BUS STORY # 476 (The Evangelist)

Downloaded from Pinterist

A couple boards somewhere on Menaul. She’s not especially remarkable -- blondish hair, turquoise shirt, 30s. Her partner is: reddish long hair, stubble, and a wife-beater which shows off his many dragon wing tattoos.

They take an empty row and pull out smart phones.

There’s a guy sitting in the bench seat in front of the couple. I hadn’t really noticed him until he started talking to them. Big guy, corpulent. Blue satin basketball shorts with black on white stripes. White T-shirt. Baseball cap with “I love Jesus” along the brim.

What catches my attention is the word “Jesus” in whatever he is saying to them.

The woman looks back down at her phone. The man just stares at him.

He starts up again.

“Yeah, a lot of people think they’ll find happiness in sex or drugs or alcohol.” A pause. “Or a big fancy car.”

“This is my big fancy car right here,” says the tattooed guy.

His partner nudges him. It is not a “Good one” nudge; it’s a “Quit encouraging him” nudge. He looks back down at his phone.

The guy on the bench seat is silent for a while. Then he asks them, “Is there anyone in your family I can pray for?”

The man looks up. He stares for a few seconds, then replies, “No, I don’t think so.”

The guy takes this in and rides silently for a while. Then he pulls out a smart phone and starts working it for the rest of his ride.