In Aid

42. A Few Final Touches

For the next few days, I was busy checking things off my to-do list and that mean going out with Sang or Aubyn to get things sorted out. It was tedious and I appreciated the breaks and snacks we had between.

"Have you done this before?" I asked Sang when we stopped to have lunch. The sun was so hot and I needed something refreshing to give me some energy. Thankfully, we only had one more thing to do for the day and that was to drop my clothes off to be recycled.

"Me? Not at all. I was born, raised, and still live in Karys and I love my country and planet. I don't plan on migrating anywhere. If you're wondering how I knew what you needed to do, most of it was common sense. You are still a child-"

"Am not!" I objected. "I'm twenty-one."

"You are a child," he said more sternly. "You do not know how to get your own insurance, change your address at the DMV, apply for an apartment, set up utilities, fill out a tax form... should I continue?"

I sunk in my chair, shook my head and bit my lip to prevent any more stupid outbursts. No argument there. Without Jeff, I wouldn't have known I needed to get an ID when I turned eighteen. I wouldn't have known where and how to get it either. And if I hadn't walked into a bank and told a random teller that I needed a bank account but didn't know what to do, then I wouldn't have had one. I didn't even own a credit card because I didn't understand what a credit score was and how it worked.

"It was common sense for me because I figured that everything that had been put in place needed to be taken down. I thought about what I had back home and went from there. In my opinion, age does not make someone an adult. Experience, independence and responsibility do. In Karys, twenty marks the age you start the journey into adulthood, but it does not mean you are an adult. You have only just begun your journey. Don't rush it."

"So, your parents are still responsible for you even after you turn twenty there?" I asked.

"Absolutely. Their word is no longer law, but many people still heavily depend on their parents after entering their twenties. Even living with your parents well into adulthood is normal. If you have no reason to move out, then why do so? Age is not reason enough."

"Isn't there a lot of pressure to grow up and be independent? I mean, even some parents are dying for their children to get to eighteen so they won't have to put up with them anymore."

Sang's brows came together and his eyes narrowed. "What sense does that make? Why have a child if you're just going to be hoping and praying they grow up and leave soon?" He shook his head and took a sip of his drink. "And there is no pressure to grow up in Karys. Once vacuras get to twenty, their physical ageing starts to slow little by little. We have nothing but time."

If Sang's physical ageing was slowing, that meant he could be fifty already but only look thirty. "I hope you don't feel insulted by this, but how old are you?"

Sang smiled. "Why concern yourself with that when you don't even know Aubyn's age?"

"Aubyn's age doesn't matter."

"And mine does?"

"Because I'm curious about you right now. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

"Two hundred and eight."

I leaned back in my chair and surveyed the beautiful man in front of me. Sang was ridiculously good-looking. While I was the colour of an almond, he was more of an espresso. He had neat long dreds, bright green almond-shaped eyes, and he kept himself in shape even though he didn't go to the gym as often as Aubyn did. He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties at most. But two hundred and eight? Nope.