Read The Shore of Women for Free Online

insemination—they actually had to touch the men.” Zoreen, it appeared, was deliberately being offensive; she must have known that the others hadn’t wanted her there.
    “It sounds disgusting,” Shayl said loftily. With her large brown eyes and dark brown skin, she had always been the most beautiful girl I had known. “I think a lot of perverts and disturbed women do history.”
    Zoreen looked down. My cheeks burned. I had read some history, finding myself oddly drawn to a few of the old stories, but had never intended to study it.
    Shayl glanced at me. “You should do physics,” she went on. “That way, we could study together.” I gazed uncertainly at her. “Well, we are going to share rooms, aren’t we? I thought we’d decided that a while ago.”
    She spoke casually. I wanted to leap up and throw my arms around her but only smiled instead. “Of course.”
    “Look!” Miri shouted.
    Button had wandered out of his room. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as he watched us and pulled at his brown nightshirt with his other hand.
    “Come here,” Jenna said as she held out her arms.
    Button toddled to her. As he reached out to touch her long brown hair, Jenna pushed him away with both hands. He sat down hard on the carpet. “What a little beast he is. He looks even uglier than my brother.”
    “Do you know what’s going to happen to you?” Carlea murmured as she crawled over to him. “Do you know?”
    Button’s eyes widened; he did not speak.
    “You’re going to get sent outside,” Carlea shouted triumphantly. “You’re going to live with big, hairy, wild men, and, if you don’t do what they say, they’ll kick you and beat you.”
    “Look at him,” Shayl said as she leaned over and lifted Button’s shirt. “Isn’t it wretched? It just hangs there like a little sausage.”
    Everyone giggled. Button turned toward me; his gray eyes glistened. I wanted to get up and lead him back to his room, where I could have comforted him a little, but couldn’t bring myself to move.
    Carlea got to her feet and lifted Button, swinging him in a circle before throwing him to Shayl. Zoreen watched silently; unlike the others, she was not laughing. Shayl swung Button in an arc, and he screamed. As she set him down, he kicked her leg hard with his bare foot and then slapped her hands away.
    “Button!” I cried out.
    “He’s already getting nasty,” Miri said. “He should have been sent out a long time ago.”
    Button glared at me. I did not speak. He ran back to his room and shot an angry glance at me before the door slid shut.
    “Of all the things we’ll have to do,” I heard myself say, “bearing boys is by far the worst.”
    Everyone began to murmur in agreement, but I hated myself for saying it.

    I began to worry again after my friends had left. I should have been happy, but I was thinking of Button and was suddenly angry with Mother for not sending him away sooner. Because she had grown to care about Button too much, she had brought me to care about him, too, and had endangered us both in the process.
    I found Mother in her study. She was slumped in a chair by the mindspeaker console; her long auburn hair hid her face.
    “I came to say good night.”
    She looked up at me. Her eyes were red; her face seemed swollen. “Did you have a nice party?” she asked.
    “Oh, yes. Shayl still wants us to live together. Her rooms are in the south quadrant, too, so we’ll be close by.”
    She stared at the floor. “Button’s father has already received my message. He should reach the wall in a few days, and then Button…” Her voice shook a little. “He’s looked after your twin. Button will have two men to look out for him.” She stared past me. “I did what I had to do. There won’t be any more warnings from Eilaan. We needn’t concern ourselves with that any more. I did it for you, Laissa. I wanted you to have your celebration without worrying about this.”
    I kissed her and went to my room, then