“Those are assistant teachers who come to this, or to tennis, swimming, chess league, or whatever. Sports related stuff like bowling, swimming, and tennis are considered phys ed, so they get a pass to come here during school hours while it’s not really busy. Same with the pool and tennis courts. Brainy stuff like chess, Go, or Kythif, which is a Mylos game of logic and strategy played in 3D, are considered part of developing advanced critical thinking, so again, they’re excused to go participate. It’s a once a week thing for them all, and the other students get to enjoy art classes or music lessons, or simply to go read in the library for two hours.”
“So these guys miss out on art and music?” That didn’t sound fair.
“No. It’s an extra two hours for everyone else, which they’ve opted out of in favor of this. Except for the tots group, which is now, as evenings are too busy, kids that small go to bed earlier, and the preschool simply lets parents come take them to their activity, as it’s preschool and they are learning through play anyway. Kindergarten starts at six, as long as the kid is six by September first, by the ship’s calendar.”
“It’s pegged to Hawaii just like the time, yeah?”
“Yep.”
He wandered over to accept a set of shoes back from a trio of ladies who were done playing. Soon, it was two o’clock, and the kids were all leaving, leaving us to scramble with getting their shoes and handing out smiling bowling ball stickers for the younger kids to wear on their shirts. Then it was clean up time, which Mark and I managed to get done before the evening adult players came in, thanks to the alley shutting until five and the evening shift employees showing up. I was exhausted, but unlike my previous jobs, I felt content. I’d done more than merely serve food, give out a bag of gummy worms, and handle check out and the return of shoes. I’d made kids smile and helped them enjoy something they could do for fun with family and friends for the rest of their lives. I felt really good about that, and I was buzzed about it all the way home, where I ate the leftover pizza we got to take home with sweet tea I replicated.
“Ohh, pizza!” Winchell said when he returned home.
“Yup, help yourself. There was enough for us to take home a box each of leftover slices.”
“Nice! Have a good first day?”
“I really did. I think I’m going to really enjoy working there.”
“That’s great. Hey, wanna watch TV while we eat? Mike at work told me the original Thunderbirds and Stingray are on here, as well as Captain Scarlet, unless that’s too childish and geeky for you.”
I held up a hand in surrender. “No judgment here. I like to watch the old Mickey Mouse cartoons, Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, and stuff like that. If they’re cartoons, I’m down.”
“They’re Supermarionation, and I bet you’ll love them! Umm, let’s start with Captain Scarlet.”
He was right. I loved it, and we ended up watching seven episodes before calling it quits, as we needed to shower and get to bed so we could get up well rested in the morning for work.
16
KITTINIR
I walked into my quarters to find Carl had indeed set up a taco bar on the breakfast bar. Two plates of steaming burritos and chimichangas sat on one end, along with what I recognized as his Meemaw’s Watergate salad sitting in a self refrigerating bowl.
“Oh, hey! How was work?” he asked, coming out of the bathroom.
“It was productive,” I told him. “Jorel, the Dragonii I am partnered with, is very easy to work with and very knowledgeable.”
“High praise indeed, coming from you. And that’s great, working with someone you can’t stand is horrible. Bad enough having to rub shoulders with assholes in the department in general.”
I nodded, knowing quite well just who the two particular assholes were he was referring to. Georgeson substituted once for his classes and didn’t follow Carl’s lesson plans for the two weeks he was gone to attend his Meemaw’s funeral and help his Pawpaw navigate the start of probate while looking around for an over 55’s community to move to along with Carl’s parents, who had decided to sell their house and downsize. The stress of losing his beloved grandmother and facing his grandfather and parents moving several states away had been stressful enough, but he completely lost the remainder of his composure when he discovered the ‘fuckery’ as he put it, that Georgeson had committed. Perlman simply was obnoxious to everyone, his narcissism and general passive aggressive belligerence giving him absolutely no friends.
“Why don’t you go wash up and we can get the party started. Um, just one thing…where is your TV?”
“Oh, you simply ask Xeranos to play whatever you wish to watch, and in what room. The walls are embedded with nanotech, so they will rearrange themselves into a viewing screen,” I informed him as I went to do as he asked.
“Really? Huh. So, I can sell my TV. Good to know.”
I heard him call out for Xeranos, his voice faint and unintelligible through the closed door and over the water from the sink. Turning the faucet off, I heard the beginning strains of the vid’s theme song. He’d also set up the TV trays I’d purchased from a thrift store and decided to bring with me, which was just as well, seeing as he was here, and they made eating on the couch much more comfortable.
We both loaded up our plates and sat down.
“I’m not too close, am I?” he asked, and I shook my head no, though it hadn’t escaped my notice that he’d not set up the trays on either end of the couch, but directly, next to each other.
I dismissed it as incidental because this was Carl, and he was my best friend. Best friends sat next to each other, like at the movies and stuff. It was completely within normal human social interaction.
Carl said, “Xero, episode one, please, the pilot.”
The selected episode began to play, and we settled in to eat and watch his beloved vid series, stopping only to get more food and drink.
