The Mender

Summer Days

End of Grade 9 – Luka's mother brought home a cake from the bakery at her work and had a small party for Luka, Esri, Ada, and their families to celebrate the successful completion of the friends' first year in high school.

"I know, it's only one year of high school, but I'm so proud of you three," she said. "When I was your age, I was already in big trouble, missing lots of classes, barely passing, and dropped out in Grade 10 – biggest mistake of my life."

As usual, Esri and Ada did somewhat better than Luka, but his marks were not bad. He passed all his courses and only ended up in the principal's office a few times for acting out in class. His passion for the Drama Club provided a strong motivation to keep doing well in school.

It had been a while since Esri, Ada, and Luka's families had gotten together, not like when the children were little and the adults were helping each other with child-minding. It was difficult to find time to socialize with everyone so busy, working long hours. While some juggled more than one job. Esri thought it was very sweet of Luka's mom to organize the get-together. Though their families came from different backgrounds, they shared a fierce loyalty and concern for their children and, by extension held a shared warmth and trust of each other. It felt good to Esri to be amongst them again. She was relieved that Randi wasn't there.

Esri was grateful to have a job this summer, one that was so enjoyable and where she could bring Jilly with her. Finances were tight and Joe was already worried about how they would manage schooling for Esri after high school.

This summer they couldn't afford to pay for Esri to play recreational soccer. The fees had increased considerably because the city and schools were charging more to use the soccer fields. Esri didn't say much about it. She didn't want Joe to feel bad, but he knew she missed it. She had played in the league since she was little. He knew if he mentioned it to Randi she'd probably insist on paying the fees, but also knew that Esri would not want that.

Esri and usually Jilly spent nearly every day at Clea's. When Ada and Luka weren't working they often came as well, occasionally with Ada's younger brothers, and Jilly sometimes brought Nasima. Clea enjoyed having all the young people about. She had an endless trove of imaginative projects for the younger ones if they tired of their own games. Ada and Luka usually helped Esri in the garden. Clea showed the three friends a place in her yard where they could build a secluded sitting area for themselves to sit and talk if they wanted. They scavenged materials to create a small circle of seats.

Thomas didn't interact with the young people too much. He usually sat in the sheltered area by the kitchen door, reading and snoozing. He saved his talkative times for when he, Clea, and Esri discussed Esri's dreams. As Jilly was usually around, Clea and Esri devised a variety of play projects that kept Jilly in sight but out of earshot. If Willa, who Jilly adored, could be persuaded to keep Jilly company, it guaranteed their having ample time to discuss the latest Flat Rocks developments.

"Young Esri, now that Willa has the ever animated Jilly occupied in a game of hide and seek, tell us the latest that's happened with our friends at Flat Rocks," said Thomas.

"Both a lot and not much. It's amazing how much the bode has grown and that we've found even more survivors from the Ash Rain of the Toba volcano. It's good we kept looking. Those little groups of people couldn't have survived well on their own. With so many people, the Agreements are really important. A few people have been banished by the Elders Council for things like hitting someone or not sharing after a hunt, but they've come around after a little while. They get it pretty quickly that Flat Rocks is a good place to be. Mostly the people who have come into the bode blend in fairly well once they're comfortable with the language and see that people are peaceful."