Page 49 of Freedom
It wasn’t like churches meant a lot to Hawthornes beyond being useful supply closets and the occasional sponsors of a one-time-only-needed soup kitchen. Not like he thought Tobias had been missing out because Jake hadn’t rushed him to Sunday school when they blew out of FREACS, so Jake wasn’t sure why he felt the same cold rage-depression as when Tobias looked astounded by Jake offering him an extra jacket on a cold night.
Alex took two steps back down and beckoned Tobias closer. “Sure you can, Tobias. Everyone’s welcome no matter where they come from. You no less than anyone else.”
Tobias blinked and looked to Jake. No terror written in his eyes, just uncertainty, nerves, and a hint of something else beneath the surface.
Jake pulled on his best carefree smile, jamming his hands in his pockets. Lying with his eyes had never been this hard, before Tobias. “Dude, if they let me through, you’re a shoo-in. No sweat.”
Tobias hesitated again, glancing between them, before slowly mounting the steps to Jake’s side. Alex swung the door open and held it to let them pass. Jake entered quickly, just to show Tobias it really was okay, and turned to see him squeezing his eyes shut, fists clenched as he stepped over the threshold. Jake tugged Tobias’s hand into his, sliding their fingers together, and Tobias’s eyes snapped open, meeting his suddenly, too wide but still not over the edge.
Alex crossed the small entrance hall and pushed open the doors into the sanctuary. Tobias stopped again in the doorway, but this time the expression in his wide hazel eyes as he slowly raised his head was nowhere near fear. Jake had to look twice to see what was so impressive about the little church.
The ceiling’s open wooden rafters arched overhead, the walls were whitewashed, and there were a few small stained glass windows spaced apart on either side. Jake had never given church decor much thought before, but now he saw it all through Tobias’s eyes: an airy space of light and quiet, wooden pews splashed with ruby, gold, emerald, and sapphire light... it was something. And nothing at all like Tobias had experienced before.
“What do you know about churches, Tobias?”
Tobias’s hand twitched in Jake’s, and Jake blew out his breath, wishing Alex would stop sneaking up on him, physically and figuratively, with her questions, her kindness, wishing he’d stop being surprised already by someone else talking to Tobias. It should happen all the time, and just because it didn’t—well, he shouldn’t feel like a threat when it was a good thing, finally, for Tobias.
Tobias swallowed nervously, his hold tightening. “They...” he began, and as soft as his voice was, it echoed through the hall. He stopped, stared upward for a moment, and then began again, quieter, almost reverent. “Widely considered holy, they are consecrated ground where obedient monsters may not—many monsters cannot enter. Humans go to them for protection, supernatural and otherwise, for reflection, and for so-called communi—because of—to be c-closer to a higher power. Blessed objects such as rosaries, scapulars, medals, silver, water, salt, and in some cases relics have been shown effective against supernatural threats, and thus churches rate as a vital resource in the war against supernatural evil. They’re very important.”
Jake watched him with surprise. He had expected Tobias to quaver and stutter, but he had spoken almost entirely with flat precision, as though reciting.
Alex had turned to give Tobias her full attention as he spoke, though he didn’t look at her, and she nodded. “That’s all true. But they’re also places of worship and of sanctuary foranywho seek it.” The emphasis didn’t slip past Jake, though he wasn’t sure if Tobias understood it. If he noticed, he showed no reaction. “They are places to pray, to reach out to God, though he is everywhere, and places to share knowledge, understanding, and faith.” Tobias’s hand twitched again inside Jake’s, his chin tucked close to his chest, eyes on his shoes.
Alex watched them for a moment. Jake had no doubt she’d noted their clasped hands, the tension but not panic in Tobias’s shoulders. After a second, she tipped her head up and took a slow breath, though whether to soothe herself or Tobias, Jake couldn’t tell. “And Tobias,” she said at last, and Tobias’s head snapped up into some middle distance, where he could watch Alex out of the corner of his eye without looking at her directly, “I promise that you are welcome in this place. Do you believe me?”
Tobias hesitated, then nodded. “Yes. Does it—is it yours?”
She smiled crookedly. “In a manner of speaking. It’s owned by the community; they just let me use it, though that didn’t happen without some drama. It’s a long story I can tell you over dinner, if you don’t mind joining me.”
“I never turn down a free meal.” Jake glanced at Toby. “If you’re okay with that?”
Meeting his eyes, Tobias smiled. “Yeah. Sounds nice.”
Alex’s home was a single-story adobe construction, the garage apartment a newer add-on. Jake wasn’t used to parking the Eldorado on a long driveway like this one; it’d be hard to make a quick getaway, at least not without taking out the bushes lining the side.
As they got out of the car, Alex waited at the back door of her house. “I’ll give you the tour first,” she called, then waved them over to a garden spaced between the two buildings. “This was my third year trying to keep plants alive and the best so far. I got tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, and some zucchini.” She shook her head. “So much zucchini. Hopefully you’re not as picky as Jake about veggies.” Jake realized with a slight jerk—like changing gears on a bad highway—that Alex was talking to Tobias again. Tobias was looking at the earth with interest, the toes of his tennis shoes scuffing at the edge of the dirt rows.
Finally, she led them up the stairs on the side of the garage and unlocked the door. The apartment was pretty cozy, Jake had to admit, with a couch facing a small TV and a kitchenette to the side. The bed in the corner was neatly made with a colorful quilt spread across it, and Alex opened a closet and rummaged around before bringing out a tightly packed air mattress and pump to inflate it.
“This worked just the other week, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with it.” She set them on the sofa, then rummaged in her pocket and came up with a key that she offered Tobias. “Dinner won’t be ready for another hour, if you want to settle in and rest up.”
Once the door shut behind her, Tobias glanced at Jake, who blew out the breath he didn’t he’d been holding. It was one thing when he crashed at Roger’s—that had happened often enough since before kindergarten that he didn’t think twice about slinging his bag into a corner and rooting through cabinets until he found a spare tube of toothpaste or whatever. But Alex’s garage apartment was new territory for them both now. Maybe that was a good thing. They were on the same page for once, and Jake was pretty sure he deserved at least a taste of Tobias’s trepidation.
He stepped into the bathroom to check out the cabinet (extra toilet paper, half-empty shampoo and body wash containers) and turned to find Tobias by the doorframe. He caught Tobias’s hands just as he was about to retreat, his eyes hovering uncertainly around shoulder height, as Jake moved back into the bedroom and leaned against the wall.
“Hey. Sure you’re doing okay?”
Tobias nodded, hesitated, then closed the inches between them to lean against the wall too, bending his head to rest on Jake’s shoulder. Jake let go of one hand to rub Tobias’s neck, running his fingers absently through the soft brown curls at his nape. Kid needed a haircut.
“What’s your feel about Alex so far? Say the word and we’re out of here.”
Tobias shook his head. “She seems nice. Not that Hu—R-Roger wasn’t, I mean, it was just...” He swallowed. “Sometimes my body doesn’t—I hate it, I’m sorry.” That last word came bitterly and deliberately, with all the consciousness of one of Jake’s first rules (apologize just once a day, Toby, not for every single thing) introduced for both of their sanity.
“Hey, I get it. Don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault. Not anyone’s fault.” Except maybe Jake’s for parachuting them into a situation Toby wasn’t ready for. Jake squeezed Tobias’s shoulder, focusing on the here and now. “I bet dinner’s gonna be awesome.”
A shy smile lit Toby’s face. “Even better than Los Bandidos in El Paso?”
“Betcha the next day’s driving music it is.”
