Free Mya

11: the Perinatal Chapter

By Alison

There are some things I forget about the later days and weeks of Mya's pregnancy, but I do recall some odd snippets of conversation.  For instance:

"About that friend," Becca asked Suzie. "The one who jumped through the hoops. Is she the same one who ...?"

"Performed an acrobatic/dancing/fire-eating routine to the tune of 'These Boots are Made for Walking'? And for most of the routine she was wearing nothing but boots?"

"Yes."

"The very same. That's Blaise for you. B-L-A-I-S-E. Not her birth name. She changed it officially. And the boots routine was nothing compared to the routine where she breathed fire whilst descending a fireman's pole. Shall I introduce you one day?"

"Oh, no. I mean, I don't really approve of strippers. But it would be rude of me to say that to her face." Becca started blushing. "Although, maybe I could talk to Blaise about why she feels such a need to degrade herself like that."

Suzie laughed. "That I would like to see, although I would probably need to retreat to a safe distance. She wouldn't just breathe fire at you. There would be fireworks. Probably, literally, actual fireworks ..."

"Can we buy tickets for this debate?" asked Carmen. "I would seriously pay good money to see a woman who breathing fire whilst descending a pole, and I would pay twice as much if Becca were then to start arguing with her."

Meanwhile, on with what I found from Daniel's diaries.  The Ministry of Citizenship was a perpetual thorn in Daniel's side.

"What do you mean, you took away Melanda's and Lalavaya's head scarves?"

"They were not authorised items. We have the items. We will return them to the ladies when they are discharged from the Centre."

"I thought that you didn't have a uniform."

"We don't. Nor do we permit the wearing of unauthorised items. He sighed. "Mrs Lalavaya Sandaraya claims she is perfectly content not to wear the head scarf. Furthermore, your own reports back her up: they indicate that headscarves are not traditionally worn by women in Sandar. It is only your mother-in-law who is being stubborn."

"I bought those head scarves."

"And we will return them to you, Mr Jackson, if the former wearers authorise us to do so."

"That's not the point. I'm not going to wear them."

"That's your choice."

"Wait, so I have the choice whether to wear them or not, but my mother-in-law and sister-in-law do not have that choice?"

The official sighed. "You are a Citizen."

Suzie wants me to point out various things about her friend, Blaise.  

Blaise goes round schools giving talks on fire safety.   She also loves kittens.

Mya had many magazines. She liked the pictures, especially photos of women in long, frilly dresses, or with babies.

Daniel made small adjustments to his life, such as the replacing of his old washing machine with a new one especially designed to make it easier to wash cloth nappies.

Mya took a deep breath and decided to try Wearing Pink and Red. All at once, from head to foot. There was a pink ribbon in her hair and elasticated pink beaded things on her feet.