[stylist] DBG (chapter 4)

[helene ryles]

Chapter 4: Replaced by a career by Nadia Murat (1993)

“I’ve got a job at last.  I'm going to help train the police dogs, at
Stilosarka police station" My aunt told me using tactile sign
language.  We were on one of our nightly walks.   It was a full moon
tonight so I could just about see vague shapes as the dogs mulled
about.
I stopped short.  I had an angry scowl on my face.
"What about me?”
"I'm going to hire tutors to teach you.  You will be alright with
them.  Please be reasonable about this.  This is my big chance to get
a career at last.  I‘ve failed my parachute course so I‘m lucky to get
any openings at all"
"I don't want tutors. I don‘t want you to get a job. I want things to
stay the same as they are now!"  I cried, stamping my foot.  I gave a
yowl of pain as my bare feet hit a broken shell.
"Oh grow up Nadia!  You're eight years old now.  You are too old to be
throwing such a silly tantrum.  I really do need a career you know"
I pulled my hands away and started wailing loudly.
My aunt put a finger against my lips.  When that didn't quieten me
down she roughly grabbed my hands.
"Exactly how do you expect me to hear anyone approach when you are
making that dreadful racket?  Shut up now so I can listen in case your
mother approaches us.   You can throw your silly little tantrums when
we get back home"

                         ***  ***  ***

“Come along now Nadia.  We are going to do some cooking today. As this
is your first lesson we will start with something very basic” my tutor
told me brightly.  She spoke to me using cued speech.
I got up sullenly and followed her into the kitchen.
“Today I will show you how to use the microwave.  If you look into the
freezer you should find several tubs of food.  Take one of the tubs
out.  That’s a good girl.  Now put it in the microwave.  Close the
door and press the bottom button” she instructed.  She put my finger
on the desired button for emphasis.
“Now when you hear the beep take your food out and put it on a plate”
I already knew how to warm things up in the microwave.  I had a lot of
practice since my Aunt's shifts were long and the train journey from
Druzil to Stilosarka was about an hour each way.

As well as cooking lessons and several hours of speech therapy, my
tutors taught me all about Darthrila where we live.  Stilosarka where
my aunt works is the capital of Darthrila.   It is a very cosmopolitan
country with many different languages and customs but all Darthrilians
are required to speak Drasp and swear allegiance to our leader
Excellus Darth, who is a dragon.
The Dragons who run Darthrila prefer female humans.   Women in
Darthrila have higher paid jobs, (although the highest Jobs of all are
all occupied by the Dragons themselves).  Most Darthrilan soldiers,
police officers, lawyers, and bankers are female.   Men in Darthrila
get the menial jobs like running the manually operated lifts that the
old and physically disabled use if they are unable to climb a ladder.
In some ways the dragons were very keen on preserving the environment.
 Cars are banned in Darthrila.  The only petrol-powered vehicles that
are permitted are fire engines and ambulances.  The rest of Darthrila
uses pedal and solar power to get about with.  You get bicycles, Pedal
driven rickshaws and solar powered trains and monorails.  You also
have to conserve electricity since you only got as much electricity
that can be generated by your own solar panelling.  If that ran out
you had to use pedal power, which involved continuously pedalling a
bicycle-like contraption to keep the electricity working.   We used
most of our electrical supply on lighting, cooking and recharging our
cochlear implant batteries.







                              ***  ***  ***

When my tutors were not there I spent a lot of time reading with only
Bella for company.
Most Darthrilan children's books centre on a group of winged children
and a dog.  Even the dog is airborne.  Either that or the children
were keen Paragliders or young witches who could operate various
flying objects.   The only children I read about without the ability
to fly at all were desperately unhappy about it.  The story often
ended with them magically receiving wings.  I assumed that everyone
except me and Aunt Liza could fly.
"Hi Nadia, Have you had a good day?" my aunt asked me after she came
back from work one day.   She sank heavily on the green carpet.
"Aunt Liza, Why don't we have wings like other people do?" I asked her.
"Nobody has wings; we’re all earthbound at present"
"Everyone I read about has wings..."
"They are only stories.  I'm afraid the dragons are obsessed with some
absurd notion of changing that.  They’ve been squandering huge amount
of money into researching ways of making us all airborne.  So far
nothing has really been successful.  There has even been talk of
introducing a police bog. That's a cross between a bat and a dog.
They did manage to fix some wings on his back, but the idea never left
the ground and neither did the bog"
"Why do they want us to fly so much?"
"I've no idea.   There was a lot of complaints when I became a police
officer because I‘m too earthbound.
 “Normally you are really supposed to be able to use a parachute as we
ride dragons and sometimes need to jump off.  My parachute landings
have often left me in hospital.  Luckily the rules were bent in my
favour.     Some officers objected very strongly to my presence in
their police force because of this.
“I think they look down on land animals altogether.  Some officers
want to replace our dogs with police birds.  They’ve tried everything
from hawks to parrots. I believe there are a few police hawks still in
circulation but they are just for show.  The parrots were more useful
because you could train them to say ‘stop thief’ and ‘you’re under
arrest’.  Plus a flock of parrots can do quite a lot of damage to any
criminal foolish enough to resist arrest.   However, they don’t quite
have the right image”
I was enjoying my aunt's company when Talmon fluttered towards us.  He
was carrying a silver tray with a couple of glasses of fruit juice and
some cookies on it.  He held the tray to me and Liza.
My heart sank.
Often, when Liza finally did get back she would spend time lying on
the carpet with Talmon lying next to her.   Sometimes she would fall
asleep like that.  At other times she would lay lovingly caressing his
long scaly back.
“Please don’t go” I begged, I clutching at my aunt.  I remembered the
day before, how Talmon had picked Aunt Liza up and flown out of my
range of vision.   I could only assume he had taken her to his hammock
but I couldn‘t see that far up.  It had made me feel really shut out.
“All right, Nadia. Talmon can stay with us today.  Sometimes we want
to be alone together.  You will just have to put up with it”
I watched enviously as Talmon stroked my aunt's hair.  She said
something to him, reaching out to kiss his muzzle.  After that he
licked her face, before settling down on the carpet to watch us
continue our conversation.


                 ***  ***  ***

“What’s that?” I asked on one of our nightly walks.  Liza got me out
of bed at about four am every morning before catching the first train
to go to work.   My hand had just touched a long metal object.
“That’s a long cane. I use it to get to Druzil railway station.  You
won’t tell anyone.  I don’t really need a cane.  I could just as
easily use a torch, but this method is quicker.  I might need it later
on, if I lose the sight in my other eye too.    Beria insisted I learn
blind skills.    I can’t say they didn’t come in useful.   It’s your
grandmother who could really do with these blind skills though.  My
father insists on doing everything for her while she is confined to an
armchair all day"
“Does my grandmother have delicate eyes like us then?”
“Your grandmother is completely deafblind.  Deafness and cataracts run
in our family you see.  Sometimes we get helped with modern
technology, but that does not always work.   Beria knows a lot about
blind skills.  It’s a shame she doesn’t know as much about Deafness.
She has very audist views”
“What’s audist mean?”
“An Audist is someone who is against the deaf learning to sign.  They
want the deaf to speak and rely on lip reading, even when they can’t
see.  My father forces mother to feel his lips using a method called
Tadoma.  That‘s where the deafblind person places their hands on the
speakers lips and throat.  Sort of like tactile lip reading.  Mother
hasn’t a clue what Father is talking about, but then neither does
Father.  He's a very ignorant man.   It seems ignorance also runs in
the family, since Beria is just as bad.  She keeps comparing me really
unfavourably with her mother”
“Why do you put up with it then?”
“I want to keep my job, that’s why.  It isn’t easy, but life never is.
  Some of the other police officers made enough fuss about me.    I’m
not the only deaf person at that station, but some officers make it
clear that they don’t want us there.  I shudder to think how they
would react if they knew I used a cane sometimes too.  This is our
little secret, okay?”

                        ***  ***  ***

A few months later, I was messing about with some of the buttons on my
speech processor, when I overheard the sound of a couple of
disembodied voices.       I turned the volume on my speech processor
right up in an effort to eavesdrop.  I must have set my processor on
the ‘T’ position and Aunt Liza must have put on my FM system. A
machine that helps cut out background noise.
I was expecting my aunt to come soon.  She had taken some time off
work so she could spend some extra time going over my lessons.
"You really shouldn't be doing this Liza..." A domineering voice announced.
"But she murdered Maya and Zakia. I couldn't just stand by and let
that cold bloodied monster hurt Nadia too" My aunt replied.
"No she didn’t.  She was heart broken when first Maya then Zakia died.
 They were both accidents”
“I don’t believe that.  One dead baby can be explained away by
accidental causes.  Two starts to look really suspicious.  It was
especially suspicious after several of my sisters also died in
mysterious circumstances”
“Why don’t you try to be more understanding towards your half sister
Madrella?  My brother Snyder was very unkind to her.  He had a grudge
against her right from the start, because of a curse that Madrella’s
father put on your mother, just before he died.  Madrella has had a
really hard life”
“So have most criminals but I don’t catch you being so bleeding
hearted about them”
“Nadia is going to have to start school soon.  She needs to be with
children her own age.  She’s already missed first and second grade.
This is not good enough.  If she doesn’t start school next month I‘m
going to have to report you both for truancy…”
“Can’t it wait a few more years?  The loathsome she-devil will be
searching all the local schools for her…”
“No I can’t.  Has it not occurred to you that you might have got it
all wrong? The babies could have all died naturally, after all the
area where Madrella lived in when she gave birth to Maya is very
primitive.   There is no modern medicine, so there is a very high
mortality rate.  You obviously forget that, having lived all your life
in Darthrila”
My aunt swore.
“That kind of language won’t impress me.  If you want to stay in the
police force you are going to have to become a little more detached.
My owner asks me for…” Beria lowered her voice at that point so I
didn’t hear what she said next.
“Talmon…”
“If you are referring to your owner you should say so.  It is in
extremely bad taste to refer to a dragon by their name”
“All right, my owner then.   He doesn’t eat human legs”
 “Lucky you…”   the dogs started barking at that point so I hastily
turned down the volume until they stopped.   When I tried turning the
volume back up again, the voices had gone.


                         ***  ***  ***


A month later, Aunt Liza woke me up in the early hours as usual.
However, there was only one dog with us today. A very fierce dog
called Stormy who had to be kept separate from the other dogs as she
was so aggressive.  I felt puzzled. My aunt did not normally take
Stormy out with us.
 Instead of going to the beach we walked along the cycle path to
Druzil railway station.
We had to move quickly since there was already a train in the station.
Liza helped me aboard but she didn’t climb on herself.
“Just hold on a minute, I’m going to double check that this train goes
to Keraina” “Why are we going to Keraina” I asked, but my aunt was
gone, Lugging Stormy behind her.
The next minute the doors slammed shut.  The train gave a jolt and
started to move forward.
Fearing that my aunt was yet to board the train, I gave a high pitched scream.
“It’s ok; I got on through another door.  It was a narrow thing
though.  They were about to shut the doors so I had to tell them that
you were on board” my aunt explained as she and stormy got to me.
A dark skinned man in a blue uniform approached us with a machine
round his neck.  Before he had a chance to say anything Stormy tried
to make a lounge for him.
The man jumped back in fright.
He was speaking angrily to my aunt. Due to the noise of the train we
couldn’t hear what he said.  My aunt tried to focus on his lips with
her monocular.    She still struggled to understand him, so the man
pulled out a thick pen and some paper.
“Dangerous animals are not alowed on this train.  If you don’t leave
at the next station I’ll call the police”
My aunt pulled out her police badge.  She also handed the man some
extra money which seemed to placate him, so we were alowed to stay on
the train until it terminated at Keraina.
As the train arrived Stormy tried to make a lounge for another
passenger.  In order to stop Stormy getting at the boy, Liza placed
herself between them.  As she did so, Stormy bit her.
Liza swore loudly.
"Why did we bring Stormy?" I asked her while she tended to her
bleeding forearm.
"I’m beginning to wonder that myself.  If that vicious mutt sinks her
teeth into me again, I swear I’m going to feed her to Talmon!”
“You wouldn’t really do that” I objected.  Despite Stormy’s vicious
nature, she did have her charm.
 “No, of course not; the reason I bought her was because if your
mother comes, the other dogs would be useless.  We stand more of a
chance at getting away if Stormy rips her to pieces first"
We walked a few yards to see a large barbed wire fence with a few
bored looking guards patrolling it.   They wore light brown uniforms
that blended in with the environment.  This identified them as members
of the Darthrilan armed forces.  The soldier at the gate waved us
through when she saw Liza.
“I wanted to join them but they didn’t think I had what it took,” Liza
told me as we passed the gate.
Liza took me across the borders into Nazdonia.  We walked past several
spiky trees to a small burial ground on the edge of the Nazdonian
desert.
"This is the grave of your sisters Maya and Zakia.   Zakia was part of
a set of triplets.  You will see the other two girls later today.
They are called Zahira and Zaina.    They live with their foster
parents in Nassoli.  I wish you had been fostered with them too but
your mother wanted to keep you with her.  So I had to kidnap you
instead...
“This other grave belongs to my own sisters.   They died in mysterious
circumstances"
"What happened to them?"
"I'll explain more when you are older.   You just need to understand
why you have to keep hidden as much as you can, in case your mother
finds you.  I only want you to be safe.
“Now we are to wait for everyone else to get here.   Your sisters are
a year younger then you are but you will all be in second grade
together.  I’m afraid you missed a few years of school because I was
very anxious that your mother should never find you.  I would have
kept you at home longer but Beria insists you attend school, so now
I’ve had to find you a bodyguard.”

                      ***   ***  ***

We waited for a few hours.  My aunt sat biting her nails.  Her hand
tightly gripped Stormy’s collar.  She kept looking around ever so
often with the help of her monocular.
“She’s here now” she said at last.  A few minutes later I saw an older
dark-skinned woman approached us.    She was leading a laden camel and
had several grey-skinned Children with her.  The eldest boys were in
their late teens.  They were large and muscular.  I could not help but
wonder if they would be acting as my bodyguard.
 The smallest children were identical girls, who were the same size as
me and looked remarkably similar in appearance.  So much so that it
was hard to believe they were a year younger then me.   They wore
embroidered cotton dresses with matching trousers underneath.  Their
hair was covered by scarves.
One of the girls glanced nervously at Stormy and kept her distance.
She wore thick glasses like mine.  Only her eyes were yellow whereas
mine were brown like my aunt Liza.
 The other twin had motionless glass eyes.   The twins were signing
together using tactile sign language.  The totally deafblind twin
seemed surprisingly cheerful to me.
I watched the rest of the group happily signing to each other.  I was
fascinated.  They all seemed so normal and content.   This was
something I wasn't use to.  Liza was often on edge. She would smile
brightly for me but the smile hardly ever reached her eye.
 She was particularly stressed when she was talking with the people
who were there to look after me.  She would sometimes avoid having to
communicate with them altogether, preferring to leave their wages in a
sealed envelope that she pinned to the notice board.
Today she seemed more anxious then usual.  Something was definitely
bothering her.
"This is my old Nanny Shania Krum.  She takes care of the twins
sometimes when their foster parents are busy," Liza signed.  She
introduced me to the dark- skinned woman, “These boys are all her
children”
"Hello Liza.  It's nice to see you again.  I've put a picnic together
which we can eat whilst we wait for Beria to get here" the woman
signed.
"Where's Katrina?" My aunt asked.
"She's travelling down from north Nazdonia.  She should arrive at
Druzil later tonight.  Don't worry. My eldest sons are both armed" The
woman explained.  The two teenage boys showed Liza their guns.
"I hope they know what they are up against.  I have to go now.  It's
time I paid my mother another visit" Liza abruptly announced.
"Why so soon”
Liza bit her lip.  There was a wretched look on her face.    She
hugged me tightly and hurriedly left with Stormy.  Shania watched her
leave with a look of concern on her face.
We sat eating salad and hummus filled pita bread when one of the boys
pointed out something up in the air.  To my amazement it was a flying
pedal driven rickshaw.  It was gradually flying lower until it landed
near the graveyard where we were sitting.
This magical contraption was pedal-driven by an attractively plump
grey-skinned woman.   She looked very similar to Aunt Liza apart from
her orange flame- coloured eyes.
“Come on then, hurry up” the woman demanded.  She was talking to me
using cued speech, even though Shania was the adult.
“I think she wants us to climb aboard” Shania signed.  So we all piled
into the back of the rickshaw along with the teenage boys.  It was all
quite a squash.
"The boys can stay behind..." The woman driving the rickshaw snapped.
"Liza wants the child to be protected until Katrina arrives. She's
very concerned" Shania told her, using speech with a heavy deaf
accent.
"Nadia doesn't need a bodyguard.  It's all getting quite ridiculous.
I won't pander to Liza's paranoid delusions. The boys can get out"
"What about the nurse?"
"If you are referring to the wretched woman who let Liza kidnap
Madrella's child, she's nothing but a trouble maker.  The lies she
spread about Madrella, were her way of getting at Madrella for
shouting at her.   It's their own fault for not explaining things to
Madrella more clearly, about how the cochlear implants actually work.
 I don't believe that Nadia is in any danger at all.  Her mother is a
bit loopy but it runs in the family.  Now will you get your boys out
please before I turn them into Lizards?"
Shania glared at Beria as she told her sons to get out in sign
language. Hesitantly the two boys left the rickshaw.  I watched them
go in consternation.
"Goodbye Zahira, Goodbye Zaina, I hope you have a good time this year.
Be good girls now.  I‘ll see you when you get back next summer.
 “Nadia, I believe it’s your first year at school.  I’m afraid you
will have to be very patient.  They use a system called signed
supported Drasp which is more long-winded than real sign language.
They want to talk and sign simultaneously.  Either that or you get
deprived of sign language altogether, if you are unfortunate enough to
be placed in their oral classes.  You will be able to sign properly
with your bodyguard though.  She is a fluent signer."
I only hoped my bodyguard got to me before Mother did.