Page 8 of Scythe's Salvation
“The grocery store!” he shouts, nearly in tears. “And since Mommy won’t tell me, I wanna know, where do hamburgers come from? I hope not another animal!”
By now, I’m laughing so hard that tears are streaming down my face because Chance is indignant on behalf of animals he’s never going to meet, and Amara is spluttering on the phone as she tries to come up with something plausible that will mend his broken heart.
“Um, Chance, sweetheart? Most meatdoescome from an animal,” she finally chokes out. “Cows provide all different kinds of meat for us to eat, like steaks, roasts, and yes, hamburgers, which are really ground beef. I know your mommy buys the frozen ones that are already done, but you’ve helped Memaw make them from scratch before.”
His lip is now trembling, his eyes are wide, and I can see the sheen in them from the front seat as he reasons out what she just told him. “They… they grind up cows so I can have hamburgers?” he sobs.
“Calm down, little man,” Amara soothes. “I promise, the cows don’t feel a thing.”
Great, just great. Now he’s going to be upset that they’re killed for his hamburgers! I could strangle my best friend for her ‘helpfulness’ which isn’t helping at all. “Amara,” I grumble between clenched teeth, “not helping.”
I hear her long-drawn out sigh and know she’s rolling her eyes at me, even though we’re on the phone. “Chance, listen to me, okay? It’s part of life. Some animals are raised to feed humans, that’s just the way it is. Some people are bothered by it and choose to only eat things that are grown, like greens, or fruits, that kind of stuff. The problem with that is, you’re a growing boy and you need the protein that meat provides your body. Besides, cows give milk too, and I know my best guyloveshis chocolate milk.”
He sniffles then gamely says, “I do like it a lot, Aunt Amara. I just don’t like thinking about chickens and cows being hurt and killed.”
“Pigs too,” shehelpfullyadds. When she hears him start up again, she says, “One word. Bacon, Chance, bacon!”
“I like bacon too, and scrambled eggs.”
“You like cupcakes as well, remember? Depending on whether you make them from scratch or from a box, you will probably use eggsandmilk.”
“Oh.” His voice is small, and I know she’s given him a lot to think about. “Guess what? I have practice today.”
“Really? Are you and Mommy going to eat beforehand or after?”
I look at the temperature gauge on my SUV that shows the outside temp and figure it isn’t a good idea for him to be running around outside on a full stomach at nearly ninety degrees. “I think we’re just going to have a light snack, then eat after. You wanna come and watch then go eat with us?” I ask her.
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll grab the Gatorade. What color do we want this time, Chance?” she questions.
“The light blue one, please,” he says.
“You got it, buddy. Now, I’m going to get off of here and get myself together so I can be ready to watch you practice with your team. See y’all in a little bit,” she replies. “Love you both.”
“Love you too,” we reply in unison.
Once the call is disconnected, I ask, “Are you okay, Chance? I know it’s a lot to take in, but remember when we watchedThe Lion King,and I explained about the circle of life? That’s what this is with regard to the animals that are killed for our food. It’s part of their circle.”
“I guess. I mean, I don’t like it, but I’m not going to stop eating the foods I like,” he says. “Are we going by the house first?”
Seeing as we have almost two and a half hours before practice, that would be a resounding yes. It’ll give him time to change, do his homework, and have a light snack, while I send out reminder texts to my clients for the rest of the week.
“Yeah, we are. Do you have a lot of homework?” I query.
“Just a coloring sheet for Math, then I have to read to you for twenty minutes.”
“Sounds like an easy night, huh?”
“Yeah, Mommy. She said she would give us our spelling words tomorrow. Then I’ll have that to do.” Now he sounds glum, because he has to write each word ten times, then use it in a sentence as well. It’s a lot of writing, but I’ve already noticed his penmanship is improving, so I approve of her methods.
“I’m sorry I upset him so much,” Amara says as we watch the little boys on Chance’s team run around the bases before they start practice. The coach likes to do that to ‘get their wiggles out’ so they’ll focus on what he and his assistant coach are saying.
“It’s a hard reality, Am,” I reply, sipping water from my insulated tumbler.
“I know, but my heart was breaking because I could hear how upset he was getting.”
“Still, he’s decided for now that he likes his food too much to swear off of it,” I retort. “Good thing, too, because I refuse to cook two separate meals.”
“Tam, you refuse to cook unless you absolutely have to,” she teases, causing me to snicker.
