Disclaimer,: I don't own Max ride.
Chapter 9
"Hold her higher, her hair is dragging!" Max protested, lifting her side of the mother's unconscious body higher.
"Is hair really that important right now?" I asked agitatedly. Jeb would be up some and I really didn't want to have to meet him again, he'd be madder than last time.
"Where are we going anyway?" Max sighed, finally understanding my urgency.
"For now, the car," I said, "Your mom's getting heavier by the second."
Soon we were sitting quietly, Ari in his car seat and Dr. M. all belted-up in the passenger seat like she was going for a ride. Max and I were conversing behind the wheel.
"Vroom! Vroom!" Ari giggled, jangling his toy keys. He always did that when we were in the car, waiting for the 'rents to start the car. I paused mid-sentence.
"What?" Max was suddenly aware of my silence. I pointed towards Ari.
"Really?" She sounded more wound up that I did. "He does that every day..."
"Those keys..." I muttered, "They sounded like real car keys..." I turned towards Max, thank God our brains were on the same wave-length, if we said Ari's name too much, he would get very suspicious and not trust anyone.
"Hey Ar," Max grinned at her little brother.
""Hi Max!" He grinned back, "Let's go for a ride."
"Sure, but you have to give us the keys, Captain Ari," Max held out her hand. I held my breath.
Ari hesitated but handed over the keys without fail.
"You steer, I'll work the pedals," Max said, giving me the keys.
I grinned, despite the situation. "You and your left and right problems..."
Max glared at me as she sat on the floor by my feet. I immediately crossed my legs so I could concentrate better.
"Alright," I took a deep breath, put in the key and turned. The car revved to life.
"Max, try out those pedals o' yours." I couldn't stop smiling as we backed slowly down the driveway and onto the street. "Let the games begin."
"And may the odd ever be in your favour..." Max continued the quote.
"Stop." I said. We jerked to a stand-still. "Gently next time," I smiled. "I'll tell you when to stop abruptly like that."
"K."
"Go."
"Yup."
I swerved around a taxi that had stopped unexpectedly, "Slow us down, Max." I instructed as we got close to the turn for the Cathedral.
"How do I do that...?" Max sounded worried.
"Just alternate gas and break really fast." I responded. The turn was getting closer..., "Max...?" I called, nervous now.
"Got it," she said, smiling up at me.
"Good, just in time." We slowed nicely before turning easily onto the empty Cathedral road. "Awesome." I smiled, parking beside the meter and slipping in a dollar's worth of quarters.
"Shouldn't there be a service going on...?" Max asked who was sitting beside me in the driver's seat.
"In the middle of a hot summer day, in July?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Back to school service...?" Max asked hopefully.
"That's the most suicidal thing I've ever heard in my life." I sighed shaking my head at her.
The church was mostly empty so no-one had a problem with two 10 year olds and a 5 year old drag/carrying a grown lady into one of the pews at the back of the church.
I relaxed on the bench and stared up at the ceiling, smiling at the ceiling mosaic of the birth and death of Jesus as I always did. I wondered how he could forgive so easily. How he could just let the people who were to respect him beat him down and hang him on a cross?
"Aren't you gonna pray?" Max's voice brought me back to reality. I turned to look at her.
"Does he really listen?" I asked. I mean, I came here and prayed every time I ran away from St Helen's. I prayed that someone would come and take me home with them. But St. Helen's always found me and I'd get dragged back there, kicking and screaming and yelling at God.
Max shrugged, "I've been told that if you say thanks for stuff before you say the stuff you want you' get what you need."
"What about what you want?"
"If you don't need it yet, or at all, you don't get it."
"Well we need your mom to wake up," I muttered.
"Thank first..." Max reminded me. I sighed; well this should be fun, talk to a being that you don't know can here you. So I sat there thinking about all the things I'd been thankful for, even marginally. I didn't bother to say them out loud cuz Max had told me that God could hear thoughts; whatever that meant. When I had about 15 things, I moved on to the asking. What were those, you may ask, but that's between me and God.
After a while, we just sat and relaxed in the quiet safety of the church.
"Nggh..." Max's mom, I'll now call her Valencia, groaned and sat up. Saying/thinking mom in relation to her sounds wierd.
"Mommy!" Ari wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, "I prayed for you!"
"Me too," Max added.
"And me..." I put in. Valencia looked at us all blankly.
"Um, that's nice but where exactly are we?" she asked.
"The Eastern Arizona Cathedral," I answered, knowing Max and Ari wouldn't know.
"Okay..." Valencia muttered; she was taking it better that I thought, "and how exactly did we get here...?"
"Max and I drove..." I supplied, nonchalantly.
"I was the captain!" Ari supplied
"He had picked up the car keys instead of his plastic keys..." Max said
"No..." Ari frowned. "I have my plastic keys too..." I had to try hard to contain my laughter.
"So you purposefully picked up the keys...?" Max asked in awe.
"Naw," Ari manically. "I had em hid in my underwear since yesterday." I immediately dropped the keys in Valencia's lap, rubbing my hand in my trousers vigorously. The three of them giggled at my reaction.
"Excuse me..." a snooty male voice from behind me made me turn sharply.
"Yes?" I answered in my most in my most civilized voice. The man looked down at me, almost smirking. I wanted to wipe that smile off his face so bad.
"You and your...family," he gestured to Valencia, Max and Ari, "are being quiet disruptive. May we ask you to leave...?"
I wanted to say 'No you may not!' but the whole church (8 people) was watching.
"Not, a problem, we were just leaving anyway," I said. Max and Ari took their cue, standing and helping their mother to stand as well.
"Good after noon, sir," I said coldly as we went out the 'great doors'. Add to my check list, run into trouble in a church. 'Cuz I'm just that special.
Hope u liked
btw, i'm not an atheist, I'm just writing from their POV.
Review and don't get in trouble in church
-S