Charlie's Angel

I was responsible
For saving Charlie
In high school

I would go to his locker
Every day
And ask him if he'd found Jesus

I made it a point
To try and help my fellow classmates
That were fighting inner demons

At one time
I was helping fifty or so students
Including the entire cheerleading squad

My Daddy used to call me
The Little Angel

So I guess for a time
I was Charlie's Angel

Isn't that cute?

I thought it was

Charlie was always very kind to me

I'd show up at his locker
Asking if he'd found Jesus
And he'd say 'Not yet, not yet'

Then he'd offer me a can of Coke
And I'd tell him that caffeine is bad for you
And so he'd offer me some celery sticks instead
And I'd take those
Because I wanted to be polite

Sometimes we'd eat together at lunch

People would make fun of us
But it's not so bad being made fun of
If you're being made fun of together

I know Charlie had a crush
On one of the cheerleaders
Which I found to be so...

Well, so appropriate

It was like something out of a John Hughes movie

I told him that he should consider
Marrying a good Christian girl
And he'd laugh and ask if that meant me

Oh no, I said, I'm giving my life over to the Lord!

When, Charlie asked

And I said, Well...When he tells me to!  You can't just go marrying the Lord whenever you want, Charlie.  You have to be called to it.  I'm waiting for the Lord to call.

Well, Charlie said, Better make sure nobody's tying up the phone lines.

Charlie was always funny like that

Always had that fresh mouth on him

I didn't mind though

We all cope in our own ways

When we graduated, I lost touch with Charlie

Oh shoot
I guess I really haven't given you
Any kind of memory or story about him
Have I?

Let's see, uh...

I remember us dancing together
At some dance or other

Not prom, because neither of us went to that
But some kind of homecoming

I remember putting my head down on Charlie's shoulder
And him feeling so warm and comforting

His hands were on my waist
And his mouth was right up against my hair
And normally I don't let boys get that close
But I let him that time
Because...

Well, because I liked Charlie

I really did

I didn't get that call from the Lord
Until it was too late

By then I was in prison

One night my Daddy was calling me his Little Angel
And when I told him he needed to drink some coffee and sober up
He slapped me so hard my glasses few off my face
And I went into his bedroom where he kept his gun
And I...

I plead Guilty to it
Because I did it

People told me I could have gotten off
On self-defense
But I don't believe on calling something what it isn't

I could have defended myself with a frying pan

When I picked up that gun
I knew what I wanted
And defense had nothing to do with it

When I was locked away in prison
I finally heard the Lord calling to me
Except I didn't know what to say back
I was so ashamed of myself

I used to write letters to Charlie
But I don't know if he ever got them

I'm sure he must have moved or something

Now that he's passed on
I hope he has a real angel with him

And I hope they're up there somewhere
Dancing

Just dancing up a storm