Dedicated to my own little Link.
Lincoln wasn't quite sure when he had turned to religion to help him. It was almost as though he became a Jesus freak overnight. He dragged his entire family along to mass every Sunday, berating them on poor choice of attire. He knelt when he prayed – which could sometimes be for hours at a time – and often forgot to put a pillow under his knees, which meant his legs would go numb.
It was so ironic it made him laugh sometimes. Here he was, the closeted homosexual in the family, reading the Bible nightly and praying to a God who must think he was a horrible sinner for being gay. But Lincoln didn't care. He liked to think that God loved him no matter what and that when the time came for him to be judged, he would be forgiven.
I can't help it if that's the way I am, he reasoned with himself, then he got down on his knees and prayed, Please, God, if I am wrong, help me fix this. I don't want to be this way if it is not your will.
To distract himself from his troubles, Lincoln joined a youth group at the neighboring church, where he met Carla. While she might have been a bit of a ditz, she was always getting the younger girls together for a prayer circle. Once, when she noticed Lincoln watching them, she invited him to come over and join them. She walked him home later that night, which caused quite some whispering the next day at school.
"You little player, you," Benny had said in a high-pitched, mocking voice, tousling Lincoln's hair and pinching his cheek. Lincoln had shrugged him off, trying to convince himself that his stomach had not just been doing gymnastics, that the only reason his cheeks were pink was because Benny had pinched one of them.
"No I'm not," he insisted, though it did not help matters when Carla, spotting him in the hallway later that day, waved. She flashed a huge smile at him and told him that they would be having youth group again that night and that he should come.
"I live, like, a block away from you," she had told him, twirling a lock of her curly hair on her finger. "I'll stop by and we can walk to church together, kay?" Lincoln nodded, feeling his cheeks burn for the second time that day. Carla practically bounced away, obviously excited that he would be coming.
Usnavi and Benny had both teased him about that at lunch, making obnoxious kissing noises when Carla walked past their table to join her friends across the cafeteria. Lincoln had caught both of his friends off-guard with well-aimed punches. He scowled at his sandwich, trying to take deep breaths and calm himself down.
Hi God, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the way Usnavi and Benny were whispering together, no doubt about him. Me again. I just wanted to thank you for having me meet Carla, even though Usnavi and Benny are making fun of me. She's a great person. Usnavi and Benny are just being a little immature about it, that's all. So if you could, I dunno, maybe get them to lay off? Thanks.
He was in a considerably better mood when he opened his eyes and started on his pudding.
((Jesus))