Away with Words: In Pursuit of Authenticity

My boy's a fighter

So I'm in the mountains for some R&R, when I started getting funny vibes. Saturday, Diana and I agreed that I would call her at her sister's house in Mass at 9:30 to say goodnight and pray with our son. When I called, Di's sister Tara said she went for a drive. Judah wasn't too chatty, so he put Willie (my 8 yr. old nephew) on the phone. Will told me Judah got into a fight at Amber's (my 7 yr. old niece) birthday party and I should ask titi (Diana) about it. I tried her cell phone, but no answer. Then I called Di's mom Jo, thinking maybe they were together, but they weren't and Jo said only that she thought Diana went out to eat with Tara's in-laws. Huh? I tried again at 10. This time my brother-in-law answered and confirmed that Di went out with his parents, but didn't know why or where. Why would Diana go out with Tara's in-laws for dinner after 9 when they had been at a dinner birthday party just a couple hours before? Why would the three of them leave the rest of the crew behind? This was odd. Still no answer on Di's cell phone. Finally at 10:30, Di and I connected. She was emotional -- said something about the worst experience of her life. Sounded serious. Amber's party was at one of those fun-land kind of places that kids love so much, with indoor slides and jungle gyms and ball pits and rope ladders and aerial gerble mazes. You know the type, like Chuck E Cheese or Jeepers, where the pizza tastes like cardboard but the kids have a blast. Diana took the phone to a private room and told me how three bullies much older than Judah trapped him in one of the overhead mazes and started hitting him and cursing at him. Willie and his friend Fouad, nine and apparently tall and stocky for his age, were nearby. Fouad ran to Judah's defense, pushing the bullies off him and sending Willie for help. Willie ran to Diana in the party room while Fouad stood between Judah and the terror squad. A random father saw the commotion and yelled to the kids to stop hitting the little boy or else they'd get in trouble. That set off their mother, who started screaming at the man for yelling at her kids. Not just screaming, but cursing, threatening, raging. By the time Willie and Fouad and Amber and Willie's other friend John calmed Judah enough to coax him down, the crazy mother turned her rage at Diana. Her gangsta children gathered around and started cursing as well, blaming the entire situation on Judah for being in their way. Every time Di tried to pull away, the mother and her brood screamed and cursed all the more. It's still unclear to me how everything finally calmed down (I'll get the rest of the story Monday night), but eventually Diana and Judah were ushered back into the party room and the woman and her menaces left. They waited in the parking lot for Diana, but thought better of any more violence beyond a few more curse words. Judah's fine, thanks to Fouad and Willie and the other little heroes that had the guts to stand up to three little misguided and poorly mothered children. It's ironic to me that a 4 year old Christian boy named Judah was protected by an 9 year old Arabic boy named Fouad from three little New England ganstas (although I'm not sure why "New England" is relevant, except to the extent they were all probably Red Sox fans). There's a lesson (or quite a few) in that. Most importantly, my boy Judah will always remember how brave Fouad used his size and strength to protect a frightened little guy from bullies. Judah has God-given size and strength, not to mention smarts and charm, for his age. As he grows, he'll be sure to return Fouad's favor by protecting others who are vulnerable and defenseless.

posted by Jeremy Del Rio @ 2/13/2005 11:59:00 PM