Enlightenment by J. R. McNamee

Author:J. R. McNamee [McNamee, J. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J. R. McNamee
Published: 2021-05-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Roses are red, violets are blue, Durrick is livid, and I’m in doo-doo.

I wasn’t even joking when I said, worst day ever!

I’d had some pretty bad days in my life, but being kidnapped, gagged, punched, mud fighting, choked, and being yelled at while covered in mud in front of the whole camp of believers took the cake. At some point during Durrick’s tirade, I seriously considered the possibility that shouting insults was his power. He was really good at it. His face went from red to purple in rage, spittle flew out of his mouth like an exploding fire hydrant, and he went as far as to say that one of my ancestors had married a monster and I was the finished product.

I didn’t look up from my shoes once, so embarrassed, but I knew Xander was smirking behind Durrick’s back the entire time.

By the time he finished shouting, hundreds of pairs of eyes were on me, and I was too paralyzed to speak or move. Carter tried putting in a word here or there on my behalf, but Durrick just kept cutting him off.

Xander got off with only a minor punishment, something like no dessert for a week, which infuriated me. I couldn’t even imagine what lies Xander had fed Durrick to make me the bad guy in this situation. Regardless, I held my tongue. Durrick wasn’t someone to mess with, and he was just waiting for an outburst to kick me out once and for all. So, I locked my jaw and dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands until everyone had dispersed. When I finally did look up, with my one good eye, everyone had gone on to breakfast before starting their daily schedule. Everyone except Thea.

“Hey,” she said uncertainly. “Don’t worry about it. All anyone will think is ‘that guy has guts for taking Durrick’s abuse like that’.”

Barely showing any recognition, I grunted. I knew she was trying to make me feel better, so I held back my angry comments. Instead, I pulled back the flap of my tent and thumped onto the ground, my body too dead to remain upright any longer.

“So, um … what exactly happened this morning?” she asked from outside my tent.

“Weren’t you listening to Durrick? He told the whole camp,” I said scornfully. I’d been yelled at before by my father, even had dishes thrown at me, yet I always just hid in the attic until he fell asleep. What Durrick had done was different. He’d left me feeling … exposed.

“I want to hear it from you,” she said quietly.

I sat up with a huff and pulled back the tent flap, inviting her in, where I told her the whole story. By the end, she was nearly as angry as I was. She was also impressed with how I had held my own against Xander.

“Xander grew up here. He knows just about everything there is to know about combat and his powers.” Thea smirked. “I must be an amazing teacher if a worm like you could take him on.

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