Lies do Hurt

By: Lynne G.

Little Joe had finally had enough of his two older brothers, Adam and Hoss. They had been picking on their younger brother all week and at times tempers had flared between Adam and Little Joe.

Their father, Ben Cartwright had just about had it with his oldest and youngest sons and their constant bickering.

That morning the battle of the Cartwright brothers had finally come to a head. Little Joe had totally had it with Adam so he decided to put an end to it before it really got out of hand once and for all.

The boy put his head down and he made a mad charge towards Adam, but he misjudged his direction towards Adam and he charged towards Ben who was standing in the yard looking up at an eagle that was flying overhead.

It happened so fast that Adam and Hoss didn't have time to warn their father.

The next thing Ben realized he was rammed in the stomach and he fell over backwards landing flat on his back with Little Joe laying on top of him.

" WHAT IN THUNDERATION IS GOING ON ? JOSEPH !!!!!!" Ben yelled very loudly. Both Adam and Hoss stood there in shock at what Little Joe had just done to their father.

Little Joe was slightly stunned for the first few seconds after he had rammed Ben and he saw stars dancing before his eyes.

A very angry Ben pushed the youngster off of him and he quickly stood up and he glared at his son who was trying to sit up.

Ben stood there with his hands on his hips and he loudly asked, " WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF YOUNG MAN ? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SOMETHING ?"

As the boy finally made it to his feet and stood there his anger had vanished and he felt so ashamed of himself.

" I...I...I'm really sorry Pa. I..I thought you were Adam," the boy very softly explained. Ben shook his head at his son's answer.

" Do I look like Adam to you ? I think you need to get your eyes checked young man !" Ben angrily replied.

" Pa, are you alright ?" Adam inquired. " Yes, I think so. Joseph, if you don't learn to control that temper of yours, it will lead you into big trouble one of these days for which you will be very sorry about. Do I make myself clear ?" Ben continued.

" Sorry sir, but make Adam and Hoss stop picking on me. Yer both gonna be sorry !" the boy threatened. Feeling angry again, Ben couldn't believe what his youngest son had just said.

" Joseph, what did I just warn you about ?" Ben loudly reminded his son.

Little Joe was feeling so bad and confused by now that he took off running out of the yard and he ran all the way to the lake, but instead of stopping at his mother's grave he ran down to the beach and he sat down on the sandy beach and he stared out into the rough waters of Lake Tahoe with his warm salty tears falling into the sand.

It was a cold and windy day, but Little Joe didn't care or seem to notice the strong cold wind blowing. As he sat there on the beach with tears running down his face he watched the waves lap the shoreline as he thought back to the week that was slowing passing.

The week had started off with a sudden crash to the floor of his bedroom. Little Joe didn't want to get up that early in the mornings, but his brother Hoss had had enough of his little brother's nonsense so he pulled the sleeping boy out of bed and he landed on the floor with a loud thud.

" Whatcha do that fer Hoss ? That ain't nice ya know !" the boy shouted. " Well if'n ya'd get up when I first called you, I wouldn't need to pull you out of bed. You have chores to you before school ya know, so HURRY up !" Hoss shouted right back to his brother.

As Hoss stomped out of Little Joe's room, the boy stuck his tongue out at Hoss's back and he mumbled something about not wanting to get up.

" Dadburn chores !" Little Joe mumbled as he was doing his morning barn chores. " Better not let Pa hear you talking like that ," Adam warned. Not knowing his oldest brother was in the barn, Little Joe quickly turned to face his brother.

" You be quiet Adam and leave me alone !" the boy shouted. " Oh, did the little boy get up on the wrong side of bed this morning ?" Adam teased.

" NO I DIDN'T ! I GOT PULLED OUT OF BED FOR YOUR INFORMATION YOU OLD YANKEE GRANIT HEAD !" the boy angrily replied.

Adam stood there glaring at his little brother before he picked up the angry boy and he tossed him into a pile of hay.

" Watch that temper of yours you little brat !" Adam angrily warned the boy who was still laying in the hay. He then left the barn and returned to the house. Little Joe stuck his tongue out at Adam as he left the barn.

Little Joe jumped up from the hay pile and he stomped off towards the house mumbling all the way.

Once inside the house, he grabbed his saddlebags which contained his school books and he headed back towards the front door.

" Joseph, get back here and eat your breakfast !" Ben suggested rather loudly. " I ain't hungry !" Little Joe shouted back at Ben as he ran out the door and over to Tony his horse and off to school they went at a fast gallop.

" What is wrong with that boy ?' Ben said out loud. Adam explained what had taken place in the barn just a few minutes ago.

Slowly shaking his head, Ben looked at Adam and asked, " Son, did you have to tease him when he is in such a bad mood ? You know how he has been lately-very stubborn. " Ben was concerned about his youngest boy.

As Little Joe continued to sit on the sandy beach watching the waves now crashing onto the shore, he wished that he could learn to ignore Adam's comments. He knew that his oldest brother loved to torment him and tease him, especially when he was upset.

" God please make Adam stop teasing me all the time. Please help me learn to control my temper. I try so hard. I really do ," the boy pleaded as he began to cry again.

After sitting on the beach for almost two hours, Little Joe slowly got up and he walked over to his mother's grave. " Mama, please help me. I feel so awful at what I did to Pa. Ya have ta believe me when I tell ya that I didn't mean ta ram inta him. I'm so sorry," Little Joe tearfully said.

As the heartbroken boy stood at the grave, he was shivering and to make matters worse, it started to rain, so he said ' good bye ' to his mother and he started to walk home.

As soon as Little Joe walked in the house he was greeted by his family who had been concerned when the boy hadn't returned home yet.

With relief, but yet at the same time feeling a little angry at his son, Ben questioned his son. " Just where in the world have you been young man ?"

As the shivering and wet boy looked at the floor he softly replied, " I..I was sitting on the beach thinking. I'm really sorry Pa, I didn't mean ta run inta. Honest I didn't. Ya just gotta believe me please Pa. Please. Little Joe again had tears running down his face.

Ben walked over to his trembling son and he put his large hand under the boy's quivering chin and he lifted up the boy's head so he could look into his big green eyes. What he saw were hurtful tear filled eyes that broke Ben's heart.

Ben hated to see any of his sons upset especially Little Joe. This son of his was a very sensitive child and it didn't take much to hurt the boy emotionally.

Ben put his arms around the boy and he could feel his trembling body. " You need to get out of these wet clothes and into some dry clothes son," Ben suggested.

" Little Joe, I do believe you son. I really would appreciate it if you could please learn to control that temper of yours. Losing your temper so easily the way you do could land you in a lot of trouble one day and I for one, don't want to see that happen to you."

" Son, if you are upset about something or mad, just slowly count to ten in your head and take a deep breath, because that really does help. Also if you want someone to talk too, I'm here for you and so are your brothers. You need to really think about what you do next. I know you can do it son," Ben finished explaining.

" I'll really try hard for ya Pa. I promise I will," the ten year old boy softly replied as he rubbed his tears away with his shirtsleeve. As Ben hugged his son he directed him towards the stairs and told him to go and change his clothes and he also said " Thank you son ."

A couple of days later at school, Little Joe did his very best to ignore two older boys, Skip and Henry Copelund who were sixteen and seventeen years old. The brothers loved to torment the younger boys, especially Little Joe, because he was very small and very feisty for ten years old.

Another reason Skip and Henry didn't like Little Joe was that all the other kids in school really liked the boy, but none of the kids liked them. So they decided to really torment the youngster to hurt him emotionally.

During morning recess that day, Little Joe was talking with his two best friends, Mitch Devlin and Seth Pruitt. Mitch was nine months older than Little Joe while Seth was almost two years older then the youngster.

" Hey Cartwright, ain't ya gonna talk to us ?" Henry sarcastically asked. Little Joe looked up at both Skip and Henry and he softly replied, " Not really."

Taken back by the boy's answer, Skip declared, " That ain't very friendly of you little boy. That kind of answer won't do. By the way, did ya know that your family hates you !" The Copelund brothers were trying to get Little Joe fight them.

" My family dunt hate me ! So stop sayin' things that ain't true !" Little Joe angrily replied.

" My my Skip, it looks like the little boy is getting angry. Hey kid, whatcha gonna do about it. Wanna fight ?" Henry teased hoping to get the younger boy to fight with them.

Both Mitch and Seth were getting nervous and they hoped that their younger friend wouldn't fight back.

Little Joe's temper was beginning to rise, but he slowly counted to ten in his head as he glared at the Copelunds.

" I ain't gonna fight ya. Come on Mitch, Seth lets get out of here," Little Joe suggested. The three boys walked back over towards the school house while the Copelund brothers stood there in shock.

" Well, I never !" Henry declared. " Don't worry, lets just keep teasing him and soon enough he will fight us, and when he does, he'll be sorry," Skip told his brother.

" Good going Little Joe. Guess you showed them !" Mitch proudly told his friend. " Thanks Mitch, but it was really hard not to fight em," Little Joe replied. He did feel proud of himself for being able to control his temper that day-so far.

" I'm glad you didn't fight them Little Joe. They are so much bigger than you and I sure don't want to see you get hurt or in trouble with your Pa," Seth told his young friend.

" Thanks Seth. I dunt wanna get in trouble with Pa either," the boy replied as he looked over his shoulder at the Copelund brothers who were still standing there glaring at him.

As they days went on, Skip and Henry continued to torment and tease Little Joe to no end. They were beginning to get the boy convinced how his family really did feel about him, and that was starting to get Little Joe into thinking about all of the trouble he had been into lately and why his family was angry with him so much.

He had been in trouble for coming home late from school, not doing his chores and he was fighting with his brothers again about everything.

" Joseph, I don't know what has gotten into you lately and I certainly don't like it one bit. You are late coming home from school everyday, your not doing your chores and you are constantly fighting with your brother and who knows what else you have been doing. I am extremely disappointed in your behavior and I'm NOT going to put up with it anymore. You are now on restriction for the next two weeks !" Ben finished explaining. He was very angry with his son and it showed.

Little Joe didn't say anything back to Ben as he went straight up to his room thinking more and more of what Skip and Henry had been telling him.

A couple of day later at school, the Copelunds continued to torment Little Joe and they were loving the hurt and angry looks on the boy's face.

" WILL YOU GUYS LEAVE ME ALONE ! " Little Joe shouted back the older boys. " Make us little boy !" Henry shouted right back at the boy. " Your family HATES you Little Joe and ya can't blame them either. Your nothing but trouble to them !" Skip suggested. Then both brothers started to laugh at Little Joe.

Little Joe had finally taken all that he could from the brothers and he threw his fist into Henry's stomach. That was what the brothers had been waiting for. They had made Little Joe finally fight with them.

The fight had been going on for several minutes with Little Joe getting the worse of it. His shirt was torn and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, but he wasn't about to give up.

" STOP THAT FIGHTING RIGHT THIS MINUTE ! " Miss. Jones shouted as she was trying to break up the fight between the three boys. " JOSEPH, SKIP, HENRY, STOP THAT FIGHTING NOW !"

" Who started the fight?" Miss. Jones asked as he looked at the boys. " Cartwright started it !" Skip declared as he glared at Little Joe, but inside he was happy that the boy was in trouble. He didn't care if he and Henry were in trouble or not.

Hold onto Little Joe's shoulder, Miss. Jones looked down at the boy in question, and asked, " Little Joe, did you start the fight ?"

Without looking up at his teacher, the boy nodded, that yes he had started the fight.

" I am very disappointed in you Little Joe. You have been warned over and over about your fighting, but you don't seem to learn do you ? You will stay after school and I will be sending a note home with you for your father, and I want it returned in the morning and signed by him,. Do you understand young man what I am saying to you?" Miss. Jones loudly asked.

Feeling ashamed of himself, Little Joe nodded. " Now I want you to please go back in the classroom and sit down and stay there. After the youngster had left the yard, Miss. Jones turned to the Copelund brothers.

" And you two, did you have to fight a boy so much smaller and younger than you both ? Get back in the classroom NOW !" Miss. Jones shouted.

Litttle Joe was kept after school for one hour and he was given the note for his father. " Joseph, I want you to please give this note to your father and I expect an answer back from him in the morning. You may go home now," Miss. Jones finished saying. A very soft, " Yes ma'am " was heard from the boy.

She really did hate to punish this sensitive boy and she knew that once his father read the letter, that he would be in even more trouble. She did feel sorry for Little Joe.

All the way home, Little Joe knew that he was going to be in so much trouble once Ben read the letter and saw his torn shirt and bruised face, that was starting to feel sick to his stomach as the tears began to run down his face.

The End of part one.

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