“We have.” I nodded.
She narrowed her eyes. “And how is that helping them, exactly?”
I threw my hands up in the air and huffed out air. The woman was impossible and didn’t understand anything about our lifestyle. “We’re done!” I said and walked away.
“Yes, I can see how it would be difficult for you to defend killing,” she called after me.
That made me whip my head in her direction, giving her a hard stare and lowering my voice. “I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you. Do I need to defend that too?”
That shut her up.
Christina
My hours with Alexander Boulder were insanely interesting because he gave me answers to things I had always been curious about. He taught me about the way Nmen live, their training as boys, and their strict hierarchies.
“So you arrived here when you were three?” I asked and looked over at his big shape in the supporter. We had something similar at home, and they were very comfortable to sit and lie in with the way the supporter formed around you.
Boulder stretched lazily and turned his head to look at me. “We all arrive when we’re three, except of course for the few who are born here. The rest of us are born in Momsiland but fortunate enough to be shipped here and trained asrealmen.”
I ignored that last ignorant comment and fired more questions at him while I sank to the floor and crossed my legs in front of me. “And then what? Who raised you? Do you go to school and what happens after school is over?”
“We grow up in schools with other boys and we live there until we’re eighteen.”
“What? In the same place?”
“No, we go through different schools depending on age and skill set.”
“What do you mean, skill set?”
He smiled. “I’ve never talked about this, since we all do it and understand it. I’m not sure I’m good at explaining it, but from the time we’re three to ten we live in one school. After that we move on to the next one, where we stay until we’re fifteen.”
“Okay.”
“At fifteen we take the test.”
“What test?”
“It’s designed to assess our strengths and weaknesses. It’s a week long and every day the focus is on something different. Like one day it’s physical to show our speed, strength, and agility. The next day it’s academics, and we’re tested in everything we’ve learned in school. The third day is strategy, so we play war games and chess.”
He looked up. “Or maybe strategy was day four and teamwork was day three – I can’t remember – but anyway, you get the point, right?”
“Yeah, you get a lot of tests.”
“Uh-huh, and depending on how well you do on the tests you’ll be transferred to what is the right place for you. I excelled in two areas and had to choose one of them, so in the end I went to the business academy because I had a knack for finances.”
“What was the other area you excelled in?”
“Physical strength and agility. That’s why I’m a good fighter.”
“I see. But then what happens when you’re eighteen?”
“We go out to get jobs and build our future. I was lucky that a man named Henry hired me right out of the academy. He was a grumpy old asshole, but he taught me everything about running successful companies and in his own way he cared for me.”
“By being grumpy?”
“No, by letting me work hard and earn what I have today. I busted my ass for the company, and it paid off and made me a rich man. Of course, it helped that he left everything to me when he passed away five years ago.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
