Enders In Exile

home from the war. You will become his friend. A good
friend. It will be years before it's time for him and you to marry. But
when that time comes he'll
know
you."
    "Maybe you'll marry
Mazer Rackham."
    "If he's lucky," said
Mother. "But I'll be content with whatever old man asks me, as long as
I can see you happy."
    "I will not marry Ender
Wiggin, Mother. Don't hope for what isn't possible."
    "Don't you
dare
tell me what to hope for. But I will be content for you merely to
become his friend."
    "I'll be content merely
to see him and not wet my pants. He's the most famous human being in
the world, the greatest hero in all of history."
    "Not wetting your
pants, that's a good first step. Wet pants don't make a good
impression."
    The school year ended.
They received instructions and tickets. They would take the train to
Napoli and then fly to Kenya, where the colonists from Europe and
Africa were gathering to take the shuttle into space. Their last few
days were spent in doing all the things they loved to do in
Monopoli—going to the wharf, to the little parks where she
had played as a child, to the library, saying good-bye to everything
that had been pleasant about their lives in the city. To Father's
grave, to lay their last flowers there. "I wish you could have come
with us," whispered Mother, but Alessandra wondered—if he had
not died, would they have needed to go into space to find happiness?
    They got home late on
their last night in Monopoli, and when they reached the flat, there was
Grandmother on the front stoop of the building. She rose to her feet
the moment she saw them and began screaming, even before they were near
enough to hear what she was saying.
    "Let's not go back,"
said Alessandra. "There's nothing there that we need."
    "We need clothing for
the journey to Kenya," said Mother. "And besides, I'm not afraid of
her."
    So they trudged on up
the street, as neighbors looked out to see what was going on.
Grandmother's voice became clearer and clearer. "Ungrateful daughter!
You plan to steal away my beloved granddaughter and take her into
space! I'll never see her again, and you didn't even tell me so I could
say good-bye! What kind of monster does that! You never cared for me!
You leave me alone in my old age—what kind of duty is that?
You in this neighborhood, what do you think of a daughter like that?
What a monster has been living among you, a monster of ingratitude!"
And on and on.
    But Alessandra felt no
shame. Tomorrow these would not be her neighbors. She did not have to
care. Besides, any of them with sense would realize: No wonder
Dorabella Toscano is taking her daughter away from this vile witch.
Space is barely far enough to get away from
this
hag.
    Grandmother got
directly in front of Mother and screamed into her face. Mother did not
speak, merely sidestepped around her and went to the door of the
building. But she did not open the door. She turned around and held out
her hand to stop Grandmother from speaking.
    Grandmother did not
stop.
    But Mother simply
continued to hold up her hand. Finally Grandmother wound up her rant by
saying, "So now she wants to speak to me! She didn't want to speak to
me for all these weeks that she's been planning to go into space, only
when I come here with my broken heart and my bruised face will she
bother to speak to me, only now! So speak already! What are you waiting
for! Speak! I'm listening! Who's stopping you?"
    Finally Alessandra
stepped between them and screamed into Grandmother's face, "Nobody can
speak till you shut up!"
    Grandmother slapped
Alessandra's face. It was a hard slap, and it knocked Alessandra a step
to the side.
    Then Mother held out an
envelope to Grandmother. "Here is all the money that's left from our
signing bonus. Everything I have in all the world except the clothes we
take to Kenya. I give it to you. And now I'm done with you. You've
taken the last thing you will ever get from me. Except this."
    She slapped Grandmother
hard across the face.
    Grandmother staggered,
and was about to start screaming when Mother, lighthearted fairy-born
Dorabella Toscano, put her face into Grandmother's and screamed,
"Nobody ever, ever, ever hits my little girl!" Then she jammed the
envelope with the check in it into Grandmother's blouse, took her by
the shoulders, turned her around, and gave her a shove down the street.
    Alessandra threw her
arms around her mother and sobbed. "Mama, I never understood till now,
I never knew."
    Mother held her