MAJOR/minor Chapter 8: MAJOR/perspective

They would have words. That’s what Izzellah had decided. She had only been to school for four days, technically only two and she’d already discovered how woefully unprepared she was for the MAJOR world. Why had she been allowed to exist so ignorant for so long? Her father would be held responsible. He may act like a doofus, but no MAJOR was truly and completely stupid or oblivious. He would have to answer for her lack of education. She didn’t know about bonding, communication, MAJOR aggression, anything really! Yes, they would have words. She’d made that very clear to him before he stomped off to work that morning.

She sat cross legged on her enormous bed, it was a MAJOR twin but to her it was a king sized. She typed away on her laptop. She had elected to take the day off. After yesterday she understood there was a reason minor classes were only three days a week. You needed a day in between to rest. She’d gotten a full eight plus hours of sleep last night and she still woke up feeling like it had run a marathon. The mental gymnastics of yesterday had left her exhausted, her hands were shaky, her eyes blurred, and she really just wanted to pass out for at least another three hours, but she wouldn’t, not yet anyway. Today she would search for answers.

This was not the first time Izzellah had researched her kind. On the contrary she’d spent an entire year trying to find out as much as she could about minors after her mom died. She’d ultimately ended her search for truth confused and frustrated. At the time she’d just chalked it up to age. How much was a grief stricken twelve year old girl supposed to find without any experience or even a proper starting point. Now with a more refined and mature eye she knew what articles read, what keywords to search for, what videos to watch, and…...there was almost nothing. The same vague articles she’d read on bonding a handful of times, now that she knew what basic bonding with another minor was like it was clear the popular articles were misinformed, or written by a MAJOR. There were a few very expensive books on minor child care, a biography of a famous minor actor. A few spotlights on significant minor contributions through history including her favorite on the invention of the automobile, and a ton of fan sites for Little Housewives. Not just Little Housewives either, there were tons of sites and advertisements for minors in mainstream media. It almost surprised her how many minors went into entertainment. It seemed every notable minor had some kind of reality show. A hundred different Youtube channels with over a million followers at least. Named minor actors and models. It was clear that in California at least there was a niche but thriving minor, entertainment community. Izzellah kind of already knew this. She’d seen minors on TV and in movies. More than a few cartoons in her childhood had minor protagonist, and it was always something she’d held onto in the back of her mind. Acting had even been a completely plausible childhood fantasy. There was a problem though, one she’d only realized recently. There was no substance.

Every reality show was vapid and insulting. The minor was often a spoiled and privileged Monica Steeps type, or they didn’t really factor into the show at all. There was Delicate Delights a cooking show, but not one where god forbid minors competed for some sort of opportunity as a chef or their own restaurant. Instead a group of MAJORS competed to see who could impress a posh and plumpy minor judge with the most impressive dish. Winner earned 100 grand and a temporary bond with the judge. Or Bond Battles, a sports competition for MAJORS to literally fight over a bond with a minor! This season two teams were competing over a bond with Shireen Wells a globally famous minor singer. She was really going to bond with one of the winners?! Izzellah had one of her fucking albums! It was the halfway point and the group teams had dissolved into one for individual competition. It seemed like the perfect show for MAJORS and Izzellah was not surprised at the hundreds of millions of views it had on Youtube. Then there was a show that resonated with her. The Search.

It was a reality show documenting minor teens searching for their first bond partner. A young boy a little on the heavy side was being dressed up by his MAJOR father in a nice suit. He was about to spend the entire day in interviews for a bond partner. For some reason Izzellah found herself sympathizing with this young man. He was only a year older than her and loved art and manga. His name was Randalf and he was from Europe and one day he wanted to make his own anime. As his mother doted on him and combed his hair he complained to the camera how he this was his fourteenth meeting that year and how he just wanted to go home.

The review process was long and arduous. His mom read him applications for men and women he might be interested in while he waited for the next potential match. This was a big deal as anyone of these MAJORS could very well end up his lifelong partner. What followed was a montage of sped up footage as applicant after applicant was passed over. A few times they stopped and asked for his input. He gave a sheepish shrug.

Over the next hour Izzellah watched his story unfold. His mother was overbearing and incredibly picky. No applicant was good enough for her Ran-ran. His drawings were surprisingly good and in his freetime he actually did commissions over the internet. He even submitted a few applications to an art college, and explained that a job in animation might actually be possible for him. His parents seemed very resistant to that possibility. Eventually it had narrowed down to two potential candidates. An twenty-one year old college grad from a rich family. Her name was Celina Rahal and she looked middle eastern. She had a posh accent and the parents absolutely loved her. Why not? It was clear from the start that this young woman would spoil Randalf. There was a connection there as the young minor was clearly attracted to her but Izzellah didn’t like her. She’d once described his illustrations as “cute sketches” and had the casual disregard of a parent hanging a drawing on the fridge. She might cherish his work but she would never see it’s real value.

Then there was the second applicant. Another MAJOR woman from America. Her name was Summer Ray Bradbury and her family owned one of the largest produce farms in the country. She was also 93 years old, but she just barely looked older than Izzellah’s own papa. The only indication of her age was a few crows feet and her hair that had apparently turned silver in her twenties. She was part of the first generation; the group of births within one decade after the Dark Age. She had five kids, thirteen grandchildren, and one great grandchild. At first Randalf was completely turned off by her and Izzellah had to admit the age difference alone made it seem like it wouldn’t work out, but this was apparently the end season clip show before the finale and they were showing the relationship grow over time.

The parents absolutely hated her from the start but Randalf was willing to give her a chance. He was very sweet and shy and over the season that had gotten him manipulated more that a few times. There was a clip of a MAJOR young man that looked like a model making a pass at him. Holding the minor in the corner to move in for a kiss but Randalf seemed hesitant. Summer slugged the MAJOR once in the face. They both had nearly gotten thrown off the show for it but Randalf spoke up in Summer’s defense. Summer was crass, loud, and unashamed, She cracked lewd jokes at the dining table and challenged the other applicants to arm wrestling when she got wasted. She even warned Randalf more than once that if he chose her she would “work off” his gut as she liked a fit man. He often fumed at the implication of physical activity the innuendo maybe lost on him. Her justification was that it was how she’d always been and if Randalf didn’t like it she would move on. She was too old to change now. Somehow either through luck or force of will she had made it to the end with Celine. There was even a rivalry forming between the two because of course there was. Celine often addressed her as a hag or a old Mcdonald.

What eventually sold Izzellah on the great grandma was when Randalf  showed her his room. All the drawings that he’d put up on the wall. Presented with the same scenario where Celine had uttered “cute sketches” Summer Ray had offered to build him an art studio with her bare hands. Her late husband was a metal worker who built sculptures in his free time. She loved the “artsy fartsy” types as she described. Mostly because she couldn’t draw anything. She didn’t understand a lick about Randalf’s love of anime but she did say she was a fan of Disney. They ended up watching Spirited Away and she loved it! That had clenched it for the widow in Izzellah’s mind. She was someone who might take Randalf seriously even if the age gap was a significant hurdle. Much better than miss prim and proper Celine Rahal. She only needed to watch the finale and confirm what she already knew and? The episode was over! What?!

She eagerly awaited the next one to air but apparently this was a best of marathon and the next episode was completely unrelated. It followed a black girl from New York. Her family was dirt poor until she was born. Her father apparently had a gambling addiction and the only way out of the hole was to play the odds in life. This resulted in her having ten older siblings, seven older sisters and three older brothers. They all lived in one big house bought with the significant aid the government paid to minor families. Izzellah knew of this. Her own papa had apparently put the money in a fund for her to live off of if he died in some “polar bear related accident” he assured her. It wasn’t enough to make the family rich but they had all lived in a three bedroom apartment before then. The minor girl named Layla Jackpot Johnson was apparently trying to date which was a hassle with a massive and insanely overprotective family. She even wanted to go to school! What were the odds of that!? Izzellah immediately bookmarked the show for later but she’d already been invested in Randalf and didn’t want to risk getting hooked on another cliffhanger with little “Jackie” as her family called her.

Izzellah scoured the internet to discover Randalf’s fate. What she found was a Youtube video titled the “Bradbury’s a year later” and Randalf was engaged. Yes! A significantly thinner Randalf was flashing a gold band on his ring finger while being cuddled from behind by his silver haired fox. She was peppering his neck in light kisses while he giggled away and Izzellah couldn’t believe she was this happy for a boy she’d never met. Randalf apparently started life blogging and honestly every minor with a webcam did. It was an easy 1k subscriber base minimum but Izzellah still found herself hitting the button. Instead of blogging about the latest fashion trend, or makeup advice (although he did that too), or whatever he was eating for lunch like most minors, he often talked about how he related to Summer’s family. It was and odd dynamic for sure. All of Summer’s children were at least a decade older than him and he found himself relating more to the grandchildren. In a way he was just another child on the farm to Summer’s children, just one their mom happened to be screwing on the regular. Izzellah didn’t understand it. Most of Summer’s children seemed completely okay with the age gap and the ones that weren’t were transparently envious of her. Including Summer’s oldest daughter who often argued about how improper it all was while secretly making suggestive propositions to him on the side.

It was a part of MAJOR culture that confused and intrigued Izzellah. She’d never really thought about it before but MAJORS lived a lot longer than minors. She might even die before her father as he was still in his fifties. If she ever found a relationship with a MAJOR her own age that was a reality she would have to come to terms with. Was it so bad to have a significantly older lover? Apparently not to most MAJORS. It some ways it made sense. Summer and Randalf could grow old together and they clearly like each other. Maybe it came from experience but Summer didn’t just baby him. It was clear from a clip of them carrying in groceries and Randalf was expected to bring in his fair share. He wasn’t a child ot her. They often blogged together, sometimes even in bed and Summer clearly wasn’t some old fuddy duddy done living. They went skydiving, got matching tattoos, and she’d even become a bit of a weeb herself. Her favorite shirt was now a tight fitting orange top that stretched tight over her abundant chest. The turtle hermit logo was visible in the corner. She seemed younger, more alive around Randy. Much of the family was happy that she’d finally gotten over her depression from losing their father and grandfather. She laughed like a schoolgirl in every video she shared with Randalf and Izzellah wasn’t sure she was as old as she said she was. She could easily see Summer fitting in at a classroom. She clicked on a video titled “Accepted” and she’d nearly lost her mind.

It was a short video only five minutes long. Randalf Wincrest now Randalf Bradbury was close to the camera seemingly in the dark. He was whispering.

“Okay guys.” he whispered in his distinct English accent. “You can’t tell Summer yet but-” He flashed and envelope with the Winton logo on it. An eagle in flight under a ring of golden ivy. He opened it and flashed the acceptance letter. The same letter Izzellah had read some months ago, she even recognized Principal Gladston’s signature at the bottom. “

“I got in!” He squealed lightly.

“What?!” Summer’s voice rang in the background.

“Oops.” Randalf laughed and pointed to his forehead. “I forgot how hard it is to keep a secret when-”

It flashed into light. Randalf was apparently hiding underneath some covers that had just been lifted off of him by an exuberant Summer Ray.

“I’m so proud of you!” She said as she pounced on her tiny husband. She started kissing him, softly at first but then she started moaning and Randalf cupped her breast and the video cut off. Izzellah’s was paralyzed in amazement. It couldn’t be true! How old was this video?! He was coming to- he could already be?! It was dated at six months ago! Randalf Bradbury was attending Winton University.

She would find him. Izzellah decided that immediately. Interesting minors were few and far between and Randalf seemed like a guy worth knowing at least what she’d seen of him on the internet. She would find him, but that was a task for later. Randalf had distracted her from her quest for answers, and thus the fruitless search continued. There was nothing. No minor doctors, or scientists, inventors, professors, nothing! The most significant thing she’d found was an advertisement for a minor veterinarian and a few brief blurbs on minor elementary school teachers including one she knew personally. Was that really it?! Had her race’s endangered status oppressed them so significantly? She refused to believe that not a single relevant minor had been born within the last century. She only found music stars, actors, and none of these celebritards seemed to do anything significant to uplift their kind with their platform. A few off handed charity organizations for her kind still struggling across the sea, maybe an awareness rally for minor abuse here and there but nothing organized. What wasted opportunity. If all these glorified pets actually banded together then they could actually create something. Change things on a national, maybe even global scale! But no! They were too interested in pretending to be important, and scrambling to retain their meager stardom. Bleh. Had any of them even one an Oscar? There had to be something! She couldn’t believe her people didn’t try to reach out. Didn’t try to find one other, communicate, if not to reform then just to...just to cope! A website, a reddit thread, a forum! She couldn’t find anything. She was getting frustrated. She changed subjects.

Researching MAJORS proved far more lucrative. Every aspect of their culture and history was well documented. To Izzellah’s chagrin Mei Masumoto had been correct. MAJORS and minors had evolved differently and minors were predisposed to attraction to larger and more dominant specimens. Of course this was all coming from an easily edited Wikipedia article and MAJORS were known to manipulate their own history. It was written by the winners afterall, and who won more than MAJORS. She took everything she read with a grain of salt. One loophole in the theory Izzellah had immediately saw was if that was true how had minors not been completely bred out centuries ago? The fact that she was alive and breathing as a minor sufficiently debunked that in her mind.

She also discovered why MAJORS seemed so aggressive. They had evolved from a carnivorous species. A few clicks and she was staring at set of bones dug up in South Africa. They were vaguely bipedal and human but upon closer examination the lower jaw was quite a bit thicker. A close up image of two skull side by side  showed a typical human skull from the time compared to what was named a homoMAJORUS it had significantly more pronounced canines. There was also a short video where a balding MAJOR dentist was being interviewed. He had a patient sitting before him, a MAJOR man. He opened his mouth and the camera zoomed in to see the same canines dulled over years of evolution but significantly more pronounced then a minors. This seemed to confirm the point of the video and MAJORS origin as predators. Of course all this was millions of years ago. Saying a MAJOR was still a predator would be like saying she was just a monkey. Besides anthropology wasn’t really the subject Izzellah was interested in. She was more interested in modern social behavior. Something that could save her skin in a dire situation, understand why MAJORS were so hardwired for bonding and fighting, anything about the goddamn Dark Age!

She layed on her back and groaned. She was starting to get a headache. Her frustration was getting to her. She angrily typed in “WHY DO MAJORS FIGHT” in the google search bar. The first link on the page was to a video that simply read the answer. It a picture of a hot guy flexing with a minor girl sitting on his arm. Curiosity got the better of Izzellah and she clicked it. A cute girl’s face appeared on screen she had chubby cheeks and brown hair done in a ponytail.

“Why do MAJORS fight?” Giggled in a chipmunk voice. Suddenly she was lifted up by her hot MAJOR boyfriend. He kissed her cheek and groped her curvy body.

“Because we LIKE it!” He said and then the music kicked in. He threw his girl up in the air and caught her. What followed was some insane workout motivation video that he narrated over.  

“Competition is life.” He said and the video showed him punching a guy out in a boxing ring. “And life is STRENGTH!” he curled a massive dumbbell with one arm while his girl swooned.

“In this world power is EVERYTHING!” he said and Izzellah was about to click off this idiotic video when it cut to a new segment. A larger than life black woman with a huge volume of hair done up in a massive bun and wearing a blood red business suit shook the hands of a significantly less massive older man. She had a wicked grin on her face as she looked down at the man and even through the poor resolution of the screen Izzellah could tell the older MAJOR gentlemen was terrified. He winced in pain from just her grip as her massive palm consumed his.

“Shannon Mathewson succeeds in MAJOR takeover acquiring billionaire Markus Winslow’s tech corporation IoSphere. A dominating display and huge win for Fire-Brand!”

Then the meathead’s voice came back in. “The arena may change but we DON’T” He was in a quarry. He picked up a huge boulder and hurled it toward the horizon. He flexed and said “YEAH!!” and his chipmunk of a girlfriend ran up to hug his leg.

“That was amazing baby!” She squeaked.

Izzellah wasn’t even sure what she was watching anymore. This was the work of a madman. The music swelled as he intercut footage of him working out with clips of other MAJORS around the world fighting or just generally being insane confrontational freaks. There was a clip of a soldier punching at the cornerstone of a dilapidated building in a foriegn country. She roared as it crumbled to nothing behind her. The camera panned over to a group of dozens of minor woman with tanned skin wrapped in shawls cheering and shouting in a language she didn’t understand.

“We’re HEROES!” the meathead said.

Then the camera gorilla footage of a city street. There was a loud screeching sound and a crash. ‘Holy shit!” some man said into his phone. He turned it toward the street and Izzellah almost choked. There in the middle of the street was Sabrina Rodriguez with both hands pushed out in front of her. Her fingers had dug into the steel of an eighteen wheeler and her feet had grinded into the concrete as she brought it to a stop. A crowd of other MAJORS had gathered.
“Mija!” Izzellah recognized as Gloria’s voice and then she saw her dad’s girlfriend rush up to embrace her daughter.

“We’re HEROES!” The meathead said as the camera panned over to reveal a yellow school bus filled with the cutest and tiniest minor children she’d ever seen. Most of them had very dark skin. They screamed and cheered for their savior. “We’re PROTECTORS!” he continued.

There was a clip of a bearded man wrestling a polar bear for absolutely no reason at all besides the fact that maybe it was cool. “WARRIORS!” he said. The video went on as more clips of him working out flashed with other amazing feats. Shannon Matthewson appeared more than once doing different things. There was even a clip of her where a perverted MAJOR hd spanked her considerably rounder, and plumper than average ass in broad daylight. She grabbed the molesters arm and the camera cut off as a loud snap and whimpering scream was heard. Izzellah imagined there was probably more to that clip but she assumed someone like Shannon had the power to delete things off the internet and most likely didn’t want video of her snapping a MAJORS arm circulating. You’d never get a minor that way. Izzellah was terrified and she was only watching a second hand clip in some fitness nuts workout motivation video. Izzellah had seen enough. She didn’t care for the video but in a odd way it had given her the answer she wanted. It was a simple one. MAJORS were insane.

Izzellah had dozed off on the living room couch. She’d went downstairs to finish watching The Search on a bigger TV and had fallen asleep halfway through. Then her phone buzzed and she snapped awake. She cursed softly for missing what happened with Jackie. Last she knew Layla Jackpot Johnson was going on her first date with a boy to a fastfood place, but one of her siblings had to go with her as part of the deal.  Now looking at the screen the entire family was at a waterpark and she was wading in the kiddie pool with some MAJOR toddlers and her mom was taking pictures. She wanted to go on a slide but would apparently have to wait until her mom finished taking some “adorable” photos for her scrapbook. Izzellah paused the program and looked at her phone. It was a simple looking rectangular piece of shiny material with a glass screen. The name “LIsa” appeared next to a icon with a video camera on it. She pressed it with her finger and the lanky, bespectacled, halfsie face appeared. Lisa smiled a mouth full of metal at her.

“Hey girlfriend!” She beamed. “How’s the bonding hangover?”

Izzellah yawned and actually felt more refreshed from her nap. “Better.” she answered to the phone.

“I can’t see you.” Lisa said. “Move your phone.”

“I barely know how to use this thing!” Izzellah whined. It was true. She’d never had any friends worth having a phone for. She only ever called her father and sometimes her grandmother. Most minors she knew in grade school didn’t have portable technology and only a few knew how to write for email. She didn’t Facebook or Instagram like most her age did either. She raised the phone to her face and Lisa laughed.

“You look awful!” her new friend teased. “I to think I thought your cuteness was natural bunny girl.”

She was probably right. Izzellah had felt so tired this morning that she had not even showered or brushed her teeth. She felt grungy so she probably didn’t look much better. She felt her hair. It was flayed out in the corners and starting to frizz up a little. Her normally straight looking hair was actually curlier than it appeared and she had to comb it often to keep it in line.

“Bleh.” Izzellah grumbled. “I guess you know the real me now.” She jumped off the couch to search for something to eat. “What do you want?”

“Cold.” Lisa said into the phone. “Is that how you greet your friends?”

“Yes.” Izzellah said flatly. “And we’ve known each other less than a week. I hardly say that makes us friends.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Ivory!” Lisa gasped and put a hand to her forehead like she was fainting. “I just wanted to talk sourpuss. Believe it or not I don’t actually have that many minor friends. Especially not one with a phone.”

“So talk.” Izzellah said as she placed her phone on the kitchen floor. She needed both hands to open up the door of  the fridge. She opened it and looked inside. Basically everything on the bottom two shelves were up for grabs. She couldn’t reach anything above that anyway. She fished out a bag of string cheese and snapped of two. The cold mozzarella sticks were the size of hotdogs to her. She thought about it and put one back.

“You really do like rabbits.” Lisa said from down below. Only then did Izzellah realize the camera was still on and that she accidentally flashed Lisa a peek at her panties. They were light purple with a bunny chomping a carrot on printed on the ass. She blushed and immediately snatched her phone.

“Awww that’s so cute!” She heard from a different, deeper, female voice. It had a certain rasp to it like whoever was talking smoked.

“Is someone else with you?!” Izzellah shrieked.

“Just my mom.” Lisa shrugged. “I have the day off too y’know.”

“Why is she eavesdropping on our conversation?!” Izzellah snapped. It was already embarrassing enough without knowing Lisa’s mom had also gotten a peek at her panties.

“Eavesdropping?” Lisa tilted her head. “She’s been here the whole time. Thursdays are our girls day! We’ve been watching Amazing Abby.”

Izzellah knew the show. It was a cartoon about a minor girl who solved mysteries and could turn into a MAJOR to beat up the bad guys. She maybe watched it once or twice as a kid...and had an Amazing Abby t-shirt she still wore, and was just a little excited that the series had been renewed as a Netflix series with the original voice cast.

“Never heard of it.” Izzellah lied.

“Don’t lie.” Lisa called her bluff. Then her mom’s face came into the phone. She had black hair, short and quaffed to the side, and big full lips with red lipstick.

“Aren’t you the most precious thing!” Said Mrs. Watermiene. “You should come over sometime. We can all have a girl’s day together!”

“Ehhh.” Izzellah cringed. She was only just getting a feel for LIsa, spending time with her AND her mom didn’t sound very appealing.

“Mom!” Lisa snapped.

“What?”

“You’re coming on too strong!” Lisa said. “Izzy’s basically been a shut in most of her life. She doesn’t know how to socialize.”

“That’s not true!” Izzellah argued. She knew how to socialize! She just choose not to!

“You’re a nerd, Ivory. Just admit it.”

“Oh yeah, well only a nerd would spend time watching cartoons with her mom!” Izzellah shot.

“You’re just jealous because I can!” Lisa shot back.

Izzellah felt like she’d been slapped in the face.

There was a moment of dead air. Lisa had realized what she’d said and choked.

“Izzellah I-”

“Just….just shut up Lisa.” Izzellah said. It didn’t hurt that much. She’d had five years to learn how to survive without her mom. She could handle an accidentally mean spirited joke. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll make it up to you.” Lisa said.

“Not going to apologize?”

“That would imply your someone worth apologizing to.” Lisa smiled.

“Fuck you, Watermiene!” And both girls were laughing again.

“Your still friends!” Mrs. Watermiene cheered. Izzellah had almost forgotten she was there.

“Why are you watching cartoons with your mom?” Izzellah asked.

“They family gets paranoid about me.” Lisa informed. “I’m not allowed to be at home by myself, even though I’m NINETEEN! She shouted up to her mom.”

“It’s not safe.” Mrs. Watermiene said matter of factly. “The temptation alone. Anyone could break in and snatch away my little moon baby! Surely a smart girl like you understands, Izzy.”

Izzellah shook her head. She’d been staying home alone since she was fifteen. Her father had work and she’d soon gotten bored of sitting around construction sites and chatting with burly men about sports and other things she had no interest in.

“I’m home alone right now.” She revealed.

“What?!” Both Watermiene woman gasped in unison.

“See mom?! I told you!” Lisa said with sudden validation.

“Where do you live child?” Mrs. Watermiene asked with urgency. “Does your father have a phone? What’s his number?!”

“Mom!” Lisa shouted

“Put some clothes on Lisa!” Mrs. Watermiene ordered and the camera shook around as the landscape around Lisa changed. She’d apparently been having the entire conversation while sitting on her mother’s lap.

“Mom! Calm down!”

“We can’t leave that poor girl alone!” Mrs. Watermiene insisted. Suddenly the camera tilted away from Lisa and Izzellah was looking down at her as the phone was moved upwards. The halfsie jumped and reached futally for it almost like Lisa was trying to pull Izzellah from beyond the screen. Then her mother’s face appeared again.

“Please darling. I know you’re scared but if you could give me your address and your father’s number. I’ll be right over. We’ll go shopping and get lunch, It will be fun!”

“Your concern is very touching Mrs. Watermiene.”

“Linda.” She corrected.

“Linda, but I’m fine. Seriously.”

“Oh dear, she’s delirious!” Linda Watermiene said. “Have you eaten at all today?”

“Just let her talk to your dad!” Lisa shouted. “Believe me she’ll scour the whole city to find you! And I’ll be stuck in the car while she does!”

Izzellah sighed and gave Mrs. Watermiene her dad’s number.

A half hour of intense conversation and questioning later and Izzellah was off the hook. Mrs. Watermeine had decided to defer to her papa’s judgement but only after grilling him on their living situation, making sure he wasn’t insane or they weren’t destitute. It had been decided however that she would go over to Lisa’s next week, without getting either of the minor girl’s okay on the matter. Just to see what it’s like. Her father had given her that resigned look through the phone camera that said “I had no choice in this.” Mrs. Watermiene had more than once threatened to call the cops on him. And while everything was indeed on the up and up, it was a headache neither Ivory wanted.

Even though it wasn’t the outcome she had wanted Izzellah found herself grateful for her papa. She had maybe taken a lot of her upbringing for granted. She hadn’t realized what an oddity she truly was in this world where a minor two years older than her couldn’t stay home alone. She would cut him just  a little bit of slack when they had their words. And they would have their words. He was on his way home right now and she still had questions for him, but she would thank him as well. Overall she had it pretty easy.

“Sorry for the craziness.” Lisa said.

“Now you apologize.” Izzellah smirked.

“Well I actually did something wrong this time.” Lisa said.

“You can’t control your mom.”

“I kind of used you.” Lisa admitted. “I thought that maybe if my mom saw you I’d get a bit more freedom around the house. What with you walking around unbonded and everything.”

“Well that backfired.” Izzellah noted.

“Obviously.” Lisa said crestfallen. “We still good? I understand if you wanna wash your hand of all this.”

“Relax.” Izzellah said. “We’re both new to this whole friendship thing. It’s not as easy as it was in elementary.”

“That’s two I owe you now, Ivory.” Lisa said.

“I’m keeping count.” Izzellah teased.

“Just wait, Ivory. I’ll pay you back in full next week.” Lisa winked. “You’ll get to see how the other half live!” She hung up and Izzellah was left wondering what that meant right as her father walked through the door.

“Tell me about the Dark Age.” Izzellah said. She was sitting in her high chair across the counter from her father as he chugged what must have been a gallon of cola from a glass bottle. He’d brought home burgers and normally she’d get on him for not bothering to prepare a real meal but she was too tired. She nibbled on a slider from his platter which was basically a burger to her.

“Going right into the deep end huh?” Ignacio said with a nervous chuckle. “Well I hate to break it to you but-”

“Don’t even try to weasel out of this!” Izzellah warned. “I know you know something!”

“I’m being honest here!” Papa Ivory insisted. “I only know the basic stuff. I’m not really an academic type. I was drunk through most of college, well before I dropped out.”

“You dropped out of...Hey! Don’t try to change the subject!” Izzellah caught.

“Shit.”

“Papa!”

“Okay okay!” Ignacio relented. “It’s...it’s not a fun story and keep in mind this is only second hand stuff. I don’t know the details. It was before my time.”

Izzellah steeled herself ready for even a kernel of forbidden knowledge.

“Well it all started about a hundred years ago...No actually maybe it was before that.” Ignacio scratched his chin and scrunched his face. “Okay so….Like a long time ago minors were pretty common right.”

Izzellah nodded. She was aware of that fact.

“So back then us MAJORS weren’t quite the impressive specimens you see today.”

“You mean giant idiots I see today.” Izzellah added.

“Yes well, that didn’t stop us from still being the dominant race.” He said. He seemed to be very nervous and insecure in his explanation. “And we were still naturally bigger and stronger soooo, y’know?”

“No I don’t.” Izzellah said.

“Y’knoooow?” Ignacio said playing coy.

Izzellah growled at him.

“Most minors were slaves!” he blurted. “It’s like human nature and stuff. It happened for centuries. It still happens.”

“Is that the big secret?! Minors were slaves? That’s not really a secret!” Izzellah said. “I mean slavery is part of human history. I don’t understand the point in hiding that.”

“It’s just background information.” Ignacio grinned nervously. “For context.”

He chugged some more of his cola and took a deep breath. “So like sometime in the 1800’s the freedom act was put in place and there was like this whole big war in America over it and slavery was outlawed.”

“Yeah.” Izzellah nodded. She knew some of this from her minor school. Not much but so far what her papa had said made sense.

“So most of the world kind of adopted the same thing. Slavery bad right?...Well when I say most of the world it was more like half. Some countries didn’t want to let go. Didn’t want to change. There was another war. A Great War. Over minors. In the early 1900’s. And the bad guys were winning.”

“So?”

“So…..drastic measures were taken.” Her father said. “And a lot….most of the minors died. The ones that didn’t were fought over. Taken, Killed...by us. By...MAJORS.” Ignacio admitted. “That’s all I know. I-I never really had a motivation to look into it beyond that. It’s called the Great Mistake for a reason.”

Izzellah could actually feel the heat leave her body. She could see the color slowly fade out of her fingers, down her hands and up her arms. Her people, they were killed? What did that mean? Like executed?! WHY?!

“WHY?!” Izzellah cried.

“I don’t know.” Ignacio muttered. “The best I can guess it was over bonding. MAJORS...when we fight each other...and I mean REALLY fight each other. It gets dangerous. Bonding is a release of that. Minors were probably in high demand in war time. That’s just my guess. That’s why everyone is so protective of you now. We can’t let it happen again.”

Izzellah struggled to retain her composure. Even this tiny bit of information was overwhelming but it only fueled her resolve. She wanted to know more. She looked to her tather. He had finished his cola and went to the upper cabinet for something stronger. He obviously didn’t enjoy telling her even that much. Which really wasn’t anything in her opinion.

“Papa don’t.” Izzellah urged.

“I just told my daughter that me and my kind most likely slaughtered hers almost a hundred years ago. Doesn’t that deserve a drink.”

“No.” Izzellah chastised.

“We can share?” He added.

“PAPA!”

“AY!” he relented and put back his alcohol. It looked like bourbon.

Izzellah crawled off her high chair and went to hug him.

“Thank you papa!” She said clinging to his leg.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a good father right?” He looked at her.

“The best!”  She answered. “But I still have questions!”

“You’re not cutting me any slack today are you!?”

“No.”

They were in her bedroom now. Izzellah had decided to give her papa a break and they’d watched The Search marathon for the rest of the day. It was dark now and she was getting tired, but she still wanted to grill her papa on why he allowed her to walk around so naive.

“Why haven’t you told me about bonding?”

“That’s kind of inappropriate don’t you think?” her papa said. “I mean I love you kiddo but not like that.”

“Papaaaa!”

“It was your mother’s idea!’ He said. “She was kind of in charge of all that. When she died I thought it was best to just let you live your life the way you wanted. You never asked. I never bothered, Your old man maybe dropped the ball on that one. I often thought about maybe sending you to a special school but the nearest one is hours away and well, you don’t really like minor schools.”

“That sounds like an excuse to me.” Izzellah grumbled.

“It is.” He cheesed. “But the best part of being a parent is sometimes the child just has to take our excuses.”

“Hmph.”

“Honestly I think you’re better off.” Ignacio said. “I’ve seen the minors on TV. Do you really want to be like them? Or one of the little purse puppies that get carried around. Your mother would turn over in her grave!”

“What was she like?” Izzellah said. She remembered her mama a little but as time went on she was ashamed to admit that some of the older memories were starting to fade. She remembered her mama liked to hum a lot, liked flowers, and sewing.”

“She liked shooting!” Ignacio said.

“What?!”

“A real marksman she was.” Ignacio laughed. Her dad was a military man. She was an army brat. I think I still have her old revolver around here somewhere.

“No way!” The sweet and gentle woman she remembered didn’t seem like she even knew what a gun was.

“Yes way!” He beamed. “Smartest minor I ever met too! You think you going to school is a big deal?! Try doing that thirty years ago!’

“She went to school!”
“Not like you, kiddo.” Ignacio clarified. “They didn’t have minor schools back then. Not really. She didn’t get to walk around unbonded and tempting every young buck with a wandering eye. She sat in on MAJOR classes occasionally, escorted of course. I barely had an opportunity to talk to her. People called her the Princess.”

“So how did you meet?”

“At a college party! Gloria had just dumped me and I had gotten blitzed and passed out on her parents front door right across the street from the frat house.”

“Gloria dumped YOU!”

“Cheated on me actually, got pregnant. The breakup was kind of inevitable.”

“Pregnant!?....wait! Sabrina’s only.”

“She has an older sister who lives on the east coast with their father,,,,and I probably shouldn’t be telling you any of that.” Ignacio said. “It’s complicated. I barely know what’s up with that. I’m not looking forward to meeting David again.”

“David?”

“David Marco.” Ignacio said grim. “Sabrina and Gabriella Rodriguez’ father. Ugh!”

“Wait,...Sabby and Gabby? Really?”

“Hah!” Ignacio laughed.

The conversation continued for a while. Her papa continued to tell her stories about her mama in the past. He fished out an old photo album with some baby pictures of her with her mama and even some old college photos. He even dusted off her mom’s old revolver. It had the name Ivory engraved on it. Then after a while her father went to shower and she was left alone with her thoughts. It seemed like a lot had happened today even though she felt like she hadn’t really done anything. She hadn’t even bothered to work on her Mustang! Izzellah decided then and there her machine would get a full weekend of her attention to make up for it, but for now she just wanted to rest. Tomorrow was another school day and she had so much more to discover.