A/N: I feel bad about the enormous and boring (and enormously boring) note in the previous chapter, so I figured it was only fair to upload two tonight.

Wednesday, September 10

Luke pulled up to the school and stopped his truck. "You gonna be okay, Dave?"

Gordo nodded. He'd asked Luke to bring him to school early today so that maybe he could see if Pastor was there. He felt like he really needed to talk to a Christian, maybe to prove them wrong or something. It was 6:45 right now, and school didn't start until 7:50.

"I'll be fine," Gordo replied.

"Hey, if you ever wanna talk, it's important that you talk to the right people so you get the right answers. Y'know? And, I'm always here."

"I know. But this is something I really need to do by myself." Gordo grabbed his backpack and opened the door. "Thanks, Luke," he said before shutting the door. Luke waved and drove off.

The school was virtually empty. There was a student here and there in the halls, always alone, and maybe a teacher or two walking to their rooms. It was nothing like passing period, where there was an endless sea of teenage kids rushing every which way.

Actually, Gordo found someone he knew on his way to his locker.

"Hey, Joel," Gordo said, walking up to him. Maybe he could talk to him. Joel was Christian.

"What's up, Gordo?" he replied.

"Have you seen Pastor?" Gordo was surprised that he asked for Pastor right away, but on second thought, maybe he couldn't talk to Joel quite as easily as he thought. Gordo didn't know Joel very well, and wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to him about such a serious issue just yet.

"He doesn't get here till 8. Doesn't have class till second skinny."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but you could probably catch him during activity period. Why, what's up?"

"I just had a few questions about the Bible."

"Like what?"

Gordo shook his head. "I don't know if you would understand."

"Try me."

"Well, you know I'm Jewish, and… some of the stuff is just a little shocking, that's all."

"Pretty cool stuff, huh?" Joel asked with a smile.

Gordo snorted. "Not exactly."

"What?"

"I don't know what to think about it."

"Then don't think anything."

Gordo didn't understand. He needed to think something; he needed to believe something, otherwise he was just another person with distorted half-this and half-that spiritual vision. He couldn't play that game. He couldn't walk right on the line. He needed to pick a side.

"It's not that easy."

"Just trust God."

"But I don't even know who God is anymore. I thought I did, and now… it's like when you meet a new friend, right? And they tell you all this stuff, like they have a swimming pool and they're on the football team. Turns out, they live in a trailer and they couldn't throw a ball if their life depended on it."

"Doesn't matter. It's still the same person, right? So just because God 'doesn't have a swimming pool' doesn't mean He's changed."

"But He has! Joel, He, supposedly, has a 'Son.' He never told me that."

"God isn't like any other friend. He always talks, but you can't hear him unless you're listening. When was the last time you listened for God's voice?"

Gordo wasn't sure how to answer that one. Was Joel talking about meditation or something? Or prayer? Well, Gordo prayed at the Synagogue, as for meditation… he couldn't remember the last time he'd done that on his own.

"I guess not recently."

"I think your problem is that you assumed that God has a pool. He never told you that. Maybe your parents told you so, and you trusted them?"

"Are you calling my parents liars?" There was a defensive tone in his voice.

"No. 'Liar' is a harsh word. I'm just saying that… well, somewhere along the line, someone was wrong. Either he did it on purpose for some dumb reason or he assumed something that wasn't true. But either way, he lied to someone, and that someone believed him and passed it on. It's not the person passing it on who's lying, in my mind, because they think it's true. It's that first guy who's guilty."

"So my parents are the 'someones who passed it along?'"

"Something like that, yeah."

"What if that's the truth with Christianity? How can you tell the difference?"

"You just go up to God and ask Him if He really does have a swimming pool." Joel smiled and hit Gordo on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Qué sará, sará."

"Does… does God tell you He has a Son?"

"Yeah, among other things. But you can't take my word for it, right? You need to actually figure it out. So do it."

Maybe Joel did understand. He knew that Gordo had to do this himself, with maybe only guidance from others. Joel knew that Gordo couldn't just take his word for it, he needed to actually ask God.

"Maybe tonight."

"Darkness helps to concentrate," Joel told him. "Just, you know, if you want a tip."

"Thanks."

"Sure." Joel set his backpack down on the hallway floor and pulled out a CD holder. He flipped through it and pulled out a burned CD. "Here. Track 8 reminds me of you. Kind of about going from one religion to another. I don't know if it'll really help you, but you might like listening to it."

"Okay."

"But the first song is the best." Joel sent Gordo a reassuring smile. He didn't know if it would help, but it couldn't hurt.