you cannot touch without being touched in return
Nygen is 11 and wants to be a national socialist. We take care of the government and She takes care of us. Children to a mother. What Nygen knows of government comes from public school and the youth club at his parent’s church. His mother is the pastor. His father teaches science at the school.
He also knows that he and Lieu, his sister, have to share the motorcycle, a Honda 50 cc. His wings to the world. Nygen’s sister told him the Nazi’s were national socialists, that’s what Nazi means. Nygen told her an elephant isn’t a buffalo because that’s what you call it.
The youth club prepares meals for people after church. For Nygen, the meal after church is church. It’s an occasion for bright light and sweet cakes. Even his grumpy uncle is there.
His sister organizes the youth club. She delivers what is set aside for others in the village, ones Nygen has not met. For that, she needs the motorcycle and packs a large stack on back. Only recently has Nygen come to see his sister like an elder of the youth club. Even so, an elephant isn’t a buffalo.
Nygen’s village has no mayor or elected officials. There is an elder who settles disputes. What passes for police is respect for the elder’s decisions. People hold one another to it. Ever since Nygen saw Star Wars, he thinks of the wizened elder as Yoda.
On occasion Nygen’s father and uncle go fishing, but they never return with any fish. When they return, his father makes sweet potato soup and sings. When you are 12, they tell him, you will go with us. The elder is often called upon to settle fishing disputes.
His mother tells people they have been here before and will be again. Do as you would if you had it to live once more. Choose better. She lifts them up and they step into a higher level. She is their elevator. His school has an elevator for the kids who can’t walk. His uncle helped build it. Science classes are on the top floor.
His aunt is nicer than his uncle. She works in the maternity clinic and goes around smelling the tops of baby heads. Lieu says their aunt is looking for ripe brains. That’s why Nygen doesn’t believe her about the Nazi’s either.
Lieu has become accustomed to dating zombies. Boys with little ambition. What she receives in return is a transaction beyond Nygen’s comprehension. He likes Sonny, with beards for eyebrows. Sonny tells him that what matters most are pockets, sugar, and politics. He must mean something else by pockets and sugar, but politics matters in the village. That’s what Yoda is for.
Nygen dislikes Sen Shaw. Sen is a sneaky boy with the complexion of a fishing boat targeted by seabirds with the squirts. He went fishing, but quit and now sells scrap metal that he sometimes finds brand new.
Nygen’s best friend is Lennon, whose name he likes because it sounds socialist. Lennon is 13, but in his class at school. Lennon listens to the Beatles and Nygen can see the connection. He asked what happens on fishing expeditions. A lot of bartering, with rock music playing in the background and all the uncles swearing to the beat. That sounds like something Lieu would say, except she doesn’t go fishing.
Barter is capitalist. Taking care of yourself even if you have enough. The seabirds take care of themselves. So do the bees whose honey his uncle harvests. Birds and bees are capitalists. Or does living in flock and hive make them more like him and his village. He needs to know more about pockets and sugar and where the metaphors lead. The road to next year, when he is a fisherman.
