"I have nothing to contribute."
"That's not true."
"It is."
"Mother."
"I work in the laundry. I don't have any other skills."
"You can read and write, and you can do math. That's more than some of the other women have, but they are still willing to assist in other capacities."
Leehy looked away.
Sullha could see the set of her mother's jaw, the way her hands had folded together in her lap, which meant that Leehy was bracing for a fight. Sullha had been having this fight with her mother in various forms for years, and she'd always lost it. Leehy had always retreated into her dead-woman-walking routine, and Sullha had always given up and walked away, and the relationship had continued in its narrow, tired channel.
The helplessness of the situation with her mother hurt worse than even the enforced breeding because it didn't have to be like that. It was totally up to her mother, and she had refused the offered hand time and again.
Sullha couldn't lose the fight today.
"I am tired of this," she said.
Her mother looked at her.
"Of what?"
"Of you pretending to be dead as a way of coping and refusing all my attempts to help you. Just for once, I want to see a spark of life in you. Come to the meeting and just listen. You do not have to volunteer. You do not have to speak. Just come and sit and be there."
Her mother shook her head. "I don't know what you want from me, Sullha."
"Yes, you do. You said you would walk through a door if it was open. That's what the meeting is about."
Her mother's expression changed, that small red glow making an appearance behind her eyes, those embers of hope that had been smothered but not put out completely igniting.
"That's just talk," she said, but she didn't sound sure.
"It wasn't just talk. The door I was talking about is not opening tonight, but the people I am gathering tonight are the ones I want standing with me when that door opens. And if you are not one of those people, you are going to miss out, and the next time we have this conversation it will be with you on one side of the door and me on the other."
Her mother's expression froze, and Sullha had the sinking feeling that she'd lost again.
"Leehy," Burda said.
She turned to her.
"Sullha is asking you to come to a meeting tonight. That's all. The meeting will be at the playground at six, and other women will be there to listen to Saphira talk about education for the kids. You will sit, and you will listen, and you will leave when the meeting is over. That's not much to ask."
"That is not all she is asking."
"No. It is not. But it is the only part you have to agree to today. Everything else is for later."
Leehy looked at Burda for a long time.
"Do you know what this is really about?" Leehy asked.
"I only know what Sullha told me, which is the same thing she told you."
"You know more than that."
"I know that your daughter is trying to do something important and that she asked me for help. I'm helping, and so should you. She is your daughter."
