“We’re excited to see what you’ve learned.”
* * *
At the evaluation for Unit 9, Meryl’s doll drops the bird. Beth’s doll sees the beggar and starts crying. Linda’s doll pockets the coin.
Frida has a chance at first place. At station one, Emmanuelle touches the bird with her finger, saying, “I help, okay. You okay, you okay.” She picks up the bird and delivers it to Frida.
Frida wants to kiss her. Emmanuelle once felt like her enemy, but today her movements are decisive and kind.
Frida leads her to the second station, where the beggar is moaning in pain. The judge should know that Emmanuelle is hers. Emmanuelle shouldn’t be given to another woman. She shouldn’t be erased. She shouldn’t be renamed.
Emmanuelle finally notices the beggar and says, “Baskets.”
Frida hands her the coin, which she drops next to the beggar’s head.
She says, “Be well.”
* * *
The technician’s hands are cold. Frida closes her eyes and begins counting backward from one hundred. Emmanuelle is the focal point, the doll-child she’s learned to believe in and love. Emmanuelle completed both drills yesterday. There were mistakes, but technically, Frida finished in first place.
The counselor said in the past, judges have sometimes made exceptions. An exception is the best Frida can hope for. She’ll apologize for not reporting Roxanne and Meryl. She’ll admit to knowing their plans, even if it’s not true. She’ll blame Tucker for pursuing her. She’ll acknowledge the stress she caused Susanna during her pregnancy. She only earned two zeros. Emmanuelle was not as badly injured as other dolls. There were three trips to talk circle, not dozens. She was caught touching hands, not kissing.
On-screen, it’s July. Emmanuelle is picking up toys. They’re learning how to play. Frida is surprised to see that Emmanuelle has adopted many of her mannerisms. Her frown. Her habit of nodding when she listens. Her nervous blinking. They look like they belong together.
She feels hopeful, but a terrible variable appears in the next frame. She watches herself meeting Tucker at the picnic, trying to ignore the sweat running down her back, the temperature that will now mark her as guilty. Her forehead becomes damp. As she watches footage from the summer, she’s warm with shame. At the dance, they stand close and whisper, obviously a couple. Desire so easy to read.
They’ve made it look like she and Tucker were always together. On evaluation day for the danger unit, she looks helpless, a woman who can’t save any child, who can’t save herself. There are close-ups of Emmanuelle screaming. A shot of Emmanuelle with Frida’s blood on her. There’s footage of Frida and Tucker in the parking lot, playing with each other’s hands. They’ve shown her more scenes of fraternizing than parenting.
* * *
They receive their prognoses the following day. Frida scored high for tenderness, empathy, and care. Her maternal instincts have improved dramatically, but there were indicators of guilt and shame, certain spikes of desire when she watched footage of herself with Tucker.
“We never even kissed. I didn’t cross that line.”
“But you wanted to,” the counselor says, “and wanting to distracted you from your training. I told you to stay away from that man, but you clearly invited his attention. You enjoyed it. How do we know that you won’t pursue this relationship after you leave? You do realize you can’t date him?”
“I promise I won’t. You said that if I finished first this time, the judge might make an exception.” Didn’t she complete the hardest assignment? Didn’t she teach Emmanuelle to be human?
“The judge will consider all the data. Remember, Frida, your scan was supposed to come back clean and maternal.”
“My family needs me.” Frida pleads her case once more. She can take care of Harriet while Susanna recovers. Someone needs to help them with Harriet. Gust and Susanna will be busy. Harriet can live with her while they get settled with the new baby. She’ll cook for them, babysit for them. Harriet needs her mother. She can give Harriet a good life. She’ll always follow the school’s teachings.
“My parents only have one grandchild.”
“You should have thought of that before you left the house that day,” the counselor says. “We invested in you, Frida. We’ve done everything we can.”
Frida’s prognosis is fair to poor. The counselor can’t predict what the judge will do.
The counselor extends her hand, thanks Frida for participating in the program.