Salvation (Joseph Seed)

15. The Confession

Joseph drove up to the church and parked outside. He gave her, yet another, reassuring smile before they both climbed out of he car. Evelyn looked around and was surprised to find he compound quiet and empty, perhaps they knew this was happening. There was nobody walking around or groups of Project members talking between themselves, it seemed completely different.

Jospeh opened the church door and let Evelyn walk in first before following her inside and closing the door behind him. Once again Evelyn has to get used to the strange change. The church was empty apart from her and the Father, it was dimly lit, the only light coming from the sun through the windows. She didn't like to think it but the church was actually a little eerie right now.

Evelyn followed the Father down the aisle until they reached the front row of pews, Joseph day down and patted the seat beside him. The woman nodded before sitting down, finding herself even more nervous than before.

"You can start whenever you are ready" Joseph told her, letting her take her time but there was no point delaying the confession.

"I...I don't even know what to say" Evelyn admitted. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to confess? She didn't really think that she had anything to confess.

"Evelyn, please don't take this the wrong way but you have been hiding something ever since I met you...you are ashamed...you have nothing to be ashamed of. Why did you come to Hope County? Why were your parents so insistent on you finding a church? What's your story, Evelyn?" the preacher asked and Evelyn looked him in the eyes, only seeing kindness and curiosity in them.

"It was all...a misunderstanding. I didn't know...I didn't do anything...but nobody would listen to me" she sighed, more like she was talking to herself than to him.

"What happened, child?" Joseph asked, knowing that whatever happened before Hope County continued to bother her.

"Before Hope County, I was dating this boy. He was a little older than me and my parents never liked him but he was a good man, he cared about me and treated me well. He was never anything but wonderful to me. He was over at my house one day and had to rush out when we heard my parents coming home early, he left his bag in my room but I didn't even notice it" Evelyn started her story and Joseph listened intensively.

He wanted to know about this woman. He knew that he shouldn't feel this way, that he shouldn't take what she was saying personally, but the thought of Evelyn being with another man made Joseph shiver. He knew it was wrong, it was the past and it was over, but he couldn't control his feelings.

"The next day I went to school, came home and my parents were waiting for me. They found his bag and they decided to look inside...it turns out my perfect boyfriend was selling drugs. He wasn't using but he was selling them. They thought that I was using them or something but I didn't know anything about it. They were angry...but then it only got worse" she sighed, looking down at her lap. She knew that she wasn't to blame for what happened but her patents continued to blame her for it to this day, they continued to call her a liar.

"I broke up with my boyfriend because of the drugs but it was a small town, everyone knew everyone and rumours spread fast. People were saying that I...that I was sleeping with him for drugs" Evelyn hesitated before speaking. She had been so embarrassed and ashamed when those rumours began to spread. It was rough to relive it. "None of it was true but my parents wouldn't believe me. I was a disgrace and my parents decided that we had to leave. Then we came here" she finished with a tiny shrug.

"You are not to blame for what happened. It was your boyfriend's sin that started this, his greed for tainted money. It was your parents' sin, their pride over their image, blaming you and refusing to listen to you" Joseph assured the young woman as he took her hand in his, caressing her knuckles gently with his thumb as an effort to comfort her. "But you must tell me...was any of it true?" He asked. It felt wrong to be asking but he...well, he was interested in how intimate Evelyn's relationship was with this boy.