forever. I love going home to visit and hang out, but they’re a few hours outside of Dallas, and even moving to the city was like getting out of the small town, you know?”
“Sure, I could see that. You’re more adventurous than you think.”
“Hah! Good one.”
“I’m being serious.” I take a sip of water. “Takes balls to leave comfort behind. It’s rebellious. Punk rock, even. I only left Detroit to get away from my dad, or I’d probably still be there. One could argue, you’re more of a rebel than I am.”
Mary smiles, a big cheesy smile. “Definitely way more of a rebel than you. Wearing a Led Zeppelin tee shirt to work has nothing on what I’ve done.”
“Exactly.”
“How exactly do you get to have a different dress code from everyone else? I’ve never seen anyone flaunt the Collins brothers’ authority so brazenly.”
“Can’t tell you all my secrets on the first date. Wouldn’t be any mystery left.” I signal for the waiter to bring the check and he drops it off. I toss some cash for the bill and a tip on the table, then stand up and hold out my hand. “Come on, rebel. Time to go see Jesus get nailed.”
Mary’s eyes go wide, then she shakes her head right at me, and mouths, “Oh. My. God.”
I shrug, and start to say something, but she cuts me off.
“Don’t even say it. I know, I asked for this.”
“Indeed, you did.” This time I get some hand-on-the-lower-back action on the way to the car. I’m crushing this date, now that I’ve gotten out of my own way.
I smile at Mary as we walk toward the car. I approached this whole thing wrong from the start. I should’ve done this from the beginning.
You live and learn.
The play went fantastic. It was actually really good, performance-wise. I thought it’d be amateur as hell, but there was some real talent on the stage.
There’s something so surreal about the life of Jesus. I don’t know if I buy into all the supernatural shit that goes with it; virgin births and reanimation, but there’s one thing I do know—reading the Bible, being in church a lot, it’s made me a better person. It’s made me care about people other than myself. The basic shit in the Bible is great, and I like Jesus as a person. The dude was kind and patient and always thought through everything before speaking, very logical, and flaunted authority. I find him to be a great philosopher. Usually, I find the idea of Christians and church to be hypocritical, but I’ve never felt that way at Mary’s church. Hell, I guess I should call it my church too.
In a nutshell, I love a lot of the lessons in the Bible, and I find them to be applicable to just about anyone, from a moral perspective. At least in the New Testament.
I just don’t know if I buy into him rocketing his ass Elton John-style, up into the sky with some angels.
I held Mary’s hand through the last part of the play when they crucified him. So that was nice, although I feel a little bad my favorite part of the show was via a two-thousand-year-old execution of her savior.
I think maybe the best part is, the whole ride home, she hasn’t said anything about the play. Conversation is just normal. Usually, when you get a Christian all amped up on their Bible stories, they go into full-pitch conversion mode and try to market their faith to you. That’s what I admire about Mary. I’ve seen her with people—a lot. She never pushes her beliefs on anyone. She always puts everyone else first, but not at a detriment to herself. She doesn’t allow people to walk all over her, but she sees the positive in everyone. She’s so kind, and just—good. It’s infectious. Maybe that’s what I love about her most. She looks for everything positive when she looks at me. I want to be a good man when I’m with her, and that’s so sexy, and amazing, and just different from anything I’m used to.
We pull up to her apartment building, and the nerves fire up in my bloodstream.
I know what this is. It’s moment-of-truth time. It’s the infamous first date walk to the door. I would be lying my ass off if I said I didn’t want to kiss Mary Patrick, and kiss her long and good. I want it more than anything. Literally, it’s the only thing on my