Sunday was church day and the boys enjoyed the opportunity
to go out in the car. Any chance to take a ride in the brown pony (for that was
what it was called) was relished. Unlike other days, on Sunday mornings their
mother was always up before them and prepared a breakfast of eggs and toast.
They put on their Sunday finest, which for the boy dolphin
at least, didn’t fit very well. His white button-down shirt was uncomfortable
and at least 5 centimetres too short at the wrist. His blue slacks were too
tight to even close the buttons at the waist and showed his ankles. On these
days he was even forced to wear sandals, even though they too were too small
and his heels fell of the back.
Nevertheless, the mood was happy and jubilant. The sun shone
brightly that morning as they drove along the street, past the trivium (ascorbic
acid is known as Vitamin C), down the hill, across the bridge, past the library
and shopping centre, and past the school. The church was farther, even, than
this and the once-a-week pleasure of seeing something beyond the perimeter of
the valley was dizzying to the boys. They boy dolphin was the eldest and so he
enjoyed the privilege of riding in the front seat.
In the church parking lot, the boy went to his Sunday school
to be indoctrinated with a lot of mindless babble he didn’t believe. Even at
his limited experience and knowledge of the world, he didn’t believe the
fanciful stories about creation, the garden of Eden, the great flood, and the
Exodus from Egypt.
Now, the boy didn’t believe the stories he was told, but
that doesn’t mean he wasn’t able to rattle off the stories and could even
embellish them with his own flourishes. For example, the story of Noah featured
a sequence where dolphins helped guide the Ark when it was lost and the doves
hadn’t returned with their branches yet.
Other than the embellishments, which were heavily frowned
upon, the Sunday school teacher saw nothing but a clever, devout, and dedicated
student of the Word. If he had known that there were sincere people in the
world who actually believed in things like right and wrong, fact and fiction, things
sacred and profane, then he might have tried to be more sincere, or at least,
not let his insincerity out as often.
The only upside to the boredom of Sunday school was Mia’s
presence. She would dress in white as usual, except that she had a special
white dress that was almost like a wedding gown that she wore every Sunday. The
dress was always tied with a pink sash and bow, which offset the white wonderfully.
She also wore a blue headband that set her hair off her beautifully shaped
forehead.
In between Sunday school and the church service with the
adults, the children usually tucked in to loads of free doughnuts. Today,
however, the boy grabbed Mia’s hand and they ran off behind a building where
they could be alone between the wall and a fence.
The boy asked if she really were going to be leaving soon. She
nodded and avoided eye contact. The boy asked if they could kiss like adults
do. She nodded. He kissed her on the cheek, chastely. They stood for a while
and he grabbed her hand. She was dejected and he was at a loss.
Finally, he asked if they could hump. She brightened
considerably and nodded. She agreed that they should hump and she knew exactly
how. She was an expert from watching the dogs. He nodded but was unsure how to
proceed. His bluff had been called and he didn’t have the cards to show.
Fortunately, Mia knew what she was doing and lifted her
dress to her shoulders. She told the boy he should drop his trousers. The boy
easily undid his zipper and the trousers fell. Mia told him they should hug and
he stepped forward and put his hands on her waist awkwardly. Mia moved a step
closer so that their stomachs almost met. The boy asked if they should take off
their underwear. Mia said that he could if he wanted to.
The boy dropped his underwear and was embarrassed to notice
that he could see people and cars moving in the alley on the other side of the
fence. He decided to ignore the shame an hugged Mia. They stood that way for a
while and the boy asked if they were humping. Mia said yes. The boy asked if
Mia should take off her underwear. She said that she didn’t need to – her mother
always kept on a garter belt when she humped.
They separated and the boy pull up his underwear and
trousers quickly to hide his tiny erection. Mia had noticed, however and
covered her mouth to stop from laughing. The boy flushed with shame and left.
Mia followed quickly, covering herself with her dress.
The boy went into the chapel where the service had already
started. He walked along the side aisle to the pew where his mother usually
sat. He sat down next to the aisle as his mother shot him an angry look. The
boy was uncomfortable in his small clothing and was concerned with something
strange happening in his pants. No matter how he pushed down the bump in his
crotch, it would spring back up.
He tried to cover it up with a hymn book, but his mother,
seemingly oblivious to his plight, swatted the book away from him. He wasn’t allowed
to play with the book until it was time to sing. He kept thinking of his
humping encounter with Mia and couldn’t help feeling like a conquering hero and
mighty adventurer. When the singing started, he was glad to stand and hide the
bump in his trousers.
During the singing, it was a ritual that the pastor asked
for believers who wanted to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts could come
forward to the altar. The boy had asked his mother about going to the altar and
had mistaken his curiosity of “why” with curiosity of “how”. She had explained
to him with proud tears welling up in her eyes that she would be so proud of
him for walking forward.
The pastor said that anyone who came forward would be
welcomed into heaven and if they repented of their sins. The boy didn’t know
what sins or Heaven were, but he was morbidly fascinated with the people who
trudged forward to accept Jesus. He decided to go up to find out what was going
on with the accepting Jesus into one’s life thing.
He motioned to his mother to go forward and she nodded,
nearly bursting out in tears. She motioned him on and he put down the hymnal
and stepped moved across the pew to the aisle. All the people who moved their
knees so he could go by smiled magnanimously and several old people
congratulated him and tapped his shoulder in approval.
However, when he stepped into the aisle, he lost his resolve
and wanted to turn back. It was too late, however, as nearly everyone in the
church was looking at him, it seemed. He twisted his fingers together and
smashed his palms in agitation. He willed his feet to move forward toward the
stairs and was grateful to notice his erection had died.
After an interminable walk that seemed like an hour, he
reached the steps and the pastor put his hand on the boy’s head and prayed
something unintelligible. The singing stopped and the boy stood on the stairs
with two other people who were accepting Jesus. The new pledges turned to face
the congregation. The boy felt light headed and faint. He had never stood
before so many people. It was difficult to breathe and he saw darkness closing
in on the edges of his vision.
The pastor finished saying something, and then a deacon came
up and walked the three converts to the other side of the stage and into a side
office. They sat down and the deacon began interviewing each person in turn.
The boy dolphin was very observant and well-versed in mimicry as dolphins should
be. He was able to answer the questions that were put to him during his
interview so that he sounded like he was a sincere and even ardent believer in
Christ.
When asked what sins he wanted to be forgiven, he thought
for a long time. He wasn’t sure what sins were, after all, but he knew that
they were probably bad things that one felt sorry for. So the boy apologised for
melting crayons in class on hot plate once.
The deacon and two converts laughed at that, they must have
thought it cute. The boy, however, was indignant and ready to defend himself.
He needn’t have gotten worked up, however, because the deacon patted the boy on
the head and was told him that he was forgiven and God had a special place for
him in Heaven.
The boy stayed in the side office until after the sermon was
over and his mother and brother came in. His mother was overly emotional and
proud of her son. She was over the moon with his devotion and purity of spirit.
They walked out to the parking lot and many people the boy didn’t know
congratulated him and shook his hand. He was embarrassed and stared at the
ground and mumbled whenever this happened.
The ride back in the car was marred by an event the boy didn’t
remember. He recalled the car braking quickly and his mother’s arm reaching out
in front of him to stop him. The only thing he realised later was that his
mother and brother and he were outside the car in the street. She was guiding
them to the sidewalk where they sat down.
The traffic was snarled on the street and the rear of the
brown Pinto was crushed. Fluid leaked out of the rear of the car and ran down
the gutter. Their mother was talking to a group of people and the police while
the two boys sat on the sidewalk.
A kind man appeared next to them. The boy looked up at the
man but didn’t recognise him with the sun shining at his back.
No comments:
Post a Comment