Janice was washing the dishes, absently contemplating which candidate she should vote for when the commotion started. Commotion was a rarity in Janice's life and she liked it that way. She quickly dried her hands and ran outside. To her disbelief she saw her little boy Tommy rolling around on the sidewalk with another little boy.

            Are they playing or really fighting?

            "Hey, you two…" she began.

            This distracted Tommy and he looked up at the sound of her voice. He opened his mouth to speak as he held the head of the other boy at arms length. Unfortunately, her voice didn't distract Tommy's opponent at all and he used the opportunity to slug Tommy in the face.

Maternal anger closed the distance between Janice and the boys instantly. She visually searched Tommy's face for damage as she pulled them apart.

            "Are you alright? What's going on here?!"

            The other boy twisted and tried to escape her grip. Seeing no blood or serious damage, she let go of Tommy and grabbed the other boy with both hands.

            "Not so fast buster. What have you got to say for…."

            A passing car stopped in the middle of the street, then did a rapid turn into the driveway. A man leaped out and shouted at her.

            "What the hell are you doing with your hands on my boy?" he demanded. His dark-skinned face was contorted in anger. Looking down at the boy that had just clipped her son, she noted that he too, was black – thus, Janice reasoned this must be the boy he was shouting about.

            How dare he?

            "Your boy just landed a good one on my boy's face, I'm trying to keep him from running away so I can find out why."

            She let the boy go and grabbed Tommy.

            The man looked at his son.

            "Well? You heard the lady. Why did you hit her boy?"

            The boy flinched but his anger made him brave enough to point at Tommy and retort,

            "He slaved my people and laughed 'bout it!"

            "He what?" Janice and his father said in unison.

            "He slaved my people and when I told him to 'poligize, he just laughed at me."

            The boy made a run in Tommy's direction but his father grabbed him before he got anywhere.

            Much to Janice's surprise, Tommy brought up his fists threateningly in response.

            They pulled the boys further apart. The father squatted down in front of the boy.

            "Now, you calm down and make a little sense."

            "Oh he's stupid!" Tommy interupted. "He said…"

            "Tommy! You don't call anyone names..I don't care how mad you are!"

            "Well, he is. He says I slaved his people and I don't even know who his people are."

            The man shook his head, puzzled.

            Janice kneeled down in front of Tommy.

            "What on earth does "slaved' mean?"

            "Slaved his…Oh-oh. "  she heard the man say.

            Tommy flushed."Umm…ah…I don't know." He finished in a tiny voice.

            Then he became indignant again. "But I know I didn't do it."

            "Um…Miss…I think I know what's going on here." The father said quietly.

            "By the way, my name is Jonathan."

            Janice looked at him questioningly, then smiled and nodded.

            "Hold on, let me make sure." He turned to his son.

"Derek, does this have anything to do with the movie we were watching last night?"

            Derek nodded emphatically. The man groaned and rubbed at his face with both hands, then looked at his son again.

            "Oh son, I don't think you understand. Our people were enslaved a long, long time ago. That happened to our ancestors, son, not us. Certainly this boy had nothing to do with it."

            "Yeah!" Tommy retorted. Whatever it is, I knew I didn't do nothin'"

            Janice stifled a laugh that both boys missed but the father did not. A smile flickered on his face then vanished quickly.

            Janice gave him a deadpan look.

            "Well, now that we've settled that, do you mind if I ask if you are absolutely certain about you being enslaved? I mean,  I could sure use some help with the breakfast dishes."

            He laughed.

            "Madam, I would be honored to help you. That is if you think you can afford my normal rate."

            She eyed his suit which looked as though it probably cost more than her old Toyota in the driveway.

            "Hmm. Maybe I better do them myself."

            "Son, apologize to the young man here. He didn't do anything to your people."

            " He didn't?"

            "No. He didn't." He said sharply.

Then his face softened a little.

"When I get home tonight, we need to have a long talk."

            "Am I in trouble?"

            "Some, but mostly we need to talk about who, what and when our people were enslaved. Of course, you'll still be grounded for hitting this innocent young man."

            Derek frowned, thought for a moment then nodded as though that sounded like a fair enough deal.Then he looked over at Tommy's bike.

"Zat your bike?" He asked Tommy.

            Tommy nodded. "Wanna see it?"

            "Yeah. I guess."

            "Is it okay, mom?"

            "I suppose but we need to have a talk when your dad gets home too."

            Tommy nodded and the two boys wandered away, apparently already bored with slaved people and the like.

Janice breathed a quiet sigh of relief and turned to look at the man.

            "Let me guess. You guys saw whats-his-name's speech on racism too."

            He nodded. "We thought it was a good time for a personal history lesson. We went out and rented "Roots".

            "Oh my. That's a pretty intense history lesson…it certainly explains a lot."

            "I'm glad you recognize that."

            "Sure. But didn’t we go through all of this about twenty or thirty years ago?"

            "Now that you mention it, I believe we did."

"There was nothing to be done for it then and there's nothing to be done for it now." Janice said, then added,

"Unless…"

            He gave her a puzzled look."Unless?"

            "Well, I could give you my Toyota for reparations…"

            He gave the reliable old clunker a dubious look.

            "Ah, that's alright. Since I didn't have to do your dishes, why don't we call it square."

            She laughed. "Deal. But tell you what, why don't you and your wife join us for dinner Saturday?"

            "That sounds like a good idea. I'll check with her but I'm sure when I tell her about today, she'll love the idea. This is just the kind of thing that will keep her rolling in the aisle. She likes to say that people are all so self-absorbed that the Lord gave us kids and animals to make sure we aren't completely blinded by it.

            "She sounds like a very wise woman."

            Getting back in the car, he glanced at her. "Mm. Yes. Marrying me was the only time she demonstrated a lack of judgement."

            Janice tilted her head and pretended to study him.

            "Oh I don't know. I think she got a pretty good deal."

            He smiled then called to his son. "You be home by five, alright?"

            Satisfied by whatever answer he received, he looked back at her.

            "You think she got a good deal?"

            "Yes. You seem very intelligent…" she began wrapping a nearby gardenhose around it's metal rack.

            An almost imperceptable smug look flashed on his face.

             "…for a man."

He looked shocked for a second, then burst out laughing.

"We will most definitely see you Saturday….Ms….miss..?"

"Shapiro. But you can call me Janice. My husband is Nathan. Nate for short."

He stopped and looked at her.

"You're Jewish?"

"I am. That is, we are."

He got out of the car slowly.

"Your people. They say that they are the most persecuted people on earth. History seems to confirm that. I mean, the holocaust and all…"

She nodded. "Then there was that Jesus thing, if you're into that."

He nodded. "We are.What happened to my ancestors so long ago, was terrible…but what happened to yours a much shorter time ago…Good God…"

She pursed her lips slightly and stuck her wet hands in her pockets. This kind of talk always made her a little uncomfortable.

"Did you lose anyone in the 'Holocaust'?"

She nodded and in what was nearly a whisper,

"Yes."

"Aren't you angry about that? Isn't your family?"

She cocked her head to one side and looked at him steadily.

"No."

"Why not?"

She spoke softly.

"Jonathan, the Nazi's took part of my family and a lot of our yesterdays. There is nothing I can do about that except see that it is never forgotten…

…but if I am still angry today, then the ghosts of those very same Nazis are stealing my todays too. And that, I can do something about. Simply put, I won't allow it. My today's belong to me and my family."

He looked a little stunned. He slowly got back into the car, never taking his eyes from hers.

When he spoke, it was with difficulty.

"I never thought of it like that."

"Maybe it's time you did. See, I was taught that if you spend all your energy looking behind you, you can't see where you're going."

He nodded slowly as he got back in the car.

 "You're a very bright lady." He started the engine again and eased out of the driveway.

She blushed and quickly returned to wrapping her hose. By this time the boys were back, waving good-bye to him and 'helping' her with the hose.

They looked at her as if she had lost her mind when for what appeared to be no reason at all, she threw her head back and laughed out loud. She just ignored their puzzled looks. They didn't hear it when Jonathan called out as he drove away.

"For a woman."