Greenleaf

Calvary

I woke up, and I took a shower and got ready for the day. Everyone was going to church, and Sophia and I had to come too. 

Once we got there, we sat down, and I sat between Mom and Sophia as always. Then everything started, We all stood up as Aunt Charity was singing. She is amazing. As she finished, we were all applauding. " Yeah!" Grandpa said," Has God given me a message for the people of God today!" Grandpa said, and everyone sat down." Hallelujah!" He said," Amen! Amen. " He said." Now, this goes back to when Lady Mea and I were still flying commercial. First Lady says ,' Never Again.' And this man sees me poring over my Bible. I was getting ready for my sermon on Sunday, and he grunts at me, sipping on his wine, " Grandpa said. I looked at mom." And this made me so sad to think that's what the Bible is to some people. Something they think someone's going to be beating on them with. Now, imagine that you were born in a real small town, and on the first day of kindergarten and you are standing in the milk line and the little kid next to you in line says Hi and starts talking to you. And it turns out that he likes the same cartoons as you. The same flavour ice cream. Same video game.  It's like you two were made for each other. So you start to go to each other's houses after school. And you became friends - Best friends. And then when it comes time to graduate from High school, now you have to stay in town because of a family business and your friend goes off to college and then gets a job on the other side of the world. But you keep in touch, email each other once a week or so. And at the end of every email, you say I love you. I miss you. Please come home, " Grandpa said, and I looked at mom. I took her hand. " After many years of this, one day, you get an email from your friend. He says, "I have some business going to take me through your area, and I was wondering if i could see you." So on the day your friend is coming to visit, you drive three hours to the big airport. And you stand there outside security by the baggage claim, and you wait. Now, all these people are coming through the doors and you think, Well maybe there's a problem. Maybe I got the date wrong, " Grandpa said as the organs started to play." But then, way back at the back of this river of people, you see your friend. And , Oh, how your heart fills! You see, the Bible is not a rulebook! The Bible is not a bunch of myths! It's not even a work of literature! And it certainly isn't something to be banging people over the head with" Grandpa said and I looked over at mom and I saw tears in her eye's" The Bible, praise God, Is like a bunch of emails from the best friend you ever had saying, I love you! I miss you! Please, come home, " Grandpa said while he was looking at mom." Now I don't know who I'm preaching to today. Maybe I'm preaching to myself. But if there's anybody out there today. Who's thinking, I want to come home. I'm so tired of being out there by myself, fighting by myself. " I squeezed mom's hand. She took a deep breath. " I just want to go home and see my friend.  Well, I'm here to tell you , come on home! Come down here. Because Jesus wants to welcome you home!" Grandpa kept on reapiting. Mom got up and went to the front. I took a deep breath.

Once we got home, me and Sophia went upstairs to our own little living room and we sat down" That was something" I said" When Aunt Charity was singing, it was so beautiful" I said and Sophia nodded. Then we started talking about random stuff.

I then went outside by myself just to walk around. There was this little deck on the lake. I sat on the bench. I started to think about staying here. It seems nice but I would miss my old friends. I saw Uncle Mac coming over, and he sat next to me. " I am guessing that you are missing your old friends, Am I right?" He asked me, and I nodded. He chuckled, and it sounded like a man who had been smoking for his whole life. I knew I had to keep my distance with him. I want to leave, but I don't want to be rude. " Yeah, I miss them." I said, and He put his hand on my thigh." You will see them soon enough," He said. I felt kind of uncomfortable. " I should get back" I said as I tried to get up but he held me down as he started to kiss my neck" Get off me" I said" Don't fight me" He said aggressively. I tried to push him off of me. He moved his hand down. I was terrified. "No, please get off me," I said, but he just continued moving his hand closer under my skirt . I hit him, which made him lose his grip on me.

I just ran back to the house and up the stairs to my room. Once I got into my room, I closed the door and sat against the door, trying to calm down my breathing. I heard knocking on my door. " Iris?" I heard Sophia say, "Are you okay?" Sophia asked." Is she okay?" I heard Zora's voice," Iris breathe. " I heard Sophia say," I can't, " I choked out. I felt like the walls were closing in. I felt like I was dying. " Okay, Iris, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Breathe in as slowly, deeply, and gently as you can, through your nose." I heard Zora say. I tried that. " Now breathe out slowly, deeply and gently through your mouth." She continued. "Count steadily from 1 to 5 on each in-breath and each out-breath." Zora said. I did that after that, and I calmed down. I got up slowly and I opened the door. 

I saw Zora and Sophia standing there looking at me, worried. " Are you okay?" Zora asked. I just shrugged my shoulders. Sophia pulled me into a hug, and I hugged her back. " What happened that caused this?" Zora asked. I just shock my head. Once me and Sophia pulled away. " Is it because we are starting school tomorrow?" Sophia asked." Yeah, " I lied. I just looked down. 

Then Mom came in. " Hey girls, what are we doing?" She asked with a smile. " Umm--" Zora said," Are you girls okay?" Mom asked as her smile faded ." I am gonna go, " Zora said as she left. Sophia and I looked at each other." What is it?" Mom asked." It's just that I had a little breakdown about starting this new school, " I lied. I whipped away the rest of my tears. " Why?" Mom asked." New expectations, new people. It's kind of scary, " I said." That's true, but you might make some new friends, " Mom said." True, " Sophia said. Mom came up to us and she hugged both of us at the same time " I love you both so much" Mom said" We love you too" Sophia said" Now you two go to sleep. Since you have school tomorrow, " Mom said, and I nodded. I went into my room and I got ready for bed. I couldn't fall asleep, so all I could think about was lyrics. So I started to write some lyrics down. After I finished writing, I went to sleep.