6 - Golda
As Francis grew a little older, he Lily allowed him to go as
far as a block away from home, as long as he was with the neighborhood
kids--but only very rarely.
One day, he went around the block with two of his hoodlum
friends, Bob and Barry McMeans. They met some girls who had a tree house. There
must have been six or eight neighbor kids gathered in the tree house and they
all took turns playing doctor and nurse. When it was Francis’ turn to play
patient he was apprehensive. When they pulled his pants down all the kids
laughed because his peewee was so small.
Francis went home all red in the face. Lily asked what the
problem was, but Francis was too embarrassed to say. She called Mrs. McMeans
and asked her. Mrs. McMeans said Bob and Barry had come home thinking they were
alone and laughing their heads off about the size of Francis’ peewee. She had
cornered them and they had admitted to playing doctor and nurse.
Lily just did not know how to handle a growing boy all by
herself. She threatened him with military school if he did not behave. Francis
did not know what he did wrong. He was just playing with the other kids. It had
been their game.
“You’re better than those heathens. They’ll drag you down.”
☼
Two weeks later, Lily found Francis on the bed with the church
secretary’s son. They each had the other’s genitals in their hands. She opened
the door when she heard Francis say, “Go ahead, and then I’ll do it to you.”
She could only imagine what that meant.
☼
Steve was Golda’s brother. Golda liked Francis--a lot. She did
not believe he was gay.
Steve had begun to spend more time doing guy things in hopes
that he could shake the ‘faggot’ label.
☼
Golda, meanwhile, would wait for Francis and walk him home.
Lily let them play together with wagons and tricycles where she could watch
them. Sometimes the families visited and the children did coloring books or
discussed Jesus together.
Golda did not believe in Jesus. Lily could talk about little
else but Jesus.
Golda said Jesus was just some prophet that Christians tried to
deify. Francis did not even know what deify meant. He hoped it was not
something bad.
Francis tried to explain to Golda that the Jews had murdered
Jesus.
Golda, “I’ll bet you even believe that Mary was a virgin.”
Francis said he guessed he did, since he did not even know what
a virgin was.
Golda tried to explain to him what virginity was. She took him
in the bedroom and showed him that she had no peewee.
Francis, “Then how do you go pee pee?”
“Through this little hole silly. Here show me what you have.”
He pulled down his pants and she laughed. “Not much, but you
got more than my brother. Anyway, if you stick you’re pee pee in my pee pee
when your pee pee is hard and break my cherry, then I won’t be a virgin
anymore.”
“I don’t get hard.”
“You will. Give it time.”
Francis and Golda had a real serious relationship for their
young ages. Golda explained all about Judaism and Francis taught her all about
the Nazarene Church.
She explained to him what girls want and how they feel about
things. Francis was not sure what other boys thought because he had not been
allowed to play with them much, but he told her how he felt.
☼
They were getting older and their parents were not watching so
closely, so they decided to take matters in their own little hands. They set up
a lemonade stand and used the proceeds to go to the movies.
Francis found the movies very liberating. He came to realize
that his mother did not own the rights to all truths. Golda liked the movies
because there were so many Jewish actors and directors.
Golda decided to bake pastries and sell them along with the
lemonade. She could make more money with pastries. Then she started making and
selling jewelry.
Francis, not to be out done, took up leatherwork. He could sell
a good belt for three dollars.
Golda made the most beautiful Star of David pendants and sold
them strung on a chain. She could sell them for four dollars. Understanding
that she was only making half as much money as she could, she started to make
crucifixes. She could sell them for five dollars. Christians did not understand
the value of a dollar bill.
Francis started tooling belts with a Star of David Pattern and
other belts with fish. The fishermen liked to buy his fish belts, even the
Jewish fishermen not realizing that it was meant to be a Christian sign.
Farmers bought his Star of David belts. They thought he had been tooling cowboy
belts with sheriff badges on them.
It was not until he started making candelabras that his mother
noticed something was wrong. Why were there so many candles? Nobody would buy
candelabras, with so many candles.
Nevertheless, they sold.
Francis decided to embellish them so he could sell more. He
started putting a Star of David in the center.
☼
One day Lily came into Francis’ workshop to see what he was
doing and started shrieking. “Child of Satan! Blasphemer! Let me see your
forehead! If my eyes were better, I could see the ‘666’ on your forehead.”
Francis, “Golda and I are just making things sell to people at
our street table. We have a good business going.”
“You’re selling out to Satan! You’re no son of mine! You’re
just like your father--whoring around with another woman.”
“We were just making some money to go to the movies.”
“I thought you were spending your idle time studying the
Bible.”
“I do study the Bible Ma! Jews are in the Bible.”
“Remember, I told you if you did not learn the gospel and
behave yourself I would have to send you away?”
“What’s wrong with me doing something to make money with
Golda?”
“What’s wrong? She’s Jewish for Christ’s sake!”
“I thought you liked her.”
“Jesus wants us to love our Hebrew brothers. It is not their
fault that their ancestors murdered Christ. Christ forgives them, but we
shouldn’t be going to bed with them.”
☼
When Francis was ten years, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
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