Read Online Thinking Straight by Robin Reardon - Free Book Online

little. Instantly I understood the warning. I nodded and held out my hand for the syrup.
    But Jessica wasn’t done with him. “We’re supposed to be sharing our communication with God. In Prayer Meeting. Do you need some coaching, brother? Are there secrets that need to see the light?”
    I glanced at her sharply, feeling—to my total surprise—defensive for Charles. At least he’d treated me decently so far. But I couldn’t speak. So all I could do was notice that the smile plastered on Charles’s face seemed to hurt him. But his voice, hard but clothed in something soft, cut her off at the proverbial knees.
    â€œWhy, sister, I’m touched at your concern. Thank you. But no, nothing God and I were talking about at the meeting was secret. Nothing you don’t know.”
    I looked at her, thinking, Take that, sister Jessica. Then I sat back, a rather stunning idea occurring.
    Whoa. Could this be deliberate on their part? Are they playing “good cop, bad cop” with me? Is this just a ploy to get me on Charles’s side somehow? So I looked at him again, assessing.
    No. Don’t think so. He looked genuinely uncomfortable, and uncomfortable knowing that was how he looked. No one could fake that. Don’t be so suspicious, I told myself. Silently, of course. So I went back to my original suspicions. They were bad enough: lying, brainwashing, mind control, hypocrisy.
    At least Jessica showed a true color, even if it was an ugly shade of passive-aggressive. But her voice, as well as her words when she asked Charles if he needed “coaching,” had sounded spooky. Haunted. Haunting, that’s for sure.
    Their conversation changed rather abruptly, which I was sure was okay with Charles, when Marie said, “I’ve been trying to reach out to Leland, but he hasn’t been very responsive. Any hints you can give me, Charles?”
    For just a second, Charles stopped chewing. Maybe it wasn’t so okay after all. But he didn’t look up from his plate, and he sounded calm enough when he said, “Leland may need a little more time. He might not be ready to see that what you did was in his best interests.”
    â€œYou’ve been talking with him, then?”
    Charles’s head snapped up. I wasn’t sure if it was anger or fear in his eyes, but all he said was, “Sister, you know that Leland is in SafeZone again.” Then his voice got really pointed. “If anyone is speaking to him now, especially about what happened, it would be irresponsible. We must all help him to preserve his current parameters. Perhaps now is not the best time for you to be reaching out to him.”
    Jessica looked like she had an opinion about this, but before she could get it out, there was a woman smiling down at me. She wasn’t very tall, but something about the way she had her hair pulled back made her seem—I don’t know, stern or something. And there was this streak of white, almost two inches wide, that swept up from her forehead adding to the effect. The rest of her hair was pretty dark, though there were a few shots of white in it. She might have been pretty, but it was hard to tell with that hairstyle, and with the way her face seemed pulled tight.
    Charles practically jumped to his feet, so I figured I had to stand as well.
    The woman said, “Taylor, I know you’re in SafeZone, so let me just introduce myself to you. I’m Mrs. Harnett, and I’m the staff leader for your group. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here yesterday to meet you, but I had to be elsewhere.”
    I nearly said, “That’s okay,” but Charles was boring a hole into the side of my head, so I remembered in time and just nodded.
    â€œAs your staff leader, I’m here to help you in any way I can. Please stop by my office before you report to your first assignment. Charles will show you where it is. God bless you, Taylor.”
    And she left.