Ellen cracked a smile at Zephyr’s joke regarding his fortune for being bunked with all of the women, and she was preparing quite a tasteful and appropriate joke in response when Abigail heard something that caught her interest. She asked him about his reference to [i]Gods[/i], one that honestly, Ellen had completely missed the first time through.

What should have been a simple clarification and move on wasn’t, though, because Abigail went on a tirade about him being a heretic and saying he was going to hell. It got [i]worse[/i] as the girl began to rant about him screwing goats.

“Che cazzo!” Ellen’s eyes widened and she had to fight the urge to throw a hand over Abi’s mouth and literally drag her away from the situation before she made it any worse. “Abi. NO. Just no!” She threw her hands up between the two, as if she was pulling them away from a physical altercation.

Zephyr probably wanted to speak for himself, but Ellen was not going to let Abi’s remark slide, and Zephyr didn’t seem confrontational enough to get to the root of the issue. “Look, Abi. I know you are just a kid, and you don’t know better. But those things aren’t true, and you aren’t asking in a respectful way. There…” She glanced at Zephyr and at Brooks-- of course the only time he spoke up it would be to back up the goat-fucking accusation. Useless.

“There is a lot to unpack in what you said. But when you are confronted with someone different from you, you don’t throw every stereotype and assumption at them like it is 100% factual. You ask. Respectfully. Like this.” Ellen turned to Zephyr and spoke slowly for the teenager’s benefit. “Wow, Zephyr. It is so interesting to hear that you believe in different deities. I’ve heard a bit about being pagan, but I would love to know more from someone with real experience. Can you tell me a little about how that worship works?” 

Ellen then turned back to Abigail. “You need to understand that each individual has an inner truth that guides them. That truth might be different from yours. And you might not even like someone else’s truth. But you can’t steamroll over someone else’s truth with your own. So now it’s your turn. Don’t assume you know his truth. Ask politely.” Ellen gestured for the girl to try again, hoping she wouldn’t have to babysit every time Abigail opened her mouth.