Syp left the community center with the electronics tucked safely in the large chest pocket of her coat. A short time later, she entered the superintendent’s office. When an administrator asked who she needed to speak to, Syp said, “Who are my options?” The administrator listed off several people and said that she could make an appointment for the first day of the next working week.
“I need to see someone today. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Everyone is gone for the day.”
“I’m still here,” a big voice boomed.
“I’m sorry, sir, I thought you had gone.”
“I will help the young, um, man. Right this way.” He led Syp into his office. “I am Wiet Kingma, superintendent of the school. How can I help you?”
“I’m Syp Bron. I just spoke to Mrs. De Graf at the village information center. She suggested that I come directly here. Thank you for seeing me, sir. During the conversation a few minutes ago, I learned that I have a student lunch account.”
“Every student does,” Wiet nodded.
“I didn't know about it.” Syp hesitated. “I’m in the five-year-old level. I’m sure the teachers will tell you that I have not had a hot lunch since I started classes three years ago. I was told by my parents that they couldn't afford to pay for my meals.”
“You’ve never had a hot lunch?”
“No.”
“You didn’t complain to anyone about being hungry?”
“Sir, it wouldn’t have mattered if I complained to my parents. They have insisted since I was born that they can’t afford to feed me. Mrs. De Graf told me that the Protectors make a currency credit of one hundred mu-toc into the account each month. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Does that amount accumulate, or is it not replenished until it’s gone?”
“The Protectors have set it up so that it accumulates.” He rapidly accessed Syp’s lunch account. “Come around here and stand by my side. Let’s look at your account together. Wait. Do you have any siblings?”
“I am the youngest of eight children.”
“Syp. Of course! You’re one of the quintuplets.” He glanced at her. “His golden eyes are quite unusual,” he thought admiringly.
“Let’s look at Melle’s account.” When the screen popped up, it showed consistent withdrawals from the account of a little over four mu-tok each day. “Now, let’s look at yours.” The grid was blank. “You’ve not had any meals at all?”
“No, sir.”
“What have you been eating?”
“I’ve scraped together bits of food for lunches every day I can and often gone without. I’ve been told repeatedly by my parents that they cannot afford to feed more than seven people.”
“If you weren’t eating lunch, your account should have been flagged because of funds accumulating. Let’s look at the activity into and out of the account.” He opened another window into the account. “The Protectors are depositing one hundred mu-toc into the account monthly. Their intent is for five mu-toc per meal. You’re in the five-year-old class, and you say you haven’t eaten in the cafeteria at all. Thirty days in a month times five mu-tok a meal is one fifty each month. Three years of school and thirty months in a year is ninety months. Ninety months at one fifty each month. There should be thirteen thousand fifty mu-toc in the account. The balance shows two hundred twenty. This makes no sense.” He picked up the phone. “Get Sibolt Mulder in here right now, Abke!” Syp retreated to the chair that faced the desk.
Wiet tried to compose himself. “Tell me how this came up, Syp.”
“I was at the village information center. Mrs. De Graf was downloading files for me onto my electronics and asked why I needed that specific information. We started talking about how information is shared between her and the school system and she told me about the two accounts each student has. I asked if I could access my education account on Trazene. She told me no, but she gave me this card with currency credits on it that I can use there.”
“Yes, you can do that.”
“When she brought up the fact that I had a lunch account and there was a balance, I was confused. I knew that my brothers ate hot lunches. I’ve been taught by my parents that they could afford to pay for only seven hot lunches each day. I was the eighth; there was no money for my lunches.”
“I see. You simply eat a bigger breakfast and evening meal.” When Syp didn’t respond, the superintendent leaned forward. “Your portions for the other two meals are equivalent to those of your brothers?” Syp didn’t know what to say.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Wiet changed the subject. “I’ll bet you have some interesting downloads in your device. What are you reading this week?”
“I’m studying the plants and trees of Trazene.”
“You are going to visit family there?”
Syp shook its head. “I’m leaving.”
Wiet felt what he called his ‘kid radar’ turn on. Something was not right about this situation. Casually, Wiet moved the mouse back and forth. He opened Syp’s student account. He was shocked to see that the official action of unenrollment would take effect during the night. “Syp, your mother has unenrolled you? Your grades are not bad, and you’ve had no discipline issues.” The record showed that Syp had a physical disability. “What did the eye specialist tell you?”
“Eye specialist?” Syp’s mouth opened, and her yellow tongue shot out. “I’ve never had my eyes examined by a specialist! Where is that information from?”
“The ophthalmologist is in Nik, Trazene.”
“I have no idea what you’re referring to, Mr. Kingma.”
“Dr. Tang Roth in Nik, Trazene.” Wiet saw the bewilderment on Syp’s face. Wiet tried again. “About two months ago?”
“That’s not true. I wish it were. Maybe I would have some lenses to wear.” Syp wondered, “Someone is putting lies on my school records? Why would they do that?”
“You say you’re leaving. Where are you going?”
“Wherever my feet take me.”
Wiet studied the youth. “Syp, who are you travelling with?”
“No one.”
The outer door of the office opened and closed and there was a light knock at the door. “Wiet, is there an emergency?”
“I don’t think so. Sibolt, this is Syp. . Syp, meet Sibolt Mulder. He’s one of the financial administrators.” The two acknowledged one another.
“I’d like you to look at this student’s meal account. In three years, there’s been no account activity in the lunch facility. The Protectors are providing the monthly stipend. There have been six withdrawals of varying amounts over the past three years. How is that happening?”
“I have no idea, Wiet.”
“This is one of the accounts you are responsible for, Sibolt. Enter your access code. I want to know who is accessing the currency and how withdrawals are being made.” Sibolt grudgingly did as his boss ordered. “You are authorizing hard currency payments? Why?”
“A parent came to me saying that they were having tremendous financial challenges and couldn’t feed their family. The parent suggested that if there were a student lunch account that wasn’t being used by a student, it could be used to help a family.”
“Which parent suggested this?” Wiet looked at Sibolt. “Withdrawals are being made from Syp’s account. Withdrawals?” Sibolt couldn’t maintain Wiet’s gaze and looked away. Wiet’s voice rose. “Who proposed this? Tell me!”
“Geldou Bron.”
“Did you fill out the paperwork and receive authorization from the Protectors?”
“No. We don’t need to do that Wiet. Syp has been unenrolled. She is being loosed tomorrow.”
“Loosed? Are you serious?” Wiet looked at Syp dumbfounded. “A five-year-old is being loosed? You’re okay with this?”
“She’s not my child. Geldou and Hearm Bron are responsible adults. They know what they’re doing.”
“You’ve been making payments to Geldou Bron from this account, but it’s not been approved by me, let alone by the Protectors! How are you going to explain this to them?”
“We don’t need to. They don’t need to know.”
“Sibolt, I’m putting you on administrative leave.” Wiet looked at the computer screen, typed a few things in and looked up. “I’ve put a lock on this account. If anyone tampers with it, I will be notified. If it is you, I will dismiss you from this position. You need to go home. Be here on Maandag at 07:00. I’m ordering a complete financial audit. If you say a single word to anyone before this meeting, I will fire you. Have I made myself clear?” Sibolt stalked out of his boss’s office.
Wiet took a deep breath. “Do you understand what just happened, Syp?”
“I do. I understand that the entire Pencadick Rill Valley School system is going to have its finances closely examined. Mr. Mulder gave my mother money that the Protectors provided for my meals. The entire valley is going to know, if they don’t already, that I am being loosed tomorrow.”
“Are you ready?”
“I don’t know. How ready can a person get in five days?”
“Syp, do you have someone you can stay with? Your grandparents, or an aunt or uncle?”
“My uncle is helping me.”
“Would you let me help you?”
“How, Mr. Kingma?”
“I would report the situation to the Protectors. A doctor would be sent out to examine you. A worker from the Protectors would come to talk to you. He or she would determine whether you need to go somewhere that you would be safe and taken care of."
“What about my parents? What will happen to them?” Syp blinked rapidly. Wiet noted that Syp’s eyes were now black. The brown curly hair that had been tied back in a ponytail now was black and straight.
“Look, I don’t know about your relationship with them. You seem unable or unwilling to answer some of the questions I ask. You’re afraid of them?” Syp held its breath and blinked fast. “Please let me help you.”
“I need to talk to Uncle Eiske. He’ll know what to do.”
“Dr. Eiske Bonnema is your uncle?” Syp nodded. “Does Eiske know about this lunch account business?”
“Oh, no. This all just happened today.” Syp’s body shook, as if it were crying. Wiet watched it blink but saw that there were no tears.
“Before you go, I want to know something, Syp. What were you thinking when you learned you had a lunch account? Were you angry with your parents?”
“No. I’m not angry, just sad and confused,” Syp’s voice cracked. “I wondered if I could take that currency on an electronic card, so that I can get a meal once a day if I’m in a city. It would take me through a few months. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. The teachers knew last week already that I was unenrolled. But I didn’t. None of the teachers said a word about it. On Maandag Mom told Dad that I was leaving Zaterdag, that is, tomorrow.”
“You must feel like you’ve been betrayed. I’m so sad that this is happening to you. I can’t give you the currency from your student lunch account, but I can give you something similar.” He typed away at the computer keyboard for a minute, activated a card with a scanning tool and looked at Syp. “This is a card that has electronic currency on it. Can you tell me a series of numbers that you’ll remember?” He typed in the numbers, then gave it to Syp. “Keep it in a safe place. I’ve put nine hundred mu-toc on it. That’s a meal a day for about six months.”
"Do I have to be in a school to use it?"
"No. You can buy groceries, a meal at a restaurant, or even purchase garden seeds with it. Use it where you need to. No one will know where or when you use it."
Syp put its hand over its mouth. “Are you going to tell my parents?”
“No, but they'll probably hear from the audit committee on Monday after the morning meeting. That will give you two days to put some distance between you and them. Tell your uncle that I’ll be in contact with him. I’ll want to know what you’re doing and if you’re safe.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kingma.”