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Gemma shook her head empathically. “No, I want to talk to Mark. He’s really nice, he said he could get us all the Marvel movies, so we could watch them,” she turned the force of her hazel eyes onto Jenny, who could already feel her resolve melting. “Can we please?”
“As long as you take all your meds, eat and spend a good amount of time outside, that’s fine with me.”
Gemma threw her arms around Jenny in a hug so fierce, Jenny was momentarily knocked back by the force. Jenny pattered her head soothingly. “Remember what we always say?”
“Women are just as strong as men,” Gemma said as she gave her a toothy grin. “And I can do anything I set my mind to.”
“Atta girl.” Gemma gave Jenny a high five before scampering off to play with the other kids.
Jenny
Jenny had forgotten that Mark was there until he cleared his throat next to her. He had stood up and was leaning against the wall, watching her with an amused grin playing on his lips.
“Dare I ask what that was about?”
Jenny stood up and brushed the dust off her pants. “What are you talking about?”
Mark pushed himself off the wall. “Oh, come on now. Don’t play dumb with me. You’re trying to teach her to be a feminist, at her age.”
Jenny faced his gaze directly. “Women ARE just as strong as women, and I don’t want society’s labels confining her.”
Mark held his hands up in mock surrender. “Easy there, Rocky. I never said she should be limited, but don’t you think it’s a bit early?”
Jenny cocked her head to the side. “No, it’s not early. Besides I just asked her what she wanted to be, and we got to talking, she’s the one who came up with that, not me. I wish I had though.”
Mark chuckled. “So you want me to believe that a seven-year-old is the ring leader of your little feminist cult?”
Jenny shot him an amused glance. “First of all, it was her idea. Second, she is not a ring leader and third, this isn’t a feminist cult,” she used air quotes for the last thing, and as they made their way outside the children’s ward, they began to walk brusquely down the corridors, heading nowhere in particular.
“It’s not a cult to want to fight for basic human rights, rights that men take for granted I might add,” she responded, trying to keep the curtness out of her voice. Of course he’d be glib about something like this. He was a privileged white male, he didn’t know what it was like for other people.
“I’m not just talking about women, I’m talking about other men too. Men who aren’t white.”
“Whoa, hey, what? Feminism is a feminist movement.”
Jenny abruptly stopped in her tracks, causing Mark to slam into her back. She wheeled around to face him. “Actually that’s a common misconception. It may have started out as a feminist movement, but it’s grown to encompass so much more than that-now it’s about equal rights for everyone.”
Mark paused. “But isn’t feminism basically women thinking they are better than everyone else?”
Jenny laughed. “No, that’s just extremism. Every movement has its fanatics, and feminism is no different. No, that isn’t the true essence of feminism.”
Mark considered this carefully. “I didn’t know that.” He eyed her for a minute before continuing. “Can we continue this inside your office? I’d like to discuss making a donation for the children.”
A delighted smile lit up Jenny’s face as she gestured for him to follow her. They made their way down the hallway and stopped outside her office. Jenny opened the door and groped for the light switch as they sat down opposite each other.
For the next fifteen minutes they discussed how much money he wanted to donate, what he wanted to be done with it and possible alternatives. He actually had a lot of great ideas, and he knew exactly how to maximize the potential of the sum that they were getting. He promised he’d tell his friends about donations as well.
Jenny leaned back in her chair and smiled at him, wondering why it seemed like there were two different sides to this man.
Mark reached into his wallet and took out a cheque which he filled out before handing it to her.
“Thank you. This really does mean a lot to the kids,” she responded as she opened the top drawer and placed it there, fully intending on presenting it to the board later to show them that it wasn’t so hopeless after all. The kids would be so happy too.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Mark said finally a while later as he stood up before strolling towards her.
“Sure.” Jenny said, evenly wondering what he was up to.
“Do you ever think about that night?”
