Chapter 31 - A criminal and a Prime Minister
The next day Cynthia came by the room being used by Cecilia and Jason and knocked to wake them up. They had only slept for about four hours, but Cynthia was unsympathetic. That day, their first full day in Upper Danubia, would be a busy one for them. They had breakfast in the hotel and then walked past the Old City Wall back to the Central Police Station, where Kim already was waiting for them.
Jason and Cecilia spent the entire morning at Kim's office. In that building they came face-to-face with the Danubian justice system, because they saw numerous naked criminals going in and out of the Spokespersons' offices. Some of the criminals had very painful-looking switch marks on their backsides. Whenever a criminal greeted a Spokesperson, invariably they knelt and touched their head to the floor, as required by the society's protocol for criminals.
Jason and Cecilia had to push aside the sheer weirdness of their situation and concentrate on their task at hand. Kim spent hours briefing the couple on the Danubian system for trying criminals, how testimony normally was given in court, how to address judges and other court officials, and even much smaller details such as when to salute and when not to salute. She then told them to type out their testimony on the computer in her office and suggested corrections. She played devil's advocate, trying to make sure they understood clearly their roles in unraveling the coup and how they should answer questions from defense attorneys. Finally Kim had the two witnesses videotape themselves practicing giving testimony in the booking room downstairs to review the next day. Within a couple of days Kim planned to have Jason ready to fulfill his Path in Life and speak clearly to the world about what he had done to stop his father's ambitions.
By the time they finished with the videotaping it was mid-afternoon. They had a late lunch and then returned to Kim's office, where Tiffany Walker was sitting at a desk going over a textbook. Upon seeing Kim she immediately stood up, moved in front of her and knelt.
"Good afternoon, Apprentice Lee. I am pleased you have safely returned."
"Good afternoon, Criminal # 98946. I too, am glad that the Ancients kept you safe through the night. Please rise, so we may serve our purpose in life."
Tiffany's purpose in life became evident as soon as she was off her knees. It turned out that Kim and Cynthia would need to spend the rest of the afternoon helping translate the statements of several English-speaking mercenaries. It was quite likely that duty would take them well into the night. The departure of the Lee sisters drove home the stark reality that Jason and Cecilia would have to make their own lives in Upper Danubia as quickly as possible and not rely on Kim and Cynthia.
Tiffany told them that she would escort them to the university, where they would meet their Danubian instructor and get their first assignment for studying the Danubian language. Oh yeah...that's right. On top of everything else, they had a new language to learn.
Tiffany asked Jason and Cecilia if they wanted to walk to the university, which was about a kilometer north of the hotel, or take a trolley. They decided to walk and enjoy the pleasant spring weather. Tiffany walked alongside them, completely naked except for her collar. She had a backpack full of books with her, but was carrying it, not wearing it.
"Sometimes I wish I could just put this on and free up my hands, but of course I can't, because a backpack's considered clothing. You know the rule, that us criminals can't wear anything except in the winter, when we can wear boots."
Tiffany's statement about her backpack let Cecilia and Jason know that she was open to talking about her situation and available to answer their questions. At first the questions were general, about the university, how hard was Danubian to learn, what was the study schedule going to be like, but then gradually the questions shifted to Tiffany and her own life.
Cecilia and Jason were a bit taken aback when Tiffany described her former life in the U.S. as a stripper and meth user. She really had hit bottom and was just beginning the slow process of the lingering death of a meth addict when Kim showed up at the club's dance stage. The shock was horrible; that afternoon when Tiffany saw the friend she had betrayed sitting right at her feet with an infuriated expression on her face and two dollars in her hand. Kim was absolutely cruel over the next few minutes while "Willow" finished her dance, but out of that cruelty came Tiffany's salvation. Less than a week later she was in Danube City in a rehab program and beginning the long process of recovering from two years of heavy drug use.
Cecilia had a question.
"I was wonderin' about something. Doesn't it piss you off that Kim wants you to get on your knees every time you say 'hello' or 'goodbye' to her? I mean, to see you do that, I just find kinda weird."
"I'm a criminal. That's what we have to do. It's the way things are in this country and I've gotten used to it. But I'll add something, maybe to make you understand why I don't mind greeting Apprentice Lee like that. I've been off meth for almost two years. It's because of her that I got off, and for that I'd lick her feet if she asked me to. If you haven't seen meth, you wouldn't understand where I'm coming from."
"I 'spose I do know. I haven't seen meth, but I have a brother who was sellin' crack when I was in school. I saw a lot of what that shit does to people, so I guess I know where you're coming from."
After a pleasant walk along a tree-lined street the three Americans arrived at the university. Tiffany took Jason and Cecilia to the instructor from whom they would be learning Danubian. She knelt and placed her head on the floor when she greeted him, because a professor was public official. Tiffany took an assignment out of her backpack and handed it to him before introducing the two new students.