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Chapter 59
I AM GOD
How does this look?” Julia asked Ross as she twirled around in a floral yellow dress.
“Hot—you always look hot.”
She slipped on some sneakers and told him to hurry up. “We’re going to be late for church,” she
said.
“We’ll be fine,” he assured her.
It was Sunday morning, and as they walked to the bus, Julia wondered if she should mention
something to Ross about the Silk Road. She had assumed when she arrived in San Francisco that he
was done with the site—that’s what he had told her time and again. But there had been so many clues
in the few hours they had spent together. His skittishness, especially around his computer; the way he
answered questions about work; and then catching him on the computer. Sure, he still lived like a
pauper, renting a cheap room on the outskirts of the city with furniture he had bought on the street, and
he still wore the same clothes he had worn in college. But that was Ross. His cheapness didn’t prove,
or negate, anything.
On the bus ride to church, Julia explained that the congregation where they were heading had a
belief system that everyone can talk to God. Therefore, she said, there wasn’t one pastor reading the
sermon; everyone took it in turns, each reading a passage for two minutes before the piano dinged and
someone else stood up to take the pulpit. “It’s a little culty,” she joked, “but it’s really quite
beautiful.”
The church looked more like a 1980s office building that belonged to an obscure spy agency than
a place of God. It was two stories high and painted a strange lime green color. Dozens of white
security cameras pointed down from every direction. The only signifier that this was a place of
worship was the dark lettering across the top that read MEETING PLACE OF THE CHURCH IN SAN
FRANCISCO.
Services had already begun when they rushed inside, Julia ushering Ross into a pew in the back
of the room. As they settled into the wooden seats, prayers were being chanted by the mostly Asian
parishioners. “Oh Lord!” and “Jesus, praise the Lord!” ricocheted through the large room. Almost
immediately the congregation was asked to “please rise.”