CHAPTER 35-3
454 Words
Benjamin had worked his hands raw, but he refused to slow down. He grunted with each heave of the shovel before hefting the load off to the side. Mr. Stern didn’t need the fence completed until springtime, but Benjamin welcomed the physical activity. He paused once to wipe his forehead and noticed Mee-Kyong coming out the back door. “I thought you might be thirsty.” She passed him a glass of water. Benjamin drank the cup dry. “You’ve been out here all afternoon,” she remarked.
“Just working.” Benjamin set the glass down, suddenly forced to admit how tight his muscles were. He stretched from one side to the other and then arched his back until he was looking up at the bright sky. Self-conscious, he straightened up. “Need something?”
Mee-Kyong was still leaning against the side of the house, her arms crossed over her chest. She c****d her head to the side and eyed Benjamin’s shovel. “Do you want an extra pair of hands?”
He squinted at her, not sure he had heard correctly. “You want to help?” He couldn’t decide if he should decline her offer politely or laugh her away outright.
Her eyes were dead serious. “I’m tired of copying. I could use a distraction.”
“Only one shovel.” He shrugged.
“So we’ll share.” Mee-Kyong stretched out her hand. “You’re not like other Christians, are you?” Mee-Kyong started to dig without even asking for directions.
“Meaning what?”
“The Sterns ... they’re always talking about Jesus and heaven and prayer and salvation. But you, you don’t really talk about anything.”
“Not much to say.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” Mee-Kyong was huffing. She had only been at it for a few minutes, maybe five at most, before she passed the shovel back to Benjamin. Even as he worked, he felt her intense, curious stare. “Where do you come from?” she asked.
This time, Benjamin didn’t slow down at all. “Does it matter?”
“Would I have asked if it didn’t?”
Benjamin glanced once at Mee-Kyong before slicing the soil with the tip of the shovel. “Closed book. You know that.”
“Maybe it’s closed between us and the Sterns. That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it with each other.”
Benjamin looked back to his work. “Rather not.”
Mee-Kyong shrugged. “Well, then, I have a different question for you. If you’re a Christian, why do you go out drinking so often?”
Benjamin’s back stiffened. He wiped a dirty hand through his sweaty hair. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not stupid.” Mee-Kyong crossed her arms. “Given what you know about me, don’t you think I can smell booze from half a kilometer away?”
Benjamin shrugged. “Everyone’s got secrets.”
She turned her head to the side, the way girls do when they want to flirt. “What secrets do you think I’m carrying around?”
“Closed book.” Benjamin resumed his work.
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- Writer
