Chapter 5

“What the fuck happened to common sense? I get it that they want a bit of greenery on the streets but they should have consulted a horticulturist or at least a gardener before slapping in trees that will wreck the street.”

“I agree,” she took a swig of Coke, “I’ve tripped over pavers a few times, especially when I’d had a few too many.”

The conversation moved onto other matters after that. Casey had spoken to her manager about the planned project at the church and had just been given the news that funding would be forthcoming albeit with certain conditions. They wanted a projected expenses estimate along with a few things, one of which was the cost of an IT technician to oversee the computers.

Casey had contacted Natasha last night to organise an actual quote and had to tell her the format the council would require. It had gone through first thing in the morning and she’d been expecting it to go through the usual monthly process but to her surprise it had been given the green light almost right away. The shock was actually the reason she’d tripped on the paving stone.

“Amanda has given me the rest of the day off,” she finally finished, “so I might just head home and put my feet up for a bit.”

“I wish I could get a half day off,” she replied.

“You can always trip on the paver,” she nudged her playfully, “I’ll even be a witness.”

“Perhaps not,” Charlie grimaced, “knowing my luck I’d bust my ankle and be off work for months but thanks for the offer.”

“You’re welcome,” she gathered up her rubbish, “what time do you finish work?”

“Five,” she replied.

“Fancy a ride home?”

“Don’t you have to rest your foot?”

“I do but it’s not like I want to sit at home and milk it. The best thing for you is to keep on moving, there’s nothing worse for your well being than sitting around for too long. To be honest I could even just go back to work but Amanda is pretty insistent I at least take the rest of the day off.”

“Only if it’s not going to cause you grief,” she rose slowly, “if you can’t do it then just send me a text and I’ll just head for the bus stop.”

They parted a minute or so later and Charlie made her way back to work, wondering about the significance of the meeting with Casey.

Is this a Higher Power job?

It was certainly a question Charlie asked herself more than once over the next two weeks because Casey seemed quite stuck on her, she’d taken to picking her up after work for the three days she was at the dealership and taking her back home and in a bizarre twist of fate Charlie was now a volunteer at the drop in centre. It felt odd though because she wasn’t Christian and even admitted as much to the other volunteers, but it hadn’t had much impact on the volunteers from the Uniting Church. The same couldn’t be said for the others but even they were starting to come around, thanks to Casey’s unabashed recommendation.

Nevertheless, despite all of that, Charlie hadn’t seen any sign that Casey was about to dip her toes in the pool. She was always careful to qualify any remarks that could be seen as flirtatious and yet the fact she actually came out with such remarks was a sign that she wasn’t as Christian as she made out. Her Christian faith seemed so laid back as to be almost nonexistent, which just made it all the more attractive.

Was this her plan after all? Charlie stared at her reflection the mirror that Sunday morning. She couldn’t believe she was even considering going to church. She’d abandoned church not long after she was confirmed. It had displeased her mother but even when she came out there was no sudden explosion, her mum had simply quoted a bible verse but then left her alone. Just lately her mother had been skipping her monthly mass in favour of a day out with the girls.

Charlie ran a critical eye over her outfit. She’d bought the skirt last week, it was a three-quarter length black skirt that went well with the pink, short-sleeved blouse and black heels. The skirt was made of thin material that felt soft against her skin. It was the first time she’d worn it though and she turned to get a side view of herself and satisfied that it looked good, she started on her makeup as she ruminated further.

Unlike Peter and John, Casey wasn’t a preacher and in fact she’d admitted that preaching the ‘Good News’ had always made her cringe one night as they made their way home from a night at the drop in centre.

“It’s so American when they ask if you’ve heard the good news and when you ask about this good news, they tell you that you’re going to burn forever in a lake of fire.”

“The Catholics are the same although we have purgatory, which is where we stay while our relatives ask God to let us into heaven. I gave up on the idea of God because I realised that every fucking religion and denomination on the planet all thinks that they’ve got a monopoly on the truth and all the others are either outright heretics or misguided. No wonder Jesus hasn’t come back to Earth in two thousand years he’s probably wondering what the hell happened to these people.”

Casey’s response had shocked her.

“A wise man once said that if the universe lives and breathes and has its being within God then God should be put on trial for being asleep at the wheel.”

Charlie frowned as she studied her reflection. The remark had just been left hanging as one of those one liners but it hinted of something else, a growing disinterest in Christianity.

Or was it? Charlie glanced up as she heard the rumble of a V8 engine in the drive. A moment later she got to her feet and hurried through to the front door. Maybe she was just picking holes out of goat shit. She opened the door just as Casey got to the front step.

“Hiya,” she grinned, “you ready?”

“Yeah, just got to get my handbag,” she opened the flywire door.

“You look nice,” Casey stepped inside.

“So do you,” Charlie gave her the once over, “nice dress.”

“This old thing?” Casey tugged at it, “I bought in from Saint Vinnies.”

The sleeveless brown dress had two wide straps and an open front that stopped at her waistline. She wore a white long-sleeved blouse under it, the dress was cinched at the waist with a wool-blend belt cut from the same material as the dress. A pair of blue suede heels and gold bangles completed the outfit and Charlie felt a slight weakness in her belly.

“You look hot,” she backed away, “sorry, but I had to say it.”

“You’re forgiven,” Casey grinned.

“I’ll just get my bag,” Charlie exited the room.

When she returned Casey was perched on the edge of the couch playing with her phone and she looked up briefly.

“Sorry, got to send this text to what’s his face. I forgot I’d agreed to go to his church today but now that I’m taking you out I have to change plans.”

“What church was that?”

“A Baptist one, but seeing as I’m taking you to church we’ll go for the Uniting one.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The Baptists tend to be a little, conservative,” she replied a moment later, “they’re a bit over the top if you know what I mean. They have this weird two handed handshake with one hand halfway up your arm, it’s like they’re terrified you’re going to run away from the creepy guy.”

“Sounds creepy,” Charlie winced.

“Shall we?” Casey stood up.

The last time Charlie could remember being in a church was when she was sixteen and had to go to a cousin’s confirmation. Her most vivid memory was the feeling of condemnation as she stared at the gigantic crucifix hanging from the wall because by then she’d well and truly come out to her mother. Jesus seemed more tired than usual as if even he was tired of her shit and that was before she crossed the line into alcoholic drinking. Thankfully this time there was no dying Jesus on the cross hanging from the wall but the cross still brought back memories. It was a little disconcerting, because the Protestants weren’t constantly standing up to repeat phrases from the catechism and the priest was actually a rather casually dressed woman. Charlie was worried about the sacraments, but Casey reassured her in the carpark that she didn’t need to take it or even confess anything.

“What happens between you and God stays between you and God, and we don’t believe it turns into the actual body and blood of Jesus,” she opened the door.

“Why not?” Charlie opened her door.

“Because of science,” she chuckled, “we’ve moved on from the days when Christians argued about how many angels could dance on a pinhead.”

Charlie glanced around the church as the vicar started talking. This part was familiar, the priest always gave a sermon, which usually involved making everyone else feel more miserable than the bloody priest.

“Today I want to talk about love,” she started, “love in all its forms, from the love we have for God to the love we have for our friends, families and partners. Love has no rules, no moral edict telling you how or whom to love. It isn’t homophobic either in case any of you are wondering about that one but you already know my stance on that subject. Love is the letting go of our own desires and looking out for how we can serve another person,” she glanced around the church.

Charlie straightened up slowly, aware that the hairs on the back of her head had started tingling and then the vicar went on.

“You’ve heard this before, I know you have because I’ve given this sermon before but I want to share with you something that happened to me this week when I dropped in on an old friend and she asked me how can the church accept homosexuals? My answer was simple. Do they love the lord their God with all their heart and do they love their neighbour as they love themselves? If they pass both of those tests then please tell me how you can justify shutting them out because of two rather vague verses that speak out against it?”

Charlie shifted in her seat as the sermon continued. It was the first time she’d heard such an elegant and uplifting confirmation of homosexual love. Granted there were limitations, such as avoiding sex before they were married but that was the same for straight couples as well, and even then she left a get out of jail card dangling.

“But at the end of the day it’s none of our business. We have far more pressing issues such as the immoral detention of refugees in offshore detention centres, homelessness, the growing divide between rich and poor, the slavish worship of money and the alienation many of us feel within our own homes. God is so much bigger than our petty little grievances and prejudices, so let’s go home today and find some way of expressing love to one another, be it someone from your church or the neighbour across the street who we haven’t spoken to since they moved in. Love can never fail to do that which it set out to do, and that was to love.”

Charlie blinked as the vicar stepped back and then she felt a surge of something leaving her, some invisible blockage. This was what she had wanted to hear from the priests and nuns.

“I didn’t know she was going to preach that sermon today,” Casey mused some twenty minutes later as they drove away, “although she is married to a woman.”

“Your vicar is married to a woman?” Charlie stared at her.

“Yeah, I only found out about it the other day when I was talking to the vicar at the church where we have the drop in centre. Apparently she came out a while ago and even got divorced from her husband.”

“Now that’s something you’d never get with the Catholic church. No divorce, no condoms, no abortion and we don’t talk about sex unless it’s to confess we had sex.”

“It’s a natural part of the human experience,” Casey countered, “you can’t just shut your eyes to it and hope it goes away.”

“Exactly,” her head hit the headrest. “Now that’s a church I could go back to.”

“Yeah, me too,” she replied.

Charlie eased back in her chair and stared at the document on the screen. She’d started writing again not long after her failed seduction attempt with Zoe, but only because Linda had encouraged her to keep writing. It would give her something to focus on rather than her own small little world and at least she wasn’t drinking. As usual, Linda was right. It had broadened her horizons somewhat, but this story was beginning to frustrate her. She’d started out with a basic idea and an opening chapter but now that she was on chapter five it was starting to annoy her.