Thirty-Seven
She was nearly two years younger than Solma, but it hadn’t mattered. She was one of the few kids who didn’t look at Solma with wary disgust, who didn’t call her mud-haired or death-eyed or make fun of her lumbering height. Because, it turned out, Kobi was different, too. They were both trying to fit in and that was how they found each other.
Solma was almost ten and Kobi, eight, when they first properly met. They were both still Yuen, though Solma was old enough to do field work with Bell and her Dja. But Solma’s Ma had just died and everything about work seemed so pointless. She just wandered listlessly across the fields, trampling the seedlings, until the Fei dragged her back to the village and dumped her with the Aldren, telling her not to come back until she was ready to
