"Who the hell is Jesus of Suburbia?" Gloria asked.

"He's the savior, as well as the dealer, of a lot of runaway kids. A cop tried bringing him in, but Jesus, that resourceful son of a bitch, zapped the cop with a tazor meant for outlaws. Since he made such clever escape there's a party on some fucked up street. Wanna come?" Christian asked.

"Well, it sounds like a lot of drinking, smoking pot, breaking into pharmacies...I don't think James would mind."

"James being...?"

"He's our leader. We ask him for advice when we don't know what to do. We ask his guidance when we're lost. He hates the corruption just like us. He's what's slowly destroying it, brick by brick."

"He hates the corruption or just the authorities?"

"Well, all the authorities by know are the corruption so I don't see the difference. Why do you ask?"

"Because Jesus told me he had a friend who could vandalize the shit out of anything. He said the guy's name was Jimmy, as in James. And this guy, Jimmy had all these addictions; he was a pothead, a smoker, a drinker, a junkie and everything in between. But he never said a leader. Jimmy was always independent, you know, an outcast. He didn't like to be depended on. He hated the world," Christian explained.

"James is proud to call himself our leader. And besides, James is a common name. I don't think they're the same person," Gloria concluded.

"So, you wanna come?"

"Tell me your story first."

"Okay, well, when I was little I tried to take control of as much as I could. I would try to tell people what I thought, but nobody would listen. I was rejected from almost everything. The only people who welcomed me were potheads and junkies--" Christian suddenly shut up.

"What's wrong? Is everything all right?" Gloria asked.

"It's just a memory I'll never forget, but at least Johnny won't truly die."

"What happened?"

"Johnny was a junkie. He got me to come with him to break into a pharmacy. He tossed me this jar of pills and we heard a noise. He told me to 'Take the damn pills and run.' but I was scared. He kept telling me to run but I couldn't. Then he got shot. I did run that time. I ran as far as I could, as fast as I could and in loving memory of Johnny I swallowed a handful of pills. That was the first time I saw someone get killed," Christian stopped talking before his voice could crack.

"That's harsh, but it could always be worse," Gloria told him sympathetically, "at least you're passing the memory of him around. He'll never die while you're alive and kicking. What about your mom and dad?" Gloria asked.

"I was afraid to tell them I was getting into pot and cocaine so I decided to run away. I had to live on the streets because, well, it was either that or submit to the charlatan fanatics," he said mockingly with a fake shudder. "At one point, I actually cut myself. The fire in my veins poured out like a flood."

"Anything else?"

"Well, back to those charlatan fanatics, they said I was so evil it would be a lie to say I'm kind as a demon. What else? Oh yeah, my parents, total shit-heads, called me 'Catastrophe' because whenever I was around something bad happened. Some kids look up to me and call me their 'chosen one' but in all actuality I'm more like an atom bomb. I'll destroy myself and all those around me. Poor bastards, they don't see the poison in their water. They're all gonna die because they only see what they wanna see."

"Yeah, at least they trust you. James says he knows he's trusted and he's able to help all the mindless zombies, blind followers, and American idiots because they trust him. He can free all the future lobotomized freaks from the corruption and those charlatan fanatics."

Christian didn't respond. Gloria was talking about this James character a lot. He looked in her eyes, there was a certain softness about them. It was as if they were still trying to hold her innocence. She seemed so, so, so perfect. As far as he could see, she was absolutely flawless. He remembered that he was thinking about James and felt almost envious.

"How much do you think James likes you?" Christian asked nervously.

"Christian, are you jealous?" Gloria asked, trying to suppress her giggles and laughter.

"No!" though he started getting red in the face.

"Hm-hm, James is basically our older brother. We look up to him and he protects us from corruption and charlatan fanatics."

"Oh, okay, so that party's tomorrow wanna come?"

"Of course, as long as you'll be there."