First Draft Chapter 12

It was two days after classes started.  I had arranged to meet David and Helen in the cafeteria.  Those two were seldom seen apart.  It was an exception when I was able to spend time with one and not the other.  The three of us sat down at a table.
David opened up his sandwich to look at it, carefully examined it for a moment, and concluded, ‘I think this could use some mustard.”  David grabbed his sandwich and walked over to the condiments.
I bit into my sandwich hungrily, and after swallowing asked Helen, “so, how are classes for you?”
Her eyes widened in excitement.  “Jon, they’re so interesting.  I think this is definitely the place for me.”
“Now you’re enrolled in all literature classes, right?”
“Yes.  I’m impressed that you remembered.”  As if I ever forgot anything concerning her.  “What are you taking.”
“Oh, a little bit of everything.  I haven’t decided what I want to study yet.”  Not that it mattered anyway.  I was doing the same thing when I graduated no matter what I studied.”
“Are you taking any literature courses?”
“Nope, I’m in physics, math, geography, history, and biology.”  And for some reason, I felt the need to add, “I’m thinking of taking a few art courses next term though.”
“Really?  Why I never thought you were an artist Jon.”
“I’m not, but I have an interest in it.”
“Well you should take some art classes then.  You might find your niche there after all.  Who knows?  I encourage you Jon.”  David sat back down.  “Did you get mustard?” Helen asked.
“Nah, I decided just to forget about it.  I didn’t want to wait in that line.”
Helen rubbed his back.  “Poor Davey.  I’m sure the sandwich will taste alright.”
I saw Simon off in the corner looking for a place to sit, and I waved him over.  “You guys don’t mind, do you?” I asked them after I made the gesture.
“I have no problem with Simon,” David answered, and Helen nodded her agreement.  Simon came over and sat with us, and the four of us made small talk about our classes for a while.
“Hey, have you guys heard about Joshua?” Simon asked at a pause in the conversation.
“Yes,” David answered, wiping his mouth.  “Isn’t that amazing?”
“What?  What happened to Joshua?” I asked.  “He’s at the University, right?”
The other three of them exchanged glances.  “So you don’t know yet?” David asked.
“Tell me,” I demanded impatiently.
“Well, did you know Joshua dropped out of school?” David asked me.
I shook my head.  “Nobody told me.  When did this happen?”
“Yeah, I hardly noticed myself.  He was such a quiet figure it was so easy to forget about him.  Anyway,” David continued, “he dropped out of school a couple of years ago when we were sixteen.”  David turned to Simon.  “Is that right?”
“I think so.  Around then at any rate.”
“So he never made it to the University,” I asked.
“Never even finished school,” Simon said.
“Weird.  I never even noticed.  I just assumed he was here at the University with us.  I mean, he was a smart kid.”
He seemed to be,” Simon said.  “I’m not sure why he dropped out.  He certainly could have handled things.”
“But get this Jonny, I know we’ve all been getting ready to go to this University the past couple months and stuff and none of us have been following the news or anything, but Joshua has been creating quite a sensation.”
“Joshua?”
“Yeah, who would have thought, huh?” David repeated.
Simon picked up the story.  “Apparently Joshua left his home and just went down to live with the poor.”
“Why in the world would he do that?”
“I don’t know, but the past couple months he’s starting preaching to people.”
“About what?”
Simon twirled his fork on the table.  “I don’t know.  About love or God or something like that.”
It did not sound to me like the actions of a sane man, to live in the streets and tell people about God.  “And people actually listen to him?”
“Yeah, that’s the strange thing,” Simon said.  “Huge crowds go out to listen to him every day.  Some one told me it was getting hard to even see Joshua because of all the people who crowd around him.”
“Unbelievable.”
“Yeah, isn’t it?  That’s why I want to go and hear him preach.  You know, find out for myself what the big deal is,” Simon asserted.  “You guys want to come?”
“That sounds interesting Simon,” Helen replied.  “When are you going?”
“Oh, I don’t know.  Sometime this week, maybe.  What do you say?  Are you guys in?”
David stopped scooping food into his mouth long enough to look over at Helen.  “Yeah, yeah maybe.  That does sound interesting.”
“Not this week Simon,” I decided.  “It’s the first week of classes.  I’ve got way too much to do.  Some other time maybe.”
David looked over at me.  “What are you talking about Jon?  The first week is when we have the least homework.  Things are only going to get busier from here on in.”  I sighed in frustration at having to repeatedly explain this, and David realized what he had forgotten.  “Oh, right right.  I’m sorry Jon.  I forgot all about FJC.”

Yes, there was not much of a honeymoon at all.  Classes started, and with in that same week the campus chapter of FJC started out.  My father visited me the day before FJC registration.  Although he never mentioned FJC once, I am sure that the purpose of his visit was to remind me not to disappoint him.
Able accompanied my father.  Abel by this time was twelve years old, and had matured a lot since you last saw him reader, when he was still a whiny nine year old.  Still, at the same time he was very much still a child and I felt more distant from him now than ever.  I was eighteen.  I was as mature as I believed I would be.
My father surprised me as I was sleeping.  His high position allowed him access to the dorms, no questions asked.  Since my door was never locked, he simply opened it up.
“Alright, rise and shine Jonathon,” my father said, rapping his hand loudly on the wall.  “It’s four a clock in the afternoon.”
“Are you going to sleep all day?” Abel chimed in.
I looked around groggily.  “I was only taking a nap dad.  I’ve been up since eight O clock this morning.”
My father walked around the room inspecting things.  Abel stayed by the door.  “You were out late last night partying, weren’t you Jonathon.”
I grinned sheepishly.  “Maybe.”
“Jonathon don’t you forget why you’re here.  You need to study hard.  You’re going to have a lot of responsibility once you graduate.”
“Okay.”
“You can have fun, but you better do well in your studies, okay?”
“Okay.”
My father looked disapprovingly at the floor.  “The state of your room is really unacceptable Jonathon.”  A week’s worth of dirty laundry was scattered on the floor.  “Your room was never this dirty when you lived in my room.  “Of course it wasn’t.  He would never have tolerated a mess.  “I go through all the trouble to get you a single, and this is how you take care of it?”  I just shrugged.  The room really didn’t look that bad to me.  “This is just not acceptable.  If you don’t clean this up, we’ll stick you with a room mate.”
I nodded sleepily. “I’ll clean it up.”
“Alright, the next time I come over I want to see a clean room that you can be proud of.”  He opened the window shade, and I squinted as sunlight poured into the room.  My father pulled out a chair and sat down.  Abel went over to my desk and hoped up on it.  “So tell me how classes are going.”  I sat up, resigning myself to the fact that I was not getting anymore sleep.

The next morning, bright and early, I went to sign up for the campus chapter of FJC.  The Duke controlled the University, just as he controlled the schools, and so a whole campus building was dedicated to the FJC.  It was in many respects a beautiful building.  It was beautiful as my father would define beauty.  The landscaping around the building was very elaborate, but not natural.  Every plant was in its place; every growing thing was strictly controlled.  The building itself had straight columns that met the roof at a perfect ninety-degree angle.  It was an impressive looking building certainly, of that there was no doubt.  If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was an unimportant government building instead of just the FJC building.
I had never entered the building before.  In fact, I had purposely avoided it, but now I had no choice.  I walked up the many stairs and in through the grand entrance.  I walked through a magnificent lobby, whose domed ceiling looked to be about fifty feet high.  I inquired at the desk where registration was, and the receptionist, showing annoyance at having been disturbed, pointed to a sign which directed all new cadets to registration.
I followed the signs through the magnificent hallways to where a large group of my fellow University Students awaited registration.  I took a seat and waited for things to begin.  I glanced over the others seated to see if I knew anybody.  Christopher was sitting reading a book.  Well, no big surprise there.  I had always figured Christopher for a government job.  There were a couple other former schoolmates of mine there as well.  And, there in front of that group, was Orion.  Yeah, I suppose that shouldn’t have surprised me either.  Orion was ambitious, and to get anywhere in the government a job in the FJC was essential.  At the time, however, I was upset at seining him there.  Just when I thought the FJC couldn’t get any worse, Orion had to show his face.
After we waited around for a while, a man dressed in a military uniform came to the front.  He shouted for quiet and received it immediately.  “Alright listen up,” he bellowed.  “My name is Zeus.  You will obey me unquestionably or you will have no place in the FJC.  Is that clear?”
“Yes,” we all yelled back.
Zeus smiled.  “I like you boys already.  Now, let us not be deceived gentleman.  The FJC requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and discipline.  Most importantly, the FJC requires obedience: Obedience to the state, obedience to the Duke, obedience to me.  If anyone here does not think they can handle that, then they can just turn around and march right out of here, and the rest of us will promise not to laugh until after you’re gone.”  Nobody left, although I think a couple of my fellow soon-to-be Cadets might have caught me looking longingly at the door.  “That’s what I like to see.  All right boys, you can relax for this first day.  All we want from you right now is your name, your age, and some other important information.  Then we want to get your measurements, and we’ll be issuing you the appropriate equipment.  Now there are a lot of you here so just sit tight, be patient, and we’ll get through all of you eventually.  Monday be here at five in the morning for—“ there were a couple groans from the audience at the mention of that obscenely early time.  I was probably among them.  Zeus let his speech come to a full halt, and gazed out fiercely at the audience.  “Do any of you boys have a problem with the time we meet?  Do you?  Is five to early in the morning for you rich kids?”  Zeus gave a rhetorical pause afterwards, as if he almost expected someone to reply.  “You will be here at five on Monday morning gentleman and you will be here on time or you will deal with me.”  Zeus looked around the room one last time; his eyes darted from person to person as if he was just waiting for somebody to make a mistake.  “Alright, go to it boys.”  Zeus stepped down from the podium, and there was a movement forward in the crowd.  Everyone was eager to get registration over with and get on with their day and not be stuck forever waiting in line.  Zeus quickly re-ascended the platform however.  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Hold on a minute boys, I almost forgot the most important part.  Remember this isn’t some campus club you are signing up for, this is the FJC.  Once you’ve signed up, you’re signed up.  You can’t just drop out of the FJC if you decide you don’t like it.”

“Absolutely stunning Jonny.  I think we’ve found the look for you at last.”  David applauded as I modeled my new FJC uniform in front of the mirror.
“That uniform actually makes you look kind of sexy Jon,” Helen cooed.
I blushed.  “Knock it off guys.  It’s bad enough I have to wear this monkey suit every where I go, I don’t need you guys making fun of it.”
“No I mean it,” Helen said.
“How many uniforms did they give you?” David asked.
“Five, but get this: I have to show up everyday with a perfectly clean uniform just so I can go tramping through the mud and get it dirty again.”
“What’s the problem with that?” Helen asked.
“Well it’s pointless, that’s what.  I mean if they’re going to make me run through the mud every day, why do they care if I show up with a clean uniform or not?”
David chuckled.  “Looks like you’re going to be doing a lot of wash in the next few years Jon.”
“Yeah, go ahead and laugh.  Just be glad you don’t have to be a SJ.”
“Nice Jon, very nice.”  A new voice entered the conversation.  Hermes walked in through my open door.
I simply made a face in response to the comment.  “David, Helen, I’d like you to meet a new friend of mine, Hermes.”
David stood up to shake his hand.  “Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Hermes responded.  “Hey Jon, we missed you Tuesday.”
“Yeah, I know.  I’m sorry.  I’ll try and be there next week.”
“What’s on Tuesday?” Helen asked.
I looked to Hermes to answer that question, but a nod of his head sent it right back to me.  “Oh, just some art thing.”
Hermes decided to help me out, deeming my answer unsatisfactory.  “It’s the art guild.  It’s a place where students can get together to share their work and learn about what art opportunities the campus offers.”
Helen smiled at me.  “My Jon, you really are getting into this art thing, aren’t you?”
Seeing that she seemed pleased by my interest in art, I played into that role.  “I suppose I am.”  David shook his head.  “Jon the Artist.  Man, I never would have thought it.”