“Amahle, uh,” Joy finds it hard to speak. She holds the lion claw necklace in her hand. “When we were in your childhood home, uh…”
“She accidentally made a necklace real,” Justin says, clearly trying to help Joy find a way out.
“What?” Amahle is surprised.
“No, I didn’t!” Joy says aggressively. “It wasn’t an accident! I can control myself! I touched your grandfather’s necklace and made it real. I made it real and then I took it. I just wanted it so bad, and I thought, what’s the harm?”
Amahle’s face shows pain. “I thought you were my friend, Joy. I took you in. I showed you my past. I wake up in your world every day because we’re friends.”
“We are friends!” Joy looks down.
“Friends don’t steal!” Amahle explodes angrily.
“Hey hey hey,” Justin steps between them. “She’s just a kid. She saw something, she liked it, she needs to learn.”
“What’s the harm!” Joy says simultaneously with Justin.
“I’ll tell you the harm!” Amahle shouts again, ignoring Justin. “For centuries people like you have taken our things like they’re yours! Taken people and culture, weapons and art, like it’s yours! Just because it’s exciting and exotic to you!”
“Hey, Amahle,” Justin talks calmly, gesturing for her to lower her tone even though she can’t see him. “She has nothing to do with any of that.”
“Of course she does! Because she was brought up by you!”
“Hey,” Justin is taken aback.
“Now now,” Suzy takes a step forward, protecting her son. And the way we raised him.
“You’re all very nice people. But you were born privileged. You were born with the mentality that the world is yours for the taking, that you could do anything, that you could take anything because you want to.”
“That’s not true,” Justin shakes his head. “I am not–”
“Give it!” Amahle extends her arm, palm open. “I’ll show you where the harm is!”
Joy, frowning, her face all red, puts the lion claw necklace in Amahle’s palm.
“This is where the harm is!” Amahle raises her hand. “This is a family heirloom! It’s my history! I can never summon this again! I can never dream about my grandfather’s lion claw necklace again! It’s here and if something ever happens to it, it will never be in my dreams again! That’s the harm!”
Joy looks down and begins to cry.
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt