Chapter 18 #3
“The important thing isn’t what colour Jesus was or is, or what colour Rino Ferrari is, or you are, or you are, or you are,” Carrington continued, letting the thought land. “If you have a rainbow heart, then you’re on the right track.”
“Carrington, thanks for stopping by,” Rebekkah said, unexpectedly misty eyed. “You are so incredibly smart, and this has been really helpful.”
“I wasn’t stopping by. Ronald and I were about to…
never mind, and then you two crashed it,” Carrington began, then glanced at Ronald and changed course with a graceful shrug.
“But I should be going. I have the 1997 Brier Cup to rewatch on VHS and you three have an ark to build. Ronald, thank you for a very interesting first date. See you all at the station tomorrow?”
“Bye, Carrington! Thank you!” Rebekkah waved.
“Thanks for dinner!” Carrington called back, stepping carefully down the ladder. The gate creaked and then footsteps softened down the alley.
“What were you two up to?” Japheth asked, already knowing the answer and wanting it anyway.
“We played horse,” Ronald said, smug and sweet.
“Is that a pansexual thing?” Japheth wondered, fascinated.
“Nope. Just a basketball thing,” Ronald said, winking.
“Oh,” Rebekkah said slowly, still trying to figure out exactly what the date had entailed. “Guys, we had an incredible first few shows. And Japheth, whether Rino Ferrari is harmless…”
“Or if he’s still a threat,” Ronald added.
“Or a threat,” Rebekkah nodded. “We just don’t know. We live in a potentially dangerous world, and nobody said it would be easy for us. Christians used to get fed to lions, or hung out like upside-down laundry to drip dry, or burned at the stake, or…
“Lynched, tied to animals which are let to run, stoned...” Japheth piled on.
“Prison camps, firing squads–both by arrow and bullets, extrajudicial killings, drowning…” Rebecca continued.
“Starving, drowning, oh sorry, you just said that, beheading–by sword, axe or guillotine, forced labour camps or mob violence enabled by or ignored by authorities. Did we get ‘em all?” Japheth asked.
“There are so many saintly ways to die, we’re likely forgetting something. I’m sure it will come to me,” Rebekkah said, scratching her chin.
“It’s like there’s this big basketball game going on between Jesus and a bunch of devils,” Japheth said, brain knitting the metaphor.
“Well, that sounds kind of unfair,” Ronald said. “I mean one guy against a whole team?”
“Exactly!” Rebekkah said. “Right now, Jesus is fighting an unfair fight and we’re like his cheerleaders.”
“We need to get more players on our team,” Japheth championed. “Even the odds. That’s why if Trinity can keep getting more and more listeners… it’s like a… like a slam dunk for Jesus!”
“Or a three-pointer!” Ronald grinned.
“Exactly!” Rebekkah said, then winced. “It was silly of me to insist Jesus was White. I’m sorry, Ronald.”
“And just because He’s golden brown in my Sexy Jesus calendar doesn’t mean anything,” Japheth offered contritely.
“He was definitely Black in my dream,” Ronald said, “but I guess it doesn’t matter, right? Now that I know he’s rainbow-coloured He’s even a little cooler to me. A rainbow-coloured ghost? That’s dope.”
Rebekkah inhaled, her smile blooming. And as naturally as a shift in the weather, she began to sing. The ark became a stage; the backyard, a chapel; the sunset, a spotlight.
“David had Jonathan and Adam had Eve,” Rebekkah sang, her voice sugared and sure.
“Cain had Abel before he made him bleed,” Japheth added, mellow and amused.
“Alexander had Hephaestion way back in the day,” Ronald crooned, eyebrows dancing.
“They’re not in the Bible and they’re actually gay!” Japheth tossed in, delighted with his own footnote.
All three together, fists drumming the two-by-four railing, feet knocking time on the planks crooned,
“Hey! You! You gotta have friends.
God got lonely so He made a Holy Ghost!
Hey! You! You gotta have friends.
Throwing a party? Jesus is a bitchin’ host.
Hey! You! You gotta have friends.
Three’s a magic number. It’s the most!”
Their harmonies skated the fence line, hopped the alley, and startled a cat into sudden dignity. The last chord floated up, a kite cut loose, and the backyard settled again into the evening song of birds high in the trees echoing the final refrain.
“Trinity had its first fight,” Ronald said softly and then with some relief, “but we set it right.”
“I love you guys,” Rebekkah murmured.
“We love you, too,” Japheth said, and for a moment they were exactly what they wanted to be–a band, a chosen family, and cheer leaders for the Big Guy in the sky.
From the alley came the distant thrum of a car idling–low, expensive, feline. Headlights slashed across the fence slats, slow and deliberate, like eyes blinking through a confessional. The engine purred, lingered, and then roared with excitement. Tires grated against the back-alley gravel.
On the ark, Trinity exchanged a wary look. Was that salvation circling the block, or the storm they’d been building this boat for?
“Oh! Thrown from a great height!” Rebecca clapped her hands. “I knew it would come to me.”
LISTEN to You Gotta Have Friends Reprise