Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, has decided that now that I am not off having adventures by chasing storms, warning people about the storm that is coming, and helping the people who are devastated by them, I should write about my Sunday School Class.  She wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

TomCat had asked for Scriptures that talked about the love of God other than 1 John.  First John is how they discovered a God that they were not taught in their “church,” really a cult.  When they started asking questions is probably the same time they were discussed at the elder’s meeting as being troublemakers.  And thus, they were literally given a one-way bus ticket out of town for them, Tom and Cat ver Waarloosd and their three children, all before the age of nineteen, although they are nineteen now.  Tom said that he was having a hard time finding a God of love in the Old Testament especially.

But then, something highjacked the Sunday school class.  No, it was someone.

Grade schools were in session, but the university was not.  Thus, our storm chasing was cut short so that Home Wrecker (Dr. Elvira Quinn Casey) could ease her adopted son, Michael Rowe Casey, into the eighth grade at Moon Maid Middle School.  Her husband, Dr. Ben Casey (a.k.a. Mama’s Man) was not on the road either, doing freshman indoctrination and preregistration.  Dr. Kildare was giving Dr. Ellie extra time off for the transition.  Michael had used the staff at Lily the Pink to help him finish his seventh-grade year through distance learning.  That way, Michael could also spend time with Joseph in counseling, Joseph having been a chaplain with a lot of experience in counseling people through the aftermath of a natural disaster.

But now, Michael had been in classes for a couple of days.  And oddly, of the nineteen people that are shoehorned into Easy’s and my apartment, Michael was again an odd man out, the only one without a partner.  His adoptive parents were there, but that doesn’t quite count when the youngest in the room was Blaise and Margie who had announced a long time ago that eventually Blaise would propose, and she would say “yes”, and they would have a house full of babies.  But Blaise isn’t thirteen yet, not even a teenager.  But due to skipping grades, Blaise was a junior in high school.  At least, Michael was already a teenager, by a few weeks.

But then when Sophie Yeggs and Emmett Dalton walked in, a little late, since we had already done the opening prayer, they brought Emmett’s younger sister, who happened to be the same age and in the same grade as Michael.

Emmett said, “Can I interrupt before the songs to introduce my sister…”

Arabella jumped forward and said, “Arabella Dalton.  I am the middle child in the family.  While none of us were killed in a flood, we lost our farm to the flood here in Tracy a few years ago, and then the university bought the property from us.  I accept the name Arabella or Belle for short.  Somebody…  Who will be left nameless, Emmett, calls me ‘Airhead’ but that gets you punched in the face.”  She smiled at everyone in the room and curtseyed.  With her point made about the unwanted nickname, she continued, “My loving brother, Emmett, saw that Michael did not have any arm candy to hold onto during these Bible Studies and the class is for couples.  So, he is by himself doing the homework that everyone else can do as a couple.  So, I have come here to solve that problem.  I will be Michael’s girlfriend.  If he will have me.”

Michael said, “But I do not even know you.  We’ve never met.”

Arabella struck a pose with one hand on one hip.  She huffed.  “We’ve been in school for two days.  The first day was all orientation in the homeroom.  You and I are in the same homeroom.  The teacher had assigned seats.  From the teacher’s right, she started with the first name alphabetically.  You got the third seat in that row with Casey.  And with Dalton, I got the third seat in that row.  All that day you looked to the right.  You looked at the teacher.  You looked at the rainstorm outside.  But … You never turned around to see the girl behind you gazing at you all day long.  We are even in two classes together, but every day starts in the homeroom, so get used to me being right behind you.”

Emmett groaned, “That’s getting a bit creepy, Sis.  And everybody, now you know my boisterous, way-out-there sister.  Sarah is the church mouse that you would never know was there.  And Sis, give Michael a chance to say something.  Anything.  Don’t throw yourself at him.”

Arabella did a little dance, “But Michael is so dreamy!”

After shaking her head, laughing, Home Wrecker cleared her throat.  “I agree with Emmett.  I think Michael needs to make the decision, dreaminess or not.  Young lady, you remind me of myself at that age, and please chill out.  Throwing yourself at the boys does not work so well.  That is, unless the boy is old enough to understand where you are coming from.”  She leaned over and kissed her husband.

I interjected, “Ewww!  Newlywed kisses!  We need to establish some rules here!”

Mary interrupted, “Wait!  You’ve been married for only six months longer than we have.  Is that not still newlyweds?”

Easy said, like he just woke up from a nap, “You don’t see us kissing.  Do you?”

Mary retorted, “But she is about 5-6 months pregnant.  You had to have kissed at one point or another, and you are not hiding your baby bump!”

Easy turned to me and asked, “Does Mary know that you can get pregnant without kissing?  I mean, it may not be as much fun, but …”  He seemed to drift back off to sleep.

By this point, everyone was throwing in their comments on public displays of affection, except TomCat.  TomCat had been told any PDA was sinful, and they were just getting used to seeing other people kiss without cringing.

This discussion led to everyone seeing me, red in the face, and then they started kissing their significant other.  (I would say spouse, but there were several unmarried couples in the room.)

I cleared my throat and raised my voice, “Can we get back on the subject for this lesson?  Wait!  We have not even sung our song.”

Mary snickered, “You mean, you croaking the song while we try to figure out what the tune is?”

I waved a hand, “Hey, I am a natural alto.  Singing soprano is a stretch.”

Mary laughed, “So that is what you call it!”

I growled, “B.B., you are pushing that last nerve.  Pregnant women have more of those nerves.  But I was thinking of the ver Waarloosd couple who have been taught that PDA is a sin and I think they are about to pass out trying to take all this kissing in.”

Arabella was smiling and shivering, like she was about to explode.  “I kissed him, and he kissed me back!!”

Home Wrecker said, “Hold your horses, young lady.  Michael, did you really sit in front of this lovely lady for an entire school day without noticing her?”

Michael shrugged, “I guess she is right.  I looked around, but I don’t think I looked behind me.  She is rather pretty, but she is tiny.”

Arabella again posed. “Tiny, but mighty.  I can get a nice growth spurt and catch up.  And if I don’t, when I develop more, it will be in a tight condensed package.  Michael, you can row your boat anywhere you want.”

Home Wrecker and I yelled, “Woah!!”

Emmett put his hands over his face.  “Airhead! You went way too far over the line that time.  Apologize before it’s too late.”

Arabella apologized for her crude comments.

Then Joseph finally spoke up.  “I think we do not have a lot of time left, so let me help TomCat with a few verses.  God shows His love for His Chosen People throughout the Old Testament, even during some punishment phases, but turn to Deuteronomy 4:37 and God says that he loved the Israelite’s ancestors.  In Deut. 5:10, God says He loves a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His Commandments.  Then Deut. 6 starts with the greatest commandment in verse five, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.  But that is loving God, but then you tie that back to those thousands of generations who love God, God loves.  Keep going through Deuteronomy where most references to love is God loving.  But look at the plagues of Egypt.  God loved them so much that He did all those miracles to have them set free.  The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire to protect them.  When Joshua led the army of the Israelites in battle for the first time, they defeated the enemy as long as Aaron and Hur lifted Moses’ arms while he held his staff, a symbol that God was really defeating the enemy.  And that is what we need to do.  Let’s not talk about love.  Let us show love.  Michael is having a tough time making friends.  Now he has one, maybe an over exuberant one, but he has one.  Middle school is tough without losing everything in a flood.  That applies to Michael and short of losing parents, it applies to Arabella.  Let us teach them how to cope with hormones, cope with bullies, cope with harder subjects than they have had before, and show God’s love to others at the same time.”

I replied, “Wow!  I wish I had said that.  Class dismissed.  We will continue this topic next time, but we have buses to catch.”

I heard Michael turn to his new Dad, “Dad, can we come by here and pick up Arabella and take her to school.  She gets teased that the pink bus means that she is homeless.”  Ben Casey nodded.

Home Wrecker pulled me aside, “You are about to graduate in another year.  This is a great training ground.  You lost control of the class, but it was highly entertaining, and I learned some things about Michael I did not know.  When you become a graduate student and a graduate assistant, teaching classes, you will know how to handle a wild crowd a little better.  But to be honest, your teenagers in here may teach you more about being a parent.  I am learning those things from this class.  Keep up the good work, Stinker.”  She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  “Now, you have more PDA to explain to TomCat.”

Credits

The first reference to PDA states it, public display of affection.

Not too many school have assigned seats anymore.  My parents met that way, with my mother being the last “P” and my father being the first “R” with no “Q” in the class.  After sitting in front of my Dad for most of the school year, my mother asked him out for the Sadie Hawkins dance.  After graduation, my Dad went to college to play football and baseball.  My mother went to a one-year business school to learn bookkeeping.  After one semester in college, my father dropped out and joined the railroad.  And that following October, my parents were married in a town just south of Memphis, TN.  Who knows?  Maybe Arabella and Michael will find common ground to build a relationship.