Teaching day tomorrow, which I have to admit, is feeling deeply unfair right now. But I will manage somehow. I’ve been in a terrible mood for most of yesterday and today, which I suppose is not surprising, considering the circumstances — alternately grouchy and sad and mad at the universe.
I did finish reading a Terry Pratchett book (Dodger, which I’d somehow missed before), which is always good medicine. And one of Kavi’s potential sweet 16 party saris arrived from India, so she had me drape it on her, which was fun, seeing her excitement.
And I wrote a scene on the plane — it’s comforting, writing about these college students, who are all very sweet, much like my own students. I put in a little legal stuff in this scene; I’ve just now realized it was probably because I was thinking about Ron.
*****
Nami’s story, scene 4 (search back through my feed for Nam’kuko or Nami) to find the earlier scenes):
***
Nami reached into her backpack and pulled out her cat’s cradle. She’d been working on it for months now, every time she had a quiet stretch at work or in class, and the professors seemed not to mind her fingers quickly twisting, knotting, building up the intricate layers of knotted silk.
Brilliant shades of red and purple and orange, threads cut from the ends of the woven sari lengths, salvaged to be made into irregular but beautiful yarn. Nami loved the efficiency of it all: that she could work on her textile arts project at the same time she listened to the lecture on all the legalities that went into Kriti’s original charter – a subject she just couldn’t bring herself to care about. The knotting helped her focus.
“When the Founders left Solvida, they left the chaos of civil war behind them, a planet bitterly divided by religious strife. They swore that whatever else, on Kriti, all would be free to worship, or not worship, as they pleased, so long as their practices did not infringe on the rights of others; those freedoms and rights are enshrined in our Constitution and Charter. Hence Chelliah vs. Kriti, in Year Ten after Founding, where the Karthite practice of reverencing what they considered the gods-given body, ran straight into the government’s right to genetically edit communicable diseases out of the next generation…”
It seemed like the case should be simple and straightforward, but from the look on the professor’s face, it was going to be anything but. It made Nami’s head hurt, and though her fingers knotted even faster, it just wasn’t helping.
For the ten thousandth time, Nami wondered if she really wanted to be a lawyer – but if she was going to have a political career, she didn’t want it to be hamstrung the way her mother’s had been, by the lack of a legal degree. Jaya did a tremendous amount in her local community, but she’d run twice for higher office, and failed to be elected.
Not that you had to be a lawyer to go into government, but it certainly helped.
If Nami could just make it through the coursework without falling asleep – she’d been up ‘til close to two last night when Kwame was having night terrors, and Jaya was on a call with the community center, trying to help a young man get out of a scary bad marriage. It was important work, Nami couldn’t begrudge her mother the time, but now, she was paying the price. Nami could barely keep her eyes open.
“Hey!”
Nami yanked her head up from her desk. What? She felt drool at the corner of her mouth – ugh! – and wiped it away. The room was empty, except for her and Surinder.
Surinder frowned down at her. “Class is over – you fell asleep.”
Nami shoved herself to her feet. “Dammit. Can I – “
“Yes, you can have a copy of my notes. I’ll send them over to you. But Nami, you have to get more sleep.”
At least she hadn’t messed up the cradle. Nami slid her fingers out of the strands, transferring the knots to a holder. She carefully wrapped it in a length of cloth and shoved it into her backpack, along with her tablet. “It’s just getting used to the class and work schedule. I’ll be adjusted soon.”
He frowned. “You have limits, you know.” Surinder grinned. “And now you’ve missed your chance to catch that girl – she’ll be long gone by the time you make it across campus. I thought you might slip out early…”
Nami started walking out of the room, pointedly not looking at him. “I was never going to do that, Surinder.”
He sighed, following her. “I suppose not. Break a rule once in a while, Nami. It’ll be good for you.”
She threw back over her shoulder, “I thought we were supposed to be learning to uphold and obey the law?”
Surinder caught up to her side, his eyes gleaming. He was the one with the passion for legal matters. “The law, yes. The law is the heart and soul of our society, the last bastion of justice when our petty desires lead us into dark waters.” His voice rang with fervor that was only slightly exaggerated for dramatic effect. “We definitely want to obey the law. But obeying random little societal customs, like staying all the way to the end of class? Not quite so important..especially not when they’re up against true love…”
Nami wished she had a pillow to throw at him. “You are ridiculous. May I remind you, I just met the girl.”
He nodded. “True, true. And yet, you’re wondering if you could still catch her, if you hurried.”
“Shut up,” Nami said. But her stride lengthened, and Surinder laughed as he tossed her a little wave, peeling off to the north, and his next class. Leaving her to head west to hers, which just happened to be in the same direction as Selah’s pottery class…
*****