Among the Gods by Lynn Austin Read Free Book Online Page B

that the boy would retaliate.
    When Joshua finally arrived home that night, he approached Miriam warily, worried that Nathan had decided to tell her the truth about her father’s death. But Miriam acted no differently than usual toward him, and he guessed that Nathan hadn’t carried out his threat—yet. He would likely dangle his knowledge of how Maki had died over Joshua’s head as long as he could in order to get away with even more. The fear of blackmail made Joshua desperate to make peace with the boy at all costs.
    “Have you seen Nathan?” he asked Miriam.
    “He’s out back in the courtyard.” Miriam stopped Joshua as he headed toward the door. “Did something happen today? Is Nathan in some kind of trouble? He seemed upset when he came home, but he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”
    “I’ll talk to him.” Joshua knew he hadn’t answered Miriam’s question, and he hated himself for being a coward, for valuing his reputation above the truth. It chilled him to think that once he started lying he would have to tell more lies and half-truths to conceal the first one.
    He found Nathan sitting on a bench outside the door, carving a chunk of wood with a knife. The boy was very clever with his hands, shaving the soft wood in even, graceful strokes. Joshua sat down on the back step opposite him and watched him work for a few minutes. But when he recognized the head of a hippopotamus taking shape beneath Nathan’s fingers, his anger rekindled. The boy knew that the Torah forbade him to make an image of any living thing. What was he doing? Joshua saw Nathan’s concentration, the loving care he gave each stroke of the knife, and he barely restrained his temper, certain that Nathan was making the image to spite him. Finally, he could no longer hold back his words.
    “Nathan …” The boy continued to whittle without responding or looking up. “Nathan, look at me.” When he did, Joshua saw contempt in his eyes. Nathan knew he had the upper hand. Joshua reminded himself that he had come to make amends, not start another confrontation. “We need to talk about what happened today.”
    Nathan looked down again and resumed his work. But when he turned the wood over to carve the other side, Joshua was shocked to see that the figure had the body of a woman, the hands and feet of a lion. It was the Egyptian goddess Taweret. He gritted his teeth, furious with the boy’s audacity.
    “Have the rabbis taught you the Ten Commandments, Nathan?”
    “Yeah, they taught me.”
    “Then you know that the second commandment forbids us to worship idols.”
    “I’m not worshiping this, am I?” Nathan spat out each word.
    It was all Joshua could do to keep from striking him again. He tried to decide what his own father would do, but he couldn’t even imagine it. No one in his family had ever been so disrespectful and rebellious. In one swift move, Joshua grabbed the wood and the knife out of Nathan’s hands, startling him.
    “Hey! Give those back!”
    “You can’t carve idols, Nathan. And you can’t steal, and you can’t defy me as you’ve been doing. I’ll have to punish you for all three things. But that’s not why I came out here.” He drew a deep breath, swallowing back his anger. “I came to apologize to you.” Nathan stared, his mouth open in surprise. “I’m sorry that I haven’t spent very much time with you like a … like a father should.” As soon as he said the words, Joshua realized that he didn’t think of himself as Nathan’s father. He didn’t want to be “Abba” to him the way Jerimoth was to Mattan. Or the way his own father had been. Undoubtedly, Nathan knew it, too.
    “I don’t need a father. I can take care of myself.”
    “Well, too bad. You’re stuck with me.” When Nathan made a face, Joshua threw down the wood and grabbed Nathan’s chin in his hand. “No more of that, Nathan! You will treat me with respect, understand?”
    For the first time, the boy showed a ripple of