The Trinity Game

Honduras.”
    “He tell you?” Daniel kept his eye on the road, but caught Trinity’s nod in his peripheral. “Good. Not my favorite story to tell. He tell you I freaked out?”
    “He said you kept your shit together like a pro, and he wouldn’t have survived without your help.”
    Daniel smiled. “Yeah, I did all that. And then I freaked out.”
    “Probably a healthy reaction,” said Trinity, “certainly a normal one. You were almost killed.”
    “Wasn’t that kind of freak-out.”
    “Moral crisis?”
    “Identity crisis,” said Daniel. “When it happened I was terrified of course, and the killing was horrible…”
    “But?”
    “But beyond the normal stress reaction, I was actually OK with it. I couldn’t convince myself that I’d done wrong.”
    “You hadn’t,” said Trinity. “What, you’re supposed to turn the other cheek?
    “Yes.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “I was a priest. We’re supposed to emulate Jesus.”
    “Even if it means dying.”
    “Especially if it means dying.”
    Trinity threw his hands up. “What can I say? You Catholics have some crazy ideas.”
    “Everybody’s got crazy ideas, Tim.”
    “True.” He gave Daniel an avuncular wink.
    “Anyway, it’s in the past where it belongs. But you were right, what you said before in Atlanta. I was a priest for the wrong reasons…and I’ve known it a long time. But every morning I woke up and made the decision to be a priest. And now…Now I just can’t keep making that decision anymore.
    They rode in silence a while, but this time it was an easier silence.
    “She’s not married, is she?” said Trinity.
    “Nope.”
    “You think she’ll have you back?”
    “I don’t know,” Daniel said. “But I aim to find out.”

    As the skyline of New Orleans grew large before them, Trinity said, “Been home since Katrina?”
    Daniel shook his head. “You?”
    “No.”
    “You rode out the storm, huh?”
    “Not my finest hour.” Trinity stared out the window. With the baseball cap and sunglasses, his face was unreadable, and Daniel decided not to press him for details. So many things had happened, in both their lives. So many years had flowed past. It wasn’t a matter of
getting caught up
.
    Everything was different now.
They
were different now.
    Trinity pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. “Christ, I got a headache…”
    “I’ll stop and pick up some aspirin.”
    “No, it’s—
ackba
—” His hand flew up and punched the roof liner, a shower of sparks raining down from the cigarette between his fingers, “—
backala
—Shit, it’s comin’ on strong—
abebeh reeadalla
…” His left leg jerked up, slamming his knee against the bottom of the dash. “Fuck!” His entire body spasmed and his head snapped to the right, sending out a loud crack as it hit the doorframe.
    The tongues were upon him.
    On television, it had looked ridiculous. From the back row of the audience, disturbing. But up close it was a horror show. Chills ran up and down Daniel’s arms as he quickly exited the highway, tires squealing in protest on the off-ramp, Trinity babbling and thrashing beside him.
    He screeched to a stop on the service road, threw the truck in park, and grabbed his uncle’s shoulders, struggling to hold him down and prevent further injury.
    The next thirty seconds felt like they would never end. But then, finally, the tongues stopped and Trinity’s body relaxed and his eyes regained their focus.
    “I’m OK, I’m all right…It’s over.” Trinity blew out a long breath and sat back upright. “Man, that one came on fast.” He wiped the beads of perspiration from his face and forced a smile.
    “It looks painful,” said Daniel.
    “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Trinity chuckled, lighting a new cigarette. “Yeah, it ain’t exactly a day at the beach.” He dragged on his smoke, shook his head. “It is what it is. Anyway, it’s over. Let’s go.”
    “All right.” Daniel put the car in gear. He didn’t want to dwell on it either.

Diamondhead, Mississippi…
    T hey were five of the nation’s top Christian evangelists, boasting congregations in the tens of thousands, highly rated television programs, bestselling books. One had even been a spiritual advisor to presidents.
    They did not, however, all preach the same gospel. Three preached salvation and prosperity in equal measure (but they called it “abundance” and took pains to include the non-financial