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"Let's go to the shoe store here," Ms. DeBerry directed Gib to a shoe store in the mall. "I need to get myself some new snow shoes."

"Yes ma'am." If Gib were being completely honest, she was sort of dreading shoe shopping. Not because she had unusually large feet (or, at least she was certain her feet were normal for someone her height), but prior research indicated that people on the mainland generally wear tennis or athletic shoes. Back at home, Gib's cousin could make some of the most amazing shoes. Beautiful, rainbow colored woven shoes. Wonderfully embroidered sandals. And the moccasins; that was the standard shoe on Nelipot. Functional and comfortable. The mainland was supposed to have a wide variety though, right? Just looking around at other people's feet in the mall indicated enough. So there may be a chance Gib could find a decent pair of moccasins.

She walked around the shelves with stacks of shoe boxes, making sure Ms. DeBerry was at least in her line of sight as she tried to figure out how things were organized and... How is anyone supposed to tell what's in the boxes?... Oh! The picture on the side.

A display caught Gib's attention; one with boots and sandals and... were those moccasins?! They were! Oh, but there was a woman looking at them... A rather fancy looking woman. There wasn't any strict separation of classes on the mainland, but Gib hung back so as not to crowd (or possibly offend) the woman, watching her pick up a box, open it, peek inside, then toss it back on the display case with a hint of disgust. She didn't even bother to put it back where it was in the stack. Looks like the entitled are entitled no matter where you go, Gib noted, approaching the display as the woman walked away. Size 9? Yay! Size 9! Oh, and the little beads on it... I suppose when you're over 5 feet tall, you can use that to decorate your shoes. Are these the last ones?... Looks like it.

"Hey!" The fancy looking woman returned, hands on her hips with a scowl on her face. "I picked those up first."

"... and then you put them back down and walked away." Gib replied, not sure what this woman was insinuating. Last time she checked, the mainland didn't have a "you touch it, you buy it" policy. There was something about a "you break it, you buy it," but that was only with ceramic and glass goods.

"Well, I decided I want them, NOW."

"What are you, a toddler?"

"What did you just call me?"

Did I say that out loud?!

"Give me the shoes!"

***

"We should probably get some shoes now," Alkavi suggested as she and Jensen strolled through the mall. "Ms. DeBerry said something about needing a casual pair of shoes and a 'work pair of shoes', whatever that means."

"I think 'work pair of shoes' means plain black or brown shoes." Jensen explained. "That's what I saw in my research of the fashion on the mainland. Like, people who work in rest-rants will wear black ath-letic shoes, and people who work in offices will wear shiny leather shoes. I also saw pictures of women wearing fancy sandals if they work in stores with high fashion. Any-ways, I think we passed by a shoe store earlier. I want to say it's... this way..."

"Were you seriously fighting another woman over a pair of shoes?!" Ms. DeBerry hollered at the top of her lungs to a ragged looking Gib, with her head bowed and one of her braids pulled loose. Off to the side, a woman was being detained by a hefty security guard, screaming like she had lost her sanity, kicking and biting as more and more guards came to try and detain her. Shelves and displays were knocked over, boxes and shoes strewn about on the floor, with employees scrambling to get the place back to normal while also apologizing to other customers, standing around with slightly terrified looks in their eyes.

What did I miss?! Alkavi and Jensen thought in bewilderment.

"I didn't mean to... It just sorta happened." Gib admitted in a small voice that was barely heard with the surrounding chaos.

"Well, you're lucky she wasn't even supposed to be on the premises! Otherwise, you would have joined her in banishment!" Jensen and Alkavi caught the woman's eye. "You two! Over here! NOW!" They dared not to obey. "Were you able to get what you needed?"

"Yes ma'am," they responded in unison, shoulders back and stomachs in like loyal soldiers; that was how much the woman terrified them.

"Did you get in any fights with any of the other customers?"

"No, ma'am."

"And how many stores have you visited?"

A pause while they tried to get a mental count. "Eight?" Jensen asked.

"Yeah, eight." Alkavi confirmed.

"Gibanica, how is it that these two have visited eight stores with no problem and you got in a fight in the second store that you visited?!"

A heavy pause. "... I don't know how to deal with confrontation," Gib admitted.

"Well, you better figure it out soon! This isn't high school anymore! You get in a fight, you can be arrested for physical assualt, and that is something that will stick to your record for the rest of your life! Is that what you want, Gibanica?! Do you want to be known as the woman who fought another woman in a store over a pair of shoes?!"

"No, ma'am..."

"You better take your sorry, ragged face into that store and give those poor employees and managers the most sincere apology for allowing yourself to stoop to that woman's level and ruining their day at work!" With that, Ms. DeBerry grabbed Gib by the base of her neck and directed her back into the store.

"Were we, like, labeled 'the difficult kids', and that's why we got Ms. DeBerry as our host mom?" Alkavi asked Jensen in a low tone, even thought there was no way the woman could have heard her anyways. "I mean, I've gotten in some fights in middle school, but I like to think my record in high school makes up for it."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jensen shrugged. "Maybe we could help Gib fix up the shop?"

"Let's do that, yeah."

---

Gib is a special kind of stupid

And Ms. DeBerry doesn't hold back any punches

Description

"Let's go to the shoe store here," Ms. DeBerry directed Gib to a shoe store in the mall. "I need to get myself some new snow shoes."

"Yes ma'am." If Gib were being completely honest, she was sort of dreading shoe shopping. Not because she had unusually large feet (or, at least she was certain her feet were normal for someone her height), but prior research indicated that people on the mainland generally wear tennis or athletic shoes. Back at home, Gib's cousin could make some of the most amazing shoes. Beautiful, rainbow colored woven shoes. Wonderfully embroidered sandals. And the moccasins; that was the standard shoe on Nelipot. Functional and comfortable. The mainland was supposed to have a wide variety though, right? Just looking around at other people's feet in the mall indicated enough. So there may be a chance Gib could find a decent pair of moccasins.

She walked around the shelves with stacks of shoe boxes, making sure Ms. DeBerry was at least in her line of sight as she tried to figure out how things were organized and... How is anyone supposed to tell what's in the boxes?... Oh! The picture on the side.

A display caught Gib's attention; one with boots and sandals and... were those moccasins?! They were! Oh, but there was a woman looking at them... A rather fancy looking woman. There wasn't any strict separation of classes on the mainland, but Gib hung back so as not to crowd (or possibly offend) the woman, watching her pick up a box, open it, peek inside, then toss it back on the display case with a hint of disgust. She didn't even bother to put it back where it was in the stack. Looks like the entitled are entitled no matter where you go, Gib noted, approaching the display as the woman walked away. Size 9? Yay! Size 9! Oh, and the little beads on it... I suppose when you're over 5 feet tall, you can use that to decorate your shoes. Are these the last ones?... Looks like it.

"Hey!" The fancy looking woman returned, hands on her hips with a scowl on her face. "I picked those up first."

"... and then you put them back down and walked away." Gib replied, not sure what this woman was insinuating. Last time she checked, the mainland didn't have a "you touch it, you buy it" policy. There was something about a "you break it, you buy it," but that was only with ceramic and glass goods.

"Well, I decided I want them, NOW."

"What are you, a toddler?"

"What did you just call me?"

Did I say that out loud?!

"Give me the shoes!"

***

"We should probably get some shoes now," Alkavi suggested as she and Jensen strolled through the mall. "Ms. DeBerry said something about needing a casual pair of shoes and a 'work pair of shoes', whatever that means."

"I think 'work pair of shoes' means plain black or brown shoes." Jensen explained. "That's what I saw in my research of the fashion on the mainland. Like, people who work in rest-rants will wear black ath-letic shoes, and people who work in offices will wear shiny leather shoes. I also saw pictures of women wearing fancy sandals if they work in stores with high fashion. Any-ways, I think we passed by a shoe store earlier. I want to say it's... this way..."

"Were you seriously fighting another woman over a pair of shoes?!" Ms. DeBerry hollered at the top of her lungs to a ragged looking Gib, with her head bowed and one of her braids pulled loose. Off to the side, a woman was being detained by a hefty security guard, screaming like she had lost her sanity, kicking and biting as more and more guards came to try and detain her. Shelves and displays were knocked over, boxes and shoes strewn about on the floor, with employees scrambling to get the place back to normal while also apologizing to other customers, standing around with slightly terrified looks in their eyes.

What did I miss?! Alkavi and Jensen thought in bewilderment.

"I didn't mean to... It just sorta happened." Gib admitted in a small voice that was barely heard with the surrounding chaos.

"Well, you're lucky she wasn't even supposed to be on the premises! Otherwise, you would have joined her in banishment!" Jensen and Alkavi caught the woman's eye. "You two! Over here! NOW!" They dared not to obey. "Were you able to get what you needed?"

"Yes ma'am," they responded in unison, shoulders back and stomachs in like loyal soldiers; that was how much the woman terrified them.

"Did you get in any fights with any of the other customers?"

"No, ma'am."

"And how many stores have you visited?"

A pause while they tried to get a mental count. "Eight?" Jensen asked.

"Yeah, eight." Alkavi confirmed.

"Gibanica, how is it that these two have visited eight stores with no problem and you got in a fight in the second store that you visited?!"

A heavy pause. "... I don't know how to deal with confrontation," Gib admitted.

"Well, you better figure it out soon! This isn't high school anymore! You get in a fight, you can be arrested for physical assualt, and that is something that will stick to your record for the rest of your life! Is that what you want, Gibanica?! Do you want to be known as the woman who fought another woman in a store over a pair of shoes?!"

"No, ma'am..."

"You better take your sorry, ragged face into that store and give those poor employees and managers the most sincere apology for allowing yourself to stoop to that woman's level and ruining their day at work!" With that, Ms. DeBerry grabbed Gib by the base of her neck and directed her back into the store.

"Were we, like, labeled 'the difficult kids', and that's why we got Ms. DeBerry as our host mom?" Alkavi asked Jensen in a low tone, even thought there was no way the woman could have heard her anyways. "I mean, I've gotten in some fights in middle school, but I like to think my record in high school makes up for it."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jensen shrugged. "Maybe we could help Gib fix up the shop?"

"Let's do that, yeah."

---

Gib is a special kind of stupid

And Ms. DeBerry doesn't hold back any punches