The Doctor
April 30, 2008
During church service, the Doctor stole a loving glance at his wife. He was grateful that Rose was coming to church with him and hopeful about her new affinity to the Reverend. More than anything else, he wanted his wife to become a Christian like himself and to feel comfortable in the Church. He basked in the lofty ideal of family happiness, imagining that the four of them would share a sacred bond, husband and wife, sister and brother; together they would be as one.
He was also captivated by the hospitality of the church atmosphere, and since he had left Iraq, he felt part of a community. He enjoyed rubbing elbows with the sociable members; after service he engaged in fellowship as the congregation funneled into the large central meeting area, where coffee and donuts were served. There was always a line of parishioners waiting to share a word with the Reverend and the Doctor stood in this long line because he wanted to thank the Reverend for reuniting him with his wife, and bringing her into the open arms of the church.
Now that his wife was attending regularly, the Doctor felt a need to participate more in church life. During the three months that Rose was painting the Reverend’s portrait, he signed up for a church retreat, went to weekly Bible studies and enrolled in a family values seminar. He also registered his son and daughter to take confirmation classes.
The Doctor’s enthusiasm for church was sharply curtailed by his twelve-year old son’s unabashed refusal to obey his father’s orders. This caused a great uproar in the Bashar house. Almost overnight, Lethe seemed to have grown into a monster. The youth’s “unruly, obnoxious, intolerable” behavior not only threatened the Doctor’s sense of order and stability but Lethe was becoming a nemesis to his father’s lofty ideal of family happiness. While the Doctor meticulously prepared to have his family ready for church by nine-fifteen on Sunday mornings, now it was becoming a habit of Lethe’s to linger in his bedroom, waiting until the last minute to get dressed. As the gray Oldsmobile sat in the driveway with the engine running, the Doctor rang the doorbell several times. Still without his tie on, Lethe came to the door.
“Put on your shoes and get in the car.”
No answer.
“PUT-ON-YOUR-SHOES.”
No answer.
“GET-IN-THE-CAR-NOW.”
Finally Lethe grabbed his coat, slipped on his shoes and hurried to the car.
[...] father was a doctor. A prescriptive man by nature who communicated to his son mainly through lectures. His father never [...]