When Faith Meets Juvenile

Chapter 1

Growing up in Two Rock comes with a lot of nothing. The scenery is brown dirt, cactuses, and hills. The sun beats down directly on people, leaving them crisp with a bit of heat stroke. Some kids figured out how to make their childhood entertaining, but it wasn't an option for me. My father is a well-respected pastor at the Two Rock Chapel, and my family and onlookers expected me to be well-behaved. I was, for the most part, until I met a boy. He changed my life forever, and I'll never forget what happened.

"Jesus said, 'I will come and heal him.'" My father's deep and authoritative voice flooded the churchgoer's ears as he paced the stage. I sat front and center. So my dad could keep an eye on me and for everyone to see how disciplined I was. My mother looked perfectly prim and proper to the right of me, and my older brother was to the left, wearing a suit with his hair gelled back nicely. I wore a pale blue dress that went up to my neck with a white collar and short sleeves that puffed out. The dress was cinched at my waist to show off my healthy physique (my mother says it's good to show off without showing skin), and the dress's bottom belled out past my knees. I wore sheer tights underneath with heels to match. My hair was pulled into a sleek pony, and I was accented with pearl earrings and a necklace. Only the lightest touch of makeup was applied to my face to accentuate my features, but not enough to be called a whore.

My bible was open and sitting in my lap. Like always, I followed the sermon my father was teaching. I had a notebook open and was writing down thoughts and questions that popped up. As a preacher's daughter, I was meant to lead by example, but I wasn't doing this for them or to be a good child for my parents. I was doing this for me. My faith has always been important to me, and damn it, I am a good kid. Sometimes, I wish I had a rebellious bone in me, like my brother, who secretly sneaks out of the house to do God knows what. One night, I followed him, but he caught me within 10 minutes and dragged me back to the house. He told me I shouldn't ruin my innocence, that once I tasted the bad things in the world, I could never get it back.

"I ask that some of our worship members join me on the stage as I close us out this morning," My father's voice became soft, "You may bow your heads and close your eyes." My back slumps over as I droop toward my lap, and my eyes flutter close. The sound of a piano starts to float around me, and a woman's voice begins to sing quietly.

"Amazing love, how can it be? That you, my King, would die for me?"

My father spoke above the singing, asking if anyone in the crowd didn't know God and wanted to get to know Him, to raise their hands, and that someone would join them to pray. People were slowly leaving their seats, going to the altar, and sitting on the ground to pray. My brother slowly slid out of his seat, sat at the end of the stage, leaning the top half of his body over it, and began praying. My mother tapped my knee as if to say I needed to join the others who were kneeling. I walked up to where my brother was and sat on the ground behind him, making sure my dress was tucked neatly under my legs and bowed my head into my lap.

When the service ended, I was greeted by people praising me for my well-behaved manners and asking what kind of things I'd done so far over the summer. I indulged in conversation and made small talk while waiting for everyone to filter out. The heat was rising in the building, and I could feel my dress sticking to my back. Once the last person left, my family was also free to leave. Usually, after church, we go out to eat for lunch and spend the day together until evening, when the second sermon of the day starts. Yes, you must think we're crazy for having church twice daily, but that's how we do it here. But today, I didn't feel like going out; it would be extra hot, and I wanted to go home and get out of this stuffy dress.

"Daddy, could you drop me off at the house? I promised Nelly I would return her book this afternoon." I asked my dad as we all got into the car.

"Can't you do that after we eat?" He looked back at me through the review mirror.