The living room was dim, the late afternoon sun barely filtering through the curtains. Lily, twelve, stood before her father, her eyes red and her voice shaky. “Dad, Ethan hit me. Right in the arm. Hard. Then he laughed like it was nothing and made fun of me for not taking it.”
Her father, Brian, leaned back in his recliner, setting his coffee mug down. He sighed, rubbing his temples. “Alright, Lily, let’s take a step back. Both sides need to calm down here. I’m hoping you and I can keep cooler heads so this doesn’t blow up further.”
Lily’s jaw dropped. “Both sides? Dad, there’s no ‘both sides’! I’m the victim! He hit me! The only way to stop this is to deal with him, the one who started it!”
Brian shook his head, his voice calm but firm. “It’s never that simple, Lily. You can’t just blame one side. Look, I’ve been watching you two for years. Statistically speaking you’ve been the more aggressive one. Remember when you pushed Ethan off the swing? Or when you hid his favorite video game? History shows you’re the one who usually stirs things up.”
Lily’s face flushed with disbelief. “What? When did I do that, like when I was five? And what about all the stuff he’s done? He went into my room and ripped up my favorite doll, the one Grandma gave me before she passed. He tripped me on purpose last month, and he humiliated me in front of my friends at the park, calling me names! How is that not relevant?”
“You’re connecting dots that don’t connect,” Brian raised a hand, cutting her off. “Those incidents? There’s no evidence they’re tied to this one. You’re committing a fallacy—stringing unrelated events together to make a case. That’s not how it works.”
Lily’s voice rose, trembling with frustration. “But you just did the same thing! You brought up old stuff to make me sound like the bad guy!”
Before Brian could respond, Ethan sauntered into the room, hands in his pockets, a smirk tugging at his lips. Brian seized the moment. “Ethan, perfect timing. Did you hit your sister?”
Ethan shrugged, unbothered. “Yeah, I did. Then I made fun of her. So what? I’d do it again.”
Brian raised an eyebrow. “Why’d you do it?”
“She deserved it,” Ethan said, crossing his arms.
Brian turned to Lily, his tone almost accusatory. “Lily, do you think maybe you deserved it? If you just admit it, we could move past this.”
“Deserved it?” Lily’s eyes widened, her voice breaking into a scream. “Dad, are you serious? You always take his side! Always!” She clenched her fists, tears spilling over. “You’re not listening to me!”
Brian leaned forward, his voice cool and measured. “Look, Lily, I’ve got a cool head. Ethan’s got a cool head. We don’t have a problem here. The only one with a problem is you, and you’re the only one losing it.”
Lily stared at him, her breath hitching, then spun on her heel and stomped out, her footsteps echoing down the hall. The door to her room slammed shut.
Brian turned to Ethan, who was still standing there, smirking faintly. He shook his head, almost amused. “What’s her problem, huh?”
While current events did help inspire this story, the majority of it is derived from an event in my life from about seventeen years ago.
This is a true story, Eric. One time my dad was driving, my mom was "ridin' shotgun", and my brother and I were in the back. Well, for no reason, my big brother hauled off and hit me (and no, I wasn't covertly doing things against him. He did it because he could get away with it of course I said, "Mo-om. Doug hit me." She turned, reached over the seat, slapped the tar out of me, and said, "Quit whining!" And yes, you pegged it - he smirked at me.
My mother gave me a message that day that I will always treasure. "You weren't born to be a whiny victim. You were born to be a victor"
Years later, I was visiting my brother and his wife, and he was teasing her, and I said, "I am so glad you married Margaret. Now you have someone to pick on besides me "
He said, "Oh, I didn't quit aggravating you because I married Margaret. I quit messing with you because of that time you hit me so hard that I decided I'd better quit while I was ahead."
Eric, I had no recollection of that, when he said it,nor do I now. But apparently I finally took my mother's message to heart. Wah ha ha!
****
When I saw your words, Blessed are the peacemakers, I thought of Charlie Kirk, such a great man of honor, and moderation, and courage. I feel like I did when I was in sixth grade and they shot JFK. It seems like something very fundamental has been broken that defies any easy fixing. I have a 12 year old grandson who is heartbroken now because they murdered his hero.
I don't say RIP. I say, May God give him a chariot of fire and a sword of flame to fight for the right in the world of the spirit.