Chapt. 16 ---- Words

WORDS

         "Jess I need to ask you something." Joey said.

         Jesse glanced at Joey in the back seat and replied, "All right, ask."

         "Mr Sterrit said Ralphie Cheyne is a faggot. What does that mean?"

`          "Well for starters it means I'm going to have to have another talk with him about what he says in front of you kids."

         "He didn't say it in front of me, he said it to Mrs Sterrit and Davy heard him. He asked her about it and she told him it was just a word. He was wondering about it. He thought if she wouldn't answer him, it had to be something about sex."

         "So now, you're asking me. Okay," He paused and thought, what do I tell an eight year old about this? Sooner or later he's going to hear about it of course, but this is kind of soon.' "All right. That word is a hate name."

         "Like the 'N' word?"

         "Yes. We don't use hate words. Hate words lead to hate actions, you understand?"

         "Yes, I understand that. But ~~ "

         "But you want to know what it means. Well Davy guessed right it does have to do with sex. See, Joey, there's some men ~~ and I don't know a lot about this ~~ they like other men instead of women. Because they're different, some people think it's reason enough to hate them and call them names. And worse than that, sometimes they get beat up or even murdered."

         "You mean they marry men instead of ladies?"

         "Yeah."

         "And some people hate them for it?"


         "Yeah. See, Joey, name-calling is where fights start; you found that out already at school. That's what's wrong with that word."

         "All right. So is Mr Cheyne a ~~ one of those?"

         "I have no idea. It would be none of my business anyway. Why do you care?"

         "I guess I don't. Why did Mr Sterrit say it?"

         "Well, maybe he was mad at him about something. Hank's a good man and a good neighbor. He's there when you need him. I like him but he needs to watch his mouth."

         "So that's a dirty word. Is it as dirty as 'F'?"

         "Yeah.. Actually it's worse because it means hate. Words are where it starts. Hate words can lead to cruelty."

         "Words can be cruelty," said Joey.

         Jesse agreed, "Words are powerful. You wouldn't play around with a loaded gun or a sharp knife. Words can damage people too. The Bible says that the power of life and death is in the tongue."

         "And name calling hurts."

         "Yeah."

         "A kid called me a name. He called me a bastard."

         Jess felt a surge of anger. "Who said that to you?"

         "Are you going to get mad at him? Then I won't tell you who. I know what it means it means my father and mother weren't married. But that's not my fault. That isn't about me."

         "What did you say to him?"

         "Nothing."

         "Nothing?"

         "No. If I called him a name back then he'd have to call me another name back."

         "Didn't what he called you hurt your feelings ?"

         "Kind of. But you explained things to me before so it was all right."

         "And it doesn't bother you?"

         "Not much. You explained to me, you said my parents made a mistake, but I'm not a mistake. You said two humans can't create a soul. Only God can do that; so it was God who made me."

         "And when He did He made the best."

         "You said He made me for a reason. I wonder what?"

         "Maybe because of how empty the world would be without you."

         Joey thought that over. "I like that I can ask you anything, and you answer me and tell me the truth. Davy can't ask anything."

         "Well, people get embarrassed when it's about sex. I do too sometimes. And some people think they shouldn't tell children anything about it; it should be a big secret. I say anything the whole world knows about isn't going to stay a secret for very long. I think if you wonder you should know."

         "What do I tell Davy about this?"

         "Tell him it's a hate name and not to say it. I'll talk to Hank."

         "Okay."

         "And you can ask me anything, you know that. But when it's about sex, save it for when we're by ourselves, okay?"

         "Okay," said Joey.