Chapter 10

Writer's Note: This chapter got long, so I'm going to post it in two parts. This first one we get to see how the room for the feast looks. There's little dialogue in it, if there is at all. Enjoy.

‘alright Conner, it is time to get to this stupid function so it can be over with. What kind of food do you think they will be serving? Bugs, snake meat? Do you think they are even provided with the nutritionally balanced and safe food like we are?’ josh asked him. Conner just shook his head, realizing that this was going to be one of those nights where he needed to make double sure that josh did not make an ass of himself when drinking. There was no way for Conner to keep him out of the booze, sadly, but just to keep him from blurting out jude’s plans or his feelings about the gauche southerners. It was never an easy task but it was pay back for what they had done for him.

‘I’m sure they get the same rations as us, and perhaps more because of your gracious presence before the viewing season closes for the Amazon. The Ya̧nomamö insisted that their gods would be displeased if during the most sacred months they ushered a bunch of unbelievers from the north through around their forest so it was allowed for them to refuse tours and visitors. Like josh had said, his father was careful to never step on religious people’s toes. It was a battle he had learned early on, he said, that he could never win. There was no logic so he just refused to touch the subject.

They exited Conner’s room to step on a moving path that would quickly take them to the room that the party was being held in. on the way they studied the shadow boxes on the walls. They all held various flora or fauna that lived in the forest and would supposedly disappear if the forest was cut down. There were a lot of bugs up there, Conner had to admit, but he was pretty sure the Ya̧nomamö did not eat any of them. That was just disgusting.

At one point Conner saw a sign that said all of the walls were made from wood from the forest, that if cut down, would become extinct. It also said that many of the plants in the amazon were medicinal and they would also become extinct if the forest was obliterated.

‘man, they really try to make us believe that if we get rid of the forest then the world is just going to come crashing in around us, do they not?’ josh asked Conner, reading yet another sign that said just how important the forest was to their world, ‘do they realize that if we do level it everything will be moved to preserves around the world. We could even give them jobs to take care of the reserves, if they wanted it. They would be an important asset to the community, not just some big waste like this forest.”

“they believe what they have believed for centuries. They only know the Northerners want to come in and push them out to modernize their society. This group has always wanted to resist that, ever since they were found struggling to survive thousands of years ago. There is not much that has changed over all this time.” Finally they reached the big room where the party was going to be held and realized they had gotten there a little early, but Conner figured josh had done this on purpose. He was consistently early and hated the feeling of being late to anywhere. Conner was just a little more flexible with time, which had gotten him in trouble at school more than once. More than fifty times, actually. Time just passed too quickly for him.

When they walked into the room all of the Ya̧nomamö turned around and stared at him, in some what of a hostile fashion. They were having this party simply because they had to. There was no way to not do it witho out slighting Jude, which would in turn give Jude some sort of leverage. And he did not need much, so they were careful as they had to be. But they were not going to bend over and take it if any more than they had to. Conner knew it, and maybe josh did too, although Conner doubted it. Josh was good at being oblivious of all the things that would help define his relationship with the people but anymore, he more or less cared for the booze he could score at these parties that was not regulated by his father.

“Hey, look, there is a bar here. I am shocked and pleased. I will definitely be giving my word of approval to my father,’ josh announced and wandered over to it and ordered the first of what was probably going to be many martinis that night. Conner’s work began, but josh would not get really sloppy for a bit now. He could tell, though, that the Ya̧nomamö were not relaxed by his somewhat clownish and completely planned clowning around. Conner realized, even if Jude or josh refused to, that these people would probably not be easily tricked.

Conner studied the room, starting with the people around them. The Ya̧nomamö were all wearing darker colors. The ones who were clearly a part of the catering company, along with the people who were not a part of any tribe, feeding the seventeen students were wearing a dark blue shirt and black pants along with black shoes. They all had their hair either tied back or slicked back to prevent their hair falling into the food or on the plates or in the glasses (could that get a little more word padding, I think not. I will not argue with you there, considering I am doing it right here as well). This naturally brought Conner’s eyes to the plate wear (because this whole describing the room is word padding as well because you spend a minimal amount of time on description as possible but that does not really work with the whole novel thing, as you are finding out) which turned out to be somewhat archaic. He was not even aware that any actual glassware existed outside of museums. But here it was, and ready to be eaten off of by him and his peers. It was a classic white, but there were blue vines and flowers painted all over them. Conner was not sure how one washed plates like this and kept what was clearly delicate print (wow, I really am gay, am I not? Seriously, you are describing something that somehow existed until the future that you can not even remember the name of now. And you are a woman) but that was not his job so he decided to ignore it. Every place setting had three sets of glasses as well. One wine glass so wine was obviously going to be served with the supper. Conner wondered if it were going to be a white or red but the author does not know what is going to be served yet except for dark chocolate truffles because that is apparently the favorite food of Conner. Obviously I the author is not really following her own tastes and has no idea, truthfully, what a truffle tastes like for either the mushroom – type variety or chocolate. So maybe we will come back here later and fill in what food was being planned for the massive feast in josh’s honor. And maybe change the main male character’s favorite food to something a little more believable. Beside the wine glass was a champagne flute, which ironically had bubbles trapped in the glass, perhaps to add to the effect of a bubbly drink. The silverware was pretty standard silver, plain in its markings. It was an odd contrast to the opulence of all the other place settings. Oh, and the other glass was a simple tumbler that was filled with water. Conner assumed that it could be changed to juice or milk if there were students who did not drink.
It was a growing movement, perhaps a throwback of an era that was a little more rambunctious. Many of them did not want to end up as their parents had, wanted something better and they believed their parents’ drinking was part of their status in life. Conner straddled the divide between the two philosophies, that of the prohibitionists and those like josh who just really liked drinking (wow, I thought you were trying to avoid single dimension antagonists. Yeah, I know. But I need it for the story so shut up. Maybe it can change in December). Josh liked drinking in part because his father was a prohibitionist and josh generally followed a different philosophy from his father. Conner suspected this was common thing that happened with children. He did not know if it applied in his case, because it was the first proven case in many, many years (just spill the damn beans already. You do not want to pull the kitschy shit that they mock in the anti – guide forum. This is true, but do you really think it is time to divulge your dark secret? I suppose not, but be careful. I saw what you might be setting up with that mention of a scar earlier. Okay, will do.). Usually the screening process for parents caught his parents’ personalities, but his mother had lost her job because the plant had to shut down and it meant that they had to live on much less, especially a lot less booze. This really was not the desired progression of her life and she learned that Conner was an easy target.

Conner also saw that the institution had managed to drag up a crisp, white, linen table cloth and it looked absolutely stunning. He had never actually seen one up close. Over the years they had disintegrated, mostly being made from cotton or other such degradable materials. They really were not prized until they were gone either, like a well that ran dry. Conner did not know exactly where that phrase had originated or what a well was, but he did know that it referred to something sad that had passed. Kind of like the grass is always greener on the other side. It was a really old phrase but there was no way for the grass to be objectively greener on the other side of something unless it got less light and or water. And why would anybody want to skin a cat, if they came down to it? They made absolutely no sense, idiomatic expressions.

The Ya̧nomamö had pulled out all the stops for this party, they had. There were also real candle sticks on the table in silver holders. Conner always had a penchant for fire, so the candle sticks were truly a treat for him. The napkins on the table were even folded into shapes abstractly resembling birds or giraffes or some such animal (idiomatic expressions like ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ survived but not the ancient art of origami, something the Japanese might actually try to keep as part of their culture? :P Thptt) but Conner was not sure. He would be sure to ask someone about that later, though. Sometimes the cultural history of any place east of the once – Europe were a little spotty. They had closed off their culture for so long that some of it had been lost to them, especially historical concepts.

After having studied the table and settings in such detail he rewarded himself by studying the rest of the room in detail. The floors were wood, what appeared to be oak or maple (some light colored wood), which he supposed would be good for the dancing that would happen later. It was a good combination of exercise and socialization that covered for the classes that they would normally be taking for this, and were not allowed to be skipped unless a doctor deemed you unfit to participate in one or the other or both, while still allowing us to have more leisure time than normal. Most also liked it so it was a win – win – win situation.

The walls were a medium wood, which seemed to be the preferred building material here, with gold inlays up at the top instead of a molding that would normally be present in these older styles of housing, because apparently Conner is very interested in classical decorating. If we are going that far, there was a simple molding at the base of the wall, a thin block of wood that was curved at the top to look less harsh. The ceiling is a gloss white with out that popcorn shit that was so popular in the twenty first century.

The bar was a piece of beauty. It was made from a material Conner understood – steel. His absolute favorite. I do not really have an explanation as to why stainless, shiny steel makes him so hot, but I wanted to get my word count up for the night. It would be more impressive if the bar was made of teak, even though that is the third type of wood I have packed into this room. Apparently wood makes me hot. Excuse the double entendre; it was unintentional but I am unapologetic.

So the bar is made of teak, or mahogany, or cedar, whichever happens to look better when I construct the colors of the room in patches in December. The front, if there were stools, would normally be a leg well but this bar had not been constructed with seating in mind. Even more glassware was sitting on the shelves. The top row held champagne flutes, under that were wine glasses, below that highball and on the bottom were regular eight ounce drinking glasses. Based on where the bartender pulled out josh’s glass they had a freezer on the other side where they storied the martini glasses to keep them cold. Josh would be pleased. He called himself a connoisseur and a frozen glass was a necessary start. Everything else was negotiable except for good alcohol.