Diversion #7: Left turn at Albuquerque
The couple paused outside the bedroom.
"I'll talk to him," said the man. "Man to man. He'll understand better."
The woman looked doubtful. "I don't know, Phil; he's been kind of shy around you."
The man looked at his wife fondly. "He's never had a father around. It'll be all right."
The young teenager looked up as the man stepped into the bedroom. The woman remained in the doorway.
"Well, Duo, are you ready to go yet?" Hearty, between-us-guys tone.
The boy, slender, auburn-haired, sitting cross-legged on the bed looked up curiously. "I didn't know we were going anywhere."
"Oh. I thought Rob told you. We're going to church." He motioned to the closet. "Get your socks and shoes on and grab your coat."
"Church? What is that?"
"Well, a church is a house of worship, like a temple or a mosque," said the man slowly, disturbed by the thought that the boy didn't know what a church was.
"Worship? I don't do that. I don't want to go there." Softly, matter-of-factly.
The man and woman exchanged glances. The woman stepped forward.
"We go to church every Sunday, Duo."
The teenager thought about it. "Why?"
She frowned, not understanding. "To worship God, of course. To become closer to Him and to be with other people who also love God."
"Which god?" asked Duo innocently. "The sun god, the god of storms, the goddess of fertility?"
::Oh, dear! Oh, dear, oh dear, oh dear.:: That poor child!
"Duo, there is only one true God. All others are false gods, sent by Satan to tempt us," said the man. Shocking! How did this heathen child come to be at the Shepherd of the Lambs Center?
Duo nodded, as if to himself, then returned to turning the pages of the magazine on his lap. "I don't believe in that." A statement of fact.
The man and woman looked at each other again. Their work was clearly cut out for them this time. The woman laid her hand on her husband's arm in an 'I'll handle this' gesture. He cleared his throat.
"I'll get the car."
"Duo," said the woman kindly, "Didn't your parents teach you about God?"
The boy thought about that, noting the capitalization of the word in the woman's tone. "No."
"But what did they believe in?"
"Life. Death." Duo shrugged. "What else is there?"
::Oh, dear; maybe they were Buddhists or Muslims or something.:: Catholics, she could cope with; even Jews in a pinch, and she could proudly claim to have returned two wayward young Pagans to the fold, but she didn't know how to deal with some of the odder Eastern cults.
"It's very important that you learn about God. You want to go to Heaven when you die, don't you?" She found herself speaking as if to a much younger child.
"What's heaven?"
"Oh, it's the place where God dwells. If you're good in this life, you get to go to Heaven and be with God when you die."
The boy regarded her silently.
He had the most unusual eyes... They were large and bright and purple. Not violet or lavender, but purple. Sometimes, it felt like he was looking right through her. Sometimes, he was almost scary.
But he was one of Jesus' lost lambs, and her duty to God was to bring him back to the Lord. It was the reason they took in these poor children.
She would just do as she had done for the others, give him a taste of God's Fellowship. Get him into the Youth Group with Rob and Stephanie and the children would help him to see the Light.
"You don't have to commit yourself to God right now. You can take your time and learn," she offered. "But in this house, everyone goes to church. As long as you stay here, you must go to church. House rule."
Duo looked down at the magazine again. He was silent for several minutes. Finally, he looked up at her.
"If that's the rule, then I guess I must go," he said softly.
She patted his shoulder encouragingly. "You'll have a good time, Duo. The kids will introduce you to all their friends. Hurry and get your socks and shoes on; we'll be in the car waiting."
She left, feeling that she had reached him. All children wanted, really, was for someone to give them rules. He would do just fine.
Duo pulled on his socks and his boots. Then he reached under the bed.
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"Honey, it's been fifteen minutes; how long can he take to put on his shoes?" said the man, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
"I'll go get him," said Rob, sliding the van door open.
He was back in two minutes, alone, with a piece of paper in his hand.
"He's gone! Duo's gone! He left a note!"
"Oh, no!" the woman cried. She grabbed the note, holding it so they could all read it.
~ Dear Mister and Missus Gillespie ~ it read ~ I thank you for your hospitality these past few days. I do not share your beliefs and for me to pretend so would make me a liar. I cannot and will not lie, to myself or to anyone else. I understand the bargain, but I cannot accept it. I choose to go instead. I do not know how much my keep has cost; I hope this will go toward covering it. Thank you. Be well. Duo. ~
"What does he mean, his 'keep'?" asked Stephanie.
Rob opened his hand to display a handful of money, coins and bills. "This was under the note." He gave the money to his father, who counted it quickly.
He had a strange look on his face when he finished. His wife turned to him.
"Phil, maybe we can find him... Phil? What's wrong?" She looked at the money in his hand, then back at his face. "Phil...?"
He had to clear his throat twice before his voice steadied. "It's thirty dollars," he said softly. "Exactly thirty dollars..."
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I stood in the shadow of a deep entryway a few doors down and watched them finally drive away. Too bad. It would've been nice to have a roof over my head and a real bed for a while, but not at that cost. Teal warned me about the bargains I would have to make in the Human world, but that wasn't one I wanted to make.
Pretending to believe what they wanted me to believe would be a lie. I don't lie. I run and I hide, I dodge and I duck. I don't lie. Never have; never will.
I stepped onto the sidewalk and began walking again, in the opposite direction, towards the highway.
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