"Hurry up!"
John's voice was ringing in my ears. He wouldn't allow me to work on my essay until after I went with him to church.
"God comes before EVERYTHING, remember Charley? Everything. Remember that."
I did remember it. I couldn't do anything without being sure it was what God wanted, and even after I did it, I had to thank God for being able to do it. He's been that way about his religion for as long as we've been friends, and we've been friends for as long as I can remember. 17 years of living, and he's been my friend for at least 16 of them. That's friendship for you.
"C'mon Charley, we haven't got all day."
"Comin' Johnny!"
He likes it when I call him Johnny. I like it too. Charley and Johnny. Best friends forever.
I made it to church and started praying for my salvation. Johnny said that I would never be saved unless I prayed my heart out. I never had known what he meant. Maybe he wants me to pray like him...when Johnny prays, he starts sweating a lot and gets on his knees and cries to The Lord. So did a lot of others in our church. But none of them quite as dramatic as Johnny. He almost literally seemed to be on fire with the flames of God.
"Oh my Lord God Almighty please save me from my transgressions! Oh please for I cannot do it on my own PLEASE SAVE ME GOD!! Give us the strength to spread your word please God help is spread your word to the damned so they might be saved! Have mercy on our souls!"
He prayed about salvation for others a lot. He said that he didn't want to be lonely in heaven, and that we as believers needed to spread the Good News.
"It's the job of a good Christian to make other believers and save souls. We are "Fishers of Men" as stated in Mathew 4:19 and we should spread the good news Charley."
Johnny is the reason I am a Christian. He saved me from condemnation and eternal pain when I was 15. You see, when I was 12, my parents had a divorce and the stress drove me over the edge, because neither fought for custody of me or my two sisters. Mom was caught cheating on dad with some billionaire golfer and dad was caught cheating on mom with a $5 hooker that he treated like a queen.
I hated both of them. I hated that they didn't want me. I hated how they treated me and my sisters, who I practically raised since they were children. My parents were like that. They would raise us until a certain age, then go do something illegal. Mom got drunk a lot and through around words that made us feel worthless.
"You're nothing more than a fucking mistake. All three of ya! If it wasn't illegal I would have aborted each fuckin' one of ya!"
Sometimes she wouldn't even wait to get drunk to tell us. Dad often got high on who knows what and would let his hands wander too far. More than once I had to hide my sisters away from him, because of his disgusting sexual appetite. Other times he would turn his attention on me, and when he wasn't beating me, he was making me give him oral pleasure.
"You know you're daddy's little cunt of a son, don't ya? You like it when daddy treats you like his slave huh?"
I didn't like it. At all. But after the one time, when he almost raped my sisters, I decided I had no choice. I did it so they would be safe.
I hated my parents and God for some time. I was so mad at God because my parents would use examples from the bible to excuse their actions.
"Lot and his daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains. One day the older daughter said "no man is around to bear us children. Our father is old and drunk, let us lie with him so we can preserve our family line" so they got their father drunk and took turns laying with him"
