Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [65]
Finally they sat in their new living room and she quizzed him about his day.
Thomas didn’t hide that it had been as harrowing a day as he could remember, but he refused to go into any detail that might upset her. “It’s just going to be a tough, tough mission field,” he said.
“How can I help?”
“By praying. And getting others to pray.”
“That should be easy. As soon as we find a church, I’ll rally some ladies.”
He told her of all the rules and regulations that would keep her from visiting or sending in gifts of any kind, including food.
“That sounds awfully strict.”
He forced a smile. She had no idea.
“Well,” he said with a sigh, “we should call Ravinia now.”
Dirk answered the phone, which flustered Thomas. The young man was chipper and friendly, as if oblivious to the fact that his lover’s parents could not possibly be happy with their daughter’s living situation. “How’re you both doing?” he said. “Rav and I have been curious to death about where you’ve landed and whether you’re well.”
Grace was silent.
“That’s why I called, Dirk,” Thomas said. “I do have a new situation I’m excited about. Is Rav handy?”
“I’ll get her. Unfortunately this isn’t the best timing, because we have a thing we’re going to in about fifteen minutes, but—”
“Oh, we can call back.”
“No, no! Ravinia has really been quite anxious to hear. Here she is.”
“Hey,” she said, sounding rushed and distracted. “Tell me everything.”
“Hello to you, too,” Grace said flatly.
“Hi, Mom. Sorry. Like Dirk said, we’re on the run in a few minutes, but talk to me.”
“Believe it or not,” Thomas said, “your old man is no longer a pastor.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Don’t refer to yourself as her old man, Thomas.”
“Yeah, Dad. If you’re trying to be hip, Dirk would be my old man, but since we clearly don’t want to go there . . .”
Thomas told her all about his new job. She didn’t interrupt once, and when he finished, he couldn’t even hear her breathing. He wondered if the connection had been lost. But finally she spoke.
“That is really interesting,” she said, and it was clear she meant it. “I’m impressed, Dad. You know I wanted you in the private sector, but I couldn’t imagine you selling insurance or becoming a clerk of some kind. Forgive me, but are you tough enough for this? Adamsville is a supermax, right?”
Thomas told her he had the same hesitation, as did everyone else involved. “I realize I’ll have to grow into this. But otherwise it seems to play to my strengths, and I do feel for these men.”
Ravinia was silent again, but the sense that she needed to get going had faded. “I haven’t told you, have I, Dad, where my educational emphasis has turned?”
“No.”
“Criminal justice.”
“Seriously?”
“Dirk laughs at me because I’m actually considering becoming a public defender. He says altruism is one thing, but even becoming a prosecutor would pay a little more. Those are the bottom two rungs on the legal ladder, you know.”
“But it sounds like rewarding work.”
“Thankless is more like it, but I’ve shifted my coursework, and the whole area really resonates with me. Dirk is big on victims’ rights, which are hard to argue with, but many of these perpetrators are victims too, you know.”
Thomas knew how Grace would feel about that and was grateful she didn’t weigh in.
“I’m no longer so black-and-white even about capital punishment, Dad. I know where you are on that, but you’d be stunned by all the evidence and arguments against it.”
Thomas didn’t feel in the mood to pursue it just then. “At least I’m not as knee-jerk on that subject as the people I’ll be working with,” he said.
“I can imagine. ‘No liberty, but justice for all,’ right?”
“Something like that.”
“Who knows, Dad? If I become a public defender someday, the cases I lose may end up in your chapel services.”
“They don’t even have chapel services at ASP,” Grace said, but Thomas cut her off.
“All in good time, dear. We’ll let you go, Rav, but we just