Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -… [481]

My brothers have been taught how to behave around guns all their lives, but Greg is only eight and Ben is nine. Dad just isn’t ready to put temptation in their paths yet. Marcus at 11 is more trustworthy than a lot of adults, but Keith at almost 13 is a question mark. He wouldn’t steal from Dad. He wouldn’t dare. But he has stolen from me—only little things so far. He wants a gun, though, the way thirsty people want water. He wants to be all grown up—yesterday. So maybe Dad’s right. I hate his decision, but maybe he’s right. — , Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -…, 481

Note

The paragraph performs a full pivot in miniature: Lauren dismantles her own grievance by degrees, aging each brother like a threat assessment, until she arrives at ‘maybe Dad’s right’ — and the concession costs her something. ‘He wants a gun the way thirsty people want water’ is the book’s obsession grammar aimed at a child; ‘grown up—yesterday’ is a kid’s idiom inside an adult’s analysis.