Free Mya

Part 9: On Earth

Getting Money out of A Stone

Also by Alison

For months, I relied on news stories and Mya's very broken English and my personal intuition of when Daniel was serious and when he was trying to wind me up.

You have Carmen's version of events. It is accurate, but of course it is biased.

I was peripheral until the night of the row (in June 2035). After that, I became much more important to Mya and then I found Daniel's diaries. However, let us not get ahead of ourselves.

The baby stopped crying. Mya was still sobbing. I think Daniel may have been on the verge of tears also.

I arranged for Mya and Topaz to come and stay with me for a few days. Mya packed their things and Daniel handed me a notebook. "This contains details of which foods Mya eats. She was ill when she first arrived. Quite a few of the plants on her planet differ considerably from some of the plants here. It has been difficult finding which foods she can digest and which cause bad reactions. I don't think that she has any allergies which could cause a medical emergency, but I trust you to be able to summon medical assistance if need be. Phone me, any time, if she seems ill or upset. The phone numbers for the interpreters, Eden and Angel, are also in there."

Then (as I told you) Daniel deserted her and Topaz.

I deliberately smashed the mug Daniel gave me. It goes against the grain for me to destroy something that someone else could use. 

 I would like it known that I gave the essential oil perfume to Dawn and the jasmine tea to Tania.

I needed to make some gesture, but I didn't destroy everything. I wasn't on a rampage.

Carmen thought Mya too should make a gesture, too, and she had one in mind.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Allie. Four reasons why you're failing to make sense. A - lots of women change their hairstyles when they are getting over their exes." She waved a popular magazine at me: it had a cover story about two well-known singers who had just done the very same thing. One of them looked better. The other, IMHO, looked mildly insane.

"Did you use the phrase 'IMHO'?" asked Amber. "None of your opinions are humble, Carmen."

Carmen ignored her and ploughed on with her list.

"B - we know she wants it cut. C - you said she wanted to cut it just the other day."

"No," I explained. "I said that she panicked for a while. When she was panicking she was planning to sell her hair."

"Her body, her choice, etc. And there's so much, such good quality, she could make lots of money. Not enough to live on till he gets back, but enough to have a good time trying to get over him."

"I suppose you would say exactly the same if she wanted to sell a kidney too."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Her body."

"Just as well Mya hasn't heard of kidney transplants. You would be selling off every spare bit of her. On the internet, probably."

"Of course not! She looked shocked. Removing her kidney would leave a scar! Poor Mya! What a terrible thing to suggest! I'm surprised you could suggest something so foul. Now, if I may continue. Point D. Her hair has plenty of time to grow during the years Daniel is away."

She had a happy expression. "Even if I just cut it so it reached her collarbones, there would still be enough to sell. And she would have enough to be able to plait it."