Writing One Man's Taboo is Another's Home [M-L]

[Drix D'Zanth]

This story is a fictional event that I tried to give as much life as possible. Let me know what you think. I'm just warning you, it's pretty anticlimactic. That's my intention... really. I was inspired to write this after listening to a similar conversation between a friend of mine and one of his acquaintances. I?d like to hear what you guys think.
[quote]
?I really should go to Chicago sometime,? breathed Erik with more than hint of jealousy, ?I mean [i]go[/i] and get the fuck out of suburbia for a good time; see some of the sights only available in the big city.?

He wiggled the handle of his Ford Explorer, fidgeting the familiar metal handle to open. With a painful screech the door wrenched open and Erik popped the lock for his two best friends and their recently-received guest, Rico. The four of them, snuggly tucked away from the ice of a Michigan winter began driving down the empty streets. The wet pavement was bleeding under the shimmer of city lights.

?It gets so boring at Grand Valley. The college is top-notch, sure, but when I?m done with my work I feel like all I have to do is sit and drown in my own thoughts,? he complained while Steve grinned smugly.

?Yeah, it?s cool, but even I get bored in Grand Rapids, it?s really no Chicago,? Steve consoled.

?Yeah,? was all that Erik could reply, his mind only halfway paying attention to the slick roads as he drifted into an imaginary urban landscape of velvet underground and social liberties.

Rico?s Nextel produced a fuzzy cacophony of some unintelligible R&B tune. The ringing was deafening, really, enough for Rico to hastily silence the phone and offer a quick apology before picking up the line.

The car sped down the empty boulevard towards a familiar destination: Steve?s apartment. The guy was lucky, just a year out of High school and he has his own apartment, his own life. He still needed a job to win the bread, but at the end of the day he had his own home and was living every young man?s dream: freedom. He wasn?t one to withhold the riches of freedom from his buddies. Every opportunity they had, they would visit the empty box of a living space. The lamp-lit hole still reeked of month old keggers and two teenaged boys unwilling to take time out of their ?busy? college schedules to maintain any sort of upkeep. Erik knew it was worth it- even he got used to the stench.

?I am so pumped for March, dude,? Mike nodded, his tone as enduringly genuine as ever, ?You are going to have a blast at Columbia.?

The concert tickets were already bought and the three were counting the day until their next reunion. Social Distortion, and all of their eighties-punk glory were to be playing at the House of Blues in Chicago and the three friends were making the event a weekend of celebration. Rico, Mike?s roommate at Columbia college in the aforementioned Second City was up visiting- more like [i]birth by fire[/i] than anything. The three friends were tight, and unlikely to let just anybody step into their happy little lives.

Rico seemed the exception to their rules. The Chicago-born and raised son was a prodigal child of his family. He caught Mike?s eye early on when they began discussing politics, and Rico proved himself an intellectual equal. He was a modern black man, where hip-hop was to him as punk was to us; a means of expressing righteous anger over the failings of our imperfect society.

?I know Rico isn?t much into punk, but he?s really only heard the poppy shit,? Mike spoke the aside as Rico continued chattering on his cell phone, ?Social D is thought-provoking.?

?Yeah,? Steve nodded. That?s all he really needed to say. Steve was the kind of guy who could satisfy a woman with a single word and Han Solo smirk.

?If Mike Ness is so ?thought provoking? why can?t you think of anything better to say about him?? Erik teased playfully as he turned down the stereo. They were still about twenty minutes from Steve?s apartment and as much as Erik ?appreciated? music, he couldn?t bear the thought of listening to Bob Dylan the entire way. ?Sorry Mike, hard to concentrate with this so loud.?

Rico closed his phone, ?I was just talkin? to Jess, you know him Mike??

?The guy who?s directing the movie about dancing??

?Yeah,? Rico smiled, drumming his fingers on the arm rest, ?Nigga says he got ?ta have his mix by next week.?

Erik spoke before Mike had a chance to share Rico?s spite, ?Hey man, you don?t need to hate like that.?

Rico didn?t quite catch Erik?s meaning, ?I ain?t trippin? man. Nigga says he wants the music [i]I?m[/i] not even making for [i]him[/i] two weeks before I said I?d be done..?

?You don?t understand,? Erik?s voice cracked a bit, his confidence slipping, ?I?m saying you don?t need to use that word. You know? ?nigga?.?

Mike?s husky voice hummed in disbelief, only able to utter a long ?uuuuuuuuuh? as if his mental engine wasn?t turning over. Steve knew better and shut up. Somehow Rico and Erik had crossed each other?s line and this was the silence before the storm.

Like some crack of thunder, Rico jerked in his seat, ?[b]Please[/b], I know you just didn?t call me on my language. I know you didn?t just tell me what I can and cannot say!?

?That?s not what I mean,? Erik stopped; his words would be walking on eggshells now.

?Don?t think you know shit about what it?s like to be a [i]black[/i] man.?
He sounded like some sort of jaded Black Panther, as if Erik was the sudden object of centuries of racial tension. Erik braced himself, squeezing the steering wheel until he could see each bony knuckle.

?Why the hell can you use that word anyway?? Erik remounted his words, his tone regaining its usual erudition, ?I?m all for freedom of speech, but I there are some things I don?t say because I know the power of words. Language is one of societies most potent tools??

?Don?t you talk to me about freedoms,? Rico growled, ?you think you know so much about freedoms. Do you know what it?s like to live with racism? Do you think..?

?No! No I don?t know what it?s like,? Erik shouted, cutting off the inevitable monologue, ?Isn?t that the point? Isn?t the word ?nigger? a racist word that would be better off dead and buried??

?Erik, dude, quit,? Steve chimed, trying to diffuse the situation.

?No, I want to hear what this white boy has to say,? Rico sneered, ?I want to hear where this suburban-grown kid gets the dick to tell a black man he can?t use a black word.?

?It bothers me that a word that?s personified so much hatred in this nation?s history, a word that was used with such crass and condemnation that it degenerated a man to less than human, could be thrown around so casually by its victims,? Erik explained as eloquently as a pail at the bottom of a well.

?You ignorant bitch,? Rico interjected, ?You?ve never been called nigger. You don?t understand why we take the word [i]back[/i]. I use it because I won? let it mean what it used to. We earned that word.? Mike was quick to nod in agreement, ?Yeah dude, just look at it from Rico?s perspective.?

Erik?s heart sank, he wouldn?t be getting help from his friends, ?Look, I don?t know what it?s like to be black. But don?t think I?ve never experienced someone hating you for something you can?t help. I am trying to look at it from your perspective and that?s why I?m so damn confused you even use the word.?

Hearing no acidic rebuttle, Erik pressed on, ?When I was a freshman in higschool, I was as short as most of the girls. I wasn?t developing like the other boys. I had a high pitched voice; hell, I sang alto for God?s sake. These kids called me ?shortass?, they called me ?fag? and ?cunt?.?

The interior fell silent again, only the twang of Dylan?s guitar seemed to give the choked group enough noise to breathe under; Erik had to blink the mist from his eyes as he clutched the wheel. He couldn?t figure out why he was having this flood of emotion. He needed to sound like the reasonable man to make his case, not the emotional bleeding heart. Something inside him snapped and he had to speak up, he knew he couldn?t let an injustice go unchallenged? even if it wasn?t his [i]place[/i].

?I?d never call anyone a cunt or a fag. I?d never want to use words that meant so much anger and hate to me, ? he paused, his breathing noticeably burdened, ?I?d never use those words on anybody else. So I?m sorry if it bothers you Rico, but I?d really prefer if you kept that language out of my life.?

Rico sat for a minute, absorbing Erik?s strange emotional outburst. Erik's argument changed from pretentious moral-policeman to a humbled skeleton of a man. The vehicle slowed as it turned the last corner and Erik pulled along side the complex. The car stopped and the lights flipped off, Dylan?s harmonica cutting off mid-bellow. It caught everyone off guard just how loud the intake their own breath was.

Steve looked around slowly to see both Rico and Erik sitting visibly shaken and unmoving. The yellow gas-light dimly lit the reality that the two of them were breathing in synchrony and their eyes weren't focusing on anything around them.

Erik felt a hand squeeze his shoulder and the vanilla voice of a man who, just then, shared in his vulnerabilities console him;

?My bad, man.? [/quote]

[Random]

Wow, man...powerful message. I dunno what to say, other than I relate to this story, Erik in particular. In fact, I relate to it too much...hell, I went through the exact same thing in highschool, and had a similar "conversation" with one of my friend's black friend. This could've been written by me, as a real-life story...and, to top it all off, my name [I]is[/I] Erik...spelt the same way, and everything.

So, on that note, well done, my friend. Keep it up.

-Rickky

[Onix]

[COLOR=SlateGray][SIZE=1]All I can say is, powerful, man. I've (thankfully) never been the target of that kind of hate, at least, not for a while, so I can't really understand it on a personal level. Still, you made me feel it, and you make us understand both sides of the story. Excellent work.

Also, loving the Social D, man.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Lord Rannos]

[COLOR=DarkRed]As said before (but I think this should be noted), it is extremely powerful. I liked how you present good reasons for both sides of the argument. How, in their own ways, both of them are correct. Indeed, how you handle that sort of thing is often relative to the person.

I mostly agree on Rico's view of deragatory terms, because I think that really takes the bite out of any insults if whoever you're insulting calls themselves that. For example, people used to call me fat, so I took that word and made it [B]mine[/B]. So now I can just laugh and not let it bother me.

I think it's interesting how Erik pours out his emotion like that; it tells of bottled up emotion and pain that he never let go of. Implied backstory, if you will. It's an impressive technique, important for short stories.

In any case, it's very well written, mucho kudos, etc. [/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

There really is no other word than powerful to describe this, it's been said by three people before me and there just isn't any other word to use. Like Erik I do find that word offensive when it's used, because as you've pointed out it's just a word to personify hatred and oppression, and I really don't understand why it was brought back into use by the same people it was used to describe with such disgust. I mean it'd be like the Irish bringing the term Mick or Paddy back into use, when it was used to a way of describing us as ignorant, drunken, near savages. I really does make me feel sick when I think such a word was acknowledged as an acceptable term at one stage. If this were to be made into a documentary or short film man, you'd sweep Cannes. [/SIZE]

[Revelation]

[size=1][color=#B2566B]I'm speechless beyond words. I'm not sure what to say but what I'm sure is that this little snippet you gave us is something truly powerful and something that we all shouldn't think so lightly about, considering the very essence of the nature of words and racism. I can't even begin to fathom how many times people are so ignorant of the words that they use, let alone who they speak it to. And, like the others before me who posted, I am in complete agreement with what they say.

Also, there's only so much that one person can let go and not be bothered with until they come to their exploding point. I can also relate because I know how even a joking word or phrase can begin to break away someone's spirit and mentality, how it can completely destroy them or even bring them to furiosity. Some might think it's a joke and laugh with the speaker, but to others it's degrading and demeaning to whoever they're talking about, which is why I try so hard not to allow myself to be like other people who just stand there and make fun or say crude things.

Like I said before, this piece is powerful and I applaud your effort and skill.[/size][/color]

[Shy]

[size=1]Everyone keeps using the word 'powerful' to describe this, and I don't really know if that's the case. It is very well-written, but it's so true to life that it almost comes across as mundane. I mean that as a compliment, and the fact you can write something so sincere and honest speaks volumes for your talent.

Beyond that, I don't know if there's a terrible amount to critique. This piece really shines a mirror to the reader, because even if one is a 'minority,' it's very easy to make derogatory statements towards another group without even realizing it. Something as simple as thinking about how one's actions and words affect someone else really make the difference in these types of situations, and people fail to realize how much of an impact even the smallest thing can have on someone's outlook on life.

Well done.

-Shy[/size]