The Circle, Page 3

  Hopefully, this afternoon would go smoother than the morning. He at least had classes that he found somewhat interesting: chemistry, calculus, and government. Government especially fascinated Charlie. He knew the Earthans had more freedoms than Sentrians, and he had been taught that this was the reason they were such violent brutes. According to the elders, all people needed strict guidance from their government so that they could live in peace and harmony. Charlie had always believed that was the reason for so many Earthan wars—the people had too many freedoms.

  Michael, the drum major, was in his chemistry class, and both Matt and the petite French horn player were in government with him. He remembered her from this morning in English class. When the teacher took attendance, Charlie paid more attention, so he could catch her name.

  “Liliana Garcia?” Mr. Austin called out.

  “It’s Lilly,” she answered.

  After roll call, Mr. Austin started right in. “We’re going to start the year studying the different branches of government. Can anyone name the three branches of government for me?”

  ***

  After the last bell, the band had exactly fifteen minutes to get to the field for practice. The guys changed into shorts quickly and were ready to go. The girls had more difficulty. They had to change into shorts, pull their hair up, and freshen their makeup. Many were racing to get to the field on time. Charlie, who hadn’t changed clothes, wondered why the girls bothered reapplying their makeup. They would just sweat it off.

  Marching band practice lasted two long hours. A lot of it was kind of boring, because the director would work with one group of the band at a time. The only groups that were constantly busy were the drum line and the color guard, who were practicing on the parking lot next to the field.

  When Charlie had chosen band, he didn’t realize all it involved. Band was a huge time commitment, with practice every day after school and all the football games and marching contests. He could have joined the Latin club, which met twice a month and still complied with the Sentrian requirement. Of course, band practice would be a lot more fun and go more smoothly if these teenage boys would pay attention to the director and do what they were supposed to do.

  “Bones,” Mr. Patterson called out to the trombone section. “You were completely out of step. Let’s run through that section again. Just the bones. C’mon, folks.”

  Charlie sighed and knelt down on the field with the rest of the trumpets. The first-chair French horn looked bored and annoyed. He sat by himself, picking up bits of grass and rolling them between his fingers. The girl named Liliana, who went by the nickname Lilly, had moved out of formation and was sitting in a circle with some of the other horn players. Dan never would have allowed that. Unlike Mark, Dan kept his section on a tight leash.

  Finally Mr. Patterson picked up his bullhorn again. “Folks, listen up. We’re going to run through this from the top.”

  ***

  Lilly was waiting for Ian and Beth at her car after band practice. Ian, Mr. Personality, was always dawdling. He had to say good-bye to the myriad friends and admirers he imagined he had. Beth was trying to hurry Ian up. “C’mon, do you want Lilly to leave us?”

  “She would never leave me. She loves me too much.”

  “OK, get in. Let’s go,” Lilly said.

  “Yes, Mom,” Ian said and snickered at Beth. “Here, let me get that for you.” He picked up Lilly’s horn case and put it into the back of the Jeep.

  “Suck-up,” Beth said under her breath.

  Charlie had parked near Lilly and was walking up to his car, when he suddenly froze. He tilted his head to the side and looked up at the sky.

  “What’s he doing?” asked Ian.

  “I don’t know,” Lilly said, “but he does that a lot.”

  A moment later Charlie started walking toward his car again. “You know,” Beth said, “maybe he has epilepsy. My cousin does the same thing when she has a petit mal seizure.”

  Charlie laughed out loud and shook his head. He put his trumpet in his car and drove off.

  “That’s not epilepsy. That’s just freakin’ weird.”

  “Be nice, Ian,” Lilly said.

  “What? I’m just saying what you guys are thinking. The dude’s probably having a really interesting conversation with the little green men inside his head.”

  Lilly started the car, and Ian reached over to put in a New Order tape. “Wait, Ian,” Lilly said. “I want to hear this.” “Circle in the Sand” was playing on the radio.

  He put down the New Order tape. “Since when do you prefer this girlie pop to New Order?”

  “I don’t like girlie pop,” she said. “I just happen to like this song.”

  ***

  When Charlie returned from band practice, his mom had dinner on the table. Sentrian food was remarkably similar to Earthan food, but the combination of food served would seem odd to Earthans. This evening his mom had made spaghetti and beets. And instead of water or a cold drink, they had steaming mugs of coffee.

  Louis was sitting at the table but not participating in the conversation. Mentally he was still at work.

  “So did you make some friends today?” his mom asked Charlie.

  “No, Mom.” He was annoyed. What did his mother expect? Most of these kids had gone to school together for years. Their friendships had been forged long ago. Charlie was the interloper.

  “Well, I think it would be nice if you did. After all, this is your senior year.”

  Louis suddenly looked up from his work papers. “Leave him alone, Helen. He joined the band. Isn’t that enough?”

  Charlie could sense a fight brewing. He decided to change the subject. “How was your day, Father?”

  “Tolerable, I suppose. Mr. Conner has assigned us a lot of unnecessary charting that takes up a lot of time, but that’s pretty typical for him. The dolts I work with think anything he says is just great. They’re falling all over each other to please him.” Louis sighed. “It would be nice if we had some Sentrian friends here.”

  Charlie knew what he meant. Even though they came to Earth with other Sentrian families, they had very little in common with them. The other families were too busy trying to please the magistrate and the elders. There was no one they could actually trust.

  In the fifties, with Daniel’s family, it had been different. Daniel’s father and Louis would sit on the back patio and take advantage of the fact that no one was listening in on their conversations. They discussed their jobs: what they liked and didn’t like about them. They would often criticize the Sentrian government, something they couldn’t do at home. But mostly, they would just discuss life, what they would do if only they had the freedom and the opportunity.

  “I wish Daniel were here,” Charlie said.

  “Yes,” Louis agreed. “Last trip was nice. But we can’t afford to be so lax this time. Most of the families on this mission are completely brainwashed by the state. I heard Mr. Jones tell Mr. Lassiter a few days before we left that whatever the state wanted him to do, it was his duty to comply. If it meant spying on his teenage daughter, he would do it. And if she was involved with the troublemakers, he would be the first to hand her over to the political police.”

  “Surely, he was joking,” Mrs. Gray said.

  “No, he wasn’t. He would probably send his One to the dungeons, if he thought it would please the state.”

  Louis was exaggerating, but not by much. Charlie had watched his father get passed over for promotion after promotion. Louis was a brilliant scientist and an extraordinary worker, but he was a poor actor. He had difficulty concealing his contempt for those in charge. They recognized this, and that is why, after many years of exceptional service, he was still a technical worker. He never moved up, while other, inferior workers rose higher in the government ranks. The current magistrate was one of these people. A few years ago Louis was staying late, correcting Mr. Conner’s mistakes, but because Mr. Conner was a yes-man for the state, he was now Louis’s boss. />
  “Oh, no,” Mrs. Gray said, her hand going to her throat. “I was telling Mrs. Jones just before we boarded the ship that I was looking forward to grocery shopping on Earth without the state knowing how many bananas I have in my cart. Do you suppose she told her husband?”

  Mrs. Gray started hyperventilating. She was on the verge of a nervous fit. Louis had to talk her down. “Helen, it’s OK. She probably thought you were joking. Anyway, she’s not that bright. She probably forgot all about it before she had a chance to say anything to her husband.”

  Helen seemed to calm down then. Louis always knew how to diffuse an intense situation with his wife. She turned her focus back on Charlie then. “You know, dear, I hope you at least try to make friends.”

  Charlie sighed. “Mom, what would I have in common with a sweaty Earthan?”

  Helen turned to her husband then. “Louis, I told you we should have let him stay on Sentria. Find his One.”

  “Helen, we’ve already discussed this. Charlie’s place is here with us.”

  “Louis, you can be so stubborn,” she said.

  “And you can be such a nag,” Louis added. The tenderness that Louis had just shown his wife a few moments earlier was gone now. His parents didn’t argue often, and they never raised their voices. They believed in civil discourse. But like most of his people, they had mastered the art of saying the vilest things to each other in the most pleasant tones.

  “May I be excused?” Charlie asked.

  “Yes, you may,” Helen said.

  Charlie put his plate in the sink, topped off his coffee mug, and headed upstairs to his room. His parents spoke softly, but Charlie could still hear everything they said. Even they did not realize just how keen Charlie’s sense of hearing was.

  “If we had stayed on Sentria, Charlie would already be settled down,” Helen whispered.

  “You don’t know that, Helen. He had an opportunity to marry last spring, and he didn’t do it. And you didn’t even like the girl.”

  “That’s not the point,” Helen said.

  “Then what exactly is the point?” Louis countered.

  “He’s eighteen now; he’ll be almost nineteen when we return. It’s not that easy to find your One when you’re that old. He can’t get close to anyone, because he’s always afraid he’ll be uprooted again by your work.”

  “Now, Helen, that’s not fair…”

  That’s when Charlie filtered out their conversation. It wasn’t always great to overhear others when they were talking about you. He turned on his radio. One of the first things he did when he got back to Earth was find a station that played fifties music. He pulled Brave New World out of his backpack and began reading. He couldn’t put it down. Charlie read the entire book in one sitting. He still wasn’t tired, so he flipped open his PCD and insta-searched books like Brave New World. The title 1984 popped up, and Charlie started reading it. He was shocked. If a Sentrian author dared to write anything so incendiary and blatantly critical of the government, he would be thrown into the dungeons. Charlie was learning through his reading and research that Earthans were much different from what he had been taught. They weren’t dim-witted feral animals. There was another side to them. It was a proindividual, independent mentality. They had the freedom to go where they chose, say what they wanted to say, and make decisions about their own lives. Their freedom, especially from an intrusive government, was very important to them.

  By contrast, his people only had two aspects of their lives that were free from government control. The first was that God chose your One, your soul mate, and the government could not interfere with God’s master plan. The second was privacy in your own home, but that only extended to your immediate family. If you congregated in your house with a group of friends, and the leaders found out about it, chances were good that someone was wearing a bug. With so many Sentrians eager to please the state officials, it was hard to know whom to trust.

  There used to be a third law regarding the day of rest. It was designated a holy day to worship the Lord. Unfortunately, the current government infringed on this right whenever they needed the people to work longer hours for the good of the state.

  Charlie supposed they were fortunate to still have two of the three rights. That was likely due to King Augustan. He was king of Sentria several centuries ago. King Augustan noted that if the people had a few rights that were guaranteed, things they could control, they worked harder and cooperated with the state rather than trying to rebel. That’s when the privacy laws were enacted. There had been no war on Sentria since.

  However, things were about to change. Charlie could see the signs of unrest among his people before he left for Earth. The younger Sentrians were growing weary of all the restrictions on their lives. A group known as the troublemakers was making its presence known. Small uprisings were occurring throughout the Sentrian provinces. Charlie knew that was the real reason his father had insisted he come on this mission with them. If the government decided to round up a group of its enemies, Charlie would be targeted simply because he was eighteen and not married. Being an older single on Sentria would automatically place him under suspicion. It would matter very little that Charlie knew no one in the troublemaker’s movement.

  ***

  By Friday Lilly had gotten adjusted to her new schedule. The teachers were already piling on the homework, but that was to be expected. On the way to school, Ian was frantically finishing up geometry homework, and Beth was reading The Scarlet Letter. Lilly wished she could read something else. Brave New World was getting on her nerves.

  Lilly was calm as she walked into English class. Most of her classmates were not. They were rushing to finish up the chapters and cramming for the quiz. Charlie was the exception. He observed the Earthan female’s demeanor. Liliana did not seem like the stereotypical Earthan teenager he had always heard about. She was not ignorant or unsophisticated. She was quite studious, spending her free time reading a book or working on schoolwork. When any of the teachers asked her a question she knew the answer, and it wasn’t just something she regurgitated from a textbook. There was true thought behind it.

  He was the first to finish his quiz, with Lilly a close second. This gave Charlie time to ponder things while the other students were still fumbling through the quiz. Liliana, he saw, had fished a paperback out of her backpack and was reading. She was a pretty girl, and intelligent: a desirable combination in any galaxy.

  Yes, Liliana was different than other Earthans and would be quite a catch on Sentria, except for one thing. Sentrians would never entertain the thought of courting a low-class, sweaty Earthan. Even the thought of it was repulsive. Charlie frowned. Such a strange thing to pop into his head. He supposed he was just really tired of being alone.

  ***

  There were no band practices on Friday afternoons because of the football games. For Lilly, it was hardly worth going home. She and her French horn children had already decided to get something to eat and just come back and hang out at the band hall until the game started.

  Out in the parking lot, Lilly saw Charlie walking to his car. He looked as glum as ever. She hesitated. Inviting Charlie would be the nice thing to do.

  “Charlie, wait,” she called out to him and waved. He turned at the sound of his name. It was Liliana. She was walking toward him.

  “What’s up?” he asked, hoping that was the appropriate Earthan greeting.

  “Um, I was just wondering…I mean, we have a couple of hours before we have to be back for the game, and some of us were going to get something to eat. Do you want to come with?” she asked meekly.

  Charlie was surprised. “Oh,” he said. He really should decline. His house was just a few minutes away, but she was being nice. She wanted to include him. It might hurt her feelings if he turned her down. A voice in Charlie’s head told him, “I don’t think this is a good idea.” Charlie told it, “I know what I’m doing.”

  “Sure. I’d like that, but I need to call my mom. She’s expect
ing me home,” Charlie said.

  “Yes, of course. We’ll wait.”

  Charlie walked to the band hall to use the phone. He wished he could whip out his PCD and send his mother a message, but that technology was not available on Earth in 1988.

  “What’s the holdup?” Ian asked. He was already sitting in the front seat, blasting the air conditioning and fiddling with the radio.

  “I invited Charlie. I need you to sit in back with Beth.”

  Ian’s head jerked up. “Freakshow? You can’t be serious.”

  Lilly rolled her eyes. “Look, I feel kind of bad for him. He’s always by himself. How would you feel if you were the new kid?”

  “Great. Now we’re picking up strays,” Ian grumbled, but he got out of the front seat and moved to the back.

  “It won’t kill you to sit next to me.” Beth smiled.

  “It might. Scoot over,” Ian said.

  ***

  Charlie picked up the phone and dialed his parents’ house. After the second ring, his mother answered. “Mom, I won’t be home before the game. Some of the band members are going to eat at a local restaurant and have invited me to join them.”

  “Charlie, that’s wonderful. You’ve taken my advice, I see, interacting with your Earthan peers. I know they aren’t like your friends on Sentria, but they can’t be that bad. Try to enjoy yourself.”

  “I will,” Charlie said.

  “Your father and I will be at the game tonight to see you march.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Charlie said.

  “Sure we do. We at least need to show up to one game or the Earthans might grow suspicious.” Like most Sentrians, his mother was hyperparanoid.

  “OK, Mom. I really need to go. They’re waiting.”

  “OK, Charlie. Love you,” she said.

  “Bye, Mom.” Charlie hung up the phone and walked out to Lilly’s Jeep.

  “Charlie, this is Ian and Beth,” Lilly said.

  “Hello,” said Beth politely. Ian said nothing. He was still miffed he got booted out of the front seat.

  “Nice to meet you,” Charlie said.

  “We were going to McDonald’s, if that’s all right,” Lilly said.