The Heart and The Pear

Barack and Warren sat under a pear tree.

“This tree will die soon,” Warren said.

“How old is it?” Barack said.

“The Mayor told me it was planted eighteen years ago, right about the time you and I were born.”

“Don’t trees live to be a hundred?”

“Not pear trees, only to about twenty.”

“We can come back and plant a new one when this one dies.”

“And then when that one dies?”

“We can make a pact to meet back here every twenty years to replace the dying tree with a new one.”

When Barack and Warren were young, they would lay under the pear tree getting shade for their bodies. On this day they sat back-to-back, leaning their backs against the bark, and their toes were exposed to the sun.

“What if someone buys the land to build a house?” Warren said.

“We can talk to them and ask them if we can replace the tree.” Barack said.

“What if they move?”

“Then we’ll ask the new owners.”

“Okay, let’s say a developer buys the land and gets a permit to build an assisted living complex, then what?”

“Well, we’d have to come back, fight against the project and get the community organized to rally against it.”

“That would take years and we won’t be living here anymore, making it even more challenging.”

“It’ll be worth if you want to save the tree. Organizing is never easy but it’s got to start somewhere unless nothing will ever get done. Besides, you’re imagining things that haven’t happened yet. How do you know all of this will occur?”

“Isn’t this what we’re leaving for? We’re going out in the world to get educated and become activists so we can make a difference. What’s the use if we forget about where we came from?”

“So, we start with this tree?”

“Yes. This is where many of us fail. We take things for granted and forget to protect the things that surround us every day, like this tree. We have to be prepared for any scenario. Lack of preparation coupled with false hopes, causes good people with the best of intensions to fail.”

“Most of these fights fail.”

“What are you saying?”

“We’re a product of this town and people love us but outside of here’s a different being altogether.”

Warren looked up at the sky. Each time a sun ray tried to sting her eyes, the wind moved the leaves in place to block it.

“You’re afraid of what’s out there?” Warren said.

“I didn’t say I was afraid,” Barack said.

“So, what difference does it make if people like us or not?”

“You say us, but it won’t always be that way. This world will pull us apart.”

“Only if we let it. We can’t let the world dictate.”

“At times, easier said than done.”

“You said, ‘organizing is never easy but it’s got to start somewhere.’”

“I did.”

“We’ve got to be strong.”

“Strength is only a part of it yet there’s more. People will favor you over me and you’ll have opportunities handed to you that I won’t. Will you turn them down?” Barack said.

“Yes.” Warren said.

“I wouldn’t”

“You’re the problem then. You have no integrity.”

“I have no integrity?”

“You just said you’d take on opportunities for your own gain. That’s how the system wins, we don’t stick together.”

“Might I remind you of who I am? Look at me. This world looks at us differently and treats us differently. If I say no, I may never have the chance again. If you say no, you’ll have plenty of other opportunities.”

“You’re speaking for me. You shouldn’t do that. I know things are different for other people. I don’t like it, and I shouldn’t be blamed for it. My life’s not like yours, but my life isn’t easy.”

Barack and Warren were silent. Their uneasy minds remembered the sweet sixteen season of two years ago. Years that seemed more like a hundred, though the memories were crystal clear.

Barack had seen Warren in the hallway after a long weekend. He wanted to catch up on the project they were working on the Friday before. Warren was surrounded by a lively chatty group that abruptly grew quiet when he came along.

“Hey. What’s up?” Barack said.

“Hi Barack. Uh we gotta go. Class is starting soon. See ya guys later,” they said.

“Let’s meet during PE to talk about the environmental project.” Warren said.

“Sure. How was your weekend? Sounds like you hung out with the crew.”

“It was good. Starr had her sweet sixteen party Saturday night.”

“She did? She didn’t mention it to me. Neither did you.”

“I assumed you were invited but didn’t come.”

Barack looked out and saw Starr, “Hey Starr.”

“Wait, don’t yell,” Warren said.

“Why not?” Barack continued and walked over to Starr who was at the far end of the hall, talking to other students about the now illustrious party, “Hey Starr, how come I didn’t know about your party?”

Everyone stopped talking. Barack watched as the crowd walked away except one, Billy.

Starr was struck, “Oh, you could have come.”

“I didn’t get an invitation."

“She couldn’t invite everybody,” Billy said.

“It was at a bowling alley. If you had showed you could have stayed. It would’ve been alright,” she said.

“Okay, cool.” Barack got the point.

He turned back. Warren had her head so far up in the locker, her feet were dangling off the floor. He played her game and passed her by. Then he saw Cherrise.

“I wanted to invite you to our party, but you don’t like to hang with us so I didn't,” she said as she walked away.

Those words broke Barack’s heart which was already broken. Two venomous stings in one day, he wondered if this was healthy for a sixteen-year-old.

From that day forward, he vowed to see people for what they were and never consciously overlook anyone ever again. In his eyes he had been selfish, only thinking about how others would perceive him, instead of engaging with them to learn what they were really about deep down inside.

Barack looked directly above his head. The wind played with a pear whose stem was holding onto the tree as if by one silk strand of a spider’s web. He put his hands in his lap, waiting to catch it.

“What do you think will happen once we leave here?” Warren said.

“The sky will fall, and the seas will dry out.”

“I’m serious.”

“Nothing will happen, and everything will evolve just the same. People will go on with their lives and nature will continue its cycles.”

“Does that seem fair after all our hard work? We put this school’s name on the map because of our graduating class’s scholastic and activists’ achievements.”

“Why does life have to be fair?”

“Things have to balance out. Fairness leaves everyone satisfied.”

“Everything dies away anyway, even our achievements. The old must die and the new must take its place. Doesn't seem fair but that's life.”

“I wish we didn’t have to die. I wish we could choose.”

“Are you serious? The planet would fill up with people who would never leave. And what about those who live to antagonize the rest of us? Plus, there’s only so much space in the world.”

“Yes, but we could spend eternity eating pears under this tree.”

“Ahh, that would be worth it.”