Promptings from Valhalla - 25. Chapter 25

Prompt: What’s the most offensive thing you’ve ever heard someone say?

I stood on tiptoes and peered through the metal bars lining the top portion of the stall. The animal inside bit into the large pile of hay piled in the corner, then lifted its head to stare at me. It snorted, spraying hay, dirt, and goo all over my brand-new shirt.

Laughter erupted next to me, and I looked over to see a boy my age doubled over. “That means he likes you,” he stated.

I grimaced. “Great. I don’t want to know what he’d do if he hated me.”

The boy grinned. “Raven don’t hate nobody. He’s the nicest horse in this place.”

I nodded. “I can see why. He’s beautiful. He reminds me of The Black Stallion.”

The boy laughed. “Well he sure don’t run like no racehorse. That’s why he’s good for beginners. My name’s Jamal, by the way.” He stuck out his hand.

“Kevin.” I shook his hand, happy to have made a friend so soon.

“This your first time here, Kevin?”

“Yep. I’ve never been away from home for so long. I’m nervous, but excited. I love horses, so spending a summer with them is way cool.”

“I hear ya. This is my third summer here. You’re gonna love it!” He pointed to a stall across from Raven’s. “You gotta see Paco. That’s the horse I want to ride this year. He’s an appaloosa—an Indian horse. He has lots of spots.”

We headed over to check out Paco. A crowd of other campers already stood in front of his stall, so we waited until a spot opened before we moved close enough to see him. One of the larger boys elbowed his way in front of us, stealing our spot. Jamal had to take a step backward to keep his balance.

I scowled. “Hey! We were here first!”

Jamal shook his head and tugged at my sleeve, trying to pull me away from the stall.

The large boy turned and sneered. “What’s it to ya?”

I gulped. This kid could easily pulverize me, but I figured if I didn’t stand up to him now, he’d make my summer miserable. Maybe he would anyway.

“Wait your turn! We want to see the horse. Jamal wants to ride him this summer.”

The kid spit on the ground. “We’ll see about that. I already asked for that horse. No fat, black nigger is going to get what I want.”

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. I’d heard that word before and knew about prejudiced people, but had never experienced it firsthand.

Jamal turned and walked away. The sad look on his face made anger flood through me. “Don’t call my friend that! Jamal is a better person than you’ll ever be!” I yelled, then jogged after my new friend.

I put my arm around his shoulder. “What an asshole.”

Jamal looked at me. “So you’re still my friend?”

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He grinned. “Let’s go see if we can get bunks near each other.”

“Yeah!”

*****

After dinner, I sat on the bunkhouse steps and watched the rest of the campers kick a ball around. I had eaten too much so decided to wait until my tummy wasn’t rumbling quite so much before joining in. One of the counselors approached and sat next to me.

“Are you OK?”

I nodded. “I just ate too much.”

“I thought you might be upset by what happened in the barn earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

He turned to face me. “I heard what Dave said to Jamal. You did a good thing, sticking up for him.”

“Oh. He’s my friend. I couldn’t let someone say such an awful thing about him.” A tear fell down my cheek. I guess I was more upset than I realized. “How can someone hate someone because of the color of their skin? Jamal is so nice.”

“Some people aren’t as nice as Jamal is. I’ve worked here for a few years now and know him pretty well. He’s a great kid. But something to consider is why Dave said what he did. He learned it from somewhere, and my guess would be his parents. So my suggestion would be to teach him something different.” He squeezed my arm and headed over to the ball game.

I thought about what he said, and I felt a wave of pity for the boy with prejudiced parents. He was being taught wrong. And I wondered what else his parents were teaching him that was bad.

“Kevin! C’mon! We need a goalie!” Jamal yelled.

“Coming!” I stood and jogged over to my new friend.

Thanks for reading!  We'll be back in April with another joint prompt response.