The editorial page editor sits at the computer where they layout the school newspaper. He is planning to write more about the new president but Chris gave him a letter to the editor in the hall. Now he reads it.
Dear Editor:
There are many people in this school who think they are better than other people because of where they live and what they wear. They exclude people from their social groups. I call these people soces. I write to these people. To all soces, I give you a challenge. Please write to this paper and explain your ways. Tell everyone why you think you are better than other people. Tell everyone why you exclude people from your groups because of what they wear or where they live or how they look.
Sincerely,
Chris Lankford
“Ms. Ausbie, I got an interesting letter to the editor. I would like to run it.”
“Ok. Let’s see it and talk about it.”
They do not run it because what if there is backlash? Can Chris handle that? Instead, they run several articles on cliques and acceptance. The editor asks Chris’s friend Scott what Chris thought.
“He thought you were weak and lame.”
Six weeks later, Chris puts the barrel of a .22 in his mouth and fires. He leaves no note, just some dried rose petals in his truck. At school the next day, the editor says, “I still have Chris’s letter, Ms. Ausbie.”
She leaves the room and comes back with the principal who asks for the letter. The editor surrenders it. In the spring, when the editor is dating Chris’s friend Patrina, he asks, “Did the school give the letter to his mom? I think it was the actual note.”
“No, they never gave her anything.”
The Living and the Dead, by Gordon Laws 