Chapter Text
It's the heart of the basketball season, and Drew just lost his second game in a row. He's disappointed, sure, but what's worse? His dad's pissed. "You had to fuckin' blow it, boy? You know what everyone's gonna think?" "Nobody's going to fucking care." Drew used to be afraid, but recently he's realized that he's gonna get punished no matter what he says or does, so he may as well say what's really on his mind. "You're a fuckin' disappointment, you know that? You finally act like a man and play a real sport, and you're not even halfway decent at it?" A few years ago, in the sixth grade, Drew had a chess phase and had joined the chess club. It hadn't lasted long until he figured out he was more into playing basketball, a "real sport" in Dad's eyes. "Go to your room. I'm gettin' pissed lookin' at your stupid face." Drew knew his dad was going to the bar. He didn't say anything about it. It wasn't anything important like the last game? Why did it matter if he lost, when he had all the other games he could win? He had practice tomorrow anyway, so he needed to get rest and not worry about this. Maybe if he did good at practice, he'd have the heat off him.
Drew goes into practice, trying to do his best. He really did like basketball and he liked being good at it. His dad comes to pick him up after.
"Come on, kid, we need to get home."
"No, Dad, I'm gonna go with Brock for a little while." His best friend who he sits with in math. The teacher had to move their desks because they couldn't stop joking around.
"No, you're coming home." Dad insists. Drew walks away with Brock and acts like he doesn't hear his dad.
He didn't get home until after dinner, but it didn't matter to Drew.
"You had the nerve to disrespect me like that, boy? You know what The Bible says about honoring your mother and father." Drew was starting to think that God didn't exist, but he didn't say anything about it. They lived in The Bible Belt, and he only knew a few other atheists. Brock was being raised secular (he was allowed to listen to Metallica, and he would bring his earbuds and his MP3 with him when they hung out so Drew could listen too), and a few other kids he knew. But easily eighty percent of their school was Christian. He gets a very long lecture about the Biblical way he should be living.
He had a hard time getting to sleep because of how mad he was. He mostly stared at the ceiling or read some of the books that his uncle got him. His uncle Tim bought him whatever books he wanted, even though Dad thought some of them were roo mature for Drew, because he was only thirteen. He let it slide because it kept Drew out of trouble, and maybe reading those books would help get his grades up?
Drew didn't care why he was allowed to read them, just that he was, and he enjoyed reading them very much. Books weren't policed as strongly as shows and music were. Recently, Drew snuck a copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins into his room, reading it only at night. His dad might not ask about what he read, but a title like that? That'd get him punished. He stayed up late reading it.
This was so much better than The Bible. This made sense to Drew. He wished everyone else could see the world like this.