In the medium-sized town of Trinity, Missouri, Christianity rules and dissenters face social death.
As you can imagine, Caleb Caron, an atheist with a foul vocabulary, is Trinity High School's pariah and his best friend, Nova Beauchêne, is a heretic...
Rất tiếc! Hình ảnh này không tuân theo hướng dẫn nội dung. Để tiếp tục đăng tải, vui lòng xóa hoặc tải lên một hình ảnh khác.
When I get home, the aroma of cumin and Maggi and garlic powder floats in the air like an imperceptible blanket of spices.
Mom is cooking.
Slinging my bag across the living room, I run to the kitchen where my suspicions are confirmed in the most delightful way. "Mom!"
She laughs upon seeing me. "Hello!"
"Is that pepper soup? And...and peanut butter stew?" I try to taste the air.
She shakes her head at my antics, inspecting a pot of what appears to be rice. "You wanna have some?"
"Is that even a question?" I ask incredulously.
You haven't lived unless you taste my mom's cooking. I swear, all those people whose favorite food is macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are missing out.
My older brother, Steele, walks in the kitchen as I'm rushing to find a plate. "Weirdo." He says.
Steele isn't what anyone would call an adventurous eater, so he isn't as obsessed with Togolese food as I am. "Says the guy who doesn't even like jollof."
"You mean jasmine rice dumped in a vat of palm oil? No thanks." He pats his stomach. "I ain't tryna get a potbelly like dad."
Mom giggles from the stove.
"Guess what Steele," I say.
"What?"
"Mr. Cardsmith partnered Ren and I for the Charles Darwin assignment."
"He does that project every year." Steele grumbles.
"Yeah, did you hear anything I said about being partnered with Ren?"
"Ren..." Steele trails off, furrowing his brow. "Ren Nishiyama, right? His sister, Arisu is so annoying. Her GPA is 4.5656. I'm right behind her at 4.5611 which is infuriating."
"Yeah, him." I say. "He never talks. Ever."
Steele snorts. "His sister never stops talking. She sits next to me in Physics. She's like 'Mr. Richardson I know the answer!' 'Mr. Richardson, the answer is not quantifiable!' I swear she does it to annoy me because she knows she's going to be valedictorian and I'm not."
While Steele rants about Arisu and his crushed valedictorian dreams, my phone vibrates in my back pocket.
Erica messaged me. I am not entirely surprised. She sends me random texts when she's bored of her friends and tired of her boyfriend. I'm not sure why, except maybe because we go to the same church. But so does everyone else in our school.
Even Caleb goes to our church.
Erica: hey u guess wht
Me: What do you want now?
Erica: ur bf's loco
Me: I don't have a boyfriend.
I know very well that she's referring to Caleb, but it's an old, overused joke. The one that Caleb and I are secretly dating.
Erica: ur bf and Michael were at robotics club and got in a fight cuz he said Christians are stupid
I'm skeptical that those were Caleb's exact words. He has been known to talk about religion with indifference and sarcasm, but he doesn't insult it. Well, unless someone insults him first.
Erica: he's an idiot. please put a leash on him.
Me: I'm not his caretaker.
Erica: His mom won't let him learn about charles doofus and it made him mad when Michael mentioned it. I feel sorry for atheists. there so bitter and angry
I roll my eyes to the sky. Firstly, because she used the wrong form of "they're" but secondly because--come on. Sadly, I can't say Erica's chronic self-righteousness comes as a shock. Her dad is the lead pastor at the sole church anyone in our town goes to.
By ironic comparison, her mom is a failed New York City actress turned miserable homemaker who unrealistically believes she can make a comeback to a career she never had in the first place. Erica thinks her mom is ungodly, so she only listens to her dad. Therefore, as you can imagine, Erica is the "perfect" Christian child.
Erica: he's in jail btw
Me: Wait, what?
After five unbearable minutes of repeatedly checking my phone, I realize she isn't going to respond. I should have known better. She was baiting me.
I call Caleb immediately, but he doesn't pick up. As his dumb voicemail about sending aliens a time capsule filled with memes plays in my ears, I wonder if Erica was telling the truth.
Yes, Caleb is frayed around the edges, but he isn't the type of kid to go to jail. And, he knows he's walking on thin ice with his parents. He knows if he messes up, he has to leave. Leave me. Alone.
As Steele pushes past me to open the fridge, a horrible thought runs through my mind.
The horrible thought that maybe Erica wasn't lying.
