{"id":18968,"date":"2022-02-03T12:26:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T17:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=18968"},"modified":"2022-02-03T12:26:31","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T17:26:31","slug":"my-name-is-minette-chapter-nine-the-dreaded-dinner-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2022\/02\/03\/my-name-is-minette-chapter-nine-the-dreaded-dinner-table\/","title":{"rendered":"My Name is Minette, Chapter Nine: The Dreaded Dinner Table"},"content":{"rendered":"

That night, Minette sat at the dinner table already dreading Paw and Maw’s imminent interrogation. She didn\u2019t want to hear them call her a boy or a suitor. She wanted to ignore her fate. They were all huddled around their little round table, knees knocking, toes fighting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhys was humming to himself, gnawing on his porridge spoon, and Irma was devouring her food like a mouse who’d found its way into the cookie jar. Minette hid her anxiety by chastising her siblings’ manners as usual and teasing them as much as she could without starting a ruckus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maw and Paw were, predictably, surveying the table and its inhabitants like a king and queen on a haughty dais. They noticed any green beans hidden under a napkin, any elbow pinching of an irritating sibling.<\/span><\/p>\n

This evening, try as Minette might, each child received their time in the sweltering spotlight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Irma came first. Paw leveled his molten stare at her, and she looked up, swallowing, even though her eyes couldn\u2019t see it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIrma,\u201d Paw said, in that deceptively quiet, even tone. \u201cYou went to the shop with Rhys today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Paw,\u201d Irma said. Minette glanced at Rhys and found him observing his peas with altogether too much fascination. Uh-oh.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell? How did it go, then?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was\u2026 fine,\u201d Irma said, with just a squick of hesitation. \u201cRhys was there the whole time. He helped me count the copper Drunes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Paw\u2019s head swiveled like an owl\u2019s to peer at Rhys. \u201cIs that true?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhys nodded, his moppy hair falling into his eyes. \u201cYes,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got the bread and the flour, like Maw asked. Irma did great, Paw. You should really let her–\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d Paw interrupted, and Rhys\u2019 jaw clamped shut. \u201cI should let her do what? Overpay for Thom\u2019s clumpy flour again?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Irma opened her mouth to respond, but Paw dropped a bunch of copper-colored Drunes onto the middle of the table before she could say anything. They rang out and clattered against one another. \u201cYou gave me two Drunes short. Two Drunes we could have saved longer. Two Drunes your father worked hard for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Irma lowered her head. \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why you can\u2019t be doing things like this, Irma. You\u2019re just not like the rest of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Minette flinched. She looked to Maw for any protest, any resolution, but Maw was silent.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my fault,\u201d Rhys interjected quickly. \u201cI was the one who should\u2019ve–\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cQuiet,\u201d Paw barked.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That night, Minette sat at the dinner table already dreading Paw and Maw’s imminent interrogation. She didn\u2019t want to hear them call her a boy or a suitor. She wanted to ignore her fate. They were all huddled around their little round table, knees knocking, toes fighting.\u00a0 Rhys was humming to himself, gnawing on his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2234,"featured_media":15562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1334],"tags":[1611,1257,24,1656],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18969,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18968\/revisions\/18969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}