We used to play tether ball all the time, and I was always the goody two shoes, and I would tell on kids for swearing. And this one time, my fingers got knotted up in the chain that was connected to the ball. Why we had chains instead of ropes, I don’t know. But we had a chain on our ball and my fingers got twisted up in the chain and mangled, and it hurt. And I remember the fella’s name even, telling me, “Go ahead and say it. Go ahead and say it.” And I said the F-word for the first time ever. It was worse than flipping the bird. I was in the sixth grade, and I said the F-word out loud. And I knew that the Earth was gonna open up and swallow me whole. But that didn’t happen. I got untangled, and he was like, “How did that feel? It felt good, didn’t it?”
And he was right. It felt good to say it.