Eve's Answer

EVE’S ANSWER

During a telephone call, Oprah asked Willa Sue if she missed not having a child? Will Sue said she wanted to think about that. After visiting President Bush in the Oval Office, Willa Sue emailed Oprah.

Hi -

On never having a baby

Be Careful what we wish, hope, ask for?

You never had children, so I expect you can answer your question as good as any woman can. 

You admire Gloria Steinem, who has no children. She upset the male applecart, and she upset women married to that applecart. I think she wrote a book called, “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Ain’t that the truth!?

You know what it was like for me being a baby girl born to redneck Florida panhandle Bible and God praising parents, who never did nothing to protect me from being raped a lot of times by one of my older brothers, and when I finally talked about it, they had me put in a mental hospital, because I had to be crazy to say my brother had had sex with me.

I tell you truly, Oprah, after going with Riley to Washington a few days ago and watching Riley try to persuade President Bush not to send American soldiers to Afghanistan, and all the Vietnam war stuff Riley has talked about and written, I can’t help myself wondering what woman wants to have a baby for it to be sent off to a war in a country way out in the sticks, out in the middle of nowhere, as we country folk say, whose people don’t think anything like we folks in America think like, and they are Muslims, and they call Christians infidels, and they beat the Russians, and before that, they beat the British, and they will kill a lot of young American soldiers, whose mamas did not birth and raise them to be killed in Afghanistan, which never did anything to America.

And gosh, Oprah, what about children being massacred in their schools? I tell you this, Oprah, if I did have a child of school age, I would not send him or her to any school. Me and Riley would teach our child at home, where it’s safe.

And what about all the religious folks, who claim abortions are murder, but they don't seem to give a shit about what happens to unwanted babies after they are born? They will never get to know unwanted babies they want to save they will never help raise wanted babies they want too save. They will never pay for the cost of raising unwanted babies they want to save. The way they carry on, I bet they were unwanted babies, and they were treated kinda like I was treated by my Bible quoting parents.

And, how do they know a 6 or an 8 or a 10 or a 12 or a 14 or a 16 week old fetus is a human being? Does it have a soul? Well, does it? Does anyone know when a fetus has a soul? Isn't having soul necessary to being human? the Bible says Adam became a living being when God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils.

In this apartment building where Riley and me live is a woman who don’t seem all right in the head. She’s nice, but she can get to carrying on. She slides notes under our front door all the time about this or that project or cause she wants us to do something about. She also is a good cook, and offers us what she has cooked, and we take what we think we will like, and don’t take what we think we won’t like, and we pay her, because she bought the groceries and cooked the food, and because she is on Social Security and is barely getting by.

She says she used to be a legal secretary, and based on some things she told us, Riley thinks she really was a legal secretary. But she cannot do that kind of work now. She has a computer with a keyboard, and she uses the internet, and she knows how to proofread, but we don’t want to have her proofread what we write, because we don’t want to be in that kind of relationship with her, and get notes all the time from her about what we write and are doing.

She knows Riley really likes playing chess, but he’s not no expert. Yesterday, she told Riley she really wants to learn how to play chess, and would he teach her? Riley said he is not qualified to teach people how to play chess, and there are lots of how to play chess books in libraries. She doesn’t have a car and can’t easily get to a library, and she has not let up since yesterday, asking Riley to teach her how to play chess. He told her to go online and find stuff there about how to play chess, chess.com teaches chess. He is writing about the coming end of humanity. 

This morning, she slid a note under our door. I’ll type it out and paste it here.

Riley,

If that’s really what you are writing now, humanity’s end, or human end, then hear me out = What about seeing a baby grow … witness at child’s life… how?

Donate to a sperm bank and envision generations to cone —your offspring

Good idea :-)

Riley doesn't want more Rileys running around on this planet covered with people not being kind to the planet and not always kind to other people. One war after another, since the beginning of human time. And many children are treated the way I was treated, and there is nothing Riley and me can do about any of that. Riley would never know what women were impregnated with his sperm and how babies made from his sperm would be treated by their mommas and their daddies, if they had daddies. 

I tell you truly, Oprah, Archangel asking Riley in his sleep, three nights before 911, if he would make a prayer for a divine intervention for all of humanity, really shook Riley up. He’s been shook up ever since. Will his prayer be answered? How will it be answered? When? What will the answer look like? 

We went to the prison yesterday, to visit inmates Riley became friends with. One inmate reported a dream of the night before. All the graves on this world were empty. Was that about the rapture? Heck if we know.

What we do know is, we sat face-to-face with the president of the most powerful country on this world, and we heard stuff we cannot repeat, No, not about Russia, not about China, but about America, which we, so far, are not allowed to tell you, or anyone. How President Bush seemed to be dealing with it did not cause us to feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Riley and I think America and humanity are not capable of turning around and going in a different direction. We think the seeds for humanity’s end are in clear view, and nothing is being done about it, but things that will make that end happen. We think it will take angels or ETs to get humanity’s attention. Or a giant meteor or a comet smacks Earth, and all of a sudden people are just trying to surivive, and all the stuff people thought was important is not important anymore.

On a lighter side, or maybe not, probably depends on your point of view, I bet Gloria Steinem would really like it. Yesterday, a woman using a made up name, Appalachia Queen, made a comment at strangerthanfiction.com. A poem that don’t need no explaining to me, at least.

Love you, Oprah

Willa Sue

The poem

Eve’s Answer

April Fool

Vexing Truth

Life is Poetry,

Poetry is Life,

There's no more to say,

but that would 

make God

a really dull boy,

now wouldn't it,

Eve?

So, Eve,

What say you?

After all,

You have been,

still are, blamed,

for everything that went wrong with

hu - MAN - i - ty.

Well, do you really want to hear

what I gotta say?

Is this one of those

be careful what you ask for

pregnancies?

Well, is it?

Probably, but say

what you wish -

I s'pect you need

to be heard.

Heard?

Funny you mention ears.

Yes, ears.

Such important receptacles.

Yet filled with concrete, 

shit, propaganda, beliefs,

certainties, well,

let's not leave out

SUPERSTITION

and

RELIGION,

should we?

By the way,

where do ya

suppose

God came from?

Or, out of?

And, 

why do ya s'pose

I made Eve

in my own 

IMAGE?

'Cause Adam was

so bored and dull -

so ... predictable

He was BORING!!!

the shit outta me!!!

That's why.

Now

    Shusssssh -

Don't go round quoting me on

any of that -

I've had quite enough of

the religious right

ta last me 

the rest of forever