Munmun(94)

“WARNER,” barked Hue. “Forgodssake, focus. Listen to me. Your life is at stake. Your lawyer has negotiated an agreement for you to sign. Here are the terms. You will designate all but onemillion of your munmuns for donation and scale down as of one hour from now. Half will go to the citizens of Balustrade to repair the damage you have created, the other half will go to Lossy Indica Minmun. You will henceforth agree to keep a mile’s distance between yourself and any individual more than eightscale in size, and you will agree to never let your scale account exceed onemillion muns again. In exchange, the bigs will withdraw their demands, and you will not be firebombed to death. Warner, please give Usher the authority to sign this agreement.”

I thought about this.

“Warner I’m sorry but this decision must be made now, the bank has very little time to prep you for scaling down,” Hue pleaded, “you may not be aware but if your body is not prepared for scaling down, the consequences are pretty dire, and with a scaledown this dramatic it will probably be fatal.”

I thought some more.

“Bro, ohmygod, listen,” cried Prayer. “It’s all going to be okay, infact it can be amazing, just please do what we’re asking, please. You’re still giving so much to minmun, you’re still doing so much good for so many, I know you don’t want to give the bigs half of your munmun but you did destroy a ton of their stuff.”

I stayed silent, she continued all panicky, “Whatstheproblem, is it that you don’t want to be middlescale for the rest of your life, bro I get it, I get it, ofcourse I get it but just think, it’s twice as big as you’ve ever been until yesterday, Warner bottomline you have to say yes right now, you have no choice, just say yes, please.”

I kept thinking, or maybe didn’t think at all, just was silent with no thoughts.

“Warner?” asked Hue.

CAN YOU BRING ME KITTY FIRST, I said.

“I can’t,” snapped Hue, angry voice breaking, “Warner, I can’t, so drop it. She’s downstairs in treatment right now, getting muchneeded therapy, she’s been sleeping twentyhours a day and we’re at our witsend trying to figure out how to help her, bottomline, I can’t bring her to you. Maybe in a few weeks you can see her. If you want to live until then, tell us we can sign.”

But my heart wanted something else.

BRING ME JASPER, THEN, I said.

Hue blinked, confused.

“What does he mean, who’s Jasper,” he began to ask, as I grabbed the drone, plucked it from the air and dunked it in the sea, felt it fizzle and die in my hand.

They had him in my hands within a halfhour, must really be urgent, the government must really fear us bigs, they forced this shaky teen to climb a rope down from the copter into my waiting hands, the kid who stomped my dad.

GO, I told the copter, LEAVE US ALONE, it sped away.

Ofcourse he couldn’t look me in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed and shook, “I’m sorry I’m sorry, I’m so f freaking sorry.”

He was about doublescale still, no longer elevenyearsold though, nineteen already now.

Not a roundfaced chubster anymore, looked pretty different from the kid who stepped through the roof of our little alleyway milkcrate house.

SHHHHH, I shushed. LOOK AT ME.

He couldn’t though, he was so weak and trembly, he knew I was going to kill him.

Where do I begin, Jasper, what do I need you to hear before you die.

WHEN I WAS FIFTEEN, I told him, STILL LITTLEPOOR, I SHOT A GUN A COUPLE TIMES. IT WAS TO PROTECT MY SIS, NO ONE GOT HURT. BUT THEY STILL SENTENCED ME TO PRISON FOR EIGHT YEARS.

He shivered and cowered.

STOP SHIVERING, STOP COWERING, I said, JUST LOOK AT ME AND LISTEN. YESTERDAY I ATTACKED ABOUT FIFTY PEOPLE, PROBABLY KILLED ATLEAST ONE SO FAR. AND IT WASN’T TO PROTECT ANYONE, IT WAS JUST WHAT I WANTED TO DO. THIS TIME I’M NOT GOING TO PRISON AT ALL THOUGH.

He tried to nod.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT.

“I don’t know,” he chattered. “I d don’t ’t know w.”

I held him closer to my face, hard to hear his little voice.

COME ON, THIS IS NOT HARD, I helped. OFCOURSE YOU KNOW. JUST TELL ME THAT’S NOT RIGHT.

“That’s not righ ht,” he agreed.

GOOD, I said. GOOD.

He said nothing, his shaky terror was a whispery tickle in my palm.

NOW, DO YOU HAVE A DAD, I asked.

“Y yeah,” he sobbed.

WHAT ABOUT THAT, IS THAT RIGHT, I asked.

He couldn’t answer, just wept bitterly, I knew it wasn’t fair for me to ask.

NEVERMIND, I said, NEVERMIND. JUST TELL ME THIS. IS HE A GOOD DAD.

As I said it, deep inside myself, a slow earthquake started.

“Yes, yes he’s good,, he’s a good d dad,” the kid hiccuped.

I sucked fresh sea air, breathed it out rotten and ruined.

WHAT DID HE SAY TO YOU AFTER YOU KILLED MY DAD, I asked him.

“He said it wasn’t my fault,” he wept, “he said it was a terrible, terrible thing, but not my fault.”

DO YOU THINK HE WAS RIGHT THOUGH, I asked him, feeling slow huge tremors begin.

“I don’t kn know,” he shuddered. “I mean y yes. I think so. I got p pushed. I’m so sorry, I was getting pushed around d b bythosekids, I j just didn’t ’t see wh, where I was going g.”