Eighth Lovely

About a week into the school year, Couro came home running. As soon as I opened the front door, my daughter ran up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. She looked up at me with a light in her eyes, jumping up and down excitedly. I managed to carry her inside and left the door unlocked for Gora to slip in. I sat her down and looked at her as she struggled to get the words out.
Finally, a stream of words just poured out of her, "Daddy, there's this kid in my class who's a little funny looking and his name is Aidan. When I said that though, Ms. Gardener yelled at me for being mean. I wasn't trying to be mean, Aidan's really nice. He just has a funny face so I said so. And I started crying because Ms. Gardener kept saying I was being mean." 
"Well--"
"And, and, and," she continued. Her hands were flapping as she rushed to say everything on her mind. "Aidan saw me crying and he asked me why. And I asked him if I was mean to him. And he said that people have said worse about his face and that he knew I wasn't trying to be mean. So I asked him if it hurt him, and he said a little bit. We then talked a bit and he said he really really really likes this book series called First Up and he has all of the books except for the last three. Can we go out and buy them for him? I don't want him to think I'm mean."
"He doesn't--"
"Aidan's really nice and he's been talking to me all week. He hugs me and he's really tall but he's still in fourth grade and says he's eight too. He even says his birthday is after mine, so I should be older, but he's probably as tall as you, Daddy. I don't really mind his face when I look at him. I don't really know why I said it's funny either, I just said what I saw. He has brown skin with white patches all over and on his face and neck and left arm there are browner and black spots. He says he was born with vitigo and was burned two years ago. I asked what it feels like to be burned and he said after a moment of pain it doesn't really feel like anything."
She remained quiet for a minute, but I cautiously waited for her to start back up. "...Couro?"
"Yes, Daddy?"
"Anything else you want to add before I speak?"
She put her small finger on her lip and thought. Under her hand, I saw a small blush as she added, "Uh, Aidan's hands are really soft. Even the burned one. And he's really funny. You should meet him, you'd like him."
"Aww." I turned and saw Gora leaning on the wall behind me and snickering. "Does she like him? How cute." Couro was now beat red and she looked up at her brother and pouted. "I remember my first crush. Ah, such innocent times."
Frustrated, Couro yelled, "I do not like him! Crushes are gross!" At that, Gora mockingly laughed and slipped away into the shadows of the hallway.
I looked at Couro, an angry, flustered, confused little girl. Gently, I brushed my fingers through her black coily hair. "Crushes are perfectly normal, y'know." She looked up at me, only half believing. "They happen to everyone. Even I, your forty-year-old father, still get crushes. It's natural. Just, don't rush into anything, and I'd prefer you keep me posted, alright?" After a moment, she nodded. "Thank you. Also, I believe the word you were look for was vitiligo. He has lighter patches of skin all over? Then yeah, not vitigo. And the thing about his face...that was kind of mean, sweetie. I know you didn't intend to hurt him, and I know he forgave you, but you can't just say those kinds of things about people. You need to be careful."
Couro scrunched her eyebrows together and whined, "But Gora said it! He saw Aidan the other day while dropping me and said he has a 'fucked up face.' I thought it sounded rude and didn't know what it meant, so I said 'funny' instead."
I blinked. "He said what."
"He said he has a 'fu-'"
"Don't repeat that. That is beyond rude and Gora and I are having a long conversation. You, little missy, watch your mouth and treat this Aidan kid well, understood?"
"Yes, sorry."
"You're alright," I patted her head and stood up. "I'll come explain that word later. For now, go and take care of your homework." Nodding, Couro got off the couch and scurried up to her room.
Instead of going straight to Gora, I prepared a cup of tea for myself, to help me get my head on straight. Last thing I wanted to do was go off on Gora. It was obvious yelling didn't really do much on him anymore. If he didn't understand why I'm upset, then he didn't understand. If he didn't understand, then he wouldn't try to and just do it again. Communication was key with him and I knew I wouldn't be able to pull that off when I'm screaming at him.
My head hurt. A whole week of work, and the day I'm home, I find out my almost an adult of a child is insulting eight-year-olds. I was shaken up, I didn't really think Gora had that in him. Sure, his face is different, but 'fucked up?' And in front of Couro too? It took downing the whole cup before I managed to tame my boiling anger. Gora had become so difficult lately. Always insisting on toying with Couro, having no respect, and using his looming adulthood as a reason to not care. It's not that I don't love him, I was just so fed up. After Kutu, there were some behavioral changes that made sense. I didn't really bother him because I thought he was grieving. But he's had an extra layer of apathy and mischief lately and I was so worried. Something was clearly going on with him, I just didn't know how to find out what if he wouldn't listen to me.
After a few minutes of sulking on the kitchen table, I lifted myself up. It was time to talk to Gora, finally get to the bottom of this.