This story was inspired by two things. First, a young girl was pogo sticking up our street on Sunday. The noise of the pogo stick was loud and reminded me of fun and childhood. Second, I watched Cornel West on The Colbert Report last night. He said, "Indifference to evil is more evil than evil itself." Here is the interview:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Cornel West | ||||
| ||||
And here is the story...
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Kiki jumped on her pogo stick and hopped up the street behind her mother. everyone in the neighborhood could hear the squeal of the spring as it bounced. Some looked out their windows trying to place the noise. Others sat behind their closed curtains cursing the disruptive boing. One opened his front door and yelled at Kiki and her mother, "Can't you just shut the hell up. That fucking pogo stick is goddamn noisy!"
Kiki kept bouncing. All the other neighbors kept quiet. Kiki's mom replied, "We''ll be around the block in a minute. If you go back inside, you won't notice us at all."
"Go to hell,"said the balding man with hazel eyes, tufts of white hair where sideburns should have been.
"Don't talk to me that way. And stop cussing in front of my daughter. That's more foul than her pogo stick. No one wants to hear it!" Kiki's mom turned her back on the pudgy man and continued walking up the hill. He slammed his door shut and followed.
Kiki paid no attention to the fight quickly escalating around her. She kept a steady one hop, two hop, three hop, four hop as she climbed the hill. Occasionally, gravity grabbed her and on hop three or four she slid backwards losing a little ground. She'd compensate and push really hard and jump further ahead to make up the lost distance. She laughed a little every time this happened followed by a long, deep breath.
"Don't turn your back on me!" Screamed the old man. "I was talking to you and your little prick daughter."
Kiki's mother whipped around her deep black hair flying everywhere; a small piece grazed Kiki's eye. Kiki lost her balance, the pogo stick skipped, and gravity took control. Suddenly, Kiki and her pogo stick were on top of the man's foot.
"OUCH! Get the fuck off me," he howled.
People peeked out of their windows watching the entire scene explode. Their eyes darted from Kiki to her mother to the old man to the pogo stick. Their hushed whispers saying "We should do something." "But it's not my place." "Everything will be fine, just fine." "Should we call the cops?"
Soon, doors were being locked, windows were shutting, curtains were being drawn. The convenience store clerk closed the store's metal gate. The road repair people started jackhammering to drown out the noise. The post woamn put on her earphones and changed her route to avoid the fight.
"Don't you dare talk to my daughter like that." Kiki's mom's eyes widened and her voice boomed, amplified by protectiveness.
Kiki was stunned. She had fallen on her butt and it was sore, slightly throbbing. She let out a little whimper that got overpowered by the jackhammers and screaming.
The old man kicked his left foot trying to get Kiki and her pogo stick off it and his foot caught Kiki right in the place she was hurt. She let out a little cry that reached her mother's ears.
"Do NOT touch my daughter! You WILL be sorry! I don't care how old you are."
"Then get your daughter off my foot!"
More doors locked. More shades were drawn. More whispers filled homes.
Kiki grabbed her pogo stick and looked it over. Everything seemed to be fine. The pain in her butt, while still there, was subsiding. She grabbed her mother's hand. "Let's go. I'm okay. I won't play on it any more," she said amid the two grown ups who were still screaming at each other, fingers pointing at each others' faces.
Kiki's mom screeched, "That's not the point," as she ripped her hand out of Kiki's. The force of this action threw Kiki off balance again. This time the pogo stick went flying and anded with a large metallic clang down the street. It toppled on top of itself and finally rested at the bottom of the street. Kiki ran after it.
"If you don't back the fuck off, I'm gonna punch you!" Yelled Kiki's mother, her face red.
"Try it, you bitch," he shouted, his wrinkles smoothing from tension.
"You don't think I will! Just cause you're old doesn't mean I won't."
"And just cause I'm old doesn't mean I can't fight!"
All of the neighbors remained in their houses distracting themselves with television or cooking dinner or playing on the computer. No one did anything.
Kiki's mom and the old man finally stopped their fighting. The old man whispered, "This isn't fucking worth it," and turned his back to Kiki's mom.
Kiki's mom sighed, "What just happened," as she looked for Kiki.
Kiki sat at the bottom of the hill next to the stop sign. Her pogo stick, in two distinct and broken parts, cradled in her arms.
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