Page 91 of Gideon

“Good question.” Gideon went to his duffle bag to pull out a change of clothes. “I’m still not sure.”

“Then why are you getting dressed?”

“Because it’s morning.”

“You’re going out?”

“I am.”

“You know I’m going with you, right? You’re not leaving me behind.”

“I don’t think you want to come along on this trip.”

“Now, hang on a minute. I told you I was in this.”

“I know. I’m not trying to keep you away, but you might want to sit this first part out.”

“Oh, no. You’re not ditching me. I’m in this one hundred percent.” He took a dirty T-shirt off the floor and pulled it awkwardly over his head. “I’ll be ready before you, so you’ll have to take me with you.” He got a pair of pants and sat on the closest chair to pull them on.

“I’m going to church.”

Joey’s head shot up from his focused dressing. “What for?”

“Because I think that’s where everyone is that I need to speak to. Or I hope they are. Otherwise, I’ll need Nikki’s help to round them up.”

Joey harrumphed, then let his pants fall to the floor. “Fine. I’m still coming.” He pulled his shirt off. “But I’ll have to find something more appropriate.” He picked up another shirt and sniffed it before tossing it aside andgrabbing another. “Smell this.” He held it out to Gideon.

“No. You don’t have any clean clothes?”

“After I wash them, I do, same as everybody else.” He lifted the lid on a box. “There she is. I knew I had one somewhere.” He held up a button-down, checkered shirt. “Just the thing for church. And it’s clean…well, cleaner.”

“I didn’t even know you had a shirt like that.”

“Guess you don’t know everything about me then, huh?”

“Alright, so you’re coming to church. Can we take your car? I can’t risk taking mine out.”

“Sure, as long as you let me drive.”

“Dad, half your body doesn’t work.”

“That’s a bit harsh. It works just fine, just not like it used to. I’m not an invalid.”

“Okay.” It wasn’t too far to drive. “But no speeding. And you’re sure you want to come?”

Joey shrugged. “Why not? What have I got to lose, right?”

Gideon kept glancing at his dad, watching as he signaled and accelerated. “You still have your license, right?”

“Course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I thought maybe they took it after the stroke.”

“If they did, they didn’t tell me. Doesn’t matter. As you can see, I’m driving fine. It’s not like we have much policing around here anyway.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“I didn’t say it to be reassuring. I was simply stating a fact.”

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