(Fact: Trump lost the Presidential election in 2020.)

Curtis and Christian sat together during the meeting and watched as Christian’s father was caught amidst a confused crowd of nervous church members. (Farmers isolated in their fields longed for conversation. So often after church, casual dialogues would begin on the steps and church members would linger. Church often extended for another half hour, sometimes longer, on Sundays.)

“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. Do you want to go to Denny’s and get some food?” Christian asked Curtis as the meeting ended.

“I haven’t eaten since lunch, except for cookies.” Curtis smiled. Going to Denny’s was a team football after practice ritual that he relished, but often, couldn’t always attend. His father was alone and Curtis worried about his Dad.

“Wait while I tell my Mom where we’re going.” Christian saw his mother walking towards the parish. He ran towards her. “Curtis and I are going to get something to eat. Probably, Denny’s. We won’t be too late.” Christian kissed his mother on the cheek.

Curtis unlocked the cab and both of them climbed into the truck. They looked at each other and started laughing.

“I bet we have to donate our DNA at practice tomorrow.” Christian laughed and pulled out one of the bounty forms that his father had handed to him and Curtis. He unfolded the paper and found a list of 25 names. While Curtis steered the pickup through the church parking lot, Christian ran his finger down the list.

“Hey, I know this guy. He’s the janitor who works at the library.” Christian moved his finger down the list. “This guy here is a Senior at our high school.”

“Are you going to turn them in?” Curtis glanced sideways to see Christian’s face.

“No. I know I’m letting my Dad down, but I’m not interested in becoming a bounty hunter. This whole mess, first the women, and now the men who loved the women. This isn’t the way our founders started the United States of America. I wonder what they would think if they witnessed how the Republicans and Evangelicals are insisting that their religion now must be our religion. Their religious values must be everyone’s values.”

“A major reason that the Pilgrims first came to America was to worship as they choose. Now our government is acting like we have a National religion, and that we must agree only to worship King Trump.”

Christian became more animated. “You know that my Dad is a good guy. He’s just trying his best to keep the buildings repaired and safe, the church healthy, which reassures many that the Protestant churches are still real and valid.”

“My Dad struggled tonight to assure the group that good can be found in this SCOTUS ruling. Besides stopping abortion, it would eliminate child poverty in the United States for one.”

“It would reduce the number of deaths by pregnancy for two. In the exceptions clause SCOTUS mentioned in the Personhood Bill of Rights, is the exception that a doctor can abort the fetus if it endangers the mother’s life, or if the fetus is not viable.”

“Are we going to do this, I mean, go around chasing men on a list, or just follow them until they leave something we can take that might contain their DNA?” Curtis watched Christian’s expression.

“No. It’s against my religion.” Christian laughed again in his joyous dismissal laughter of his Dad’s attempt to fix the chapel’s roof.

Christian laughed which made Curtis laugh. They shrugged off the topic of bounty hunters and DNA as they got closer to downtown. Downtown was lit up like a huge concert was getting out at the same time as the Dallas Mavericks game had ended. The traffic was jammed.

The streets were crowded with men carrying signs, “My body, my DNA.” “My body, my sperm.” Many of the downtown stores were on fire. The angry crowd was carrying torches and using the torch handles to break the glass on storefront windows, then looting and trashing the stores. The night was growing wilder and more dangerous. The police simply were overwhelmed.

Many of the officers felt the same as the rioters and wanted to join in the protest. The police lieutenant called for emergency backup, but every city of any size was experiencing the same unrest.

The violence grew wilder and more dangerous as the riots went on through the night. America was in crisis.

Christian didn’t always come to Denny’s after practice, because of his work schedule at the library twice a week, and his father’s expectation that Christian attend prayer meetings on Wednesdays after practice. But, when Christian did join the team at Denny’s, he always sat with Curtis. Tonight was just the two of them. Christian would go on and on about his God search. Curtis would just sit and listen. He was happy just to be near Christian.

“You know, Curtis, I truly believe that our human minds are incapable of knowing God. We’re like an ant brain trying to understand a human brain. I think we’re not smart enough. Don’t have the brain capacity. Our brains are just not big enough. Maybe, we’ll never be able to understand the principles of God.”

“All my life my father was determined that the family could afford to send me to seminary, but I just can’t be a minister and lead a congregation, if I don’t believe in some of the teachings myself. My father has no idea about my doubts. He might call me a doubting Thomas, if he did. It would make him so sad if he thought that I didn’t embrace his religion. My father would think I doubted him and that I questioned the King James Bible.”

“But the truth is that none of the New Testament books were written by the disciples that carry their names. The disciples couldn’t read or write. They spoke Aramaic. Much of the books were recorded in Greek and written long after Christ’s death.”

“What if the men who translated the books interpreted a word differently than its original meaning? Then the next guy who translated the script gets another word definition wrong, until the meaning is upside down and backwards.”

“I asked my Dad once about the new interpretation of the Bible. He told me that every translation was inspired and guided by God’s hand.”

“As a child I believed him completely, but now, well–maybe, we’ve gotten the story wrong. Curtis, maybe Jesus was trying to teach us to be more like Enoch, emphasizing how we should live.”

“The cross puts the emphasis on torture and betrayal, and a cruel death by hanging on a cross. The Christian religion should be a story of joy and promise.”

“Enoch?” Curtis slowed down the Ford as they approached Denny’s back entrance. Distant gunshots were heard from downtown.

“Enoch was the seventh son of Adam. Not much is mentioned of him in the Old Testament except: “Enoch walked with God, and was not.”

Christian opened his hands in a dramatic fashion to emphasize the sincerity of his thoughts–the same mannerisms his father often used during his sermons.

“Curtis, have you ever heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls? I found the English translations on the internet today. Enoch has whole books in it. I’m going to talk the Head Librarian into ordering a copy for our religion section. If I can’t persuade her, I will buy a copy for myself.”

“Christian, you’re the only team member who doesn’t own a Varsity jacket, yet you would save to purchase a translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls?”

“I already have a warm coat. I don’t need a new jacket. I really don’t care much about clothes anyway. I do want to hold a translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls in my hands someday, though.”

Again, another sweeping gesture with both hands.

“Imagine finding scrolls hidden for centuries. That’s what I want to do. Be an archaeologist. Explore and dig up dinosaurs, and find ancient scrolls in caves. Some people believe that aliens helped build the pyramids. I want to find alien artifacts.”

Curtis looked at his friend, Christian. Curtis didn’t always understand Christian’s religious theories, but he knew that Christian was holy serious in his search for truth.

Curtis loved just to sit near him and listen to him talk about a religion he should already know and believe.

“We’re here. I’m so hungry.”

“Me, too. Let’s go eat.”

“Don’t you find God at church?” Curtis asked as he locked the truck cab. “I mean, in church on Sundays, your Dad is giving a sermon. Don’t you find God then?”

“Maybe,…Sometimes, but I’d rather sit in the chapel when no one’s there. I sit in the pew beside the stained glass window and not move. I watch the light change through the window, through the stained glass.”

“Sometimes I close my eyes. Sometimes I think I feel God, but I think that I feel God more when I’m running.”

“No matter where my Dad’s work would transplant us, I always could find a place to run. All I ever needed were some good running shoes and my feet.”

The boys headed for the front door of Denny’s.

During football season the waitresses reserved four booths in the back of the restaurant for the team after practice and after a game. If the team won, there would be tokens for free burgers and fries. Anyone who was a regular at Denny’s knew that the booths were reserved during football season.

Curtis and Christian slid into one of the booths facing each other.

“Are you excited for next Friday and your first home game?” The waitress, Angie, asked generally of both boys. Angie dropped two tokens next to the water glasses she had just planted on the table. “Now what can I get you tonight?”

“Burgers and chips, twice.”

The boys offered her the tokens back and she swished the tokens away. “Save them for after a hard practice. Tonight is on me for good luck next Friday.”

The boys nodded in thanks as she hustled off to the kitchen. Minutes later, the food arrived.

They both opened up the top bun and removed the sour pickle, closed the bun and took a bite. Neither said much while they ate, alternating a bite of burger, then the crunch of chips. Christian pulled off the lid of his Pepsi with a striped plastic straw attached and drank a huge gulp from the rim. Then he sat it down on the table.

“I’ve always wondered how each version of Christianity created all the ceremonies and the rules one needed for their congregations to worship God. Every sect is serious that they are right. Sometimes I wonder what was the original translation for any of these denominations. Did they begin from the same text? Were the translations God inspired, or man-made for power?”

“The Catholic church turned Jesus’ teachings into a male dominated religion that diminished the role of women in the church, and a business that turned the Catholic church into the richest hierarchy in religion and a reason for wars and crusades in the name of Jesus.

Maybe, we have misinterpreted his parables and the biblical stories which were intended to teach us how one should live their lives. Jesus’ teachings were of kindness and faith in an almighty God of Love. We emphasize his death on a cross as a symbol of Christianity and our faith instead.”

“Do you remember the story of Enoch in the Old Testament?” Christian wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. 

“Maybe there is a God energy that man hasn’t discovered yet. Maybe our minds aren’t developed enough to recognize the powers of God in us–our minds and our bodies, and aren’t able to put those powers to work for good. Maybe we’ve lost the pollution-free version of the philosophy of faith on material earth.”

“Jesus was the Son of God and the perfect savant that recognized his powers, his lineage as divinity in man. He was able to use his body and mind to heal, to feed hundreds of people from a basket of fishes and loaves of bread, to walk on water, to raise the dead. He was profound in his understanding and interpretation of Jewish law. He defied the limitations of the laws of science by his thoughts and focus. He had the ability to heal others. He championed women and a woman was the first person to see Jesus as risen from the dead.”

Christian finished his burger, wiped his face again with his napkin and leaned back in the booth, partly watching the bedlam in the town square from their window

“You know, Curtis, we’re both caught in our fathers’ dreams, their desire for us to follow their life dreams reincarnated in their sons.

Your Dad has already decided that you will stay and take over the farm. My Dad wants me to attend seminary and take over his church someday. Christian studied Curtis’ face. Do you really want to be a farmer?”

“I do, really. My Dad has never asked me though. I think my Dad would be lost without me now. So, yes. I do love my father and I want to please him, too. But I want to be a farmer. I want to stay in Mt. Pleasant for all my life, get married to someone who loves me the way my Mom and Dad did for each other.”

Both boys had met in football tryouts and had become fast friends. Both were High School Juniors, had many of the same classes and they both belonged to the same church. And, of course, the same football team.

What Curtis most admired was Christian’s ability to create a sense of calmness around him, even when he was getting pounded by Donny in practice. Christian would get tackled hard, and just get up from the ground, dust himself off and grin.

More and more often Donny would accidentally miss a block when guarding Christian during practice.

It was obvious to Coach that Donny would not guard Christian in a game as long as Christian was starting quarterback. So Coach put Curtis in Donny’s position.

Curtis guarded his friend, both on and off the field with his life. He loved Christian, his upbeat attitude, the way he kindly treated everyone as worthy to listen to. Christian believed that all people were equal, regardless of color, grade, or popularity at school. Curtis didn’t stutter when he was with Christian.

Yet, Christian had enemies who wanted him out of football. Stone would have been the starting quarterback this season until Christian’s family moved to Mt. Pleasant and Christian joined the team.

One night Curtis overheard Stone’s entourage talking after practice. They were planning to jump Christian, so Curtis guarded him at school without ever letting Christian know.

Locker room talk was that the starting quarterback should be Stone Roy. When Christian’s family moved into town and Christian, who had had no history of ever playing football, got the top position, the Roy boys were mad. Then when Donny lost his position to Curtis, well, it just didn’t seem right to the Roy boys and their following.

Starting quarterback should rightly belong to homeboy Stone who played starting quarterback for the JV team last season.

Curtis leaned back on the back cushion. “Christian, do you believe in Heaven?” Curtis took another sip from his Pepsi. “I do.” Curtis confessed. “I believe my Mother is in Heaven,.” He tipped the cup and finished his Pepsi, eyeing Christian’s face. “Whatever version of Christianity you believe in, does it believe in Heaven?”

Christian: “Did you know that some people who commit suicide by strapping a bomb to their body and setting it off to kill innocent people, believe their suicide will send them to Heaven where dancing virgins wait for them? They believe that these innocent people are enemies. By killing and maiming them, they are persecuting their enemies and pleasing their God. In killing, they are righteous, doing good, serving God. Maybe Heaven is a word that has lost its meaning.” Christian watched the lights from downtown through their booth’s window. Occasionally, one could hear ‘Pop, Pop’ from afar.

Christian looked at his friend and saw his distress. Christian had never met Curtis’ mother, but he understood Curtis’ grief and he admired Curtis’ concern for his Dad.

“Curtis, if there’s a Heaven, I’m sure that your Mom is there and looking down and watching over you and your Dad. I just believe that the word, heaven, can also mean peace of mind, or state of mind. Like a metaphor. Like a parable. Like a thought.”

“To be really honest, none of us knows for sure that there is a Heaven. Maybe how we think about Heaven helps us in our mind and hearts to have faith in living a good life on earth. Maybe we need to believe that someone greater than ourselves is in control.

Mankind needs a God to worship. Human beings long for a God that they understand–that looks like them. I believe that the need for a God is a part of us. Throughout history man has worshiped a variety of deities.”

Christian’s cell started to bing. He picked it up and it was his Mother. She wanted Christian to pick up a prescription from the drug store before it closed.

“It’s almost midnight and my Mother needs a prescription. Curtis, could you drop me off at the drug store? They close at midnight.”

“Let’s go.” Curtis checked his phone for the time. They both left $5 bills on the table for Angie, their waitress. They headed outside.

Denny’s restaurant sat on the hill. From the parking lot, Curtis and Christian had a panorama view of the city.

Downtown was lit up, bright with flashing red and blue lights of police vehicles parked in awkward poses, trying to block city streets from the growing bedlam.

Curtis peered below at the blocked streets and the street full of rioters.

“I know a service road that will get us there.” Curtis pulled the wheel sharply and the pickup headed down a dirt road that wove to the back entrance of the strip mall.

Tripp Road passed downtown, the municipal buildings and County Library, just north of the County seat. If you followed the street and veered west you’d come to a strip mall where the pharmacy was still open ‘til midnight. The 24/7 convenience store next to the gas station and smoke shop also were still open.

The skeleton of the old Sears building loomed like a dark ghost building, haunting memories of a more abundant time. Its storefront windows were now boarded up. The parking lot streetlights no longer shone at night. Half of the mall had empty storefronts.

Curtis maneuvered the truck down the road around potholes. Gravel bits from the dirt road shot in the air. The night air was heavy with humidity. It was going to rain soon.

Curtis: “What about all the innocent people killed by the suicide boomer? What happens to them?” Curtis can’t help but want the whole heaven part cleared up in his mind. Christian’s interpretations of Heaven confused Curtis’ own belief that he so needed to be true–that his Mom was in Heaven looking down and watching over him and his Dad.

Christian hesitated. “I just don’t know. I think sometimes innocent people just get caught in another man’s terror.”

They pulled up in front of the drug store. It was almost midnight. Christian jumped out the passenger side. “Hey, thanks for the ride. I’ve got to hurry before they close.”

Curtis watched as Christian descended from the cab. “Do you need a ride home? I can wait.”

“Thanks, Curtis, but I’ve been inside all day. I want to run home. It’s not that far if I run through the woods.”

Curtis reached over the seat to grab an orange fluorescent vest he wore when he moved a tractor from one field to the next on a public street.

“Here. Wear this so no crazy drunk hits you on the road. You’ve heard of Stephen King, right?”

“Thanks. Drive careful and I’ll see you tomorrow. Algebra. Test second period.”

Curtis watched from the truck as Christian entered the store and raced down an aisle towards the pharmacy. Then he backed the truck out of the parking stall, and drove towards the farm.

That was the last time he would ever see Christian.