The Smiths and Joneses (29 page)

              Wolf says, “Hi Leon, how was school today?”

              “It was great. I love being the center of attention.”

              “Leon, I’m going to come with you tomorrow to speak with your principal.”

              “Dad, NO, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to be late tomorrow.”

              “Don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it.”

              Wolf says, “Leon how far did you ride your bike this afternoon?”

              “Only two miles. Not very far at all.”

              Carol gave Wolf a dirty look, mentally telling him to cease this line of questioning.”

              Sean, picking up on the nonverbal discussion said, “Leon, how’s the practice coming?”

             
“Mr. Sean, really good, coach thinks we can make it all the way to the state finals this year. We got a couple new players who moved into town. Only bad thing is coach wants us to practice Saturday mornings. I’ll lose half of my weekend.”

              Sean says, “Leon, if you want to win, you have to practice hard. You have to sacrifice.”

              “I know, but I like to sleep in on Saturdays, now I have to get up even earlier than I do for school.”

              Bob asks, “Do you want to be on the team?”

              “Of course I do.”

              “Then you have to pay the price for what you want.”

              Wolf says, “This is one of the differences, our kids don’t play to win. Our children play to play.”

              Carol frowns, “Wolf, we know, you’ve reminded us at least four times. I’d rather him not complain, but win. It’s good for him to learn to work hard for what he wants. We don’t believe in giving our children anything for free. We want them to earn what they get.”

              Wolf asks, “Leon, do you have full access to Facebook?”

              “Sure, I’m over 13. Mom made me wait until I was 13 to get my own page. You should see the number of friend requests I’ve gotten since this program started. I’m a real celebrity in school. Our school is very small, so I’m the biggest thing on campus. Everyone wants to be my friend. I love it.”

              Sean says, “Leon, do you realize when the program ends, you will lose your celebrity status? You should make friends based on more reasons than you being on television. Trust me I know.”

              “Mr. Sean, I’m only 14, this feels like the best thing that ever happened to me. Before the program Rachel never even acknowledged I was alive, now she wants to be my girlfriend. I tried to get her to go out with me for months; she acted like I didn’t exist. Now she’s chasing me, and she’s not the only one.”

              “Leon, she may not act like that when the program ends. We don’t recommend you build a relationship on fame; it never works out. Take it from me, I know.”

              Beth comes back into the living room with her dog, Holly.   “Do you know I’m going to enter my dog into a dog show in two weeks? I’m training her to follow instructions, like sit, heel and walk. She’s going to win, I just know it, she’s the cutest puppy around.”

              Wolf says, “You even have contests for your pets?”

              “Mr. Wolf, of course, we do. I’ve never gone to one before. I’m so excited. I know she’s going to win.”

              “Beth don’t be upset if she doesn’t win; dog shows are very competitive.”

              “She’s going to win, I just know it.”

              “Beth, how do you know she’s going to win? How many dogs are going to be in the show?”

              “It’s a show for first, second and third graders to show their pets at the playground. I think there are going to be 40 puppies.”

              Carol says, “The school puts on a small dog show. They break it up by grades, so the youngest compete against each other. It’s the cutest thing you’ll ever see. Beth didn’t have Holly last year; this is going to be her first show.” 

              Wolf asks, “Carol, don’t you think she’s a little young to be entering competition?”

              “No, it’s a good way for her to learn to be responsible. She’ll learn what needs to be done to win. Its hard work, we think she will do good; that is if she doesn’t drive me crazy trying to give Holly a bath every day. This morning I found her trying to give Holly a shower, she didn’t like it at all.”

              “Beth or Holly?”

              “Holly, she wanted out of the bathroom as quickly as possible. It was really funny watching Holly take off trying to shake all of the water off of her, all those wrinkles, and all while Beth was chasing her. I think she got two rooms soaked.” 

              Sean is laughing, while Wolf looks like he missed something important.

              Wolf asks, “Leon, do you have an idea of what you want to do after school?”

              “Mr. Wolf, I want to go to a good college on a sports scholarship and be a pro athlete, they get all the pretty girls, and they make a lot of money, they all have the best cars.”

Wolf says, “Leon, money isn’t everything.”

              “Mr. Wolf how much do you earn a year?”

              “Son, that’s not a polite question to ask.”

              “Dad, since he’s a reporter on TV, he must be earning a lot of money so how can he say money isn’t everything.”

              Bob and Carol laughs. Wolf’s face darkens, Sean covers his mouth trying not to break out laughing.

              Leon continues, “Well it’s true.”

              Bob responds, “Leon, it’s not polite, but it’s a good question. I suggest we drop it.”

              “OK Dad, sorry if I stepped into a minefield.”

              “It’s OK, no worries. Let’s continue, why don’t you explain the real reason you want to be a pro?”

              “Sure Dad. I love sports. I think I could play like they do on TV.”

              “Leon, what sport are you the best in?”

              “Baseball. This year I’m hitting .405 which means I’m getting a hit about 40% of the time I come to bat.”

              Sean asks, “Leon, won’t the other teams intentionally walk you?”

              “That’s one of the new rules; the coaches got together to ban intentional walks this year and next, they think it will make the games higher scoring and more exciting, bringing more people to watch the games.”

              “Has it been working?”

              “Yes, for our last game last year, we had almost full stands.”

              Wolf interrupts Sean asking, “Leon, you’re only 14, don’t you think you’re putting too much pressure on yourself?”

              “Mr. Wolf, no I don’t. If I want to make it as a pro, I have to practice and practice. I know I have to work very hard to make it. I’ve decided this is really something I want to try for. Dad is going to hire me a special coach for one-on-one training in the spring to help me improve.”

              “Leon, will your school allow you to play after having a private coach?”

              “Yes, why wouldn’t they? It makes me a better player.”

              “I meant the other teams.”

              “It’s none of their business how we train. We don’t know if they have private trainers, if they do, all the best to then; we’ll still beat them. Our team has the best coach. We’re going all the way to the finals this coming season.”

              Sean says, “Leon, I wish you all the best and I hope that one day I can watch you play in the majors.”

              Smiling ear to ear, Leon says, “Thank you Mr. Sean, I hope so too. A last minute note, remember my Facebook page. Befriend me, and I’ll accept. We can chat online. I’m going to do my homework now.”

              Beth says, “Is it my turn again?”

              Sean says Beth what do you want to do when you grow up?”

              “I want to be a fashion designer. I want to make pretty dresses for everyone. Everyone should have a pretty princess dress.”

              Wolf says, “Beth, I like the way you think, yes, everyone should own a fancy princess dress. By that, I mean everyone.”

              “Mr. Wolf, not boys, that’s silly.”

              Beth climbed off the love seat; she looked under the bookcase saying, “Holly, come on, let’s go outside.”

              “Whoa Beth, isn’t it too late for you to be going outside by yourself?”

              “I’m not alone; I have Holly to keep me company. She has to pee.”

Chapter 17

              The program launches another international debate, ‘how young is too young to allow children to go outside by themselves?’ Many come to Beth’s aid reminding posters that she did have her dog with her, and it wasn’t like there was no one else outside. There were other people, plus the broadcast station’s production truck parked in front of the Jones’s home. People in the LSA are adamant that no young child should be allowed outside by themselves for any reason. They claim there’s always danger waiting for young children around every corner. The USA is split; half post that Beth was perfectly safe while the other half say she could have run into trouble. The debate adds fuel to the fire that is growing in the USA that maybe, just maybe, the LSA is better positioned to protect their children.

              Every television, computing device, and communications device suddenly go blank; the blank screens are replaced a dot of bright white light, which forms the mask of Anonymous. “Citizens of the USA and LSA you are being lied to. The images from the LSA are not the real images of life in the LSA. Life in the LSA isn’t about puppies and government control. Allow us to show you the real everyday life in the LSA that is much different than what you see at the Smith household. Let’s look at a store just five blocks from the Smith home.” The image changes to show people standing in a line that goes around a store. Many of the people in line are standing, some are sitting, and few are wearing backpacks while others are holding large 50 gallon plastic bags. “Do you have any idea why these people are standing in line? Some of these people have been in line for 24 hours. Think, what would make you stand in a line outside for 24 hours?” There’s a long pause while a camera scans the line of people waiting in the unmoving line. The camera focuses on the people’s faces, which are blank and emotionless. “These people are waiting in line for right to purchase an ordinary household product that those in the USA and most of the rest of the world take for granted. These people are waiting in line for toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper. Paper products of any kind are in very short supply in the LSA. Napkins, toilet paper, paper towels, even notebooks and children’s drawing paper are in short supply. These are just an example of the shortages that are an everyday fact of life in the LSA.” The displays show lines that stretch around other stores. Lines around gas stations are also shown. Lines are shown that stretch from fresh water trucks. The voice of Anonymous continues, “The central government of the LSA says that the manufacture of paper has been proven to create water, and air pollution. Paper also is a major cause of alarm at landfills that cause land pollution. The western areas of the LSA are short of clean water, the creation of pulp uses hundreds of thousands of gallons of fresh water which is in short supply, the manufacture of paper pulp also generates polluted water which is expensive to clean up. As such the manufacture of paper is strictly controlled by the LSA EPA, which has broad regulatory powers. Refining gasoline also creates pollution, so its production is also limited. The LSA is trying to outlaw and ban all gasoline powered vehicles. All new vehicles are electric powered. The LSA EPA has gone house to house confiscating collector cars; they have confiscated entire collections of rare collector and antique cars.” Displays pan showing lines of people holding empty shopping bags. “Fresh meat is always in short supply; many groups in the LSA have forced the passage of laws that put restrictions on how an animal is killed. The laws state that no animal may feel any pain, each animal has to be sleeping or injected with drugs that render the animal free of any sensation. The cost of fresh meat has increased so much that most families can’t afford it. There are little known animal laws in the LSA which are: animals have to be a certain age before they are killed; animals have to be fed a certain type of food which also limits the production of gas and limits the amount of solid waste generated from the animals; hogs and cows are limited in number which reduces the amount of meat available and increases the cost of meat. Animals can’t live their lives in cages or pens they have to be allowed to run free; each animal has to have a minimal amount of space to roam which further increases the cost to raise animals. Many in the LSA claim that animals are a major cause of global warming so the number of animals are strictly controlled. Farms aren’t allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 work on them, even if their children of the farmers, further increasing the costs of producing food.

              “Most products made from plastic are also strictly regulated with limited production. Plastic doesn’t break down. All forms of plastic wrap are outlawed in the LSA. Pause and think about products made from plastic, the first one that comes to mind is the ordinary toothbrush. Yes, the toothbrush which is used by everyone. Clear plastic food wrap is outlawed; plastic cases for almost every product are outlawed. Most new consumer electronic products are made without plastic. Their cases are made from metal or a new type of spin molded cement.