16: Alex and Lowe were in the gift shop looking at the magazines. Lowe put down his soda and looked over at what Alex was reading. "Dude, that's a French fashion magazine. You can't read fuckin' French! Are you retarded?"
"No, you ho!" Alex smiled. "As long as the pictures are in French I'm OK. Besides, look at what you're reading. That's an African-American publication."
"Now I know you're retarded. You think just because there's a black guy on the cover, it's a black magazine?"
"Well, it's predominantly black."
Lowe had been taking a sip of his soda, but now he almost choked on it. Carbonated liquid dribbled down his chin. "Predominantly black? Are you trying to sound smart by using multi syllabic words?"
"Ooh, does it make you feel smart to use big words?"
"No. Does it make you feel stupid to use small words?"
"No." Alex's eyes shifted to the right. "I guess I never thought of it that way."
Lowe wiped his chin with his hand. "Good, now can you please hand me a predominantly white napkin?"
"Oh, you're so very clever. Here you go. Wipe yourself off, asshole. You think you're so smart just because you were number 1 in your graduating class in high school."
Lowe looked at Alex for as moment before responding. "It's hard being number 1 in the class."
Alex slammed his magazine down. "You try being number 78 out of a class of 121, then tell me what hard is. In high school I wasn't doing well no matter how hard I studied. I had what I called RETARD: RETention And Recall Deficit. Then I joined the yearbook staff and the poetry club. Being part of something and having friends helped me to start to feel better about myself. I found that when I felt better about myself, I thought better. I finally started making Cs and Ds. You have no idea how proud I was." Alex's eyes were watery.
Lowe could see that he had hit a raw nerve. "I'm sorry I called you retarded. I just didn't like the way you talked about the magazine being a black magazine. I guess in the same way your IQ is a sore subject for you, my race is a sore subject for me. I'm not saying that I'm ashamed of being Chinese, but it's difficult in this country to not be a heterosexual white man. And no, I'm not saying that I'm gay, but some people who are very close to my heart are homosexual. You can tell that the ones in power in America are heterosexual white men. Anywhere you look there are things to remind you of that.
"Take for instance, the difference between porn and gay porn. One guy and one girl is porn. One guy and two girls or two guys and one girl. One guy with fifty girls. Fifty girls and no guy. Some of those movies have dozens of guys and only one girl and it's still considered heterosexual pornography. But it's all just called porn. Now you take two guys with no girl and all of a sudden you have to call it gay porn. Why's that?
"Or how about 2nd class or 3rd world? Do you think it was a second class citizen who made up that term? Was it a 3rd world country that decided it was a good idea to put themselves down?
"How 'bout this? A bunch of guys dribbling a ball and throwing it into a hoop. It's called basketball, right? So why is it when it's a bunch of women doing the exact same thing, you have to call it women's basketball?"
Alex put his hand on Lowe's shoulder. "Boy, you have too much time on your hands. I'm just joking. It's me who should apologize. I can see that you feel very deeply about this subject. I was acting retarded when I said that was a black magazine."
Lowe shook his head. "Nah, you're not retarded. The fact that you felt bad enough to apologize makes you pretty smart in my book."
"Aw shucks. I think I'm blushing. Stop the press! Someone thinks I'm smart!"
A team of rescuers returned to the hotel. It was Sauro, Ben, Mickey and Randy. They had found only three people, but that was better than nothing. Samuel Wine was the first. They had also found Alex's parents, Philippe Manchot and Maria Rivas-Manchot.
Alex left the magazine rack behind to see his parents, but it was a bittersweet moment. He didn't have the best relationship with them, but he was glad they were alright. The three of them went to Alex's room to talk.
Sam was pleasantly surprised to see Barney Abbot. The two of them had much catching up to do. They would do so over shots of Cisler's Cheap Scotch.
Not too long later, Damion returned. He had been briefed about the situation at the lake. Very quickly, Kenn, Damion, Mina and Zemostra set out on their way to Marble Cliff's Lake.
"No, you ho!" Alex smiled. "As long as the pictures are in French I'm OK. Besides, look at what you're reading. That's an African-American publication."
"Now I know you're retarded. You think just because there's a black guy on the cover, it's a black magazine?"
"Well, it's predominantly black."
Lowe had been taking a sip of his soda, but now he almost choked on it. Carbonated liquid dribbled down his chin. "Predominantly black? Are you trying to sound smart by using multi syllabic words?"
"Ooh, does it make you feel smart to use big words?"
"No. Does it make you feel stupid to use small words?"
"No." Alex's eyes shifted to the right. "I guess I never thought of it that way."
Lowe wiped his chin with his hand. "Good, now can you please hand me a predominantly white napkin?"
"Oh, you're so very clever. Here you go. Wipe yourself off, asshole. You think you're so smart just because you were number 1 in your graduating class in high school."
Lowe looked at Alex for as moment before responding. "It's hard being number 1 in the class."
Alex slammed his magazine down. "You try being number 78 out of a class of 121, then tell me what hard is. In high school I wasn't doing well no matter how hard I studied. I had what I called RETARD: RETention And Recall Deficit. Then I joined the yearbook staff and the poetry club. Being part of something and having friends helped me to start to feel better about myself. I found that when I felt better about myself, I thought better. I finally started making Cs and Ds. You have no idea how proud I was." Alex's eyes were watery.
Lowe could see that he had hit a raw nerve. "I'm sorry I called you retarded. I just didn't like the way you talked about the magazine being a black magazine. I guess in the same way your IQ is a sore subject for you, my race is a sore subject for me. I'm not saying that I'm ashamed of being Chinese, but it's difficult in this country to not be a heterosexual white man. And no, I'm not saying that I'm gay, but some people who are very close to my heart are homosexual. You can tell that the ones in power in America are heterosexual white men. Anywhere you look there are things to remind you of that.
"Take for instance, the difference between porn and gay porn. One guy and one girl is porn. One guy and two girls or two guys and one girl. One guy with fifty girls. Fifty girls and no guy. Some of those movies have dozens of guys and only one girl and it's still considered heterosexual pornography. But it's all just called porn. Now you take two guys with no girl and all of a sudden you have to call it gay porn. Why's that?
"Or how about 2nd class or 3rd world? Do you think it was a second class citizen who made up that term? Was it a 3rd world country that decided it was a good idea to put themselves down?
"How 'bout this? A bunch of guys dribbling a ball and throwing it into a hoop. It's called basketball, right? So why is it when it's a bunch of women doing the exact same thing, you have to call it women's basketball?"
Alex put his hand on Lowe's shoulder. "Boy, you have too much time on your hands. I'm just joking. It's me who should apologize. I can see that you feel very deeply about this subject. I was acting retarded when I said that was a black magazine."
Lowe shook his head. "Nah, you're not retarded. The fact that you felt bad enough to apologize makes you pretty smart in my book."
"Aw shucks. I think I'm blushing. Stop the press! Someone thinks I'm smart!"
A team of rescuers returned to the hotel. It was Sauro, Ben, Mickey and Randy. They had found only three people, but that was better than nothing. Samuel Wine was the first. They had also found Alex's parents, Philippe Manchot and Maria Rivas-Manchot.
Alex left the magazine rack behind to see his parents, but it was a bittersweet moment. He didn't have the best relationship with them, but he was glad they were alright. The three of them went to Alex's room to talk.
Sam was pleasantly surprised to see Barney Abbot. The two of them had much catching up to do. They would do so over shots of Cisler's Cheap Scotch.
Not too long later, Damion returned. He had been briefed about the situation at the lake. Very quickly, Kenn, Damion, Mina and Zemostra set out on their way to Marble Cliff's Lake.
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