Joseph would describe, in minute detail, his trip to town and everything that he saw that day. We would skip over nothing, so much so that our conversations were long and detailed. Through Joseph I first heard about cell-phones and pet dogs, iPods and tattoos, television and earrings. It was all so strange and wonderful. We would talk about all of the things that Joseph saw and try to fit them into our world, to make them make sense. We were like children again, discovering the world and having fun.
It was one day, about a month after Joseph’s birthday, that our exploration of the world began to change us as well. We have already finished cleaning the truck and we were sitting in the front seat. Joseph was by the steering wheel and I was in the passenger’s seat. Joseph was finishing up his explanation of the day, going over many of the details. But he seemed more reticent than usual. Finally, I had to ask.
“Joseph, what is bothering you?” I asked and he looked surprised.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You just seem very distant today, did something bad happen?” I asked, leaning onto the dashboard of the car. At first, my brother looked like he was about to deny that anything was amiss, and then he looked around conspiratorially.
“Okay, I saw something different today,” he explained, his eyes wide.
‘What?” I asked excitedly, I was always interested in new things.
“Well…” he said, it was clear that it was something big.
“Come on, just tell me!” I said, actually bouncing up and down in the seat. Joseph laughed at me and put up his hands.
“Okay, okay,” he said, “Well we were selling items like usual and this man and this woman came up. I say they were a man and a woman, but they were actually pretty young, like your age. Anyway, after they paid the woman whispered something into the man’s ear and he laughed. Then he turned towards her and…”
“What?” I asked in suspense, leaning forward.
“He put his lips against her lips…” he said. I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t that. I furrowed my eyebrow and tried to figure out what it could mean. My brother seemed lost in thought as well.
“Just pressed their lips together?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he explained, “And they didn’t do or say anything else after that. They just walked away.” It was becoming stranger. We’d read the Bible before, we even knew the word “kiss” but we had no idea what it meant. If we were ever to ask we were told not to ask questions.
“Did you ask father about it?” I asked.
“Yes,” Joseph said and winced, “he just told me it was a sin and that I should pray that God forgives me for witnessing it.” He said. I knew that Joseph took my father’s warning seriously. But even then, I knew my father was a little too strict.
“Oh don’t worry about him,” I said, “God has bigger things to worry about than people touching their lips.” I said and Joseph seemed to relax a bit.
“Yeah, I guess you are right,” he said, “But I still wish I knew what they were doing.”
“Did it seem like they liked it?” I asked, “Or like it was a chore or something.”
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