Page 362 - Enders_Game_Full_Book

"Quim?"
"At least he stopped yelling for the infidel to go home."
"I'm glad for your family, Miro. I hope he can heal them permanently, I really do-- I can see the difference in you, too, you're more hopeful than I've seen you in a long time. But don't bring him out here."
Miro chewed on the side of his cheek for a moment, then walked away. Ouanda ran after him, caught him by the arm. They were in the open, but Rooter's tree was between them and the gate. "Don't leave me like that!" she said fiercely. "Don't just walk away from me!"
"I know you're right," Miro said. "But I can't help how I feel. When he was in our house, it was like-- it was as if Libo had come there."
"Father hated your mother, Miro, he would never have gone there."
"But if he had. In our house this Speaker was the way Libo always was in the Station. Do you see?"
"Do you? He comes in and acts the way your father should have but never did, and every single one of you rolls over belly-up like a puppy dog."
The contempt on her face was infuriating. Miro wanted to hit her. Instead he walked over and slapped his hand against Rooter's tree. In only a quarter of a century it had grown to almost eighty centimeters in diameter, and the bark was rough and painful on his hand.
She came up behind him. "I'm sorry, Miro, I didn't mean--"
"You meant it, but it was stupid and selfish--"
"Yes, it was, I--"
"Just because my father was scum doesn't mean I go belly-up for the first nice man who pats my head--"
Her hand stroked his hair, his shoulder, his waist. "I know, I know, I know--"
"Because I know what a good man is-- not just a father, a good man. I knew Libo, didn't I? And when I tell you that this Speaker, this Andrew Wiggin is like Libo, then you listen to me and don't dismiss it like the whimpering of a c o!"
"I do listen. I want to meet him, Miro."