“Yes, Mother. I remember history in school. I also remember how after the Humanimals were
created that the humans enslaved us. I also remember how, once the courts emancipated the
Humanimals, most humans changed their attitude toward us.
“Michael has always treated me with respect and as an equal. He’s never once even tried to take
advantage of me. On the day we met, I accidentally knocked him down and he wrapped his arms
around me as we fell. When we landed on the floor, he asked me if I was all right. He never said
a single negative thing about how I should have watched where I was going. He even said it was
his fault that we had run into each other. Does that sound like a bad person?”
Michael went to his mailbox and retrieved his car keys. Then, he walked up to his apartment,
looked at the clock, and saw it was 0403. He went to his bedroom, got undressed, and got into
bed. He was emotionally drained because of the fight that Amanda had had with her mother.
While he could live with what Ophelia had said about him, he was hurting for Amanda because
of the hateful things her mother had said to her. He could still see Amanda’s tears as her mother
threatened to have her fired from her job that she loved so much, to have her evicted from her
apartment, to have him arrested for just being a good friend to Amanda, and demanding that he
no longer so much as even say, “Good Morning” to Amanda. Other than the fact that he
considered Amanda a good friend, Michael couldn’t understand why her mother’s attitude
toward her hurt him so much.
Mr. Fuchs amazed him, though. Michael could tell that Jacob wasn’t overly happy with his
presence in Amanda’s apartment; but, he pretty much kept his unhappiness to himself. Michael
was amazed at Jacob’s offer to give him a ride home and his knowledge of Bruno. He didn’t
seem anything at all like Mrs. Fuchs. Michael found himself wondering how they ever met and
even how they decided they were so much in love that they just had to make it legal and all.
Michael lay there thinking these thoughts for several minutes before he could finally fall asleep.
