I Believe In Us - (McPricely)

Chapter 2

   After a while of Kevin and Connor discussing the passage and joking about its absurdity, the two went there separate ways, only to reconvene at dinner. The Elders always sat around their large square table, with Connor always at the head due to his role as district leader. He wasn't too fond of this, considering he was always expected to lead prayers and sit in the same spot. Every night he secretly hoped Kevin would decide to sit by him, but it was rare that he did. Luckily, tonight Kevin ended up sitting directly across from him, which was adequate enough for Connor. He watched across the table as Elder Thomas, (more commonly known as Elder Poptarts by the group), who was sitting left of Kevin, enthusiastically explain how he'd come into contact with a charity in the United States. The charity would hope to bring proper medical supplies to the village within the next month. Kevin was nodding as he spoke but appeared to be elsewhere, lost within his own thoughts.

   The group enjoyed a typical dinner before their evening discussion of scripture. Lately having been switched from the Book of Mormon to the Book of Arnold. Accompanying this, Cunningham himself hadn't been around the mission house for the past week or so; he had been traveling around to different villages with Nabulungi and a few other villagers to spread the word about his new book. Meaning that he wasn't around to answer questions about his disorganized writing. Even when he was there, his answers often hinted at his own confusion, proving him to be rather unhelpful either way. Kevin was a bit envious that Arnold was the only one doing something similar to the job that the missionaries were sent there to do in the first place. However, he also felt a sense of worry for Arnold that something would happen to him during his travels. Uganda wasn't the safest place, there was no way to sugarcoat it. Kevin just hoped that he would be in good hands with Nabulungi, and that she'd keep him and his chaos in check.

   "Alright Elders, let's take out our books and discuss our reading for the day," Connor announced to the group, standing in his spot with his hands clasped in a welcoming manner. "Who wants to start? The floor is yours," he beamed.

   Just as usual, none of the Elders dared to raise their hand, instead just staring at the floor or looking off to the side as to not be called on. Kevin noticed as Elder Micheals tapped his fingers against the wooden table, and Davis coughed awkwardly. No one wanted to risk saying something embarrassing or clueless, even if the entire book was up for interpretation. Sighing, Kevin reluctantly raised his hand.

   Connor's chest filled with relief, and he gleefully called on Kevin. "Elder Price! Thank you! Do you have anything to add?"

   Kevin slowly lowered his hand. Now all the eyes of the others were on him, and they all seemed to be expressing a sense of gratitude that he was willing to speak first. Kevin opened his notebook and began, "well...with the help of Elder McKinley earlier, we were able to get a general idea of the story." Connor, flattered that Kevin would mention him by name in front of everyone smiled and sat back down to listen. "I think that Elder Cunningham's main goal was to describe how the General's violence didn't hold any real power," Kevin commented.

   All of the others murmured in agreement. Elder Church, who was a seat away from Conner raised his hand, adding, "right, and in place of the real people working for the general, the stormtroopers were used to represent them."

   Connor who was enthusiastic about the discussion that was brought on, perked up his head. "Absolutely! I think it really shows how violence was just a fear tactic the general used to get the villagers to do what he wanted," he clarified. Kevin leaned over on his hands, listening intently. "And also to teach the villagers that reciprocating that same kind of violence back doesn't improve things."

   Kevin didn't notice the way he was staring at Connor with a look of adoration until he broke his gaze and glanced at Elder Church. His dark eyes were narrowed at Kevin with a look of suspicion, with a raised eyebrow. He hadn't paused to think how his admiration of Connor would appear to the others. It didn't seem like anything odd to Kevin, but based on Church's reaction, maybe he saw something more than what Kevin felt.