Quintuple ~ A Short Story

Quintuple ~ A Short Story

by

Kenneth Thomas Webb

Table of Contents

Chapter One : Homophobia ~ An Introduction   3

Chapter Two : Sweet Seventeen   5

Part I : Reasoning  5

Part II : Beat-Up  5

Part III : Confront 5

Part IV : Summons  5

Part V : Underwrite 6

Part VI : Departure 6

Part VII : You Never Know   6

Part VIII : An Early Lesson  7

Chapter Three : Conscience  8

Part I Faggot 8

Part II Crissy-boy 8

Part III Metro  8

Part IV Sweating  8

Part V Cowards Homophobes Bullies Snides Thugs 9

Part VI Terraces 9

Part VII Under Caution  9

Part VIII Vendetta ~ Conscience ~ Seared  9

HCU - Hate Crimes Unit  9

Chapter 4 : Comeuppence  11

Part I Dinner Table  11

Part II 11

Part III Seething  12

Part IV Woman-power  12

Part V Inquisition  12

Part VI Radar  13

Part VII So What?  13

Part VIII Reality  13

Part IX To the Point  14

Part X U Turn  14

Part XI Reality 14

Part XII Open Up  14

Part XIII 15

END  15

First Afterword  15

Chapter 5 : Reconciliation   17

Part I : Let Us 17

Part II : Reconciliation ~ Mercy ~ Compassion  17

Part II 17

Part III 17

Part IV  18

Part V  18

End  19

Author Note 19

Quintuple ~ A Short Story ~ END  20

Chapter One : Homophobia ~ An Introduction

Part I

IN 2013 I wrote and published in print and Kindle Being Gay Being Bi Whatever (2013) (more usually known by its mnemonic BGBBW) which pulls together the so-called “gay” material in my first two anthologies, Idle Thoughts (2009) and Meanderings (2011).

Feedback to those first two anthologies was good but a few followed the line that - if I can paraphrase - if the books didn’t have ‘that’ subject cropping up here and there, they would be better.

Part II

I understand the reasoning and quietly stood my ground.

I am patient, but less patient of closed and narrow minds. ‘I know! Let’s put the cat amongst the pigeons! Let’s put all the ‘gay and bisexual’ material into one separate anthology, and let’s go with a double-decker bus title - you know, one that grabs the eye - yep, I know : Being Gay, Being Bi, Whatever.

I tell it as it is. And, above all, I have Liverpool to thank, for giving me the courage to take this step.

Thanks’ Liverpool!

Part III

I then needed to tackle homophobia. No one was directly having a go at me, or egging me on, but writing the legal monthly column for twelve months for Gay Times GT - 2006-2007 - taught me much, brought me into focus with homophobia and helped teach me, prepare me, and build my confidence too. And I’ll always be proud of that twelve-month contract, not unlike the one year contracts many poets enter into when they become writers-in-residence.

Part IV

My first step was to write Sweet Seventeen. Then followed Conscience and Comeuppance, and finally Reconciliation.

Parents, siblings, a host of friends all ages, have often quietly come alongside me, or sent a short note or text, to thank me for what is now Quintuple. And these notes and texts come from many parts of the world. Some, standing literally alongside me, give me the impression of an asset passing info to their agent … barely whispered, little eye contact, and it reminds me that we, by no means, live in a world of warmth and acceptance.

I dread the consequences for the Afghan People, now on the verge of losing twenty years of democratic freedom under a tyranny that is as evil as Nazidom, made worse by an insistence for the most brutal application of that gross and repugnant Sharia Law, demented minds, corrupted beyond comprehension.

Part V

The five parts of this story revolve around Mark, Tony, a local gangland leader, and Mark’s dad, Chris.

They are linked to the FA Homophobia film-clip – all of 1.35 minutes – (link here) because I take the central character in that clip and portray him as Mark’s father being confronted with the fact that his 18-year-old son, Mark, is gay. The problem, however, is Mark's doting father, loving husband and who enjoys his mornings and evenings walking the family dog, in short, a family man, is also a violently aggressive homophobe. He would fit well into the Taliban Al Qaeda and , the three terrorist organisations that are about to hold the world to ransom; and even though we have not quite yet worked it out, we will be required to eradicate worldwide, once and for all.

What follows is Comeuppance, a scene played the world over, in many loving family households.

I'm proud of this work, for sure.

I was not proud of, nor impressed when informed by the man I had invited to write a foreword to the first edition of BGBBW, not only thought he was thereby given carte blanche to write his own book, but followed up that there would be no problem in his gay organisation promoting the book if “a wad of dollars" preceded it by way of donation.

That is why I am on the periphery. I do not speak the party jargon. I say it how it is.

Chapter Two : Sweet Seventeen

Part I : Reasoning

I’m seventeen. My life before me. Shit’s hit the fan. I came out to me Mam. Shtoopid weren’t I! Mates say I’m a fraud, I tricked em, should a come clean. How the ‘ell could I when what I am I didn’t e’en know myself ’til now? How could I, anyway after Pastor’s sermon t’other day?

Ee say’s people like me are ont way to ‘ell. A one way ticket. When I protested like, he quotes this verse twenny-seven in Romans One to prove ‘is point, like; made me scum. Totally misread the bleedin Word, ‘ee did! Can’t be bothered arguing

Seventeen. But I knows that deep inside-a-me I ain’t unclean I don’t accept I’m finished!

Part II : Beat-Up

Yeah! Maybe I did ask for smack aroun’t ‘ead! But I stood me ground instead. Da cut lip, broken nose,  cracked rib … well, they’re worth the price for those oove made the ultimate sacrifice.

I’m a winger, centre-forward, right full-back too. Well … that were last week. This week … persona not grata!

So! No! Dat answer yer question? I’m not gonna give in. I’m gonna stand and fight here, right ere, on this ere beach. And by six-o-clock  I’m banking a few more might stand with me. Word’s got out, see. Then I’m leaving.

Part III : Confront

Yeah?!?!?!? Yuse reckons so, Ey?

Yeah!!!!! I dooz!

Tony, da bully, Nineteen, nasty. He saw me, like, on’t beach stubbed his cig inta wall, spat on the ground veered away from gang, made a bee-line for me, cheered by a bunch of hyenas.

His boots. Not nice! Knew I was int for batterin’. Tony spits again and his gob hit ground between my trainers. Sure, there ain’t mercy with this nerd.

Hyenas cheering, jeering, a nasty packa dogs all of ‘em. Sure, I winced. Fuck yeah. Yuse would too. This is Tony. Shit ‘ot, the bully, the gang leader, the ruler! Dis beach ‘ere? HIS territory!!

Part IV : Summons

YOU! Come ere!!

Jeers! Ee grabs my shirt. I’m 1.78. Ee’s 1.96. No contest!

I smelled ‘is breath. Actually, kind-a okay … Winced, braced maself for’t punch, knee int groin den ‘is trademark boot ont cheek. Pulled me even closer.

LISTEN! Act tough … Go on. Stand up! Stop shakin’ Kiddo! I know where yuse coming from! Yuse just promise me one thing Kid. Yuse personally tell me any shit comes your way just coz who you are! I like you!! Yer a gudden. Resist ‘em mate. Take no notice of dose twats. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on yer! Ya got that?

…Yeah … Toe …Tony

Hey, stop stutterin’. You’re makin’ me nervous! Me mates call me that, It’s me second name. But Yuse? You Kidda? You call me Gav. Yeah, Gav Cos that’s what me Mam ‘n Da call me, see.

Part V : Underwrite

As Toe, nah dam it, Gav, turned there were no jeers, no cheers. Bewilderment. Shuffling feet. Lotta frustrated sand-kick-stuff like morons do when the promised bullfight is denied ‘em.

My new mate pressed my hand; made as if to punch my side, thwacked me heavily over the denim iPhone slat, and was gone.

As he looked back his face changed. Spat agin, shouting for all … so ‘memmer Lad. You been warned. Cross me agin, and Yuse a dead-fukker!’

An instant cheer, loads of jeers the hyenas back agin…Thing is, though, they didna see what I seen. The wink of ‘is eye, the gleam of light that flashed brilliant from … sounds stoopid I know … but from, like, deep within ‘im. I was shaking. Shaking, I tell ya.

Part VI : Departure

As the train wound up felt like it was hurling me outta station leaving behind a life, prejudice, name-calling; above all, hypocrisy. That lot ‘oo call ‘emselves righteous. Bloody joke! Many’s the time I’ve wondered deep inside when those religious nerds … cross and crescent … all the same and had a bit of a giggle at their expense, like, if Da Man Hisself stood in front of ‘em

“Oh yeah? Really? Is that what Yuse all think I said?”

I know one thing. That pastor bloke wouldna wanna do any pastoring anytime soon.E’d have the need to be close to the bog for a few days, I can tell ya!

Part VII : You Never Know

Houses, side-streets, tenements my very own docks soon give way to fields, trees. Don’t often get outta city. Things are tight. No clue where I’m ‘edding. My elbow rests against the denim slat still aching a bit from that sudden unexpected thump. Seemed odd like. No pain, but looked to be a slight bulge in the slat. Surely not an effin bruise?!?

‘Ang on. Summit else. Crumpled paper. Reached int’ pocket. What the f..k? Pulled out four fifty quid notes and an effing post it note in a scrawl! :

It’s all I’ve got kiddo some overtime at Tesco. You need it more than me. Just stay in touch. Okay? And come back soon! And a smiley tacked onto ‘is fone nummer!!

Part VIII : An Early Lesson

You know what? I learned a lot. There are friends, like, and there are also friends who stick closer than a brother, like. And that’s in da Bible![i]

Tony, da bully, Nineteen, nasty

I am your conscience … …

Chapter Three : Conscience

Conscience stared, looked around, bided time, then, just as the doors were sliding shut, slipped in and sidled in beside Chris (Mark’s Dad).

Part I Faggot

Hey Tony! Yeah you!! You Faggot!!! You’re invading my space; ged away, or I’ll beat yer!

What did you just say? Faggot eh? Scum eh? Where you getting all this shit from? I saw Yuse t’other day. You’re the bully boy aren’t yer. The gobber. Yeah I’ve ‘eard all about yer.

Part II Crissy-boy

Hey now look Toe mate. You know what it’s like. You gotta kick this shit inta touch. They’re everywhere. They contaminate our kids. They threaten us all wi.....

Listen . I ain’t your mate. Never have been. Never will. But you just called my mate scum. Yeah, I watch you on the terraces. I seen you at Anfield and what Yuse did at Goodison well ... let’s say you’re lucky to be breathing.

Ey, come on man, Yuse know the score like!

Hey lad. Button it. Don’t like yer tone. I speak. You listen. And you don’t get to speak back. Got it? You pick on people. Yeah, sure I’m no saint. But people like you? Gutless - yeah you heard right! You don’t like that do you!?!

Part III Metro

(Chris makes to dash as the doors slide)

Stay! Yuse getting off this Metro when I says …

Yeah, but it’s my stop …

It’s not.

Aw come on Man this’ll put me wrong side a’ city. I just got this job like. Don’t mess me!

Part IV Sweating

Button!! Lissen ta me Crissy-boy. I’ve got my eye on you. And I’ll visit you when you least expect it.

In the night, in the bedroom, even when you’re in’t middle screwin’. Wot’s matter? Why you sweating Chris? Don’t like collar being felt? Don’t like toseys trying to retouch ground like? Where’s your courage now eh? Them’s nice shoes Chrissy. Let me lower you a tad. There we are Chrissy-boy. Just low enough for Yuse to tip-toe through the tulips, like.

Part V Cowards Homophobes Bullies Snides Thugs

Look. Quit messing me. Only got dis suit yesters! Trying to make my way. Yuse knows dat!

Chrissy-boy, I don’t like cowards, I don’t like homophobes, I don’t like bullies, I don’t like gutless people, I don’t like snides, I don’t like thugs. You think guys ont pitch stand wie Yuse? You think they’re proud of Yuse? They want nowt to do wi ya, ya silly liddle prick!

Part VI Terraces

Let me put it this way. What would they all say at work, ont terraces, down at pub, if I was to tell ‘em the time, date and place of your own little secrets? No skirt in those places is there mate? Wouldn’t that get the tongues wagging! You get my drift? So back off. Shud up and shud-owt.We’re onto you.

Part VII Under Caution

Oh, and by the way, the Bill…da Filth, you know? The HCU? They know about you too. Keeping a close eye on you. It’s them who’ve suggested this little chat. They’re giving you one last chance. For if they have to speak to ya it’ll be, how do they pud’it? oh yeah ‘under caution’ and we both know what that means!

So tidy yerself up, put yer tie straight; ha ...straight..ha..ged it? Yuse?! That’s a laf an a ‘alf! Get yer arse to work. Keep yerself to yerself and remember. . . We’re everywhere and We’ll appear when you least expect it.

Leave that news-seller alone! Keep yer gob shut on the platform. Don’t even think you’re someone to be fancied. Yuse got yerself a nasty little reputation. . . “Nazi boy” they call you! Avoid the lifts at work mate. Get yerself fit. Use the stairways. It’ll be better for you!

Part VIII Vendetta ~ Conscience ~ Seared

Remember - one peep outta ya ever again on this ‘omo vendetta and We’ll tell the HCU …

No. . .no. . .no. . .no. . . It’s okay Toe. I won’t.

No mate. It’s not Toe! I’m your conscience! And if I have to, I’ll sear you like a red hot poker! Get to!! Oppitt!!! … … … … Hey, Chris, mate. You wanna watch it. You missed the step there! Here. Catch!! You dropped yer briefcase!!!

HCU - Hate Crimes Unit

Now operational throughout the United Kingdom, HCU tackles all aspects of hate crime whether sexual or racial, whatever. They’re a formidable team of dedicated police officers and support staff who look to prosecuting all forms of hate crime, and exercise a zero-tolerance policy. If by any chance you find yourself the victim of any form of hate or bigotry, the HCU is there for each and every one of us.

Just check your local force website. If you don’t have internet access and are worried about attending the police station to make a complaint, pop into your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau – the CAB staff will make the initial contact for you. Don’t be frightened. They’re all there to help you, to help us, and I’m writing this as a former police officer. Help is at hand.

Chapter Four sees Chris, Mark’s Dad, on the day his dirty little world imploded and he got his Comeuppance.

This banner image licensed by Adobe perfectly captures that multidimensional figure of ‘conscience’ that confronts Chris on his morning commute in Chapter 3.

Comeuppence

Chapter 4 : Comeuppence

Chapter 4 is written as if the besuited homophobic ‘thug’ in the FA 1.35 min clip (2010) is confronted by his own son being gay. Chapter 3 Conscience also revealed that spotlight of what is often the reality behind homophobic abuse. We see that spotlight in the character of Medwin in the novel They Came in the Night.

Comeuppence[ii]

(Scene. Mark has returned home, things have settled down for him. His beach ‘confrontation’ with Tony the bully has given him a genuine friend, and with it, self-confidence is returning. Chris, comes home, swanky, belligerent, arrogant, but that’s Chris setting the scene for the implosion in his own life, and of all places, at the dinner table with his wife Gina, daughters and sons. Chris addresses you direct, one to one).

Part I Dinner Table

Look, you got me fair to rights. I was a thug. That nasty little thug. The one who spat on you from the terraces and called you a faggot and kicked you in the balls. But that was then. In the old days! Now I’ve got kids of me own, two girls, two boys and I’m the proudest Dad there is.

It’s not been easy. Got reasons! I came home one night. Odd atmosphere in the kitchen. Gina didn’t say much. Me Girls, Jasmine and Kirsty mumbled ‘hi’. Even the lads, Rickey me eldest, and Mark, just 18, sultry-like.

I smacked em play-like roughing their hair like Dads do with their kids, you know, like you do …I mean come on! You worship the ground they walk on don’t ya! Well I do! Me youngest tho’ was quiet, 18 and coming on sommit proper with his athletics, fencing, beach surfing, every dad’s idol.

Part II

Dad  

Yeah, what son? Why the gloomy faces?

Dad why d’ya spit at that player?

Wot player? Wot you talking about?

On the terraces Dad. I saw yer.

What you mean you saw me? You wasn’t even there! You’re imagining fings. Explain yerself and quik aboud it!

No Dad. Yer wrong. I saw you. We WAS there! I came wiv me friends. We watched da’ match. We saw da’ big neon sign flash up over pitch Homophobia – Kick it Out’. And Yuse spat! You looked at that player and you gobbed ‘im! I saw yer. Me mates did too.

‘Ere Mark’, they says, ‘ain’t that yer Dad? What’s he doin givin all that Homophobic shit-stuff?

Gina said nowt, continued stirring the soup; the girls looked angry; even me older lad - scorn. Yeah, scorn, that’s the word written on ‘is face.

Me! Da household head! Da pillar. Da breadwinner; made to feel like a pariah at my own table! No let up.

Part III Seething

Well Dad?

Look Mark. You don’t understand! Youse gotta see things as they are. One day when, like me, you’re a Dad...

Dad put a sock in it …

Here now! Look!! Don’t you be taking that line with me, I’ll take the belt ta ya!!

I were effing seethin’

No you won’t!

Gina, you stay outta this!!

I tell you straight! No man likes a put down by his woman in fronta kids and that got me riled, sure it did! I looked back at Mark. Now you listen to me Mark lad. You ever tell me to ...

Dad, pack it in.

Ricky! What the ‘ells going on ‘ere. For fuck sake!

Part IV Woman-power

It went silent. Gina handed me the soup with a thump on’t pad. Gina has a way wiv her see. She hates foul language. Knows just how to make her point. Bleedin soup felt like a ricochet on me shirt! I were fuming inside. The girls just sat there. Said nowt. But I knew they weren’t with me. Me lasses. MY LASSES!

Part V Inquisition

Mark looked at me.

Dad?

What, for God’s sake?

Are you homophobic? Are you?

My mind was racing. What was this inquisition at my own table?

Do you love me Dad?

Mark, what da ‘ell you drivelling on about? This is fokkin stupid!!!

Without a word, the flash of an eye, and Gina beckoned our girls, my girls mind you, inta living room and shut door behind ‘em. She then turned facing me like a Sentry! She paused. Drew herself up in that way that told me to siddup straight and lissen!! She rarely does it. No one else can get away wiv treating me that way. But she can. She’s me Wife and despite all dis grief I love ‘er to bits.

Part VI Radar

She sat diagonally across from me, keeping our lads fixed in her gaze. Gina has this way with her, see; She can sweep all-n-everyone in just with her eyes like, like a sort of protective fence; like bleedin’ radar but tonight I was not inside that fence, I was firmly on the outside dat fence.

Part VII So What?

Dad you didn’t ought ta ‘ave done that on them terraces. It wasn’t nice. You had no right to single that player out. So what if he’s gay?

I felt the heat rising up in me

Ricky! Just hold yer tongue lad. You’re out of turn!

(Gina)

No Chris. YOU’RE out of turn! When we stood at Altar I didn’t marry what you’ve become.

Room went silent. Even Chestnut left my side, plonked ‘erself heavily down by Mark.

Part VIII Reality

Dad. I’m gay. Ricky’s right. And being gay doesn’t make me hate or even dislike you. I adore you Dad. You’re me mate, me sparring partner and I love it when we have a pint together. But I’m gay. Get that into yer head and remember that every time you hurl abuse at someone you’re hurling it at me! Prove to me you’re not like that old man who took his fist to his son, the Isle of Man TT Racer… beat ‘im up and broke his ribs despite his goin out and winning that race to prove to his Dad he WAS a man, WAS a racer!

You think I can’t do my sport still just coz I’m gay? You think I’m always looking someone up in the showers? Coz if you do, GET REAL Da’. You ‘aven’t got a clue Dad. We’re the same as you and Mam. I got the same values as you. You taught me ‘em. But I’m gay and nowts gonna change me and I ain’t in the business of changing and I ain’t gonna be made to become what you want me to be! I’m not perverted, I’m not sick, I ain’t disordered and all those other bits of unrepeatable filth you was shouting out on’t terraces. You made me ashamed Dad! Ashamed not of me Da! Ashamed that YOU were me Da!!

Part IX To the Point

And that were it. Blunt. Direct. To the point. Mark just got up and walked out. Even Chestnut the bleedin’ dog went wiv ‘im!

Ricky sat there. I looked at my eldest. Me drinking pal. I wondered, silently, how long he knew.

“Two years …”

right on queue…

Part X U Turn

And I’ve done a bit of a U int’ road, like, since then. Sure, it were ‘ard at first. But that night alone with Gina. . . God! What a woman!! A tower of strength. She reasoned it out. Seems she’s known almost all her life. But then Mams do don’t they.

Not often Gina delivers me of all people an ultimatum. But my God she did that night. I did a lot a walking. . .Tell you what – Chestnut thought she’d arrived in ‘eaven, so many walks that night! Over the weeks that followed lot of walking to and fro local community hall. Now I’m on the committee of the LGBTQ. I ‘elped even to produce this ‘ere little booklet Our Kids Are Alright. A bloody masterpiece even if I do say so myself! Best thing ever happened coz I met other dads like me, and mams!

Part XI Reality

And now things ‘ave changed quite a bit. I’ve even made my peace with da News vendor ont Metro platform. We ‘ave quite a natter! Hell. What a history!! You know he fought in the Falklands?!? Who’d ‘ave guessed? He’s a bigger man than me that I do know; ‘eart of gold too. Loves Chestnut, too!!

Part XII Open Up

So you Dads out there. I can understand how confused you feel. But don’t be. Open up. Yer kids are still yer kids. See ‘em for real. Rejoice in ‘em. Imagine life without ‘em! Just think how you’d feel at that knock on the door. The bobbies standing there. Always two, always one a Lass, that foreboding of pastoral care preceding shattering news that you ain’t a Dad or Mam anymore; that your kid’s a gonna; ended it coz others turned on him just coz of ‘oo and wot he were or coz he felt he’d let Yuse and ev’ryone else down; saying goodbye from the rafters or drowned in his vomit after overdosing in’t bathroom.

Part XIII

I love me kids Ricky, Mark, Jasmine, Kirsty and yer know wot? Me and Gina we’ve got through this and now Mark’s a very proud uncle and a natural with the little-uns’; and few now can beat him in swimming, athletics, fencing, and beach surfing! Me? I’m the proudest Dad and Grampers there is!! There’s not a kid on this earth that’s not priceless, precious, priceless beyond reason.

Afterword

This is the flip side of the poem Conscience, again, based on the video clip Homophobia – Kick it Out of Football. Chris is brought to account.

The character ‘Tony - call me Gav’ is based on a friend who did two stints inside 10 years ago. A heart of gold but dealt brutally with those who got in his way or who had no sense of natural justice. We actually met through the church! But he still had to do time. Married with kids by two girls, he was, like me, in the closet. We would meet up during the day usually every Saturday. I’d catch the InterCity back home and on the last occasion Gav went to the nightclub that night. I got a call to go back. His sister had seen him kiss a lad he was dancing with, and he hadn’t realised his sis was there.

So Gav, being Gav, decided that to prove he was straight he must distance himself from the lad. That young lad spent two weeks in hospital. (Here is Medwin in ‘They Came in the Night’). Gav did time again but not before the local gang worked out he’s bi’ - and themselves went down for his attempted murder in 2001 – a vicious stabbing put up by the family. Through all of this we remained firm friends, and so this gives you another angle on Quintuple.

If you met Gavin, you’d realise what a lovely guy he is. In him, I’ve seen that light that Mark, Sweet Seventeen, sees like a momentary flash in Tony in the smile and the eyes, on the beach.

The Green Cauldron 
(now gone)
Castle Street 
Liverpool 2011

The Trilogy 1st Edition was published by Spiderwize in Meanderings Anthology of Poetry and Prose Volume 2 in October 2011. It is now way out of date, hence this revised edition in five chapters : A Quintuple. Originally three separate, unconnected, poems, each consequential. Initially, Sweet Seventeen was written as a one-off, a stand-alone poem. I’m glad, though, that the train of thought did not leave, because when I first saw the FA’s Kick-it-Out clip in 2010 it hit below the belt; very quickly the mind begins to work through due process of law, and I realised that Mark and Tony in Sweet Seventeen would enable me to draw Mark’s story to a happy ending.

Comeuppence was also written with a sense of anger. I’ve met too many people who’ve been on the receiving end of a homophobic parent. Gladly, my own parents are and were (for they have gone now) the exact opposite. Which makes me count my blessings a thousand-fold, for I was indeed blessed to have their unconditional love and support, and patience, bearing in mind I concealed the whole business of sexuality. I did confide in my elder sister, which was a huge help; looking back, though, I realise now that mum and dad must have sussed me very early on. Always, they were there for me regardless of what part of the country I was working and living in, and likewise what country I was in.

That testifies to the solid family foundation about which I write in Windsor Street Days.

Reconciliation is painful initially, for it means acceptance that one’s views might not always have been in the interests either of self or, more importantly, of every person, animal or Nature with whom and with which we interact.

Chapter 5 : Reconciliation

Part I : Let Us

LET US always aim for reconciliation. Let us take care of each other. Let us reach across divides. Let us break down barriers. Let us LIVE and LET live. Let us tolerate and assist. Let us rebuild shattered lives. Let us each contribute in whichever way we can. Let us resist the dictator.

IN THE FACE of unforgiveness FORGIVE. Where there is no mercy SHOW Mercy. Where there is no compassion then Compassion SHOW, the price regardless. Make our Watchwords THREE PILLARS.

Part II : Reconciliation ~ Mercy ~ Compassion

LET the Lintel they support nay, prostrate, be Unconditional Love. Be NOT a racist. Bully … cease this instant. Thuggery Renounce. Let our byword be Tolerance, True Freedom’s clarion call.

Part II

Judge not and we will not be judged. [i]

Part III

A Great Man Ages past, Millennia Two When challenged He as to why He healed on a day forbidden - an action not to be tolerated by small-minded men in overflowing gowns, garments, and most peculiar head-dress and action such tiny minds could never even contemplate - replied He them that left his questioners speechless, quoting - how dare He - the very Word they claimed by so to live! … and in so doing did He thus Proclaim His Deity and penned on parchment His death warrant:

I will have compassion
upon Whom I will have compassion
and I will have mercy
upon whom I will have mercy
says The Most High [ii]

Part IV

And hate-filled men that day Beholders of the peace no less,
Plotted His death
upon a dirty execution steak,
nailed through hands and feet
such was the need for revenge;
did they parley for convenience’ sake
to use the occupying power’s
means of demise
whom and which they ordinarily despised.

Part V

Reach out.
Do not hold grudges.

Do not buckle
or bend the knee
to tyranny, racism and
any other form of hate.

But neither live
by eye or tooth
for out of context
that gives no room
and only feeds revenge.

Do not live life
through "literal" interpretation
of words written
two, three, four
and even five-thousand
years ago!

The principles may well stand true
but not the physical enunciation;
for that renders us
barbaric, mediaeval, primaeval.

Be always mindful
of the greatest name of all

I AM.

I Am Who I Am,
He said.
I Am The Eternal Self-Existing One!

A Principle are we handed
by which to live:

I am who I am...
I am what I am...
I am as he made me to be...
I am not repugnant in his eyes...
I am his delight!

End

Author Note

I wrote Reconciliation as the flipside of Conscience, alerting us all to be prepared to reconcile, to forgive, to be compassionate. Reconciliation surely is that healing balm that every society, every person, needs. Let Reconciliation be all-embracing. Reconciliation breaks down the barriers, removes obstacles, gives clarity of vision, and moves ever onward towards a lasting peace. This is the birthright of every person. Reconciliation is that which President Nelson Mandela never questioned or doubted, even in his decades of imprisonment on Robben Island.

And to every bully and tyrant,

regardless of whether we have any belief system or not, we might say this:

Listen! Yes, you. You two, with the air of pompous arrogance, striding the world stage.

Be silent for just one moment.

Take hold, this ancient saying.

The thrust of it has a universality that speaks every language.

As it is written,

It is a terrible thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God.

Liverpool 

January 12, 2011

It will speak volumes to the literalists,
be they Hebrew, Judeo-Christian, Islamic, Al-Qaeda, Daesh
those last two, especially so.

Notes

[i] Proverbs 18 : 24 ~ A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (NKJV)
[ii] Luke 6 : 37 ~ Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (NKJV)
[iii] Romans 9 : 15 ~ a direct quote from Exodus 13: 19 (The Torah ~ The Foundation Stone upon which the entire Tanakh (the old or older testament) rests and from which burgeons forth the Brit Hadashah (the new testament or later testament)

For He says to Moshe, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion, says Adonai. When Yeshua (Jesus) stated this, boy oh boy did He put the cat amongst the pigeons. For he was saying to everyone gathered, “I AM” or I Am the Lord, or I Am the Eternal Self-Existing One, or I Am Maschiach, I Am the Messiah. We read that such a storm did He cause that they rushed Him to the edge to thrown him off the Cliff … and then something curious happened … He simply turned and walked back through them and vanished. Where has he gone? A momentary glimpse, in a millisecond, of His Deity that He very rarely showed.

[iv] ‘comeuppance’ ~ a punishment or fate that someone deserves

Quintuple ~ A Short Story ~ END

5 September 2023
All Rights Reserved

LIVERPOOL

© 2023 Kenneth Thomas Webb

Written January 12, 2011

Final Author Note

We know, without exception, that this is the most challenging hurdle of all. To many, exactly that! Hard, very hard but with extreme effort, doable. To others, it is a chasm that many more absolutely refuse to contemplate, let alone, consider tackling. THAT is the frailty - the inbuilt weakness - of our fallible human nature. Many signally fail. And at least one future generation will reap the whirlwind whether it be between nations, between families, or between individuals, when that happens.

This beautiful image is by Alex Shutin of Unsplash, Becalmed! It may look becalmed, but on the surface beyond the point the sea’s complexion is very different. Here, it taunts. Out there, it throws the gauntlet. Nature against human nature. The truth is, no matter, Nature always has the upper hand, and the final say. © KTW 2022

Image by Nicholas Cool of Unsplash. We have gone full circle via Quintuple. We started with two Surfers, and we end with two Surfers. Any one of them could be Mark and his friend Tony, or Mark’s brother Ricky, even on occasion their sisters Jasmine and Kirsty. Chris tends to amuse himself along with Gina and Chestnut with paddling at the waters-edge and enjoying ice-creams, and sand in one’s sandwiches, grit in one’s teeth! But the family has come through some tumultuous times, and they’re stronger than ever. And already the Grandkids are asking impatiently, When can WE go surfing? © KTW 2022

Index

Afghan People, 4

Al Qaeda, 4

Being Gay Being Bi Whatever (2013), 3

BGBBW, 3, 4

Bible, 7

Castle Street, 16

Chestnut, 13, 14, 15

Chris, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15

Comeuppance, 3, 4

Conscience, 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 15, 19

Crissy-boy, 1, 8

Daesh, 4, 20

FA Homophobia film-clip, 4

FA’s Kick-it-Out

FA Video Clip 2010, 16

Faggot, 1, 8

Gina, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Green Cauldron, The, 16

GT

Gay Times 2006-2007, 3

Hays

Drew Hayes ~ Unsplash. Unsplash

HCU

Hate Crimes Unit, 2, 9, 10

Idle Thoughts (2009)

Isle of Man TT Racer, 14

Jasmine, 15

Kirsty, 15

Liverpool, 3, 16, 17, 20

Mark, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Meanderings (2011), 3

Meanderings Anthology of Poetry and Prose Volume 2, 16

Medwin, 11, 16

Metro platform, 15

Nazidom, 4

News vendor, 15

Our Kids Are Alright., 14

Quintuple, 1, 2, 3, 16, 17, 20

Reconciliation, 2, 3, 17, 18, 19, 20

Ricky, 12, 13, 14, 15

Sharia Law, 4

Spiderwize, 16

Sweet Seventeen, 1, 3, 5, 16

Taliban, 4

The Trilogy 1st Edition, 16

They Came in the Night, 16

Tony, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15, 16

Windsor Street Days, 17