out of the alley, and took off down the road.
Skeeter tossed the metal pipe down by the dumpster and put his arm on Jeremy’s shoulder. Walking him into the shop, Skeeter said, “You want to tell me what that was about?”
“A girl.” Jeremy said with a wry smile.
“Ain’t it always.” Skeeter replied.
VERSE 3
(Senior Year)
Jeremy continued his moral decline through his Junior year and the following summer. By senior year, he was becoming a very bad man. He and Jenny Mahoney dated for a while, but by the end of her senior year (Jeremy’s junior year), even she was glad to be going off to college. While it was true that she liked ‘bad boys’, Jeremy was getting dangerous… and there’s a difference.
He rarely saw his mother at all anymore. She was still working two jobs, and Jeremy was out late working or partying nearly every night. His mother tried to talk with him once in awhile, but she was beginning to realize the obvious… it was too late. Jeremy would be eighteen in a couple of months, and then he would move out for good. Mrs. Berry’s little ‘social experiment’ had evidently failed miserably.
It was early fall of his senior year when Jeremy rode his motorcycle to school one morning. The students and faculty had long since lost interest in his loud entrances and exits, which was fine with Jeremy. He found his normal spot up front and parked his bike. Attending class had become a formality he had to deal with until he could graduate, and Jeremy was smart enough to at least pass his senior year classes without much effort.
Jeremy’s hair had grown down past his shoulders, and he hadn’t shaved in at least a week. Walking through the halls, the crowd of students parted for him. Even the jocks didn’t mess with Jeremy anymore. As he opened up his locker to grab a notebook, a jock came up to him and said, “Hey man, can I get a dime?”
“Not here.” Jeremy said, stone-faced. “You going to Reggie’s party tonight?”
“Yeah.” said the jock.
“See me there.” Jeremy finished.
Jeremy sat in the back of all of his classes, alone to his thoughts. He wasn’t into school at all anymore, he just felt like he was biding his time until real life started. He did find it entertaining though, when an underclassman would try to approach him. Especially the girls, bless their hearts. In one of his study halls, a sophomore ‘goth’ girl named Jamie came over and sat next to him. She was obviously trying not to look at him while summoning the courage to ask him something. Finally she started talking, still looking down. “So... I know it’s really lame, but Death by Metal is coming to the arena this weekend, and I won two free tickets from the radio…” She squirmed in her chair a little, then went on, “I know some other people that want to go, but I thought maybe… you know... you’d want to go. It wouldn’t have to be like a ‘date’ or anything… I mean… unless you wanted it to be, or whatever...”
Jeremy smiled and looked at her. “Jamie,” he said quietly, “you’re too smokin’ hot to be a sophomore. Are you sure you’re not a senior?”
“Oh, my gosh!” she said, trying not to be too loud. She couldn’t contain a smile as she looked up at the classroom to see if anybody else heard. “Shut... up…”
Jeremy looked around the room as well, pleased to get the reaction he was shooting for. “Sorry, I can’t go this weekend,” he switched up, “I’ve got some business I’ve gotta take care of. You going to Reggie’s party tonight?”
“I’m grounded,” Jamie said, “but I’m gonna try sneaking out after my parents go to bed.”
“Well I’ll probably see you there.” said Jeremy.
“Quiet please!” came a voice from the front of the room. As Jeremy looked up, he saw the teacher at his desk, looking sternly at him.
Jeremy doodled on his notebook until the end of study hall, then made his way to English class - the final class of the day. He liked Ms. Wilcox, she made English a little less boring than it had to be. She always enunciated when she talked, which made Jeremy think she was compensating for a speech impediment or something. Either way, she always treated him with respect, which was more than most of his teachers did.
Jeremy did well staying awake through class. When the last bell rang, most of the class gathered their things and headed out the door. As Jeremy picked up his book, Ms. Wilcox said, “Jeremy, do you have a minute?”
“Sure,” he said as he walked over to her desk. “I’m not in trouble, am I?”
Ms. Wilcox smiled and said, “Not with me.” She continued writing in a book on her desk and went on, “Jeremy, your grades have gotten progressively worse since last year. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I guess.” he replied, not sure what to say.
Occasionally looking up, and then back at her book while she wrote, Ms. Wilcox said, “Is everything okay at home?”
“Yeah, pretty much…” Jeremy said. As he talked, he noticed a cross necklace around Ms. Wilcox’s neck. Was she a Christian? Jeremy never saw metal like that, it had an odd, wavy color to it. Was she one of those ‘pushy’ Christians? It suddenly occurred to Jeremy that he was staring right at Ms. Wilcox’s...
“Eyes up here chief.” Ms. Wilcox said, motioning above her neck.
“Oh… wow…” said Jeremy, laughing a little. “I was actually looking at your necklace, I’ve never seen metal like that. I’m sorry if it looked like… you know...”
“Oh.” she said, looking down at her necklace. “It’s Damascus steel.”
Jeremy smiled and said, “Like, Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus steel?”
“Very good,” she approved, “Are you a Christian?”
“No.” he replied. “I had a friend who was, and she used to take me to church when I was a kid, but… no.”
“I see.” said Ms. Wilcox. “Did you have a bad experience with church?”
“Ah, not really,” Jeremy wasn’t entirely comfortable having this conversation, but he appreciated Ms. Wilcox’s interest. “No offense, but Christians are some of the meanest people I know.”
“None taken,” she said, “and I completely agree. Christians can be some of the coldest, most uncaring individuals in the world.”
Jeremy seemed surprised that she would describe her own that way, but then she went on, “But being a Christian is about following God, not people. If a couple of your biker friends started acting cold and uncaring, would you stop being a biker?”
Smiling, Jeremy realized where she was going with this. “No, I guess not.” he said.
Ms. Wilcox began again, “Jeremy, one of your classmates goes to church with me. Last Sunday he asked me to pray for you. Do you mind if I pray for you?”
“Ummm... I guess not.” Jeremy said.
Ms. Wilcox stood up and walked over to Jeremy, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“What, like… now?” Jeremy said, a little shocked.
Ms. Wilcox smiled a little and said, “You don’t believe in God, do you?”
“Not really,” he answered.
“I do.” said Ms. Wilcox. “I believe He’s here with us. I believe He loves you and cares about what’s going on in your life. And if I’m going to ask him to help you, it may as well be with you standing here. Is that okay?”
“I guess…” Jeremy said, completely unsure.
“God,” Ms. Wilcox started praying, “thank you for Jeremy. Thank you for the people you put in his life, and the gifts you’ve given him, and the way you’ve always provided for his needs. God, I only ask that you show yourself to him and let him know you’re real. Amen.”
Jeremy didn’t know what he was supposed to do now, so he just smiled an uneasy smile.
Ms. Wilcox smiled a much more natural smile, then returned to her desk. “The real reason I asked you to stay after class is to let you know that tutoring is available if you’re interested.” she said.
“But I’m getting a ‘C’,” said Jeremy
.
“But you used to get ‘A’s,” Ms. Wilcox countered.
“Listen Ms. Wilcox,” Jeremy began, “I appreciate your concern... I do. But I don’t see a huge need to conjugate verbs in my future. I don’t plan on being an author or an English teacher, so a ‘C’ is just fine with me.”
Ms. Wilcox nodded. “I understand.” she acknowledged. “If you change your mind about English… or Christians… please feel free to come see me, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” Jeremy said, having no intention of talking any further about either subject.
Jeremy thanked Ms. Wilcox and walked out of the room. As he headed down the halls of the school, they were almost empty except for the teachers finishing out their papers for the day and the janitors beginning their cleanup regimen. “I’m certainly not going to miss this place.” Jeremy thought out loud as he exited the front doors. There were plenty of cars left in the parking lot, since it was football and volleyball season. Ah, volleyball… Jeremy did miss Jenny Mahoney.
Riding over to Ratchet’s shop, Jeremy parked his bike and went into the garage area. “Hey kid,” Ratchet said from behind a bike, “You’re late. Everything