It's the way it works," she said in clipped tones. "For one rise, another must fall."
"But why? Why can't we just rise, and everybody else can stay where they are? I wouldn't care!"
"And you think I would?" Keisha demanded. She glared at me, the visibly pulled herself back. When she exhaled, her nostrils flared. "Say you've taken a math test. Or an English test, since you love books so much. And you get a hundred. You're psyched, right? 'Mom, I got a hundred! I got the highest grade in the class!'" She raised her eyebrows. "But say everybody else gets a hundred, too. Are you still as proud?"
"Of course," I said stubbornly. "I'd still have my A."
"Bullshit. You like your As because other people get Cs. Because that means you're smarted than they are. Better than they are."
"I don't think I'm better than anyone."
"Then you're and idiot.
You should be out stirring up trouble with your friends, not bothering with all them books you read. You know it's them books what make you talk funny.
Lauren MyracleShe pulled into a parking space on the side of the road, put her hand to her chest, and sat for a bit. Then she said that the man already knew he was the one in the wrong, and being wrong had embarrassed him. Since he didn't like feeling that way, he unloaded his bad feelings onto her.
"Huh?" we'd said.
"Yes, that man acted ugly," she told us in plain English. "But throwing more ugliness back at him ain't the answer.
Even so, I was proud of myself for taking action at all. I didn't hide or run away or pretend the ugliness didn't happen. I stood up and said something that was true. I said it out loud, and by doing so, I was standing up for lots of people, not just me.
Lauren MyracleYet it was an odd twist of language. Based on the way people usually used the words, Christian was traight and Patrick was gay. But Christian, when he got wasted, was gay if you used the old-fashioned, oh-so-merry definition of the word, while Patrick was straight-edge because he didn't drink to the point of passing out.
Lauren MyracleIf you breathed deep and set your mind to it, you could rise above your anger.
Lauren MyracleI'd heard a saying about meth, that it took you down one of three roads: jail, the psych ward, or death.
Lauren MyracleI loved everyone who said yes to the world and tried to make it better instead of worse, because so much in the world was ugly- and just about all the ugly parts were due to humans.
Lauren MyracleYes, that man acted ugly," she told us in plain English. "But throwing more ugliness back at him ain't the answer.
Lauren MyracleI'm in loooove with this boy, and when you in love with someone, you don't give up on 'em, mo matter what.
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