two people with the ultimate decision and that’s me and Pearl. I’m not sharing power with anyone but her.”
“Nonsense; it’s a great exercise in democracy and aligns perfectly with the school’s being experimental,” Pearl said and raised her hand. “Who votes for the seven of us being a school board from now on?”
Four hands went up, three hands stayed down.
“Traitor,” I muttered to Boulder, who just grinned back at me.
“Hey, I always felt you had too much power for your own good. I’m happy to help you distribute it a little,” he said.
