I polish off the rest of the Chinese food and half a pint of ice cream before texting Roland and telling him I’m going to bed. I fall asleep quickly, but the respite doesn’t last long. Some time after midnight there is a text dinging through on my phone and someone tapping on my window. Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I squint enough to see that it’s Jonah, and he looks frazzled.
Roland is in the bedroom across the living room, and I don’t think he’s a light sleeper, but I make quiet work of getting out of bed and opening the window.
“What?” I whisper, annoyed.
Jonah peeks over his shoulder before leaning in. “Matt’s gone. You have to help me find him.”
“It took me an hour to sneak out of Matt’s parents house,” Jonah says, walking toward Roland’s car. “How’d you get out so fast? And with his keys?”
I roll my eyes and unlock the car. “This may come as a shock to you, but this isn’t my first time.” We get in and I start the car, ever so grateful for the silence of an electric car as we pull away. “What happened after you guys left?”
Jonah sighs. “He stormed back into his house and up to his room. His dad looked at me in that way that dads sometimes do when they’re concerned, and his mom asked me what happened.”
“What’d you tell them?”
“I said we’d gotten into a heated theological discussion.”
I nod in approval. “Not even a lie. Go Jonah. So, why are we in the car? And where are we going?”
“Well we were sharing a room, and about an hour ago I heard him shuffling around. I asked him what was up and he told me not to say anything, and just leave him alone. He wasn’t a total jerk about it, or anything. He just … snuck out his window, down the drain pipe thing and that was it. He was gone.”
I nod. I only met Joe “Buck” Wells once before this morning, but he seemed much more relaxed and pleasant today than back when I first met him. Janet Wells, Matt’s mom, is such a sweetheart that when Matt filled in the details of his father’s past, it broke my heart for her. She’s a petite woman, dwarfed by both her husband and Matt, but her strength is evident and more than makes up for the difference in height. She’s probably forty, with shoulder-length blonde hair that has started showing some white. Other than that, she barely looks over thirty-five. Matt’s sister is spending the rest of her break at Janet’s parents house in Savannah, so I won’t get to meet her this trip. Given all that’s going on, I’m kind of glad she’s not here for this.
“And where we’re going is …”
“I’m not telling you unless I’m right. Just keep driving.” Jonah’s unusually assertive as he looks at his cell phone, which I can see is displaying a maps app that Jonah has muted.
“You’re kidding.”
He shakes his head. “I’m praying I’m wrong, Kennedy. I don’t want to give any lip service to the worst case scenario.”
“Okay, Just tell me where to turn.” I’m holding back because I’m grateful Jonah asked me to come along at all. I suspect he didn’t want to be the one to steal Roland’s car, and that’s why he asked me, but it’s still nice to be included. Even as an accessory.
After a few minutes of silence and a couple of right hand turns, I turn the radio on, and Jonah and I are surrounded by the modern Christian satellite station talking about Jesus being the rock on which we should stand.
“Better be a big-ass rock,” I mumble. “Because we’ve got some weight we need it to hold.”
“Do you ever doubt?” Jonah says, rolling down the window and filling the car with a chilly breeze.
“Sure,” I answer honestly.
“Like really doubt?”
I chuckle. “I guess that depends on what kind of faith you think I have. I don’t doubt God’s power, but I question his absolute authority in my life, if that makes sense. Like … I believe he’ll help me if I call, but I’m not sure about the in-between stuff.”
Jonah huffs through his nose. “God’s not a magic lamp, Kennedy. And Jesus isn’t his genie.”
“So it’s all or nothing?” I grip the steering wheel tighter.
“Hey,” Jonah holds up his hands, “I didn’t say that. God did. In the Bible.”
I shoot my eyes to Jonah for a second and twist my lips. “I’m aware. Sort of. I think I need to read more New Testament, actually.”
“But what you said to Matt about the story and God’s plan. You believe all of that?”
I take time for a long sigh. “Sometimes. I certainly feel that’s the case here, since I have no other rational explanation for why I ever set foot on CU ground or why I’m here, driving a sort of stolen car in Georgia looking for our hurt friend who’s run away.”
“Turn left and slow down a little,” Jonah instructs. “Keep your eyes forward though.”
“Don’t be weird or anything.”
“Please, Kennedy.” Something tells me to listen to bossy Jonah. So, against my own wishes, I keep my eyes forward. “Slower.”
“Mmhmm,” I answer while doing as instructed.
“Shiiiiit,” Jonah draws out in a whisper.
“I should take a right then?” I guess, judging by where his gaze is.
“Yes.”