Idolatria Ch. 02

My phone buzzed just as I was setting the silver book on top of mine at the door. I checked it, my pulse strangely hard.

"I'm around the corner. Will you be outside?" Levi's message read.

I checked the time at the top of my screen. Fuck, it was already 5:40? I tucked the books under my arm and texted back, blindly wandering into the living room to find my jacket. "Yeah I'll be right there. Just park by the curb" I replied.

The little "read" popped up under my message, and I set my phone and the bibles down so I could pull on my brown coat with the fleece lining. The wind wasn't bad, but the bite in the air was unrelenting still. No sooner had I stepped outside and readjusted myself that a vehicle pulled up - but it was not one that I expected, and I had to double check to see that it was indeed pulling up in front of my house.

It was the very antithesis of a motorcycle. Long, large, and very maroon, the SUV trundled up to the curb and stopped, expectantly parked exactly where I could have anticipated a number of things - a sleek musclecar, a roaring hog with tall chopper handlebars - but not the SUV. Its polish was dull, its back windows were a little dirty in the corners, and its antenna was standing a proud two feet long off the side of the hood. Still, there was no rattling from the engine or suspicious holes anywhere, and any areas that looked like they might have been susceptible to rust were treated and sealed well.

A shadow inside the vehicle reached across the passenger side and popped the door open, only a few inches. I glanced sidelong at it but jogged down the lawn and opened the door the rest of the way. There was Levi, looking very out of place in this soccer mom machine. "Come on in," he smiled, sitting up in his seat and patting the back of the passenger side. "Watch your step, it's a little high."

"Hey," I said to him, checking my step as he said. It was indeed a bit raised up from the curb, but I hopped up easily, taking a cursory glance inside the vehicle as I did so. The seats had black, fitted covers on them - at least the front ones did. The back ones were completely flattened into the floor, leaving a very wide, open space all the way to the trunk, taken up only by a couple of two-by-fours and a big, sturdy tool box. There was a faint, unidentifiable scent beneath the old-car-musty smell, which in itself was weak enough to ignore - a tinge of something like cherry and smoked wood chips, and a familiar, old aroma of cigarette smoke that seemed baked into the upholstery. I climbed in and settled into the seat, fishing for the belt and struggling to fit the buckle together for a moment. Once I was fixed up, Levi nodded and set his hand on the gear shift, waiting until I had shut the door before jerking the car into drive and pulling away.

"Thanks for coming with me," I told him, grinning. "You're gonna like it. I promise."

"You promise," Levi repeated slowly, flashing me a mockingly suspicious smile. "All right. I trust you, Ash." He reached forward and pressed a button on the radio, bringing it to a low background lull - only to prevent the silence, it seemed. I was looking over his outfit, which seemed very close to the one he'd worn the other day - black leather jacket, v-neck shirt, slim jeans, although I couldn't see his boots where he was sitting - when I realized he was glancing at my lap. "What are those?"

I looked down at the bibles I was carrying. "Oh... I brought you your own bible so you can read along... And make notes if you want. I've got highlighter pens in my pocket if you want one. The dry kind, so they don't wreck the pages."

Levi nodded. "That's kind of you. You assumed I didn't have my own?"

I felt a twinge of heat in my ears. "Well - I -"

"I'm teasing. You're okay. I don't have one. Thank you, Ash."

Slightly embarrassed regardless, I stared out in front of us at the road. I hadn't even asked Levi if he wanted me to bring him one. Even if he didn't mind... And there was something else bugging me. The strange feeling in my throat each time he said my name... In a way that seemed as if no one else had ever said it aloud before.

For only a moment, I wondered if I would come to regret holding my hand out to bring Levi into my world.