The Inheritance Paradox
Thirteen (Eugene’s Story)
EUGENE WAS SIXTEEN when he went to church camp. It changed his life. First of all, he met Rachel.
He’d known her in school. They’d talked to each other. They’d even worked on the sophomore homecoming float for the football game together. But something about the atmosphere of the camp—what they called the Senior Institute—was just different.
Of course, there were lots of worship activities, but there were some really fun activities, too, like drama classes, music classes, and art classes. Eugene decided to try the drama group while Rachel was very into the art group. They both sang in the choir. In the evening, before vespers, they played games in the cabin, rented by the church for twenty teens and several adult chaperones.
As the week wore on, Eugene and Rachel grew closer. They spent more time just walking around the grounds, talking about life. Both were feeling drawn to a life in the church.
On Friday night, Eugene accepted Christ as his savior and committed his life to becoming a minister. Rachel had been at the altar next to him and they’d received communion. The rest of the evening was to be spent in quiet reflection and prayer. They left the service under a covenant of silence until morning. Neither seemed inclined to return to the cabin immediately, so with a couple of gentle nudges, they headed down toward the lake just to walk next to each other along the shore.
Without a word, their hands touched as they walked. At first it was just the backs of their hands that brushed against each other. Then they held the contact. Then their fingers laced together and they leaned against each other, just enjoying the night and the silence and the contact.
When camp was over on Saturday, it was still two weeks before school started, and Eugene wasn’t sure what their relationship was. Rachel didn’t live close to the school like he did. Of all the stupid things, he hadn’t even gotten her phone number. They went to different churches that had joined together to rent the cabin at Senior Institute. He’d never been so excited or fearful of the first day of school.
The fear was put aside as soon as he saw her smile. They had three classes together and met after school for a few minutes before her bus boarded to take her home. In that few minutes, he got her phone number and promised to call her that afternoon.
He called as soon as he got home but, of course, she didn’t get home until half an hour later. Her mother, who answered the phone, told him in no uncertain terms that she most certainly would not call him back. It wasn’t proper for a young woman to call a man. He could call after four and she would probably be home if she was interested in talking to him.
She was. Their excitement was tempered only by not really knowing what to talk about. Some things just seemed to need looking into each other’s eyes while they were said.
Not that they were ready to pledge their love or lives to each other, but there was a powerful draw toward being together. They agreed to go to the football game Friday night. Eugene was going on his first date.
There were complications. He didn’t have a driver’s license yet. Rachel agreed to stay in town with a friend until the game and meet him at the gate. Eugene’s father agreed to pick them up after the game and take Rachel home. It was old hat to Wallace Holbrook. He’d raised three children before Eugene and all three were married and on their own. Eugene needed to get a driver’s license soon.
Eugene and Rachel made their way into the stands and sat with friends. It seemed perfectly natural to them to hold hands, even though it was officially only their first date. They were the brunt of a few jokes about how fast they took each other’s hands, but they weren’t even embarrassed about it. It was just right. They laughed and joked with classmates seated nearby, stood and cheered for the team, and cuddled more closely when it got a little chilly near the end of the game.
Wallace was waiting for them when they left the stadium, and they sat quietly in the back seat on the drive to Rachel’s house. Eugene walked her to the door.
“I suppose I’ll see you Monday, then,” he said. “I’d love to take you out again this weekend, but I don’t have a license and can’t ask Dad to drive more than once a weekend.”
“Um… If you want… You could, like, call tomorrow evening. We could sort of have a date on the phone,” she answered.
“Yeah! That would be great! I’ll call about seven, okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll sort of see you then,” she answered. He squeezed her hand and held the door for her. Then he went back to join his silent father in the car.
By the end of the weekend, Eugene and Rachel were definitely ‘going together.’ They weren’t ready to make great declarations of love or long-term commitments, but they’d agreed to both join the school choir and to volunteer to work on the junior class homecoming float. And they were ready to volunteer for other class activities as they came available. It was a great way to spend time together without being on a date.
And then there were lunches in the school cafeteria. Everyone could see them together then. That didn’t stop everyone’s interest in Rachel.
“Hey, Rache!” Tom Wilson said, sliding up to the table next to Rachel. “We never got around to a date last year like we planned to. What do you say we take in a movie this weekend?”
Rachel looked at him askance and lifted her hand, held in Eugene’s under the table.
“Sorry, Tom. I’m going with Eugene. I don’t remember ever making a plan to date you last year,” she said.
“Oh, crap! Well, I made the plan, but then Janice kind of took up my time and I was gone most of the summer. Sure you don’t want to go out even once?” Tom asked.
“No, Tom. I’m really with Eugene. And we’re having fun together.”
“Okay. I guess. Congrats, Eugene. Rachel has always been the top catch in our class.” He got up and went to another table. It looked like he was asking Loretta for a date.
“Um… I’m glad you agreed to date me,” Eugene said, a little stunned by the quick attempt to date his girlfriend.
“Thank you for not jumping up to challenge him right away. I know you’d defend me if it was serious, but this was something I could handle as long as I was holding your hand,” Rachel said. “I had no idea I was the top catch in our class. It makes me sound like someone pulled me out of the lake during ice fishing season.”
“Well, I consider you the only ‘catch’ if that’s what you want to call it. I’m not interested in anyone else—in our class or any other.”
“I’m glad. Let’s see, we have work on the float after school today. I wish they gave us more time. Two weeks from concept to parade just isn’t much,” she said.
“The concept is fantastic. I didn’t know you were so artistically talented,” Eugene said.
“Floats aren’t really my thing, but no one was coming up with any ideas. I just sketched something out and everyone jumped on it. I’m glad you’re working on it with me.”
“I wish I had my license so I could give you a ride home. Dad says he’ll take me to get my license on Saturday. I don’t know why he wouldn’t take me last spring. He just kept saying not until I could drive a stick.”
“And can you now?”
“Yeah. Fortunately, he’s not making me take my test in his Tempest. I can use Mom’s Impala. It’s a boat, but it’s an automatic and easy to drive.”
“It was nice that your dad picked us up in that one Friday instead of a two-door we’d have to crawl over the seat in,” she giggled.
“Oops. Time to go to class,” Eugene said when the bell rang. “I’ll see you after school.”
They rode the fan bus to the next Friday’s football game. That was okay because they sat together in the same school bus Rachel usually rode home. It was a half-hour ride to Portage High, and they cuddled together the entire way.
For homecoming, Eugene drove the Impala to pick Rachel up. He had his new driver’s license, complete with a Polaroid photo laminated to the paper license. The couple bought hot dogs at the game for dinner and then went into the school after the Bearcats won their homecoming game. They had permission to stay out until the dance ended at midnight.
“I sure had fun tonight,” Rachel said.
She sat belted into the center seat. Eugene carefully kept both hands on the steering wheel until he was parked in Rachel’s driveway. Then he put an arm around her and they leaned together.
“I always have fun when I’m with you. I didn’t know you could dance so well.”
“Really? Could any of the bouncing around we did really be called dancing?” she giggled.
“Well, there were some slow songs,” he said.
“All I cared about was that you were holding me. Like you are now. I really like you, Eugene.”
“I really like you, Rachel.”
They sat, never quite knowing what they should do next, but both knowing what they wanted. Eventually, Eugene just pushed his face toward hers and found her lips waiting for him. It was electric and they jumped apart almost as quickly as they touched.
The porch lights flashed on and off.
“I need to go in.”
“Yeah. I’ll get the door.”
Eugene ran around the car and opened the passenger door just in time for Rachel to step out. They rushed to the door.
“Well, goodnight. I’ll see you in school Monday!” Rachel said, pulling the door open. They squeezed hands quickly and then she was gone.
Eugene drove home slowly, just savoring the experience of his first kiss.
They didn’t rush into a more intense relationship. Eugene started going to her church. His parents didn’t go to church at all, even though he invited them repeatedly.
“You know, I have a boss at work who tells me what to do,” Wallace said when Eugene asked him once again. “And I have a union boss who tells me what I can’t do. There’s a policeman who sits on the corner when I get off work who reminds me what the law is I have to obey. And when I’m home, I have to do what your mother says. Most of the time. Then there are all kinds of other laws I have to obey. I have to file taxes. I have to pay my mortgage. Sunday is the one day I don’t need a church telling me what to do. If that’s how you want to spend your free time, you go right ahead. You kowtow to that church and give it all your money if you want to. But you can’t have my money and I’m not going to worship some imaginary man in the sky.”
“He’s not imaginary, Dad. I know Jesus as my personal savior and I’m going to become a preacher one day. I don’t want my family to go to hell. I want you to know Jesus, too.”
“Eugene, as long as you live in this house, you don’t mention your religion to me again. You’ve got a personal relationship with Jesus, then keep it personal and don’t bother me with it.”
That was scarcely the end of it, but Eugene discovered his older brother, sisters, and his mother were just as uninterested in religion. He and Rachel went to church, to youth group on Sunday night, and to prayer meeting on Wednesday nights. They prayed for their families—especially Eugene’s. Rachel’s family were all pretty committed to the church. Her brother and sister were younger, and she made sure they were in Sunday School every week.
And often, Eugene and Rachel knelt together to pray for the salvation of Eugene’s family. They composed letters to his siblings—who were all at least ten years older than he was, urging them to go to church and to find Jesus as their Lord.
“They have the wrong idea,” Eugene said when he and Rachel were on a date around Christmas. “They think we’re no fun. We have lots of fun.”
“Fun in the eyes of sinners is very different than in the eyes of Christians,” Rachel said.
“Well, none of my siblings are coming home with their families for Christmas this year. Mom and Dad are going to visit my youngest sister, Sharon, and her husband out in Virginia for a few days. They said they thought I should stay home since I’m seventeen now and have church things to do.”
“Oh, Eugene, I’m so sorry. You’ll come to celebrate Christmas with my family, won’t you? I know you’d be welcome.”
“Thank you, Rachel. I’d love to. Thank you.”
It was likely Eugene would have requested the opportunity to spend more of his holiday with Rachel if his parents had not made plans without him. It would have been nice to see his sister, but he had very little in common with his older siblings. He just wished they were saved.
After the holiday, school had its own pressures. Eugene and Rachel both worked on the prom committee. Juniors always sponsored the prom for seniors. The prom was the first time he had ever rented a dinner jacket. The guys were all resplendent in their white jackets with black bowties.
Wallace and Louise had sponsored a pre-prom dinner for both families. Rachel’s parents, Miriam and George, were congenial and told Eugene’s parents how much they enjoyed having Eugene at their house for Christmas. While they bowed for a moment of silent prayer before the meal, they made no comments about religion. Eugene watched and learned. Perhaps he had been overbearing in his concern for his parents’ and siblings’ salvation.
After the dinner and photos, Eugene used his mother’s Impala to take Rachel to the prom. He’d considered the far sportier Tempest, but it had bucket seats. In the Impala, Rachel could sit in the middle.
Everyone at the prom acted far more grown-up than they usually were. They wore formal clothes—the guys rented theirs; the girls sewed their own. They danced more reserved dances that most had learned the basics of in PE class. For a few hours, they felt grown up and ready for a world outside.
The prom ended at midnight. The after-prom started at 12:30. It gave people just enough time to change clothes and be back for more informal dancing, ham sandwiches, and even a movie shown on the auditorium screen while many of those watching dozed in their seats and others used the cover of darkness to make out. Eugene drove Rachel to the Waffle House for breakfast when the doors were opened at five in the morning. Then he took her home, kissed her tenderly at the door, and both got ready for church where they met once again.
“I have something for you,” he said as they left church, both intending to go to their homes and sleep the rest of the day.
“What is it?”
“Just a little poem I wrote. It isn’t much.”
“I love your little poems,” she said. She joined her parents for the ride home and only when she was in her room and planning to sleep, did she open the envelope.
I’ve never seen the moon as bright
As it was at eight last night.
’Twas radiated
And saturated
In showers of blue-white light.
It illuminated your face
With a passion of grace.
My heart beat
With love sweet
Expressed in an endearing embrace.
Oh, moon, look down
On the love I have found,
And as I kiss
My beautiful Miss
Let love in us abound.
Shine on my bosom friend,
Until endurance end.
Correct my fright
With brilliant light
To thy height let my love ascend.
Rachel kissed the page and held it to her breast as she slept.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
