Deviation by Scott M. Williams

the full amount, anyway.”
    Dianne frowned. “More meth?”
    “Meth. Weed. Cocaine. I'm attempting to stock
up a bit.”
    “Weed?”
She smiled drunkenly at him. “You smoke meth and weed? Aren't they practically opposites?”
    “Well, maybe. I don't normally use them
together.”
    “God, I haven't smoked weed in years.”
    Frank perked up at the news. “Would you like
to?”
    She took a sip of beer. “I don't know. Kind
of. But... shouldn't we be thinking about how we're going to deal
with our problems? I've still got that dead body...”
    “Forget the dead body.” Frank leaned
toward her, setting his food aside. “What do you say we get
stoned? I mean, really fucking blasted? It seems to have a way
of...” He gestured absently. “...helping things come
together in one's mind. Maybe it will help us decide what to do.”
    Dianne was grinning. “You don't have to
rationalize on my account. If you really have some weed, sure, I'll
smoke a little.” She laughed quietly “When I first
spoke to you yesterday, I was trying to figure out if you were a
strange priest or not. I honestly couldn't tell, but I was kind of
leaning toward strange. I don't think there's any doubt now. I
can't believe I'm going to smoke dope with a priest.”
    Frank nodded. “Yes, I suppose some people might
consider me a bit strange. Imagine doing what you want to do,
rather than what you're expected to do. It may be criminal at
times, despite the fact that god himself --”
    “I didn't mean to offend you,” Dianne
interrupted.
    “No, no,” Frank said, shaking his head.
“I'm not offended. I suppose I'm simply justifying my
behavior. You have to understand, Dianne, that I take the word of
god very seriously. That is, of course, if there was any word of
god. If he ever speaks to me, I'm all ears. But until then I'm
assuming I'm free to do as I please, and the laws of these
ridiculous pigs in their boyscout uniforms and government issue
badges have absolutely no influence over me whatsoever. If that's
strange, then so be it. But in all honesty, I find it far stranger
to live out your entire life as if it's some sort of act for the
benefit of society. If I'm not doing what I want to do, who am I
living for?”
    “I said I'm sorry!” She was still
smiling.
    Frank took a long drink of beer. “Accepted.”
    “You've really got a problem with authority,
don't you?”
    “How do you mean?”
    “I mean, you seem to denounce all rules and
laws, no matter why they exist. Like they were put in place with
the sole intention of pissing you off.”
    “Yes. I fully admit, I detest authority. I
don't believe anyone has the so-called right to force anyone else to
live by rules that they themselves invented. It goes completely
against nature.”
    “I suppose that's true.”
    “It is true. It's why so many sociopaths hold
positions of power. Like I told you before, it's all a game. If
everyone stopped playing, the sociopaths at the top would cease to
have control. Society is nothing but a house of cards, and I refuse
to allow everyone else's delusions to shape my reality.”
    Dianne tried to stop grinning and found she couldn't.
“I like you, Frank.”
    “I like you too. I'll go and get my weed.
Would you like to use my pipe, or would you prefer a joint?”
    She giggled and drank from her bottle. “Why
don't I come with you? We can smoke it in your room.”
    Looking suddenly nervous, Frank nodded. “If
you'd like. Are you sure you wouldn't rather smoke it here?”
    “I don't know.” She looked around the
little room. “We're inside this huge, beautiful old church
and all I ever really see is this modern break-room. I'd kind of
like to see something else.”
    “Alright. Perhaps the sanctuary...”
    Dianne laughed again. “What's the matter,
Father? Aren't you allowed to have a girl in your room?”
    He settled back in his chair. “Absolutely. I'm
just not sure why you'd want to go there.”
    “I'm not sure, either. It was just an