Chapter Four
A couple of weeks later the party was going in
the park and the gang leaders were actually talking to The Young
Speaker, and, each other, instead of fighting. The Young
Speaker just seemed to know everybody's problems before they even spoke
them, and the gang leaders took to him well.
2 "For a religious guy," one of them said, "you're pretty cool! All The
Speakers just tell us we're not doing right, but YOU know what our
problems are, and talk about them. We like that."
3 "Merely condemning bad behavior," agreed The Young Speaker, "doesn't
solve the problem. You have to find out what is CAUSING the bad
behavior and correct the problems. Of course you young people have
responsibilities, too. When you don't get along with each other, you
have to find solutions, not just fight all the time.
4 You can't make territories. That's illegal. If you shut yourselves
off, split into little groups, you'll just make your problems worse by
isolating yourselves. We've got to work together, tell people what's
wrong, correct it."
5 "Oh, don't listen to him," argued Screaming Boar, "he's just like the
Church Workers! All he wants to do is take over the neighborhoods, make
everybody like everybody else, all one big happy little family ruled by
the glorious Lords, with nobody having enough sense to question what
the do-gooders say. Leave me out of it!"
6 "Now, wait a minute!" put in another boy. "He hasn't been talking
like a do-gooder at all. The things he says make sense. What do we get when we fight all the time?
Nothing! If you get too crazy, they send you off to a hospital somewhere. And if you kill somebody, they
take off your head.