Page 64 of The Confidant
We sat in silence for a few more seconds. When she cast her eyes down at her hands, like she was feeling uncomfortable and didn’t know how to talk about whatever was making her feel weird, I knew something had to be up.
“What’s going on, Scarlett?” I asked, bouncing my knee up and down. “You’re scaring me.”
“Sorry, I’m just—” she started. When she looked up, there was sadness in her eyes. My heart instantly jumped into my throat because her expression told me everything I needed to know.
Something was indeed wrong.
And she was here because of it.
Please don’t tell me you regret last night.
She sighed. “There’s no delicate way to put this, I guess,” she said, glancing at the hot chocolate before lifting her gaze to mine. “So I’m just going to put it right out there.”
“Put what out there?” I asked, my whole body tensing and preparing for the blow.
“I was at church today and…” She paused, her eyes welling up. “And I heard that your dad was cheating on your mom.”
Wait. What?
Had she just said what I thought she said?
“Sorry, what did you just say?” I asked. Because my mind was clearly taking whatever words she’d just said and turning them into something else.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her tone apologetic. “This is probably something your family didn’t want anyone to know about. I mean, that’s the only reason why you wouldn’t have told me about it yourself, but I was talking to Leandra in Sunday School today and she told me all about it. She said your parents stopped coming to church a few weeks ago and it’s because they’re getting a divorce and can’t stand to see each other at church anymore.”
So Ihadheard her right.
“Leandra said my dad cheated on my mom?”
“She told me all about it.” Scarlett nodded. “She said it started happening over the summer and that was probably why you started acting so weird and stopped coming to church, because you knew about it and felt guilty for keeping it from your mom.”
“She said I knew my dad was cheating and that I…” I put a hand to my chest. “That I was in on the secret and didn’t come to church because I was keeping it from my mom and felt guilty?”
What in the crazy-twisted-stories was this?
“Yeah, and I just—” She looked at the fire and shook her head, like she actually believed this pile of crap. After a second, she turned back to me with hurt in her eyes and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“Because none of it is true.” I leaned forward and met her gaze, so she’d know I wasn’t hiding some dark secret about my parents. “What Leandra told you is completely false. Like, it’s not true at all.”
“It’s okay if it is, though, Hunter.” She scooted closer and rested her hand on my knee. “I know you’re a different person from your dad. I won’t judge you for what he did. It’s not your fault he started looking at porn and decided to cheat on your mom with the new girl at his office.”
“She said he’s looking at porn? And that it led to him cheating on my mom?” I asked, so confused at where all of this was coming from. “My dad isn’t addicted to porn. He isn’t sleeping with someone from work. My parents are fine. Better than ever, actually.”
They were literally downstairs together right now, taking an afternoon nap in their room.
“Then why aren’t they coming to church anymore?” Scarlett asked, like the only logical reason for a whole family to quit coming to church was if the dad was addicted to porn and having an affair. “Why didyoustop?
And here we were.
At the conversation I’d been avoiding for months.
“Why aren’t you coming to church anymore, Hunter?” she asked, her voice soft and sad, like me not going to church anymore was literally breaking her heart.
Because it’s not true, Scarlett,I wanted to say.Because Samuel Williams—the beloved High Priest—was really great at duping the superstitious people who first joined his church. People who lived in a time when they couldn’t fact check or effectively warn each other about how they’d been swindled by him since the Internet wasn’t a thing back then.
He’d used the same skills he’d been building since his forgery days as a teen to create his biggest con of all—to create a religion that gave people answers to the big questions they had and promise them all the things they wanted. He gave them hope in a world that was harsh and dark at times—all while basically naming himself king.
All it took was dedicating your life to the church and ten percent of your income, and you could receive all of the blessings of eternal life and happiness.
