Jerome, the black guy of the group, Jim, Asian guy of the group, Luke, one of the many white guys in the group, Luke and the others always tell racist jokes, “Jerome is like soy sauce, he’s so black”, “Jim, my neighbor’s dog is missing, did you steal it and eat it?” said Luke, and the rest of the group laughs, Jerome and Jim gets hurt, Luke doesn’t know, how was he supposed to know it hurts their feelings, it was just a joke…right?
A day later, Luke and the group was hanging out in the cafeteria just before the bell rings, and Jerome and Jim was quiet, not joking around. Luke just thought maybe they’re just sleepy, didn’t get enough sleep, maybe a joke would lighten them up. “Jerome, why are you so quiet, are you tired? Up at night stealing things? And Jim, you too, were you too busy doing math to sleep?” The rest of the group laughs, except for Jerome and Jim. The bell rings and everyone went to class.
Later on, at lunch, Luke and the group heading to the cafeteria, “Hey, I smell pizza!” someone says out loud, “Hmm, I guess we’re having pizza for lunch” Luke says. The group got their lunch and sat on their table. “Hey where’s my milk?” Luke asks, “Hey how did it get there? It’s not like my milk has legs and it walked over there, ah whatever”.
Every single day, Jerome and Jim always gets joked about, and most of the jokes are racist, “Jim, how do Asians get their name? By dropping cooking pots down the stairs! Ching Ling Ting Tong!” Everyone laughs and has a great time, except for Jerome and Jim. The group doesn’t know that, they’re just joking around and Jerome and Jim knows that, or do they? As the day goes on, Jerome’s girlfriend breaks up with him and Jerome becomes heart broken, and Jim’s one and only pet died on the same day.
Every time Jerome and Jim gets joked about, it’s like their getting stab in their feelings, or like stepping on nails, so painful, so rough, they just want it to stop. The next day Luke and the rest of the group was in the cafeteria like usual, just hanging out, Luke notices Jerome and Jim weren’t there, so he thought they were probably just late, probably skipping school, or maybe their sick. The end of the day, still no Jerome and Jim.
Next day, at school, there was cops at the school. “Hey, what’s up with the cops?” Luke asks. The teacher walks up to him and asks’ “Are you friends with Jerome and Jim”, “Yea, why?” Luke asks. “They committed suicide, the parents think they were being bullied. We have some letters that they wrote for you” The teacher says. After reading the letter Luke says “Me?? Me bullying them?? We just joke around having a good time…or I think we are. If only I knew, if only they told me…I mean…I didn’t know…I thought were just joking around having fun, but I didn’t know it hurts them.” Later on the day, the word gets around. If only Luke and the others stop being racist.
The funeral day, Luke and the group were all there. Luke still can’t accept the fact that because of his jokes, they committed suicide. His view of jokes changed, every time someone makes a joke, he would get reminded of Jerome and Jim. If only he would’ve stopped, like a car in front of a stop sign. Luke’s life will never be the same, if only he knew.