Disclaimer: RENT is Jonathan Larson's, the Iliad is Homer's, Valinor is Tolkien's, etc.
--
Tom Collins didn't believe much in what he learned at church. The stories were all right, entertaining enough, but frankly he believed more in the Valinor than in Heaven. His beaten-up, rusty, reliable old darling of a once-was Toyota truck sported a bumper sticker proudly announcing that "Zeus is God, Read the Iliad".
But he was seventeen and he loved his parents, and they attended church religiously, so Tom attended, too, kneeling and praying and taking communion and confessing. He had confessed earlier ("Bless me Father, for I have sinned: I had sexual thoughts about Bryan Dunne and I don't think they're actually sinful, Father…") and after a long "confessument" with the priest, Tom knelt and began his penance.
"YOU DARE!"
Everyone in the church turned, except Tom. As Tom remained on his knees before the Blessed Virgin, he stopped thinking that he'd rather go down before Jesus. He barely seemed to move but for a small smile that graced his lips.
Tom knew who was in the confessional.
"YOU MOCK THE SACRISTY, AND YOU MOCK THE LORD OUR GOD!"
Tom mouthed a Hail Mary: Hail-Mary-full-of-grace-blessed-art-thou-among-women… He heard two steps of footsteps storm toward him accompanied by a series of yelps. Someone joined him, a pair of knees thudding heavily to the floor.
"Stay here until I speak with your mother!" the priest snapped, then he stormed off, muttering.
When he was gone, Tom asked quietly, "What did you do?"
"I don't even know!" Roger answered. He rubbed his knees. "I mean, yeah, I sinned, but…"
"What sin?" Tom asked. He thought he was the biggest 'sinner' in the congregation, but he had never been forcibly expelled from confession. He shivered with unaccustomed envy: Tom had never seen before someone behave worse than him, and he wasn't sure he liked it. Especially not if that someone was lanky fourteen-year-old Roger Davis.
"I don't know," Roger insisted. "Well. I dishonored my father. I said a cuss to him. But before I could even tell the priest, he threw me out!"
"What'd you tell him?"
"That I broke the sixth commandment."
Tom's eyes popped open for the first time since he had knelt to pray. He looked sidelong at Roger. Slowly a smile spread onto his face. Tom's lips parted, and he began to laugh.
"What?" Roger asked. "What?!"
"Roger, honoring your parents is the fourth commandment."
"Oh. What's the sixth?"
"Adultery."
...the end!
Review? Pretty please? (and pretty please check out my community, 'rentfichallenge', on livejournal. This is an rfc fic, and I really want to keep the community going!)