The Capo’s Daughter Needs No Permission Chapter 43
A year after the education system went live, the managing advisor mailed me a report.
Every education payment was now confirmed by the applicant personally.
There had been no more proxy signatures.
Not a single payment had been redirected to a family member without the applicant’s knowledge.
At the end of the report, the advisor asked:
“Would you be willing to let the system be named after you?”
I replied:
“No.”
“Just keep the sentence on the confirmation page.”
It was a sentence I had written into the first draft of the system design:
“To protect someone, you must first recognize her right to say no.”
After the project bonus came through, I bought another ticket to the Caribbean.
Not to make up for the trip that never happened when I was eighteen.
I just liked the sea.
Before I left, I opened the metal box.
The bus ticket, my Westbridge badge, my first pay stub, and the graduation photo were all still there.
I added the system launch report and the transportation grant agreement.
The box still wasn’t full.
There would be other things to add later.
Before I boarded the ship, my mother emailed.
*I heard the weather’s beautiful there.*
*Safe travels.*
Again, there was no request for a reply.
I thought for a moment, then took a picture of the ocean.
My finger hovered over the send button.
Not because of guilt, and not because she had waited so long.
Just because, in that moment, I felt willing to share it.
I pressed send.
My mother replied with only a smiling emoji.
She didn’t ask when I was coming home.
Then Ms. Albright’s message popped up right after.
*Remember to eat.*
I laughed and put my phone away.
As the ship’s horn sounded, I set the metal box beside me.
Once, it had held five hundred and seventy-six slips of paper that other people used to approve my life.
Now, everything inside it came from decisions I had made myself.
I could refuse.
I could forgive partway without going back to my old place.
I could love the sea, choose my work, and decide who was allowed to enter my life.
This time, no one stamped their approval for me.
And I no longer needed anyone’s permission.
The End