The Serpent Queen

Now You're Gonna Pay | Part One

Ex-Cobra and Johnny and George's old friend, Bobby  Brown, stood up at the front of his church on a slightly raised dais while preaching a sermon to his congregation. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." He held up a bible in his right hand. "This is where most of us go when we think about forgiveness, true? But what about forgiveness in other forms? Forgiveness of others. And then there's my personal favorite, forgiveness of thyself."

A man in the packed pews nodded agreeing with the man of God, "Mm- hmm."

The Pastor sighed, "This is probably our toughest battle. But listen, if God can forgive, then so can you."

"Bullshit!" Johnny said while walking down the aisle towards his friend.

The congregation all turned around to face him and gasped in shock at his use of language in a house of God.

"What about that time in Reno with those soccer moms at the Hyatt?"

"Johnny..." Bobby said seeming a little uncomfortable as his past actions were being spoken aloud. Some of the members turned to him in confusion.

"God forgive any of us for that?"

"Um... Yes, even that." The Pastor said quickly. "Forgiveness is the very core of Christianity."

"I wouldn't know about that. Not much of a churchgoer." Johnny told the churchgoers.

"I'm sorry. Apologies, everyone." Bobby told his congregation. "My friend here is going through some hard times."

"Nothing I can't handle." Johnny glanced at a very pretty blonde lady and smiled at her. She just turned back to the Pastor.

"Johnny, I'm mid sermon, so how about you take a seat-" Bobby had came down from the dais and stood in front of him.

"You know this guy was a real badass back in the day." Johnny pointed to him. "Fighting. Drinking. Partying."

A woman in the seats whispered to her husband, "What's he saying?"

The drunken ex-Sensei turned to his friend, "Sucks you can't get laid anymore, man."

"How many times I gotta tell ya? I'm not a priest."

"So your wang can still get tang? Nice."

Bobby glanced up to the ceiling and put his hands together in a praying motion, "Forgive me, Father."

"For what?"

Bobby swept Johnny's legs completely out from under him, making him land on his back on the carpeted floor.

The members of the congregation all looked and the scene and stood up to look at Johnny and their Pastor.

Bobby fixed his blazer, while Johnny groaned in pain on the floor. He glanced up to see George walking down the aisle.

George stood on the other side of Johnny, "Wow, that was something Bobby. He deserved it."

"You with him?"

"No, I following him. Trying to keep him out of trouble. He drives very fast. By the looks of it, I'm sorry for not getting here sooner."

"You're doing a terrible job at it."

"Yeah, I know. God, forgive me. I'll try harder."

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Robby sat reading Lord of the Flies in a common room of the juvie centre. He had been there around a week. The rest of September had passed and now the first week of the beginning of the spooky month was beginning to come to an end. He wore a grey tracksuit with SJCC written on the back. The centre was split into a male and female section. He and the other boys had no interaction with the girls unless they went outside into the open and airy yard where they were on the other side of the fence.