Olivia: The book of Matthew

Chapter Thirteen

I smile at his sweetness as he quickly and swiftly hops out and makes his way to our doors and opens them before we can even acknowledge that it's time to get out. He motions toward the door for us to go in and Irene leads the way. I give him a knowing smile but he chooses to ignore me instead nods to Irene for me to follow her.

She's already inside talking to people when I make my way in and Marco follows behind me. A few guys there shout his name and he lifts a hand to wave at them and throws nods at Irene and I before making his way to them.  After a few games of pool a man that's maybe in his mid thirties stands up.

Announcing, "Who's ready for some devotionals?"

Irene quickly places the pool stick on the table and shouts, "Me!"

I laugh as I follow her lead and we make our way upstairs. I am surprised to see a couple couches and chairs and I sit next to Irene and watch as everyone else makes their ways to their own seats.

The man introduces himself and then allows us each to go around and introduce ourselves, "A lot of you like to get shocked and say oh my God. For some it's frustration and you say Jesus Christ like it's a bad name or Dear God sarcastically when someone does or says something silly."

You can tell who the people are because they subconsciously look to the ground in embarrassment.

As if he doesn't notice he jokes, "Any day now Irene we're waiting on you!"

She takes the bait, "Naturally.. a typical man is always waiting on a girl."

This breaks the ice and causes the room to go into laughter.

She continues, "Keep the sabbath day holy..."

she stops to give him a chance to explain and he shakes his head.

Encouraging her, "Do me the honor miss. Irene."

She nods and proudly clarifies, "This the day that we consider Sunday. We go to church and my mom does pot roast because it's simple and not hard work. Both parents refuse to work on this day and it's a day we hang out and be grateful to God."

He scratches his chin with his neck,
"Do you do heavy cleaning or laundry?"

She shakes her head, "No, in my house it's our relax and worship God day."

He claps and others follow suit. With a smile he encourages, "That's well said."

Irene playfully bows her upper body and finishes, "The fifth of the Ten Commandments is.."

she pauses and tilts her head at me and with that look in her eye. I Already know what it is.

I steal her words before she can, "Honor thy mother and father?"

She nods and shoots a fake gun at me and we laugh. The leader gets excited and sits on the edge of the couch.

asking, "Does someone have a story for us?"

I shake my head and confess, "More like a question. What is the difference between obeying and honoring?"

He smirks at me and his eyes don't break contact with me as he speaks gently, "to obey means to do as one is told to honor means to love and respect."

I roll my eyes, "Isn't respect and honor the same thing?"

He tilts his head and admits, "Close but honor is something you do when someone is important and respect is something someone gets when they are important.."

for a second I can hear the doubt in his voice when I hear him replying.

asking, "If that makes sense?"

I giggle and assure him that it makes sense.

He stands up straight as he turns away and slicks back his hair as he Speaks to the crowd, "You shall not murder."

Irene chokes out, "That's a good one."

He spins around on his heels and nods in agreement, "I agree with you. Killing someone not only hurts them and their loved ones but it hurts you mentally."

He realizes that no one else is going to comment on the topic.

so he goes in, "You shall not commit adultery."

A young man jokes, "What is considered adultery?"

The man has quirks and eyebrows and Marcos is clearly irritated with his friend when he hits him in the chest.

and growls, "It's where you cheat on your wife!"

All the other guys laugh and the guy shakes his head. I catch Irene and Marco talking with their eyes and she is clearly not amused and is quick to change the subject.

She snaps her head in my direction and awkwardly blurts out, "You shall not steal."

The man jokes , "Does anyone need me to clarify that?"

Irene and I both burst into laughter.
he continues, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Marco's friend goes to raise his hand.

Marco mutters, "Oh no you don't!"

The two start to wrestle and I can see Irene is getting upset and She blurts out, "Last but not least You shall not covet."

She turns to Marco and his friend and she glides to them like they are her prey.

Whileraising her voice, "For those of you that don't understand that means, This one means don't want what's yours!"

The boy escapes from Marco's grip and himself neck and neck with Irene.

He challenges Irene, "So you don't want a better future?"

She corrects him, "Don't want someone else's future!"

He smirks, "Don't want a new car?"

She shakes her head, "Don't want that new car just because someone else has it!"

He crosses his arms in determination,
"Don't want a better house!"

She chuckles, "Don't want that house because it's his or her house."

He squints and furrows his eyebrows as he gives it one last try, "Don't Want a better job?"

She defeats him again, "Don't want her job!"

I can tell she's not amused anymore when she snaps, "Are we done being a loaf?"

I start laughing and correct ,"Oaf!"

She swats her hand in my direction to hush me .

argueing, "Tomato tamoto..."

she trails off then seems to be debating with herself, "Or is it something to do with a potato ?"

She shrugs and then starts to head to the door. I watch as Marco chases after her, he's clearly worried about her being upset.