Seven Minutes From Heaven [bxb]

Chapter 3 - Both Doors

It was dark out. Most of the shortcut roads leading back towards town were gravel so Mum liked to utilise those at any given cost. You'd almost thing her zippy little Holden Barina was built for dirt roads. The sound of the engine with mixed the crunching of tyres running over gravel filtered out the quiet hum of the radio. What could be heard of the music almost felt like an incessant buzzing in the ear. I had an urge to switch it off.

"How'd you go tonight?" Mum asked, glancing at me through her peripheral. "Alright?"

The roads this way were a little rocky, so her voice jittered as she spoke. "What'd you think of Pastor Cordell?"

"He's, um, he's alright I guess," I answered, fiddling with the sleeves of my shirt.

"And did anything, you know... happen?" she asked, trying to sound as inconspicuous and uninterested as possible. "Any voice from God? Any answers to your spiritual vices?"

"I'm not evil, Mum," I responded curtly. "You're my mum, you should know better than anyone."

"Oh, sweetie," she tried to coo, but her voice was too tense, and her fingers gripped the steering wheel just a little too tightly to give me any sense of ease. "I know that. I do. But it's because I love you so much that I fear for your soul when die. You and your father both. I'm sure you're pure as day but it doesn't hurt to just, y'know... make sure."

"You're not even with him anymore," I reminded her. "What do you care about his soul and eternal damnation?" I asked. She had a new husband who was busy saving dying children over in Africa or something. I'd barely even seen him since they married a few years ago. Dad wasn't her burden anymore. She already abandoned him long ago.

"Don't be silly, Jude," she said sharply. "Your father is still your father. Of course I care. And you're my son. Josh is my son. We're just worried about your fate in the afterlife, y'know?"

I rolled my eyes at the mention of Josh, but I couldn't respond. Their concerns made me so nervous that it only made me more paranoid and thinking about it more. I didn't want to give it the chance to become something I dwelled on, since thinking about it more only made it harder to stop. I just wanted to enjoy life and my relationship with God. My way. And if all went well, then a new friendship with Liam Petry.

For some reason, as we reached the surrounding streets of the town centre, there was a group of guys in my school uniform walking along the sidewalk. The headlights lit up the backs of their heads and school bags, making me wonder who they were and where they were going. Only as we drove closer did I realise it was Liam Petry and his non-sporty group of friends, and it looked like they must've come from the gaming arcade nearby.

"Out at this time?" Mum scoffed, clicking her tongue. "Wouldn't want to imagine the terrible things those boys might be getting up to. Their mothers should be ashamed."

I barely noticed any of the others as their dark figures brightened from the headlights of our car. Some of them turned their heads to face each other as they chatted and laughed, and I recognised a few of them from around the school. They were the group he tended to hang with at first breaks, free periods, or at the end of his soccer matches at lunch. That included Charlie Rascal, the lanky shorter one who I picked out from the crowd.

"They're not like that, Mum," I said, rolling my eyes. "They're good guys."

"Yeah?" she asked, side-eyeing me. "Then why've I never seen them at church, yeah?"

"Everyone who doesn't go to church isn't automatically a terrible person, Mum," I sighed. "Didn't God say only he can pass judgement? What are you literally doing right now?"