This poem is spillover from the February 2021 crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by discussions with dialecticdreamer . It also fills the "Begonia - Beware" square in my 2-1-21 "The Language of Flowers" card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth , fuzzyred , and zianuray . It belongs to the Boss Finn and Mercedes threads of the Polychrome Heroics series. "Better Than Their Neighbors Think" [Sunday, March 6, 2016] On Sunday, Fred rambled around Mercedes, getting to know the town and its people a little bit better. A policeman was writing out a "Repair" tag for a bicycle rack. He looked up as Fred approached, then said, "New ink? I didn't know furry people could get tattoos." "Some can, some can't, but this isn't a tattoo -- it's henna. It colors the fur and the skin underneath, and it should wear off in a week or two," Fred said, twisting his hand to show off the solid band and the row of stylized hearts that wrapped his left arm just above the wrist. "Bennett did this." "Yeah, Bennett is a good artist," said the policeman, whose nametag read Officer Fletcher. "I'm just a little leery of bodymods and wild hair dyes; it's job-related. That kid of his ..." He shook his head. "Jules?" said Fred, remembering the paint-fight dye job. "I like him. He's a very helpful young man, especially to those new in town -- he showed me vegetarian restaurants." "Well, when he's not in the midst of a ruckus, maybe," said Officer Fletcher. "That thing with his mother was just a mess and a half for everyone." "It hardly seems fair to blame Jules for that," Fred chided. "Welcome to life in a small town," said Officer Fletcher. "You are only as good as the best thing that your family’s done -- or the worst." "The way to repair a bad reputation is to keep doing actions that prove otherwise," Fred said. "Of course, that's no use if nobody pays attention." Officer Fletcher winced. "Guilty as charged. Every time I'm around the kid, I keep hearing the rumors in my head." "Oh, is that the problem?" Fred said. His cookie-shaped ears perked up. "Positive affirmations can retune all kinds of beliefs. Just drop by Soup to Nuts or a counseling center and ask how to fix bad tape by replacing it with better ideas, and someone can help you with that." "Thanks, I'll try it," said Officer Fletcher. "I went through a round at work, but focusing on professional bearing hasn't done a thing to budge it." "Of course not," said Fred. "You can't fix bad tape by pulling it out and leaving the gap. Nature abhors a vacuum. You have to replace it with something better." Officer Fletcher made a note on his smartphone. "Thanks again," he said. "I'm off duty soon, so I can follow your leads then." "You're welcome," Fred said, and then went on his way. He was in a convenience store buying snacks -- this one had cups of carrots and celery -- when he heard some teens gossiping about Jules. Fred recognized them as high school students from Jules' class. He cleared his throat. "Ladies," he said. "It's not nice to talk about people behind their back. I'm sure you wouldn't like anyone doing that to you." The girls looked at each other, and then stared at him. "Shana, is he for real?" one of them whispered. Fred had heard that name before, not in a good context, but he tried to tune it out and give her a fair chance. "Do you have any idea how many times we've gotten in trouble just for being around Jules?" Shana said sullenly. "People like him give all teens a bad name." "The unkindest thing you can do to a human is to tarnish their reputation in front of others just to make yourself look good," Fred said. They stared at him again, and then scurried away. Teenaged girls could be incredibly mean sometimes. Well, maybe they'd grow out of it. The boys were just as bad, though -- Fred heard Anthony Dice saying almost the same things. "Everyone deserves a chance to be themselves and not bound up in other people's expectations," Fred said. "Jules is a nice boy who lets people be themselves." "I don't see how you can put up with someone who has a reputation that bad," Anthony muttered. That was ironic, given what Fred had heard about Anthony and the Tulls' former house burning down earlier. "Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street," Fred said quietly. Anthony looked down, then sidled away, and his friends followed him. Fred bought his snacks and went back outside. He tried not to let the encounters drag his mood down -- he'd heard that Mercedes had issues but people were working to improve it. After all, that's what he was doing out here, trying to nudge things in a better direction. Then he heard someone swearing under a car. Fred leaned down. "Is everything all right?" "No," a woman grumbled. She squirmed out from under the car, but seemed to be moving rather stiffly. "Hand up?" Fred offered, holding out his paw. "Thanks," she said, pulling herself to her feet. "I'm Remedios Garza. I work at the mall and I fix things. My auto de mierda broke down again. I got it fixed, but now my back is killing me." "I'm Fred Lehrer," he said. "I know a great bodyworker." He offered Remedios a card for Bennett's business. "He's good with a wide range of things -- he did the henna work for me, and he does great massage even with all my fur in the way." "Bennett?" she said. "I've heard some things about him ..." "Don't let other people's opinions of a person ruin their reputation with you," Fred advised. "That's a good way to miss opportunities." "Fair point," Remedios said. "I'll check him out later." Then she got in the car, which actually did start, although it sounded rough even to Fred's unpracticed ear. Fred watched her pull away, then went back to eating the snacks that he'd bought. A few blocks farther along, he came to a pocket park full of people milling around. The Tony Hawk Texture Park lay between a mixed-use building on the left and a cluster of multiplex apartments and small offices on the right. Each side had a swath of foundation landscaping, and in the middle there lay a whimsical patchwork plaza made from poured concrete, stone, wood, sand, and other materials done in soft leaf-like curves. Concrete curbs and seats offered opportunities for skateboarders, while the different textures invited people to walk and clamber around the park. A water garden on the left offered a precious resource for local wildlife, and in the middle lay a rock garden full of succulents. Fred had heard that this was a popular place for busking, demonstrations, sidewalk sales, and other small gatherings because it was mostly paved and wasn't in the main flow of foot traffic. Currently the park held clusters of people bickering over the proposal to set up a Triton Teen Center in town. There were booths for and against it, with people handing out all sorts of flyers and other information. Several people were struggling to set up a first aid booth, too. Fred recognized a local nurse, and Duilio clearly had his hands full, so Fred ambled over to help. They got the table and awning unfolded, and then Duilio frowned over the chalkboard he was using to lay out a schedule and services. "We don't have enough people for this much activity," he grumbled. "I think the Finns are all busy today, but you could ask Bennett -- he has advanced first aid training for his bodymod work," Fred said. In fact, Bennett had patched together enough training to wallpaper the foyer in certifications for unusual techniques and medical support. Currently he was learning new things to accommodate the special needs of some soups. "What makes you think that Bennett is such a great person, when everyone knows he's a biker thug?" Duilio said. "You should beware of guys like that, not seek them out." "People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are," said Fred. "I've found Bennett and Jules much more personable than the people who criticize them." Duilio looked away. "Well ... we are shorthanded today. I guess I'll think about it." That was about as good as it usually got around here. Drifting through the gather, Fred found Cecil Dahlman, one of the spotters for Kraken. Cecil was technically colorblind, but that made it easier for him to notice subtle shifts in color that most people couldn't see easily, like crayon soups whose hair was close to brown but had a faint bronze sheen to it. "Hi, Cecil, it's good to see you here," Fred called. "Yeah, I'm keeping an eye on things today," Cecil said. "Hey, did you get a tattoo?" "Not a tattoo, this is henna," Fred explained. "Bennett thinks that this could make good temporary body art for soups, because it colors both the fur and the skin." "What a great idea," Cecil said. "I know some furry folks who would probably love doing that. Your armband looks sort of reddish-brown to my eyes. What color is it, really?" "It actually is reddish-brown," Fred said. "Bennett told me that henna can make a range of red, brown, and strawberry blond hues, or black if you add other things." "Oh, now I want one," Cecil said. "So much looks different to me than to most people. That's why I wear mostly blue and yellow, because I can see those colors pretty well, but some browns come through too." "Then tell Bennett I sent you," Fred said, offering Cecil a card. "Gladly," Cecil said, pocketing it. "What's up?" Captain Kelvin said as he came alongside of them. "Cecil was just admiring my new artwork," Fred said, showing off the new design. "Bennett thinks that henna is a good option for furry folks." "Bennett is a genius," said Captain Kelvin. "He's great with wild young things. Did you know that he has a whole routine to figure out whether you really want a tattoo? Jules has one for hair color, too." "It figures those two would be hanging out with other supervillains," Mrs. Bowens said with a sniff. Fred's ears flattened. He'd met the social worker while going through some paperwork for his own project, and he was not at all impressed with her. "Oh, they're not actually in the black, but we in the supervillain community would be delighted to have them," said Captain Kelvin. "So if you don't start treating them better, then we will steal them from you, and you will be shit out of luck." "Even Bennett and Jules would never go with the likes of you," Mrs. Bowens said, glaring. "Really?" Cecil drawled. "Well, you can't just -- just poach people like that!" Mrs. Bowens said. "Our offer begins with a full college scholarship. What are you putting up, then?" Cecil countered. Mrs. Bowens sputtered at him incoherently, then she whirled and flounced away. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Cecil said. "A full college scholarship?" said Fred. "I was given to understand that Jules is still ambivalent about college, since he didn't think he could go." Cecil waved a hand. "It doesn't have to be college, of course," he said. "Just whatever kind of education Jules might want." "We have great contacts for the Get a Life program," Captain Kelvin said proudly. "World citizenship is also available if Jules doesn't want to move to Thalassia." "I could see him enjoying Get a Life," mused Fred. "Jules needs to spend time in places that don't already have expectations of him." "True of many teens here," said Cecil. "I've spotted several who could really use a hand up, but some of them are really hard to reach, especially the new boy who wears a hat even indoors." Fred chuckled. "Do you have one of those social alert buttons that says you're colorblind?" "Sure, why?" Cecil asked. "Put that on and then try approaching him from the front," Fred said. "Privacy maintains, but I can hint you that much." "Thanks for the tip, man," Cecil said. "I owe you one." Fred waved it off. "Don't worry about it," he said. "We're all trying to make Mercedes a better place." "Speaking of which, Boss Finn and I hope to take advantage of the town's Connect the Dots program in landscaping our respective projects, to help local wildlife travel between parks," said Captain Kelvin. "We're both doing native landscaping with some edibles. Could we interest you in doing the same with your Mercedes Meeting Hall?" "Oh, goodness yes," Fred said. "I was hoping to put in something like a contemplation garden, maybe native flowers and Mediterranean herbs. None of the properties I'm considering have a large yard, though, so I haven't looked for grants or guidelines yet." "No point reinventing the wheel, I'll just send you what I've collected for my properties -- I've settled on a pair of connected lots that used to house a business front along with its warehouse," said Captain Kelvin. "You can get a lot of stuff free if you go for xeriscaping and native plants," Cecil said. "We've got some teens involved in collecting freebies for the Triton Teen Center already." "It's good to get them involved," Fred said. "Hmm, I should see if any business owners want to chip in for the Meeting Hall. Bennett would probably love to sketch the flowers." "Probably so," said Captain Kelvin. "It's early March, so if you can begin soon, you could take out any unwanted lawn and start some native plants before the weather dries out in summer." "Yes, weather is important," Fred said, taking some notes on his smartphone. "Thank you both, this is very helpful." "Any time," Captain Kelvin said, waving as Fred moved on. Among the crowd, he saw a reporter taking notes, one of the local muckrakers called Alfonso Durante. That could prove useful. "Hi, I'm Fred," he said. "Finding any news?" "Alfonso," the reporter said. "People are all worked up over the Triton Teen Center. Lots of opinions, no facts." "I might know where you could find some facts, if you could give me a hand with my project," Fred said. "What project?" said Alfonso. "I'm trying to make improvements in the falsely maligned reputation of Jules and Bennett," said Fred. "I'm not sure what all that has to do with me," Alfonso said. "Whether true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence on their lives, and particularly on their destinies, as what they do," Fred pointed out. "Point," Alfonso said. "Journalism requires a lot of responsibility. What would you want?" "Nothing too direct, unless you talk with Bennett and he agrees to a human interest bit," said Fred. "I was thinking more like something on police conduct or the danger of malicious rumors." Alfonso's mouth quirked into a half-smile. "Everyone has been burned by rumors at least once," he said. "Sure, I can work with it." Fred tilted his head toward where Captain Kelvin stood by a Triton Teen Center booth. "See that guy in the NASA tie?" said Fred. "That's Captain Kelvin. He's launching the Triton Teen Center. You can tell him I sent you, as long as you don't make a pest of yourself." Alfonso smirked. "I only pester people who deserve it," he said, and then trotted off to talk with Captain Kelvin. After that, Fred decided that he'd done enough patchwork for the day, and headed back to Bennett's shop. When the door opened, Jules looked up from behind the desk and Bennett put down the broom. "Hey, Fred, what's up?" Bennett said. "I showed off my new artwork," Fred said. "You may get a new customer or two." "That's always welcome," Bennett said, grinning. "Also, I did a little bit of reputation touchup for the two of you," Fred said. "Some people are still being rude, but others are receptive." "I really appreciate the help," Bennett said. "I guess I'm just a little surprised that you'd do it. You just moved into town and don't really have a stake in this." "I never judge someone's character based on the words of another," Fred said. "Instead, I study the motives behind the words of the person who casts the bad judgment. That tends to be much more illuminating." "Can't argue with that one," Jules said. "Most of the people who diss me are bullies one way or another." "And you shouldn't have to put up with that; no one should," Fred said. He wanted both Jules and Bennett to feel valued and not excluded. "That's true," Bennett said. "Hey, do you have time for a massage? I just got in a new batch of dry shampoo made of fuller's earth and lavender that I think will work great with currycombs for the furry." Fred gave a happy rumble. "I would love that," he said. "I really appreciate how much work you put into accommodating the different body types that soups have." "What can I say?" Bennett replied. "I love a challenge and I love making people happy. It's interesting to find out solutions to the puzzles people bring me. Jules, block out an hour on the board." "On it," Jules said as he turned to the large whiteboard that displayed appointments and available times. Bennett was humming happily as he led Fred toward the back. Fred would call that a win. * * * Notes: This poem is long, so its character , location, and content notes will appear separately.