“Jim won’t talk,” Twitch said. “Don’t take it personal.”
“It ain’t you,” Eddie tried to soften the blow. “It’s because of Isaiah six.”
Mike took another sip, trying to puzzle out the reference. He thought of Eddie’s combat boots and grenades. “Is that a military thing?” he asked. “Like a code? Are you guys special forces?”
“No, it’s in the Bible.” Eddie arched an eyebrow at him. “You know what the Bible is, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Mike agreed, “but go easy, I ain’t actually read it, I was raised catholic and we had a priest to do the reading. But I know…” he took a swig and considered, “I know it’s got two halves. And Moses and the Israelites are in one half, and Jesus and the saints are in the other.”
“This is the Moses half,” Eddie said. Mike offered him the bottle, but Eddie shook his head.
“What does Moses say about Jim not talking, then?”
“In the year that king Uzziah died,” Eddie said in a voice that sounded a little bit like a chant, “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
“Heavy.” Mike took a sip, glad he didn’t have to drive. “I didn’t hear Jim mentioned, though.”
“No, Isaiah’s talking about the angels in Heaven,” Eddie agreed.
“Jim’s not an angel.”
Eddie and Twitch looked at each other. “No,” Eddie agreed, “Jim’s not an angel. Here’s the thing. The angels in Heaven, what do they do?”
“Holy, holy, holy,” Mike said cheerfully. A few more sips of whisky, he thought, and he’d forget the Baal Zavuv, forget the Hellhound, and even, for a little while, forget Chuy.
“That’s right,” Eddie agreed, “they sing. They sing in the New Testament… in the Jesus half, too. Luke two, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And Job says the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy.”
“Fine,” Mike agreed. He didn’t care about any of this stuff. “Angels sing.”
“So when angels get cast out of Heaven,” Eddie continued, as if he was trying to coax Mike to an obvious conclusion, “what do they do?”
“They rap,” Mike guessed.
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