Listen To Me

by Phylicia Joannis

CHAPTER TWO

  Bible Study

  “Ronald, sit down!”

  “Hold on just a minute, Tamika. I have a testimony.”

  “My name is Tammie, not Tamika, and you know that!”

  “It’ll only take a second, Tammie,” Ronald corrects himself. “Martin, Jennifer, do you mind if I share my testimony?”

  “No, I’d like to hear it,” Jennifer encourages him despite Tammie’s loud groan of protest.

  “Great! You’ll love this one!”

  Martin smiles and joins in the laughter from the rest of the group. He, Tammie, Jennifer, and Ronald are the only ones in the youth building so far.

  They all live in the city of Logoria, but Tammie and Ronald attend Wellis High School; Martin and Jennifer go to Logoria High. There are only two high schools in the city, both vigorous sports rivals, but Logoria High is considered the better of the two. Any other private schools are outside the city limits.

  Though they go to different high schools, the four of them get along and hang out around town on a regular basis. Tammie and Jennifer have been friends since elementary school. Tammie’s dark, smooth skin, braided hair, curvy figure and round face are a stark contrast to Jennifer’s creamy, thin frame, impish face and long brunette hair.

  Ronald is brown and round. He keeps his head shaved bald – claiming to want to be like Mike, but really disguising premature balding – and has a short, stocky build. Martin is lean and lanky and modestly muscular, with medium brown skin.

  Overall their youth group is a well-mixed bunch with a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Some, like Tammie, live in the projects while others, like Martin, live in high-end neighborhoods. Despite their differences the four of them have formed a tight bond between each other that’s evident whenever they meet.

  “O.K. Here goes,” Ronald clears his throat.

  “Ugh!” Tammie groans.

  “Oh, but you’ll like this one,” Ronald grins. “It’s about food.”

  “Are you trying to be funny?” Tammie asks.

  “Anyways,” Ronald continues, ignoring Tammie’s glare. “I was leaving work late at night, and I was tired and hungry. The only places open were Wendy’s and Taco Bell, so I went to Wendy’s, cause I only had two dollars and Wendy’s had chicken nuggets on sale for a dollar.”

  A few more youth enter the building, and Ronald glances around the room to make sure everyone is listening. “So I go to the restaurant and I order my food, right? I’m standing there waiting, and a guy in a blue hat comes in and orders his food. When they give it to him, he leaves. I can smell the day old grease wrapping itself around my arteries already, and I start drumming my fingers to the beat of the grease popping in the back.” Jennifer giggles and Ronald smiles.

  “Another guy in a red hat comes in and orders. One of the workers comes from the back to give the guy in the red hat his food. My nose is halfway in the Red Hat Cat’s bag by the time the server asks me ‘can I help you?’

  “I tell him that I’m just waiting for my food while I snatch at Red Hat’s French fries. The server looks at me all funny like he don’t know what I said, and he says ‘you haven’t gotten your food yet?’ I tell him no, so he goes to the back and tells them 'yo, we got a guy here's been waitin' a long time for his food, and he look hongry.' So I see a lady go get my food ready and I hear another guy say ‘He should get two, for waiting so long’ and I—hey Travis! What’s going on man?”

  Ronald stops to greet Travis, who is walking through the door with another adult. He waits for them to sit down, enjoying the growth of his audience, then continues.

  “Where was I? Oh yeah. They gave me my food and I left. But when I start pulling out chicken nuggets, I’ve got two orders of nuggets instead of one, and in one of those orders, they gave me an extra nugget. Man, I was so happy I bit into that chicken like it was free. And you know what? I knew that was God’s doing, because He knew how hungry I was, and how little I had and He provided for me.”

  “Amen,” Travis joins in with the chuckles in the room. “Hey guys, this is Mr. Rick. You’ve probably seen him on Sundays. He’s filling in for Mr. James tonight.”

  “Where is Mr. James?” asks Jennifer. “He’s usually here before all of us.”

  Rick stands up, a massive giant of a man with dark skin. “Mr. James had to attend a mandatory conference with some of the other pastors, and he won’t be back until next Friday. I'll be taking his place while he’s gone.” The room erupts with fresh chatter as everyone processes this information.

  Martin asks, “Why did Mr. James ask you? I mean, are the two of you friends or something?”

  “Yeah,” Jennifer chimes in. “I’ve only seen you a few times on Sunday, but I’ve never heard Mr. James talk about you at all.”

  Martin studies Mr. Rick and wrinkles his forehead. He’s seen him somewhere else before, but he can’t quite place him.

  Mr. Rick smiles broadly. “James is a close friend of mine and he talks to me about your group all the time. I’m a probation officer and most of my work involves kids your age in tough situations. Now, by the time a teen has to report to me it's too late for me to prevent the bad decisions they made. I want you all to know that every choice you make has a consequence, and I've seen too many kids, good kids like you, ruin their lives when they don't have to. I want to give you some perspective and share some of my experiences with you, and hopefully something you learn in the next two weeks will prevent you from making some of those bad choices, okay?”

  The group responds with a mixture of verbal responses and Mr. Rick clears his throat. “I’ve already met Travis, but now I’d like to meet the rest of you.’’ Rick smiles at all of them.

  “I'm Jennifer!” Jennifer immediately gushes, “and that's Martin, Tammie, Travis and Ronald.” Jennifer continues to name all the youth in the building but Mr. Rick stops her.

  “Whoa, okay,” Mr. Rick smiles. “So, Miss Jennifer, is there anything you'd like me to know about you?”

  “Well,” Jennifer answers, “I'm the talker, as you can see. Ronald too. Martin and Tammie are more contemplative and Travis is, well, Travis.”

  Travis rolls his eyes.

  Mr. Rick chuckles. “Thank you, Jennifer, but let’s give everyone a chance to speak for themselves?”

  Jennifer smiles sheepishly.

  “Um...so what are you going to talk about?” Ronald addresses Mr. Rick.

  “Today I'd like to just chat with all of you to get an idea of where you are,” answers Rick.

  “What do you mean?” Jennifer asks. “We’re all right here.”

  “Airhead,” Travis coughs into his hand. Jennifer makes a face at him in reply.

  Mr. Rick chuckles. “I’d just like to learn more about your thoughts and ideas and opinions.” The long silence and blank stares indicate to Mr. Rick that he needs to try something else. He glances around the room, observing every face. Their body language speaks volumes. He notices one kid in the back has his earphones on. Martin, to his immediate left, is tuned in and attentive, quietly sizing him up. Jennifer, to his right, is eying him curiously. Ronald is watching him with an amused look on his face, poised to burst into laughter at any moment. Tammie is avoiding eye contact altogether. Many of the other kids simply look bored.

  “Okay,” he tries again, “how many of you like to go to parties?” Rick asks. Only Travis raises his hand. “You guys can be honest with me. I won't go off and tell your parents.” Tammie raises her hand. Three other members of the youth group, Charlie, Marcus and Angela, walk in.

  “Hey everybody,” Marcus greets, “where's Mr. James?”

  “He's out of town,” says Jennifer, “but Mr. Rick is taking his place.”

  “Oh,” Marcus continues. “So what's the topic of discussion tonight?”

  “I just asked if anyone in here likes going to parties,” Mr. Rick replies.

  “I love parties!” Marcus smiles while taking his seat. A snicker makes its way across the room at Marcus’ confe
ssion.

  “What?” Marcus looks around the room. “I'm just being honest. Don't you know parties are a harvest field? People at parties are searching for something,”

  “Yeah! A good time!” one of the youth hollers out.

  Marcus rolls his eyes. “I was going to say the peace of God.” Another kid snorts, but Marcus ignores him. “All they need is the right person to show them how to get it.”

  “That's a real good attitude,” Ronald grins. “I feel like going to a party right now!” Laughter erupts throughout the room as Ronald does a mini-dance.

  Tammie rolls her eyes at him. “He’s so obnoxious,” she mouths to Jennifer.

  “What's wrong with going to parties just to have fun?” asks Travis.

  “You're opening up a window for the devil,” says Marcus. Every youth looks at him. Marcus explains. “It's one thing to go into that sort of environment to share Christ, but when you think about it, just going to have fun is conforming to the world, and we're supposed to be set apart from the world.”

  “Oh, come on,” Angela pipes in. “Anyone I catch at a party claiming to be searching for lost souls to save is lying.”

  Jennifer laughs and nods her head in agreement.

  “Do you really go to parties to share Christ?” Martin asks Marcus.

  Marcus shakes his head sheepishly. “Actually, my parents taught us to share Christ at all our birthday parties. Technically I've never been to any other kind. Homeschooled.”

  Martin nods in understanding.

  “Wait a minute,” says Tammie, “How is going to a party conforming to the world?”

  “I can see where Marcus is coming from with that,” Jennifer chimes in. “I mean, what do you do at a party besides let your flesh take over?”

  “Jen has a point,” Ronald nods. “When you go to a party, there may be people there doing drugs, drinking alcohol, or dancing so close they look like they’re…well, you know. Plus, I never hear any secular music at a party that doesn't have cussing or shoot ya mama lyrics. And what about the clothes? Most of the girls have everything hanging out everywhere and guys are just waiting for some girl to let her guard down. Your flesh will do all sorts of things when you're dancing to music that isn't glorifying God.”

  “Not all parties are that bad,” says Tammie. “When’s the last time you’ve even been to one, Ronald?” she asks.

  “I believe the only good parties are those that give praises to God,” says Ronald. “Like revivals. And Marcus's birthday parties.” Marcus and Ronald laugh.

  “Whatever,” Tammie rolls her eyes.

  “Okay, how about this,” says Ronald, “Next time you go to a party, try to imagine Jesus standing right next to you, not just watching everything you do, but doing everything you do. If you honestly think Jesus is down with it, then don't let what I say bother you. But if you're doing stuff you know that Jesus wouldn’t do, you should leave and repent, because if you don't, then you're willfully sinning and you're separating yourself from God. You know what that means, right? The devil can take you out, cuz!”

  “Ronald you are so retarded,” Tammie laughs.

  Marcus shakes his head. “Ronald's right, Tammie. The world is the devil's kingdom. That's why the word of God tells us to separate ourselves from the world. Not because God doesn't want us to have fun, but because God knows that the devil wants to take us out as soon as he gets the opportunity.”

  “I've got a question,” Travis raises his hand tentatively. “What's wrong with drinking? I mean, I understand you shouldn't drink yourself stupid, but what about drinking moderately?”

  Ronald and Marcus shrug. Mr. Rick takes their silence as an opportunity to speak. “Proverbs 31:4-5 talks about princes and kings not drinking because they might get drunk and break the law,” Mr. Rick replies. “While you may think you know how much to drink before you get drunk, you could be wrong. Then what happens? You dull your senses and put yourself in dangerous or compromising situations.”

  “Like not being able to get yourself home,” Jennifer offers.

  “Or letting a stranger think for you, or take advantage of you,” Angela adds.

  “This sounds like an after school special,” Ronald jokes. “You ever notice how the really quiet dude starts drinking and then all of a sudden he's dancing on tables and everyone thinks he's cool?”

  “Yeah, drinking rocks!” One youth laughs and shoots his arm in the air, making the peace sign with his fingers.

  “Man, that ain't even real!” Ronald rolls his eyes.

  “I also need to point out that the only person in this room old enough to drink legally is me,” Mr. Rick states authoritatively. “So whether you think drinking is wrong or vice versa, if you're underage, don't do it.”

  The youth who shot his hand up turns red and immediately lowers it back down.

  “Alcohol is a depressant,” Mr. Rick explains. “It slows you down, and the idea that it somehow makes you more hyper or more fun is a misconception. You acting out of character is due mostly to your own psyche. Alcohol reduces your ability to think your choices through, but it doesn't make those choices for you. I think this is a good place to close. We're off to a good start so far, and I look forward to seeing you all next week.”