➹BEEPER

[intheblanks]

"It had better be an emergency."
→ PAGE
→ TEXT
→ CALL
→ ACTION
→ TROLL

Comments

[intheblanks]

I don't speak that.

[Is his first reaction to the stream of lilting diluted-dutch. He pushes himself onto one elbow and narrows his eyes.]

Satya?

[It's barely a question. Obviously, with eyes more than a few seconds out of sleep, it's Satya. Shorter than he remembers but clear enough.]

[eggsac]

Oh, English!

[She smiles and crinkles her nose]

Did my papa leave me here while I was sleeping? Usually he leaves Nanny with me.

[This happens more often than one would suspect]

[intheblanks]

[What kind of father does she have that it's not surprising to wake up trapped in a room with a naked man?

Not that Chase isn't taking this easy out and running with it.]

He did... Nanny was busy today.

[This is a slow and sleepy lie: slow because he's trying to think of ways to make it more convincing.]

And I... wasn't.

[He's not at his best.]

[eggsac]

[The kind who picks up and leaves on emergency trips in the middle of the night.]

I woke up in the other room. The one full of clothes.

[From a child's perspective, Saya's closet is practically a house.]

You should put on a shirt, meneer.

[intheblanks]

I should put on some pants.

[Infinitely more importantly. He sits up carefully.]

Reckon you could check out the bathroom while I get my clothes? It's through there.

[eggsac]

[She leaves and waits five minutes before she knocks on the door]

Can I come back now?

[intheblanks]

[He put his jeans on without underwear, for speed, then thought better of that, for propriety, and so he's tugging a grey, short-sleeved shirt on as she calls.]

I'm decent.

[eggsac]

[She comes back]

I'm sorry for surprising you. I didn't think that the big room would be attached to the master bedroom.

[intheblanks]

[He looks over his shoulder at her, then sits on the edge of the unmade bed.]

Not your fault. I should have been more careful about what I slept in.

[Probably a onesie from now on.]

My name's Robert.

[eggsac]

You're not Namibian.

[She says that with certainty, but then she reaches a hand out]

It's very nice to meet you, Robert.

[intheblanks]

[He takes her hand and shakes it with all the good manners of a boy raised to do the same.]

You too, Satya. Do you recognise the accent?

[eggsac]

It's not British or Afrikaans, and it's not American.

[Wait.]

Unless it's one of those strange American accents from a state that papa doesn't like.

[But...no....]

Australia?

[intheblanks]

Good guess. Puts you one up on half the Americans I've met, too.

[eggsac]

Because I go to a good school.

[Said with all the disdain of someone who does not want to go to America]

Papa says we have to go back to America soon, but I don't want to. They're not smart.

[intheblanks]

There are lots of them. [And defending America is not his natural role.] Some of them are smart, some of them aren't. It's just that, in the States, the non-smart ones tend to be louder.

They have good schools in America, too.

[eggsac]

Well I don't want to go. I want to stay in Namibia with Nanny.

[She sighs. It's long suffering.]

[intheblanks]

Would Nanny be coming with?

[She's fortunate to have found Chase, to whom the idea of being raised by the help isn't a foreign concept. Meanwhile he's realising that children need more for breakfast than a bottomless cup of coffee, and wondering what they have in the kitchen.]

[eggsac]

No, Nanny doesn't speak English well, she's afraid of flying, she doesn't like to even leave Windhoek.

[She looks at the door]

May I treat you to breakfast, Mr. Robert?

[Manners, manners, manners]

[intheblanks]

I went to school on the other side of the world, too. But, I didn't have too many people to leave behind. It still sucked sometimes.

[He stands up, smoothing the folds out of his jeans.]

I thought we could see if there was something for toast, downstairs.

[eggsac]

Papa says I'll like America, but I know they'll make fun of me.

[She's eight, but she's not stupid]

And tea?

[intheblanks]

Accents fade. They'll get bored of picking on you if you act like it's a boring thing to do.

[Come on, out into the huge scary warehouse.]

I know there's tea.

[eggsac]

[She reaches up for his hand]

I like how I speak.

[intheblanks]

[He takes it, tiny against his (how weird is this) but stops, for a second, to look down.]

Then who cares what anyone else thinks?

[eggsac]

Don't you have feelings?

[intheblanks]

Of course.

[He's only human, Saya.]

Listen, you don't have to let anyone else tell you what's the right and wrong way to be. You can choose whether you're going to be different-weird, or different-interesting. People will go along with what you believe about yourself. Personally I think the second option suits you more.