All Good Children - Catherine Austen [0]
CHILDREN
CATHERINE AUSTEN
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
Copyright © 2011 Catherine Austen
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Austen, Catherine, 1965-
All good children [electronic resource] / Catherine Austen.
Type of computer file: Electronic monograph in PDF format.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-55469-825-7
I. Title.
PS8601.U785A64 2011A JC813’.6 C2011-903489-1
First published in the United States, 2011
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011929259
Summary: In the not-too-distant future, Max tries to maintain his identity in a world where the only way to survive is to conform and obey.
Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®.
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Design by Teresa Bubela
Cover photography by Getty Images
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
PO BOX 5626, Stn. B PO BOX 468
Victoria, BC Canada CUSTER, WA USA
V8R 6S4 98240-0468
www.orcabook.com
Printed and bound in Canada.
14 13 12 11 • 4 3 2 1
To Sawyer and Daimon,
who are not in this one,
and to a boy named Pierre,
who haunts these pages as Xavier.
When the children have been good,
That is, be it understood,
Good at meal-times, good at play,
Good all night and good all day—
They shall have the pretty things
Merry Christmas always brings.
Naughty, romping girls and boys
Tear their clothes and make a noise,
Spoil their pinafores and frocks,
And deserve no Christmas-box.
Such as these shall never look
At this pretty Picture-Book.
From Heinrich Hoffmann’s
Struwwelpeter: Merry Stories and Funny Pictures
(1845)
Contents
PART ONE TREATMENT
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
PART TWO ADJUSTMENT
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
PART THREE REJECTION
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PART ONE
TREATMENT
ONE
The airport security guard is not amused when I drop my pants in front of her. Actually, they fall down when I remove my belt. I don’t want to look like a recall, so I play along: fold the pants, strip off my T-shirt, cue my charming adolescent smile. “I’m ready for my pat-down now.”
The guard stares at me, blank and bored, hands planted on her fat hips. Broken body scanners, delayed f lights, exhausted travelers, near-naked teens—they all blend in her muddy eyes. “Are you carrying any liquids or electronics?” she asks.
Beside me, my sister Ally giggles through her own pat-down. She runs across the room to find her shoes and teddy bear. Our mother shields her from the sight of me.
“Lady, I’m almost naked,” I say. I point to my shorts and add, “I could take these off, too, if it’ll get me through faster. I know it looks like I might be hiding something.”
The guard frowns, blinks, reaches her gloved hands up to my neck as if she’s going to throttle me. She probably hears that joke twice a day. “Did you place your electronics in the bin?” she asks. Her fat fingers scurry over my bare shoulders, down my breastbone, around my back, as if contraband could be hiding beneath my skin.
My mother’s voice booms across the room. “Why is that woman touching my child’s body? Is she blind? He is fifteen years old. He’s a citizen—” And on and on until every traveler stares at me and my molester.
I pretend this is a normal encounter. I nod to passersby. “My