“Trying…” I mutter, looking back at the tiny print.
“Well, if you have questions, let me know. I’m gonna shower and grab something to eat before bed, but I’ll be up for a while. Just…come in.”
“Okay. I will.” I give him a soft smile, watching as he heads toward the bathroom—only for him to turn back again.
“You eat?”
“Yeah.”
“Enough?” His brow arches, like he’s already guessing the answer.
I laugh. “Yes. I’m full. Promise.”
“Just making sure.” He nods and disappears around the corner.
I keep reading, still trying to make sense of all these names—who’s going where, why, and with who. After a few more lines, I give up and flip to another random page instead.
Closing my eyes, I murmur, “Okay…show me a page I need to read right now.”
When I open them, my finger’s landed on Matthew. Okay, that’s a promising name. I can get on board with that. The book I was in before I couldn’t even pronounce…something likeeucalyptus, orescalators. I don’t know. Whatever E-c-c-l-e-s-i-a-s-t-e-s spells.
The bathroom door opens a few minutes later. Cody comes out, towel around his waist and no shirt, his hair wet and pushed back.
“Wait, Cody.” I stop him before he reaches his room.
“Hmm?” He turns toward me and comes closer.
I point to the Matthew scripture that has me newly flabbergasted and read it to him. “It says if your hands, feet, or eyes cause you to sin…that you should cut them off and throw them in fire.” I look back to him.
He laughs softly. “It’s not being literal.”
“But it doesn’t even say anything in the footnotes. It doesn’t say it’s not being literal; it says—”
“Trust me. We don’t have to amputate any of our body parts tonight.”
“Then why would it say that?” I press. “Like, why phrase it that way? That’s terrifying. Wrong person—barely educated, like me—reads that…we could have a problem.”
He chuckles but walks closer. “It’s meant to make a point,” he says. “That sin is serious. That you don’t let it fester. You cut it off at the source. It’s to show us how far we should be willing to go to protect our souls.”
I glance back down, rereading the words. ”Okay. But why not just say that?”
He laughs again. “Because Jesus didn’t sugarcoat things. He said what needed to be said.”
“Oh.” I look back at the scripture.
“Any more questions?”
“Not right now.”
“Alright, then I’m making a sandwich and heading to bed. Night.” He disappears to get dressed.
“Night,” I reply as I carefully underline the verse I almost took way too seriously.
Chapter 11
Cody
I’m woken by the sound of footsteps, followed by my bedroom door creaking open, then the lights being turned on, blinding me. This happened two nights ago too. Karissa said she heard a noise, but it just ended up being one of the dogs being restless.
