“Your friends Ty Lee and Azula are very close, aren't they?” Mai's mother observed one day during dinner. It was just the two of them and Tom-Tom tonight, as it was almost every night for the past year or two.
Usually Mai's mother didn't bother with conversation at the table. She fed Tom-Tom, and sometimes she would make silly noises at him as she maneuvered the food into his mouth. But there wasn't any conversation.
“They're close,” Mai agreed, spearing a piece of meat with her chopsticks with a particularly efficient motion.
“Don't jab at your food like that, dear,” her mother said. “It's rude.”
Mai ate the next three bites of food more politely. Only then did her mother continue the conversation.
“I know it must be difficult to find suitable friends at that school,” her mother said. “I mean- they let anyone in to public schools here, don't they?”
Tom-Tom started wailing, and Mai's mother was distracted for a moment with feeding him and making silly little faces.
Mai breathed easier for a moment, and took another small bite of her food.
“Your father and I have been thinking,” her mother continued after a moment. “And we remembered that one of your father's coworkers sent his daughter to a school only a few hours away from here. It's a very elite academy, and I'm sure you could find a more suitable class of friends there.”
“A few hours away? That's an awfully long commute.”
“Well- it's a boarding school.”
“A boarding school?” Mai questioned, tone cool.
“An elite one,” her mother said, a faint smile gracing her lips. “You understand, don't you? We have your father's career to think about. We can't afford any scandal. You'll find better friends at the academy. Ones who won't embarrass you later.”
“I'm sure you and father will do what you think is best,” Mai said, voice perfectly even. She took her plate to the kitchen, rinsed it off, and set it down in the sink so hard that it cracked.
I don't care, she thought.
But somehow she couldn't quite make herself believe it.
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branchandroot
Mai and her family
Date: 2010-03-21 08:05 am (UTC)Usually Mai's mother didn't bother with conversation at the table. She fed Tom-Tom, and sometimes she would make silly noises at him as she maneuvered the food into his mouth. But there wasn't any conversation.
“They're close,” Mai agreed, spearing a piece of meat with her chopsticks with a particularly efficient motion.
“Don't jab at your food like that, dear,” her mother said. “It's rude.”
Mai ate the next three bites of food more politely. Only then did her mother continue the conversation.
“I know it must be difficult to find suitable friends at that school,” her mother said. “I mean- they let anyone in to public schools here, don't they?”
Tom-Tom started wailing, and Mai's mother was distracted for a moment with feeding him and making silly little faces.
Mai breathed easier for a moment, and took another small bite of her food.
“Your father and I have been thinking,” her mother continued after a moment. “And we remembered that one of your father's coworkers sent his daughter to a school only a few hours away from here. It's a very elite academy, and I'm sure you could find a more suitable class of friends there.”
“A few hours away? That's an awfully long commute.”
“Well- it's a boarding school.”
“A boarding school?” Mai questioned, tone cool.
“An elite one,” her mother said, a faint smile gracing her lips. “You understand, don't you? We have your father's career to think about. We can't afford any scandal. You'll find better friends at the academy. Ones who won't embarrass you later.”
“I'm sure you and father will do what you think is best,” Mai said, voice perfectly even. She took her plate to the kitchen, rinsed it off, and set it down in the sink so hard that it cracked.
I don't care, she thought.
But somehow she couldn't quite make herself believe it.