Jesus Freaks: Sins of the Father

Jonah chuckles. “So are you.”

Turning to face him, he meets me with a pointed stare, smile still dialed up.

“It’s the lip ring, isn’t it?” I joke.

He laughs. I like how much he laughs. And I like that he thinks I’m funny. “Some of it.”

It’s our turn at the counter. Jonah orders a hot apple cider and a half-caff coffee. I don’t know which is for him and which is for Brent. Both strike me as the cider type, really. I order the drinks I’m in charge of and we move down to the far end of the counter to wait.

“Sorry about the other day at lunch.” I lean against the counter and tuck some hair behind my ear.

Jonah shrugs and shakes his head, truly a universal sign for “what?”

“Our discussion of the Word,” I prompt.

“Oh, right.” He shifts on his feet and looks down. I look, too, and find Converse sneakers. I grin but don’t say anything. “That’s not really…something to apologize for?”

“Was that a question?”

He lifts his chin and, while the smile’s gone, his face remains bright. “I don’t know?”

“Well, that clears that up.” I roll my eyes and we both laugh.

I realize he’s the only person I’ve really laughed with since I arrived on campus. A quick look over my shoulder shows our friends at a table outside, Eden seeming to do her best not to stare openly at Jonah and me at the counter. She’s talking with Brent and Joy, but every three seconds exactly she shoots a quick look our way. Jonah, having the manners he does, won’t notice this because he’s focused only on our conversation.

Jonah nudges my elbow when the barista begins setting our drinks on the counter. The touch feels warm and slightly scandalous. Maybe because I know the rules—which this touch doesn’t break—or maybe because I actually like Jonah.

Bummer for me, I resign to myself with a soft sigh. You aren’t his type, Kennedy. He’s basically Jesus and you aren’t even saved.

“Anyway,” Jonah continues as we navigate through the crowd to the patio outside, “I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking how different you are from the rest of us, if I were you. I’m willing to bet we’re more alike than different.”

“Yeah? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Before he has a chance to answer, Eden leaps to her feet to be oh-so-helpful in distributing the drinks. Jonah takes the half-caff. There’s hope for him yet.

I grab my full-strength latte and settle myself in the black cast iron chair, sandwiched between Eden and Bridgette. Frankly, they’re perfect social buffers. They like me, which is more than I can say for Joy. After taking a gratuitous sip, I close my eyes and lean my head back, letting the sun soak my face. “It’s such a nice day.”

“Thanks for suggesting we head down here, Kennedy,” Eden says. “I’ve heard that freshmen at CU sometimes get caught up in…whatever…and stay on campus more than they go off.”

I open one eye toward Eden. “What’s whatever?”

“Fear, probably,” Brent answers. “That they’ll get sucked into all the sin.”

Sin. Sigh. I’ve never, ever heard the word used so much. Maybe because I’ve been living in it, some of my tablemates might say.

I lower my chin, eyeing Brent. “All the sin?”

“Rocks,” Silas mumbles to Bridgette, who then leans down and seems to fumble with her sandal.

“What is that?” I say to both of them, not wanting to stress out poor Brent with all the sin.

Bridget looks up and shakes her head. “Nothing.”

I arch my eyebrow at her, looking to the rest of their table who shrug or offer nothing.

“Rocks,” I articulate. “You’ve each said it to the other since we’ve been down here. Is that, like, sibling code for something? Twin code?”

Bridgette hesitates, but Silas leans forward and anchors his elbows on the table. “It is code, but not in that way. It’s how we look out for each other when we’re out in the world. If we see someone who is dressed immodestly, or engaging in immoral behavior of some kind, we say ‘Rocks’ so our siblings know to avert their eyes. It’s more polite than yelling to look away.”

“You have to be careful about what you let your eyes see,” Bridgette adds. The table has gone quiet and the siblings have taken center stage. “What you see can turn to thoughts and thoughts can turn to actions. When you look twice, that’s where you get in trouble, I think. I’d just…rather not stare at half-naked men until that man is my husband.”

I take this opportunity to look at the people around us. Those walking the streets, enjoying their Friday afternoon—that guy running without his shirt on—all blissfully unaware that they might be causing dirty thoughts in the minds of the disciples of Jesus.