Jane's class held their breath at the start of the senior year. There had been so many shocking events over the past two years; no one could believe that there could be a straightforward school year for Jane's senior year.
But there were no more deaths, court cases, cheating scandals, crazy antics, or life-changing gossip. There was not much to report. Most of the students focused on college applications. There was always idle talk about the senior prom. But life went on for the seniors.
There were no problems in English class. Mrs. Blair was very professional. She admired the hard work of her seniors and was amazed by their intelligence and their creativity. In essays and poems, they reflected on the loss of Rose and other important themes that touched their lives.
Jane just sailed through the year. She was able to take two math courses in her senior year and edge past Deb to be the valedictorian. But there were a few other things that happened that year. In the fall, most of the seniors took the SAT. Jane got a score high enough to apply to the best colleges.
Christmas brought the now annual Rose Chang Memorial Christmas Party. This year it almost organized itself. Jane was surprised to find that many women in town had figured out the most popular pant sizes and had already altered dozens of pants to fit slaves who had to wear restraints. Volunteers who helped put on the affair were impressed at how the slaves were cleaner, better groomed, better dressed, and in better health than last year.
It seemed that everyone recognized that slaves that were treated better had a better attitude and did more work. This was true both in theory and in practice. All of the slaves appreciated looking and smelling their best. Jane started to realize that many changes in attitude were self-sustaining. Knowing this brought her some much-needed strength and insight about how to improve people's lives.
In February, there was an amazing presentation in the high school. The juniors and the seniors all went to the auditorium. A visitor, who did not give his name, gave a presentation. He said he was a re-engineer.
He described the great financial collapse as happening at the end of a period of great technological innovation. This collapse was very severe and caused great suffering. When it appeared that a nation of small workshops was going to help bring technology back, waves of suffering occurred as larger corporations destroyed the small workshops that were building back the economy.
He said, “The problems were so severe that right now, historians have been arguing as to whether there were two or three great collapses of the economy.” He went on to describe how hard it was to bring back the old technology. Software required a key from specific websites. He had to give a vague description so that the students could understand the word “website.” Phones were made with glass covers with very clever mixes of ingredients that were secret then and secret now. Chips could be salvaged, but not enough had been constructed in factories.
The thrust of the presentation was that the true nature of the loss of technology had been kept well hidden. There was a crying need for people to dedicate themselves to learn from the past and bring a new facet of the past into our present. He said, “This task is called ‘re-engineering.’ If you are interested, you will find financial sponsors if you tell people you want to be part of re-engineering the world.”
Jane asked, “What is the current status of Microsoft software?” The presenter seemed confused and did not recognize the word “Microsoft.” Jane decided to keep her mouth shut. She correctly guessed that the books about the last 50 years of technology were totally prohibited, and not even available to specialists.
Jane asked Mr. Mitchell about these books in his library. While being very cagey, he did say there is no way he could have them ever leave his house. Jane asked if she could re-read them, taking careful notes. Mr. Mitchell said, “No problem, be my guest.” And he meant that literally. Jane spent the night many extra times so that she could construct timelines, product categories, and technology descriptions. She knew that this information was valuable. But she had no idea of how soon it would prove useful.
The Senior Prom was supposed to be the big event of the year. For Jane, she was finding herself not interested in it at all. Emily said, “We need you to go. We can use the Prom photos for your sales material.” Jane rented a new dress, got all made up and had her hair done. She went with another high school student, a junior. She found someone who was very bright and needed some encouragement. For the evening, they were a dashing pair. Once again, Jane was perfect and beautiful for the dance. All she could think was, “I am doing this so that I can be sold as if I was a piece of fancy furniture.”
Jane's valedictorian speech was printed in the newspaper and became famous years later. Here we just offer a summary:
Of course, I want to thank the school board, the school administration, and all the assembled for the honor and privilege of giving this speech.
I want to thank my owners, and especially Charles Mitchell for his undertaking the initial investment in me. I want to thank all my friends who have assisted me in my education and fulfilling all the complex rules under which I must live.
I would like to offer you an analogy of my odd position here before you. Let us imagine that there was a device like a stock ticker that offered my value weekly or daily. Let us imagine that speculators were allowed to gamble on my progress through these high school years. Speculators would be willing to invest money now to reap a future increase in value. As I understand it, over $15,000 has been spent on my behalf over the last three school years. Because of this investment in meals, shelter, clothing, books, extra tutoring, and restraining gear, I have become the person you see before you. You, my fellow students, by fortune's lucky chance, are free of slavery. Therefore, you lack the power of the marketplace to invest in you. I have flourished, and you have not had these advantages. How can we offer the advantages of the slave to the free?
But if we are all judged by dollars and cents, what have we become? The flip side of this story is that my life is now in the hands of others. I find this offensive. My life here has been good due to my friends and ownership partnership. My future life could be miserable or wonderful all based on who buys me and why.
I face a wild new world; mine is clearly more uncertain than yours. But all of us face a transition to a new life. Once we enter that new life, we will rarely look back, except in moments of quiet reflection when we ask ourselves how we became the people we are today.
Our class dealt with many hardships last year. We lost Rose Chang and Stephen Ratte. We became separated from all of the teachers who had years of experience teaching the juniors of Warren Ohio. But we have faced these hardships and issues together. We are stronger for it. I predict that our class will have a large impact on this world. We know how to help each other at times when things look very bad.
The most meaningful parts of my life in high school have been when I have helped others. I call for a life of service for all of the people we live with, regardless of their status or level.
In ancient times, a very wise man asked two questions: If we are not doing things for ourselves, who will? If we are only for ourselves, what are we?
Here is the end of the summary of Jane's speech. The speech was met with loud applause.
Jane met weekly with Mr. Mitchell. During the last part of the senior year, more and more meetings also included Emily Mitchell, Mr. Mitchell's niece. Eventually, Jane learned that Emily would be partnering with Mr. Mitchell to handle Jane's sale. Mr. Mitchell finally said, “You can call me Charles. You do not have to call me Mr. Mitchell anymore.” It was one sign that Charles was getting fond of Jane and was concerned for her future.
Emily argued that the ideal situation would be to get a small number of bidders who were very connected to Jane, to get them invested in the idea of purchasing her. Jane very much wanted to meet each potential purchaser. She wanted some idea of what was happening to her.
Jane suggested that they try to identify the top five bidders. Perhaps asking who would be willing to offer a minimum of $280,000 and transfer $30,000 for a refundable deposit. If you get more than five bidders, raise the numbers until you have five bidders. At that point, ask for the deposits, and schedule a week for the actual sale. Offer each bidder a full day to talk to us, and then the two of you can facilitate the final bidding and sale. Jane added, “I, for one, would not want to be in the room when the actual sale happens. Of course, if it were required, I would be there; but do not ask me to do this unless you need me to be present.”
Charles and Emily agreed that a lengthy personal visit and a large deposit to limit the bidding pool would be the ingredients to inspire a bidding war. They both thanked Jane for her insight into the issue of her sale. Jane explained that she was hoping to be able to interact with the bidders, and thus have some indirect say in what happened to her. That this might increase her value was just an interesting coincidence. Emily said that five bidders seemed like a perfect number for her. We could schedule Monday through Friday for “personal inspections,” and then hold the final sale on that Saturday.
Emily and Charles initially asked who could put a deposit of $35,000 for an opening bid of $290,000. They got twelve positive replies. They eventually raised the deposit to $40,000 and the opening bid to $360,000. The sale week was to be in two weeks. Two weeks gave the bidders time to travel to Warren Ohio. The events would all take place at the best hotel in town. By paying a slightly higher fee, a bidder could be scheduled for Thursday or Friday. The lowest fee bidder would have their “inspection” on Monday. Charles did say that each of the bidders had indicated that they wanted Jane to be a companion to a son or daughter for college. This was implied by the high prices being discussed, but it was a great relief for Jane to hear this now confirmed.
Jane spent the next two weeks with her friends. There were many tears and much laughter. The end was in sight. All of Jane's friends had Jane's full serial number. Charles said that there would be a clause in the sale contract requiring free electronic mail interaction between Jane and her summer school partners.
During one dinner, Sarah said, “Jane, you are very clever. Someday you will win or buy your freedom. We will rejoice by holding the biggest feast ever held in this town. I only wish I could schedule the date right now. I now raise a glass of wine for Jane's moment of freedom. Everyone, fill your cup and drink with me right now!” Cries of “here, here!” filled the room as every glass was drained.
Jane decided that the last night that she would sleep with Danny would be a week before she went on sale. She held him tight as much as she could during that last week, and they said their sweet goodbyes. This had to be the bitterest moment for a slave, to have to say goodbye to the love of their life.
No matter what anyone could do or say, time did not stay still. On a Sunday night, Jane, Emily, and Charles occupied one of the biggest Business Suites in The Big Hotel. While this may seem like an odd name to the reader, that was the actual name of the fanciest hotel in Warren.
The room was called a Business Suite because there were four separate beds. The beds all folded up for the day, either tipped up into the wall or folded into couches. The room looked like a medium-sized business office during the day.
Monday was interesting. The Lin family came into the hotel suite at about 9:30 am. They quickly looked Jane over. The mother wanted to know why she was not chained up in the corner of the room. Emily tried to avoid this, but mom was insistent. Emily walked with Jane to the corner of the room and chained Jane's leg to a fixed anchor in the floor.
The daughter, Ann, was fairly quiet. She wanted a “college slave,” since most of her friends also had a “college slave.” It was not clear what Jane was wanted for, or what would happen when Ann lost interest in having a “college slave.” Jane thought that if Ann wanted to buy a new condo or a very fancy car, she would sell Jane to raise the money.
The whole family was very high-handed. They did not seem to be thinking or treating Jane as if she were a human being. The mom asked Emily, “How long could we chain Jane up in the corner like that before we have a problem.” It was not clear if she was referring to death, injury, sleep, or the need to use the bathroom. Emily looked confused and said, “I think it is not recommended that you chain a slave in any one spot for more than two hours. For nighttime, you need to negotiate the arrangements and the facilities. We have a booklet about these issues that we will provide with the sale. I am certain that we can also get it translated into Mandarin.”
They did not seem too interested in Jane's academic achievements. They just wanted Jane's SAT score, and they wanted that verified and notarized.
There were exhaustive questions about Jane's health records. While Charles and Emily provided copies of everything, it appeared that nothing was enough for them. It was not clear what they were looking for in the health records.
There were very embarrassing questions about Jane's sexual history. She tried to answer each question correctly; she cried as she answered many of the questions. There were too many raw emotions about leaving Danny behind. And then to try to address this relationship as if it were an exercise in biology or a medical exam was too much to bear.
At one point, the grandmother said something in Mandarin, and the mom said, “Please have her take off all of her clothes, please.” Jane took off her shirt, skirt, and underwear. The grandmother came over to Jane and looked her all over. Jane remembered that there was a discussion about her in a language that she did not understand. Jane was glad when she could get her clothes on again. She noticed that Ann had not paid much attention to the body examination. “I suppose that is a good sign,” thought Jane.
After lunch, Jane and Ann took a walk around the neighborhood. Of course, Ann held her leash. Jane tried to relax as much as possible. Jane did her best to be pleasant and find what caught Ann's interest. She did not open up on anything. This was all too much of a mystery.
Jane had thought that she could figure out whether a bidder was “good” or “bad” fairly easily. Then she could behave in subtle ways to either encourage or discourage high bidding. She thought that she could “choose” the winner that way.
But the Lin family made this approach difficult. If Ann truly wanted a college slave through graduation, Jane would also graduate. But Jane could not figure out what they desired in a slave. Without that information, Jane was confused as to how to modify her behavior. Perhaps her confusion might be the subtle turn-off that would discourage them. But what if the Lin family was the best there was? Shouldn't Jane try her best then to be bought by the Lin family?
Jane cried for an hour that night, and then gently fell to sleep.
The McNamara family seemed to be in the oil business. It was clear that they wanted a sexual partner for their son Daryl in college. They did not seem interested in seeing Jane get further educated. It was unclear what would happen to Jane after college.
The dad made it clear that the family was interested in making sure that their son had no “women problems” in college and thus could focus on his studies. At one point, the dad said, “If Daryl calls home crying about anything in college, I'll whip you within an inch of your life.” Then he laughed, and added, “But you are such a sweet thing, I am certain that would never happen.”
Jane explained her personal history. She told the story of herself and Danny. By the time she was halfway through it, she was crying uncontrollably. Jane noticed tiny smiles on Emily's and Charles' faces as she started to cry.
Jane was certain that her crying spell would put an end to their interest. After lunch, Daryl and Jane did a neighborhood walk. It was clear to Jane that he was a bit careless as he walked. He often seemed to be bumping Jane into objects or pulling too hard on the leash.
After the walk, the family did ask for Jane to take off her clothes. By now, she was getting used to this. The whole family smiled when she was naked. Jane cupped her hand over the parts that she did not want to be exposed. By the time Jane got her clothes back on, Jane had noticed that the Dad was not smiling anymore. Jane slept well that night.
The Hassan family seemed to have come from the Middle-East at some point, probably many generations ago. The son was named Amir. It was hard to figure him out. Before he could say or do anything, his mother was yelling at him. She called him stupid and said he would never amount to anything.
Jane listened as carefully as she could for clues. There was a large family business. Many branches of the family helped run the business. She learned that there was no one else but Amir in his branch of the family. Jane figured out that Amir's father had been cast out by his own father. Amir's parents were being supported by his uncles, who did inherit a large share of the company. If Amir could major in business and then get a Master's Degree in business, there would be a very large role for him in the family business.
This news broke Jane's heart. She loved math and science. The idea that she would have to attend every business class that Amir did was painful to hear. But then she wondered if she wanted to be Ann's pet girl or Daryl's four-year prostitute. How bad could Business School be? Besides, she might be able to borrow books from the school library, talk to students and professors, and find other ways to continue her interests besides attending classes.
It became clear that the job for Jane was to be an almost full-time teacher. After a quick brunch, she was told that they had prepared a complicated multi-hour challenge for Jane. She was to teach Amir a lesson on statistics. Jane said, “I know virtually nothing about statistics. How can I do that?” They said, “This is not a problem. We have prepared a challenge for you to mimic a day in college. We have a professor of Statistics with us, and he will take over from here.”
Professor Johnson introduced himself. He said, “I have a video of a one-hour statistics lesson that I am going to show to Amir. Afterward, he will take a 30-minute test. While this is going on, Jane may study this textbook, paying close attention to chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3. I will explain what to do after that.”
Jane was asked to lock herself in the bathroom with the textbook, a pad of paper, and some pens. A piece of tape was placed on the outside of the door. If Jane tried to open the door by even the tiniest crack, they would know about it. Jane decided to skim both sections, spending about 10 minutes for each scan. Then she carefully timed herself and rationed her time to try desperately to learn the key concepts in as short amount of time as possible. The actual math was not too difficult, but the strain of trying to do the impossible in such a short time was making her sick. She learned about calculating least squares on data and other basic ideas of gathering statistics.
After 90 minutes, she was allowed out of the bathroom. After a short bathroom break for everyone, Amir and his mom went out for an hour walk, while Jane watched the video. She was allowed to have access to the textbook and her notes during the video. Jane kept wondering, “What are they trying to measure? This was interesting. But why waste time showing us the same video separately?”
When the video was over, Amir and his mom came back. Jane had less than one hour to help Amir learn the essential ideas of what was in the video. Then they were going to give him a slightly tougher test. Jane looked at her watch and did the best she could to focus on getting the essential lessons across. She was glad that Amir was very good at communicating what was difficult for him and why he was having problems. The hour flew by. Jane barely noticed that Emily, Charles, and Amir's family were intently watching Jane give a lesson under exceptionally trying conditions.
When the buzzer rang out, Jane was asked to take a walk with Emily for 30 minutes. They did not want Jane to give any signals, even with her facial expression that would help Amir. When the 30 minutes was over, everyone had a grand late lunch at the hotel restaurant. Mr. Johnson arrived a few minutes later and said that Jane's lesson had raised Amir's grade from a D to a B+. He was very clear about saying that the second test was much tougher than the first test. He said, “I am very impressed with Jane.”
After the Hassan family had excused themselves, Jane realized they were the first bidder that did not ask to see her naked. She decided that this was a good sign.
Jane slept very well that night. Under the circumstances, she barely knew how she could have discouraged the Hassan family. While she was still concerned about Amir, his mom, and everyone's intentions, it was clear that her role would be that of a personal tutor. She would have to attend all of Amir's classes as well and would become a college graduate. She wondered who had the most money and who was the most interested in buying her. Only time will tell.
Mike Carter was the nephew of Roger Carter, the famous software guru. His company was known for many of the most commonly-used computer applications. Roger did not have any children of his own. He was trying to further his legacy through his nephew.
The problem was that Roger's brother (Mike's dad) was not happy about this attention and money lavished on his son. There were a lot of arguments about all sorts of issues that had nothing to do with Mike or Jane.
The family asked questions that were all over the map. Perhaps they knew what Jane's game was. They seemed to be deliberately switching subjects all over the place. An employee filmed all of the interactions and was taking careful notes.
The scrambled questions disoriented Jane. She had no idea what her role would be, and what she would be doing with Mike. Perhaps there was so much money in this family that they did not need a reason to buy Jane. They would just do it. They seemed to have enough money to outbid anyone. Jane finally realized that she was getting to talk to a level one person. She was one of only a few slaves that answered questions and got to talk to someone from level one.
At the lunch break, they went to the hotel restaurant. Jane ended up sitting between Roger and Emily. Roger was very friendly and asked Jane lots of questions about how she went about learning things. Jane quickly explained how they set up the summer school program. She explained that a group of students had committed themselves to making sure that she was able to take an academic program.
Somehow the topic of older technology came up. Roger seemed amazed that Jane knew about websites, web programming, and common issues of two generations ago. Roger just said, “Do not try to tell me you learned all this in your high school classes.” Jane said, “No, I picked it up from some books that somehow escaped destruction.” Roger just said, “I would love for you to be working for my company. If you are ever put on the labor market, send me a message. I would prefer to be the one that hires you.” Jane thought that was very tactful language considering her status in society.
Jane was sure that the Carter family would end up buying her. She thought that they had paid a premium to see her on Thursday. They would have a full day to review the film and their notes and memories. She was certain that the Carter family would buy her. Once the bidding started, how could anyone compete with a billionaire? She had many dreams of being the slave of a level one person.
The Harrison family was the final bidder. The daughter was named Jane Harrison. Jane thought, “Jane and Jane; I like that.” But then the dad said, “Of course, we would need to change her name. Of course, we will ask for her preference.” Jane Harrison was the daughter of a powerful banker. They were interested in having her do well in college.
Jane started bracing herself for another four-hour statistics lesson. But they just asked her informally about how she learns, and how she teaches others. They did not want a live test. Emily did describe what Jane did on Wednesday. This impressed everyone.
It was clear that Jane was looking for a “roommate situation” with some help on difficult topics. The focus of the family was on her personality and whether she could mix well with rich and cultured people. Jane got the impression that well-dressed slaves with excellent educations often mixed socially with the upper classes. What a change from the poor slaves she helped in the two charity events that she had helped organize!
Half of the day was spent with the two Janes. They easily talked about all sorts of topics. It was clear that they would do very well together. The slave Jane wondered if somehow they were long lost twins, but that did not make sense. They did not look alike at all.
At every meal, the parents seemed to be watching Jane Foreman carefully. Jane guessed that they were making sure that she had good table manners and knew which fork to use. Jane was glad for all the different meals that she had over the years at the Mitchell house. He had subtly taught excellent table manners. The Harrison family looked pleased with Jane, and they appeared to be willing to open up their wallet to buy her.
Jane did not want to be in the room when the bidding took place. The bidding took place in a medium-sized room in the hotel. Jane was brought in by Emily. All the families were there. Emily took Jane to the front of the room. Emily asked if anyone had any last questions for Jane. No one said anything. Emily asked if Jane had any questions. Jane shook her head no. Emily took Jane back to the suite and locked her up.
Charles and Emily ran the auction. The bidding lasted only twelve minutes. Emily came upstairs to tell her that the Hassan family had purchased her for the incredible price of $440,000. Mr. Mitchell was so pleased with how things turned out that he was increasing the amounts the families of her friends would get. Deb's family would get $8,000, the rest of the families would get $3,000, and Rose's family would get an additional donation of $5,000.
Mr. Mitchell had to use the hours left in the day to process the Hassan family payment. He had to initiate the return of the other families' deposits. There were contracts to sign and a lot of formal steps to turn her over to her new owners and prepare her for travel to their home. Quietly, Emily asked Jane where she wanted to stay until Tuesday morning, the earliest when all the paperwork and payments would be finished.
Jane thought for a while and said that she would like to stay at Sarah's house. She wanted Emily to tell people that she mostly wanted to spend her time alone, to listen to music, to read and write some poetry. Jane said, “I have said my goodbyes. I just want some time to think about all of this.”
Emily then asked what Jane wanted to have written in the final contract. Jane said, “I want to be able to communicate freely with my friends from high school and with Danny. I want to be able to travel to the Hassan house with all of my books, papers, and possessions. Once there, I can sort and get rid of what I do not need. I would like the right to store some of my things at the Hassan house if the apartment or room at the college is too small. If at all possible, I want to be free of insurance and restraints in college. I do not mind the occasional leash, but I do mind leg shackles.”
Emily said, “The only way to avoid leg shackles is not to be insured. The only way to avoid insurance is for Charles to offer his personal guarantee. Do you know what this means?” Jane shook her head to say, “No.” Emily said, “You must swear to Charles and to me in the most sacred and sincere way that you will never escape. You will also need to wear a permanent location device on your collar.” Jane said, “I will never escape, but if I did, I would go straight to Mr. Mitchell's house to be with Danny.”
Emily got livid. She yelled, “If you ever say that again, you will go to a place where you will never see daylight again. You can say you miss Danny terribly. You can write poems that break the hearts of millions, but you can never, ever make a joke about escape. That cannot ever happen.”
Jane started to cry. She realized that this might be the last time she talked to Emily, and it all came to such a low moment. Jane fell to the floor and rocked back and forth saying “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please forgive me.”
Emily added, “All of your things are at Charles' house. I will get you to the bathroom, and we have many things to do in the next two hours. I know what to add to the contract. We will all do the best that we can for you.”
Emily was right. There were many things to do. The Hassan family accepted Mr. Mitchell's personal guarantee for Jane. There was little for Jane to do for the next few days. She wrote some poems. She talked quietly to Sarah about how little she knew about the future. Sarah kept telling Jane how brave she was. Jane just said, “If I am so brave, why is it so hard to get myself to my feet every day? I just feel scared.”
At one point of quiet reflection, Jane wrote about how she would be free of all of the restraint devices not required by law. She would get this additional freedom because of Mr. Mitchell's personal guarantee. She realized that the decision to insure her body was a decision that Mr. Mitchell had made. Jane began to wonder if he had deliberately insured her to prod her friends to come to her aid. While this thought did not anger her, she decided to pay much more attention to the decisions that people make and the reasons they are made. She also noticed that the laws on slavery were structured to make it easy to run an entire factory with slaves, but difficult to own just one or two. She began to suspect that the laws of the nation were written to favor the very wealthy.
On Tuesday morning at 11 AM, a small bus pulled up to Mr. Mitchell's house. Danny's father brought out four cardboard boxes of Jane's possessions and three suitcases of her clothes. Sarah walked Jane down the driveway and put her into the bus. Jane could not bear to be inside of Mr. Mitchell's house, even for a second. Everyone respected this and made sure she got this simple wish. She was put into slave restraints. She knew this was the law for all slaves who were passengers in vehicles and had nothing to do with the personal preference of the Hassan family.
All of Jane's friends and some of her teachers were on the sidewalk, waving at the bus, as it slowly went down the driveway to the city that was the headquarters for the Hassan family business.
Jane's new life was starting right now.