Jubal!

Like many kids, I got picked on by my older brother and some of the older kids in the neighborhood. I'm sure we all have endured this rite of passage......it has always occurred and always will. Witness the sudden outcry of late of the horror of "bullying". It happens, and we used to be taught to deal with it. One day we "Cook Street Kids" were playing "Kick the Can" over at the Carmichael house when Mary and Wallace started in on me. I don't recall the specifics of the incident but I was growing ever incensed at the taunts. Out of nowhere, the eldest Carmichael called me "Jubal". Wallace thought it was hilarious and the parade of taunts started. "Jubal! Jubal! Juuuuuuuuuuubal!" was chanted over and over until I was in tears. Of course I got mad, and ran home to Mamma for comfort and hopefully for retaliation. Mamma didn't get upset and storm over through the three yards that separated our houses to lay out her fury and wrath like I had hoped. She instead laughed a little and said "Scooter, do you know who Jubal was?" I stifled my sobs for a moment and replied "No ma'am". Mamma fetched the Bible and said "Well, let me tell you a little story". She opened the Bible to Genesis and started reading to me the lineage of Jubal. I Listened attentively to the story she narrated in her inimitable way, of how Jubal was the first musician and was the son of Lamech and a direct descendant of Cain. She eloquently spoke of Jubal's prowess with the pan flute and lyre, and told me that one day I would master the guitar that I had been plunking on every afternoon after arriving home from school. She then related on her experiences with name-calling and being "picked on" when she was little......her friends called her "Salt" and it burned her up (Mamma's brother is "Pepper")and also left her in tears. To this day, my older brother Wallace still calls me "Jubal" to try and get a rise out of me. I take it as a compliment. Although my six-stringed prowess has been halted (temporarily, I hope), I revel in the title I have been blessed with! Have a "rice" day, y'all.....I know I am planning on it!