Page 173 of The Casualty of Us
“Wha—no” He shakes his head harder with a sharp scoff. “That’s ridiculous.”
“But why?” I frown harder. “All the statistics tell us that most sexually violent crimes are perpetrated by men, so…” His face falls as I let the word trail off, part of him probably starting to catch up now. “If that’s what the evidence is telling us, then why not implement chemical castration as the standard of punishment for all sex offenders?”
He pauses. “That’s a more complicated issue.”
“I’m sorry.” I let out a scoff of my own, going straight to that place I need inside of my head and letting the rest of the room fade away. “You wanted to talk about protecting the children, Kyler, so I don’t see many things more threatening to a child than a pedophile or to a woman than a rapist.” He opens his mouth, but I break his own reasoning before tossing it back his way. “Or are you saying bodily autonomy matters because the issue of forced vaccination would inevitably lead to adults one day too? That people should have a choice about what’s done to them? What happens to their bodies?” Pausing purposefully, I drop my brows to feign confusion. “I don’t think you can have it both ways, right? You can’t say the bodily autonomy of the worst kind of criminal matters enough to not pump something into them against their will but not apply that same principle to the rest of society.”
“It’s not the same.” He cracks, face showing the first real frustration I’ve seen from him this semester. “You’re twisting it.” A sudden breath leaves him. “Talking about putting something harmful into thousands of men who might’ve just been wrongfully—”
“No, no, no.” I let a giggle bubble past my lips while going straight for the attack. “As much as I believe in the science of vaccines, you’re not going to ignore the fact that for the handful of people that have reactions, it has the potential to cause harm. Therefore, we allow people to make the choice for themselves, just as most states that allow for chemical castration use it asa means of sentencing negotiations more so than a mandatory one.”
“Fine,” he snaps. “I’ll concede that point for now, but—”
“Which means that we can objectively agree that forcing anyone to do something against their will is a violation of not only their bodily autonomy but also their basic human rights.” I pause, narrowing my eyes before truly throwing his own words back in his face. “Because that should just be common sense, right?” Savoring it. “To not impose my views on others because personal choice matters more than anything else in a free society.”
The silence holds between us then, him sitting there with surprise playing out across his face and eyes moving over me like he’s never seen me before while I finally give voice to the corner of my brain I’ve devoted to dealing with him.
“You know the truth at the end of the day is we argue our values, Kyler,” I sigh. “Good or bad, and I’ve watched you argue yours for an entire semester now, but—” I immediately take a deep breath to truly begin the dismantlement and deliver on at least one promise for now. “Ultimately your reasoning is flawed because it’s tied to a morality that you’ve never bothered to push outside of your own perspective enough to achieve objectivity.” His face falls, and I lean forward. “Sosure you’re right.”
A puff of laughter makes it through the haze enough to penetrate and forces me to fight the way my lips immediately want to lift.
“I understand that feeling, I do.” A scoff leaves me in place of the grin. “I’m pretty sure it’s what I felt with my first breath, that sense of utter rightness.” I cock my head at him, considering. “But I guess the difference between us is that I had Ollie forcing me to question myself with my next.”
Distracted enough to wonder, like always, what I might have looked like without my twin before I pull back from Hayes’s interruption to finish off Kyler’s fascination once and for all.
“Let me ask you something.” I pause, seeing the growing confusion on his face before posing softly. “What are women meant for in the world?”
“What?” he rebuts, immediately looking to the side where Mrs. Long is sitting and sighing like I’m a misbehaving child. “I don’t see the point. This is getting—”
“I’ll get there.” I hold up a hand her way without taking my eyes off him. “Now answer the question.”
“I’d like to see where this goes, Kyler,” Mrs. Long answers him carefully. “Finish us off for the semester, please.”
I wait until he reluctantly looks back at me to repeat, “What are women meant for?”
“That’s a subjective question.”
“Is it?” I mutter. “Huh.” Continuing without missing a beat, I toss back, “Then give me your subjective answer.”
Waiting one second, then two…giving him all the way up to five before figuring that’s enough and answering the glare he’s now leveling my way.
“My parents raised me on a lot of philosophy, always encouraging me to develop my own opinion about things,” I muse, anticipation rushing through me while finally going in for the kill. “One of the concepts that struck me the most out of it all was something called the veil of ignorance.” The spark of recognition in his eyes has me lifting a surprised brow. “You’ve heard of it?”
A beat passes before he nods once. “I’ve heard of it.”
“Oh, goodie.” I let my lips lift this time at the little kick it gives me before waving my hand around carelessly. “I’ll explain for the rest of the class.” True anger sparks in his eyes and gives me pause for about two seconds, considering the variablesbefore one promise wins out. “The veil of ignorance asks you to design a society without knowing the place you will have in it.”
I pause to let that sink in as the knee against mine gives a jerk, letting me know I’m not the only one that noticed the shift but not pushing back in protest either. Not that I could stop if I wanted to right now, honestly.
He’d probably have to haul me away.
It’s too personal now—this moment too perfect to pass up, and I’m almost there.
“So for example, Kyler, you’re about to go to the planet Earth. Hooray.” I clap my hands with a sarcastic cheer before sighing dramatically. “But before we celebrate and send you on your way, I’m going to give you the opportunity to either leave things exactly the way they are or change the rules of the world to your benefit.” He leans back with an irritated sound, no doubt already hating what’s coming next. “Here’s the tricky part, though…” I cock my head at him again, watching his eyes narrow in distaste. “You’re not going to know what role you’ll take.” Hayes’s arm brushes mine as he uncrosses his arms, and I swallow before quickly adding, “You could be anyone.”
A humorless snort leaves me. “Which sounds promising at first until you think of the girl about to be born on the other side of the world who will be so full of ideas but never even have the opportunity to learn to read.” I hold his gaze, sucking in a quick breath. “Or the boy from the city whose name you’ll never even care to know, who will lose his legs in a bombing by ten.” My words start to come so quickly that they’re practically on top of each other. “Or the single mother down the street who’s about to have to choose between buying food for the week or affording her kid’s daycare.” My lungs start to protest, demanding more air, and I slow down enough to take a deep breath before summarizing. “You could be a one percenter, or you could just be a number to someone on a budget sheet.”
The air in the room around me shifts enough to let me know the words are hitting everyone, tension rising uncomfortably and leaving me posing softly, “So tell me, Kyler, what would you do?”
