Latter-Day of the Dead (12 page)

I was dusting off my jeans when I pretended not to see Verdell pushing his way through the crowd.

“Elias, were you trying to remove the body after I specifically ordered it to be left alone.”

“No, sir.”

Verdell looked at the ladder standing upright next to Benjamin. “Explain yourself.”

“I was just checking his pulse.”

“His pulse? Why?”

“I think he’s still alive.”

“Nonsense.” Verdell looked up at Benjamin. “So did he have a pulse?”

“Well, no, but….”

“But nothing!” the prophet shouted. “I’m growing very tired of you pressing your own agenda, Brother Elias.”

“I don’t have an agenda, sir, I just….”

“You just need to stop talking and go home, now.”

“His eyes opened,” I said in short order.

“I am sure we will continue to see Benjamin’s body squirm and twitch as his soul is properly introduced to an eternity in Hell,” Verdell shouted loud enough for the crowd to hear. He squeezed my arm and repeated sternly, “Go home.”

“And where’s the Harris family?” I yelled to the crowd. “Where’s Brother Rodell? Why are they nowhere to be found?”

The throng looked at each other with concern. Verdell, still squeezing my arm, dragged me away.

“That’s enough,” he growled.

He pushed me to the edge of the crowd where my father was. “Take care of your kin before things get worse for him,” Verdell advised.

My father put his hand on my back and pushed me towards the house. I was beyond frustrated, but realized they were not going to listen. I could tell by the force of my dad’s guiding hand that he was not happy.

“Son, I’m going to say this one time…don’t make things difficult for our family. We don’t need that kind of attention, ain’t no reason getting involved in matters that have nothin’ to do with you, understand?”

“Dad, these matters are going to involve all of us pretty soon.”

“I ain’t ask for no opinion, Elias. Keep your head down and steer clear of the prophet. I ain’t asking.”

My head shook no slightly enough so my father couldn’t see it. I stepped away from his hand that had still been guiding my back up the road, and walked away from him.

He stopped following and yammered, “Go straight home, Elias.”

He must have had some fatherly intuition to know my original thought was to stop and see if Rodell was at his house before going to ours. At this point I had caused too much trouble to press it further. I obeyed orders and went home.

For all the things you would think I would have running through my head, the only thought keeping my mind occupied was the fact that the next time I saw Keturah she would be sealed to Verdell for all eternity. And she was probably going to have to have sexual relations with him tonight, I though about that too. Gross.

The mental wear and tear finally took enough of a toll to put me to sleep. I hadn’t even removed my boots before dozing off on the couch. I had no dreams, at least none I could recall when I woke a few hours later. The sun was shining through the bay window, and must have been for the majority of my shuteye because I was properly lathered in a thick coat of sweat. Fuzz and dust slowly cavorted in the penetrating sunbeams. I was still in the same position as when I first laid down.

I sat upright too quickly, causing an intense head rush. I ran my hand through my sweat-dampened hair trying to shake the cobwebs. The short hour of unconscious rest had pushed me closer to having to see Keturah marry the prophet and succinctly trample my heart to bloody debris.

Instead of changing my clothes for the occasion, I just grabbed one of my black ties and worked it under my plaid collar. The outfit was disheveled, but I did take time at the bathroom sink to wash the dried sweat off of my face and to water my hair. I stared earnestly into the mirror, slicking my hair back.

It took a few minutes of debating myself before I could get out the front door. I contemplated skipping what would be an unbearable event. A glutton for punishment had to be the only reasonable answer as to why I began walking down to the wedding.

I was early. Many of the women were hustling back and forth, decorating the church, preparing the dinner feast. I watched for a few minutes, amazed that none of them seemed to mind or pay attention to Benjamin hanging in the tree.

There would basically be two parts to the wedding. The first piece of the ceremony would take place outside, where Keturah would exchange vows with not only Verdell, but his other wives as well. The second piece, the official sealing, would be just Keturah and Verdell in a private room in the church. Since I have yet to be wed I still don’t know what goes on during that part.

Trying to stay out of the way during preparation, I wandered over to the barn where we had held Benjamin. No one had bothered to clean the blood off of the hay bale spear. It was a gruesome reminder that there was a reason we had a man put to death.

Before I continued walking I heard a muffled cry from inside the barn. I leaned in to try and hear it again, but could not. Initially nothing seemed out of the ordinary when I stepped into the barn. I kept quiet and listened. There was some rustling and another hushed whimper in the back corner. I stepped lightly and purposefully, trying to sneak closer.

I stopped at the stall before the last one where the noise was coming from. I was confused and concerned when I peeked over the edge. Verdell had Keturah against the back wall, his hand reaching up under her yellow dress. She was crying.

“Keturah? Are you okay?” I couldn’t help but speak up.

Keturah let out a sob. Verdell slowly stepped away, removing his hand from under her dress.

“Brother Elias, may I
once again
ask what it is you are doing?” Verdell challenged as he calmly removed a handkerchief and cleaned his bloody fingers in front of me.

“I heard someone crying.”

“Lots of people cry, Brother Elias. And again I am having a hard time figuring out why it would be any of your business?”

“It’s not I guess.”

“Ahh, there may be hope for you yet, young man. You’re learning.”

“Keturah, go get ready. The sister wives will assist,” Verdell ordered sternly.

She rushed out the barn, unable to look at me as she ran past.

“Do you like the life you’ve been afforded?” Verdell asked, still cleaning his fingers. “The house you live in, the food you eat, the schooling we put you through?”

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

He put his hand around the back of my neck and leaned in close. “Well, let me suggest keeping clear of me for the time being. I’ve seen you a little too much for my liking of late. And I would make sure you forget what you saw in here…I would hate for you to have to explain to your family why they were excommunicated from the group.”

I pursed my lips before conceding, “I understand.”

“I knew you would.” He let go of my neck and patted me on the back. “Are you attending the ceremony?”

“I had planned on it.”

Verdell looked at his stained handkerchief. “She will make a lovely wife. She will give me many children.”

I could tell he was trying to get a rise out of me with the way he said it so I chose not to respond. On his way out he pushed the bloody handkerchief into my hand. I stood alone in the middle of the barn, left staring at the messy cloth.

chapter ten

A
sizable crowd had gathered for the ceremony by the time I made my way over. I folded up the handkerchief and placed it in my back pocket. I’m still not sure why I kept it. Chairs and benches were positioned in a half-circle, arching around a small portable stage where the prophet, his wives, and Keturah would all stand.

I watched from a distance as the seats continued to fill. It was a decent distance from the church, but I could still see the silhouette of Benjamin hanging in the tree. Before I could look away I was dropped to one knee by a punch right to my kidney. I scrambled forward hoping to avoid any additional attack. I shot up and looked to see my laughing little sister.

“What are you doing?” she snickered.

“Sariah Lynn that’s not funny! I was about to knock out whoever did that, you could have been hurt.”

“You were about to do no such thing, Elias. You were spooked somethin’ awful.”

“Very funny,” I said, rubbing the spot where she hit me.

“Are you going down, or are you just going to watch from here?”

“I’ll just stay here.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Well, may I stay with you?”

“Sure.” I smiled and put my arm around my sister.

We walked over and sat at the base of an acorn tree on the ridge overlooking the proceedings.

“I can’t wait until it is my wedding day, Elias,” Sariah gushed. The direct sunlight bouncing off her blonde hair made it appear practically white.

“Oh yeah?”

“Just look at the scene down there, it is beautiful. I already know it will be the best day of my life.”

I grew quiet. Keturah probably dreamt of this day the same way my sister was. But this couldn’t be what she envisioned. This couldn’t be the best day of her life.

Sariah backhanded my arm as we sat under the shady cover of the tree. “There has to be one big difference between my wedding and this one, though.”

Not marrying a perverted old prophet would be my choice given one major difference. I asked, “What would you want different?”

“You would have to be sitting a lot closer at my wedding.”

“Deal,” I confirmed, picking up an acorn that was on the ground where we sat and tossing it at the back of her head.

“Hey!” she giggled, firing one back.

Through our horseplay we had not seen Verdell and his wives escort Keturah Dawn to the small wooden platform. Our attention was drawn back by the opening hymn sung by the congregation that had filled nearly all the seats that had been set up.

“She looks beautiful,” Sariah whispered.

I squinted, trying to see better from this distance. Keturah was wearing an eggshell-colored wedding dress. The long-sleeves were puffed out at the elbow and shoulder, and according to Sariah it had a Victorian-style high neck lace bodice with pearls, whatever that is. Verdell had also changed into all white. I don’t think anything about his outfit was Victorian, but I wouldn’t be sure.

Not being able to hear what they were saying became a pleasant bonus of our seating choice, although I felt sick at what looked like the prophet kissing both of Keturah’s eyelids.

“Too bad that nice suit can’t cover up that big blotch on your face,” I moaned aloud.

“Now that is just pure evil, Elias,” Sariah gasped. “The prophet is our direct channel to God himself. If this marriage wasn’t right in God’s eyes he wouldn’t let it happen.”

I shrugged and rose to my feet, knowing there was no sense in debating my little sister. I paced back and forth in front of the tree, kicking the strewn acorns.

While acting like I didn’t want to watch anymore, my curiosity made me look back down to the ceremony. My attention was drawn to the west of the group, where I could make out figures emerging from the woods.

“Hey,” I said to myself and took a few steps closer.

“What is it?” Sariah questioned as she walked over.

“I think that’s…yeah…that’s them.”

“Them who?”

“It’s Parley Harris and his family. They had gone missin’ this morning. What were they doing out in the woods I wonder?”

Sariah scrunched her nose and commented, “They’re walkin’ funny.”

“And who’s that with them?” I wondered, straining to see from that far away. It wasn’t long before I could make out the bandaged hand. “It’s Rodell? But….”

I lunged down the hill and sprinted towards the wedding ceremony. “Stay right there, Sariah! Don’t move!” I shouted.

“What are you doing?” she yelled to no response.

They were getting close to the gathering, but if I sprinted I knew I could beat them there. I had a better angle to the group, and began hollering to them. “Stop! You have to stop! Everyone get out of here!”

I approached the back of the crowd and started to make my way up the middle aisle.

“Elias!” I could hear my dad yell as I passed him.

“He’s a doc-toc-tor!” I could hear little LaDonna telling her mom.

“I need everyone to go back to your homes immediately,” I said loudly with both hands raised.

I had imagined it playing out a lot differently when I ran through making that statement in my head. If I had to describe the crowd’s reaction in two words I would probably use:
indifferent
and
unmoved
.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Verdell barked from the stage ahead.

“No, sir, please! You have to listen to me!” I ran to the front of the stage, realizing the group would only listen to him. “We have to get everyone out of here.”