Page 384 - A Little Life: A Novel

“Of course I’ll come back, Jude,” said the brother, hugging him. “Of
course I will.”
When he did, he had a loaf of sliced bread, and a jar of peanut butter, and

a hand of bananas, and a quart of milk, and a bag of almonds, and some
onions and peppers and chicken breasts. That evening, Brother Luke set up
the small hibachi he’d brought in the parking lot and they grilled the onions
and peppers and chicken, and Brother Luke gave him a glass of milk.
Brother Luke established their routine. They woke early, before the sun
was up, and Brother Luke made himself a pot of coffee with the
coffeemaker he’d brought, and then they drove into town, to the high

school’s track, where Luke let him run around for an hour as he sat in the
bleachers, drinking his coffee and watching him. Then they returned to the
motel room, where the brother gave him lessons. Brother Luke had been a
math professor before he came to the monastery, but he had wanted to work
with children, and so he had later taught sixth grade. But he knew about
other subjects as well: history and books and music and languages. He

knew so much more than the other brothers, and he wondered why Luke
had never taught him when they lived at the monastery. They ate lunch—
peanut butter sandwiches again—and then had more classes until three
p.m., when he was allowed outside again to run around the parking lot, or to
take a walk with the brother down the highway. The motel faced the
interstate, and the whoosh of the passing cars provided a constant
soundtrack. “It’s like living by the sea,” Brother Luke always said.

After this, Brother Luke made a third pot of coffee and then drove off to
look for locations where they’d build their cabin, and he stayed behind in
their motel room. The brother always locked him into the room for his
safety. “Don’t open the door for anyone, do you hear me?” asked the
brother. “Not for anyone. I have a key and I’ll let myself in. And don’t open
the curtains; I don’t want anyone to see you’re in here alone. There are

dangerous people out there in the world; I don’t want you to get hurt.” It
was for this same reason that he wasn’t to use Brother Luke’s computer,
which he took with him anyway whenever he left the room. “You don’t
know who’s out there,” Brother Luke would say. “I want you to be safe,
Jude. Promise me.” He promised.
He would lie on his bed and read. The television was forbidden to him:
Luke would feel it when he came back to the room, to see if it was warm,

and he didn’t want to displease him, he didn’t want to get in trouble.