Andrew's Tears

Chapter 5

“Okay, people talk about some Jesus person who is supposedly God’s son. What significance does he have?” Andrew was genuinely interested. His initial annoyances at his thoughts were gone.

“I am going to tell it to you straight. Jesus is the son of God. He came to save us, humans, from our sins. He was crucified; you know what that is right?” When Andrew nodded she continued, “Well, when he was crucified and died, he took on all the sins from everyone in the world from the past, present, and future.”

“How can one man do that?” Andrew asked.

“Well, Jesus was God’s son. But he is also God in human form. God can do all things with no problem. Jesus took the sins of the world, and forgave us. He also, by dying, made it possible to enter heaven after dying. But, one must accept Jesus’ gift to the world before they can enter heaven.”

“I think this is getting a little too… weird.” Andrew said. “I think I am going to go to bed.” Andrew stood from the barstool and walked to his room. His thoughts were racing. He knew what his Grandma had said was completely true. His mind couldn’t quite grasp it. All he knew was that she was being completely honest and that, yes, there really was a God and, yes, He really did care. That did not mean Andrew would accept some sort of lunacy.

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Thomas sat in the vehicle until he was sure that everyone in the home was asleep. The lights in the home shut off, and he waited four and a half more hours before stepping into the balmy night air and strutting across the street, knife gleaming in the moons bright rays.

He would leave one little clue on this night. Just to spike their pulses in the morning. Thomas stepped onto the porch and brought his knife to the door. He began to create thick, intricate lines. Some short, and some long. He held the knife as if it were some sort of drawing utensil. It was quite hard to master this technique. When Thomas had given up his drug addiction he had occupied his mind with more productive activities, such as carving. This was how he had mastered his craft.

When he was finished he wrote, in long flowing letters, the words, Death shall set you free. Thomas stood back and admired his beautiful work. He smiled and thought, Oh, yes, Andrew. Death will set you free. Thomas walked away from the house and pulled himself into the vehicle. He could see the image lit up by the porch light. It was such a beautiful cross. I love it!

He drove away from the neighborhood to the best hotel in the area. Why not stay in style?

Thomas had come into a few thousand dollars nearly a year ago. Actually, it was more than a few thousand dollars. It was nearly 900,000 dollars. And, he hadn’t just happened upon it. He had “cleaned up” a few investments for a friend.

With his addiction behind him, the money would last him a long time. Every once in a while Thomas could not control his cravings, so he would buy an expensive wine to keep his addictions at bay. He couldn’t afford to get high when victory was so close at hand. So, drunkenness was an obvious alternative. 

Tonight, Thomas indulged himself in an expensive chardonnay and drank straight from the bottle. “No point in buying a glass when I have a perfectly good glass right here.” He said under his breath at the checkout stand of an H-E-B.

He was feeling in good spirits, so he flirted with the checkout woman who looked sort of like a pixie. She had brunette hair that curled around her cherub-like face and fell to her shoulders. He didn’t particularly like girls that looked like her, but, tonight he did. Maybe it was because his spirits were high, and he didn’t care who he tried to get. When the checkout woman, whose name was Shelly, said, “Get a life, pig.” He stormed out. Her loss, he thought.