Page 2 of Axton
I knew who they were speaking of, it was Melinda, the daughter of one of our elders and wife of Franklin Joseph, a much older man. She met a young man from town and vowed to leave. Several years ago, choices were given to the young members of our community, but as the size of the faithful membership began to dwindle my papa had to make some tough choices. Those choices took any hope of freedom I once had away from me. Although I dreamed of a life outside our community, I could never walk away from papa as long as he lived, and I never wanted to lose my mama to a shunning.
“Put us on lockdown.” My papa ordered. His mind was still sound, but speaking was quite difficult.
I shut my eyes as disappointment came over me. Melinda was my friend, and she attempted to sin. Not only was that a betrayal to God, but to her own soul as well. She would burn in the fires of hell if she did not seek forgiveness. At least that’s what my papa said, but I struggled with those beliefs.
“What should be her punishment?” John Henry, my oldest living brother asked. He owned his own business, and my brother Koty worked for him. He was seventy-four and my papa promised a retirement soon.
My father coughed, as if he once again aspirated on his own saliva. My brother’s waited for him to recover, and I once again heard my father’s weak voice. “There is no sin in seeking a faithful life somewhere else. Her intentions must be known, and if she has no reservations in leaving, send her out into the world on her own. There is no fakeness in faith, she must not be here to taint the minds of the other young souls. Forgive her, but do not reward her. She may leave, but she must know the consequences. She cannot return to salvage her soul if she refuses to go north to join our other faithful communities. As I see it, she has already chosen sin when she invited the young man to take possession of her in the middle of the night. Give her one last chance to make the right decision.”
“A choice? Father, I must disagree. She was leaving her husband and children, that puts us all at risk with the law.” My other brother, Koty, said, but I knew his secrets. He was buying time, hoping to change papa’s mind about his future. Faking his loyalty.
My papa took a moment to answer. “She has been in a marriage of God since she was twelve years old. If the love of her God and her family aren’t enough to make her stay, then she must be set free into the world. We will have no descendants if we allow these unfaithful women to raise our children. We cannot let sinful women taint the minds of our young. She has sister wives that are good women that honor their husband and will raise her children according to our laws. If she wants to go north, allow it, but if she wants a life of sin make her disappearinto the darkness. She will be shunned, that is the extent of our punishments. We do not have room for further violence against anyone. Separating her from her children is punishment enough, until the fires of hell consume her for an eternity.”
“Violence?” Paul asked. “There is no violence when defending our community and protecting our women from sinners.”
“Who is telling you this, son? Your next prophet? Jeremy is a false prophet, and he is not to marry Bellamy. She is reserved for our father’s plans for her. Our almighty father would never condone violence against those around us that judge our faith. You are being misled, the beast has made his way into our community. Not only will you protect your sister, you will protect the church and its members, faithful or not. Lockdown the community and allow Melinda to be the only lost soul to leave. We cannot risk her taking the children, and I do not want Jeremy hunting her down. You must outsmart Jeremy, he claims to be faithful, and he may have the support of his elders, but I am your prophet, and you will do as I say until our father sends his soldier to claim his bride. There will be no other prophet until that time.” My papa began to sound as if he was exhausted.
Jeremy was not to be trusted. His devilish good looks could easily have charmed our younger members. The man claimed to be our next prophet and refused to take brides until my father passed. Many of the elders trusted him because he was intelligent, but he brought violence into our lives and my brothers started looking toward him for guidance, believing the messages he claimed to have received from our almighty father. Our community had been torn into two groups. Those who still believed in my papa and those who believed Jeremy was the new prophet. He never married and was the oldest of bachelors inour history. He claimed me as his bride when I was seven and he was fourteen. My papa refused him, and the tension between my papa and him had been thick over the years. Jeremy was a sinner, a man that left our community at eighteen to become educated, but took a path of sin. He returned and claimed to be the new prophet, but he was always forgiven by the elders in our community, despite my father’s warnings. Some no longer trusted my papa’s elderly mind. If my brothers continued to lean toward Jeremy’s leadership, I was afraid they would give Jeremy my hand in marriage.
“Bellamy is twenty three years old now. She’s well over the age of marriage. If she was meant to be the wife of our father's soldier, wouldn’t he have taken her by now?” Paul asked.
“No violence, no prophets, and no marriage for Bellamy until her destined husband comes for her. Be patient and he will come and defeat the beast.” My father began to fade, I could hear it in his voice.
I jumped away from the door when I heard footsteps. It wasn’t the first time I was caught eavesdropping, and I was sure it was not the last. Paul’s eyes met mine as I didn’t back away from the door quick enough. I could see the disapproval, but instead of saying anything he walked away with John behind him. Koty called my name from inside the room, and I reluctantly stepped inside.
Koty was my half-brother, and he was also twenty three years old, but three months older than me. He married his first wife two years prior, but had yet to have a child. He mentioned his wife’s age several times as being an issue, and my papa preached to him about the importance of consummating their marriage. He would not be rewarded with a second wife until his first wife was with child. She was already fifteen, and the elders wereextremely disappointed in my brother. I did not believe he was attracted to his wife, and many felt the same, bringing shame to the young bride.
“Is this his first nap today?” Koty asked.
“No, he slept while I read to him earlier. He seems to be tired more often over these last few days.”
“I’ve noticed.” Koty drew in a deep breath and looked at our papa. “It’s a shame he has declined hospice care. He has to be in pain.”
Koty was fully aware of why papa could not have hospice care. “He is doing his best to protect the community.” Papa believed our community was looked down upon by the sinners in the outside world. They tried to squash the faith of the most religious, and if we allowed them inside our community they would separate us. The government was filled with the darkness of the beast, and he wanted nothing more than to destroy our faith.
His eyes met mine. “Yet, he allows young mothers to leave with no guidance or support. Nothing could put papa and our brothers at a greater risk.”
He was right, but my opinion was nothing of substance. Women in our community were property, and we did not have voices.
“Let’s allow him some rest.” Koty took me by the arm and led me out of the bedroom. He took a look around, as if my mama wasn’t sleeping or our brothers never left. “I need to talk to you about something, Belle.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, maybe in a way to comfort myself as he spoke in the hallway just outside the room where my papa laid dying. “Okay.” I agreed, reluctantly. Was he goingto defy my papa and take me to Jeremy? Was he buying his freedom away from the marriage and religious practices he detested? My brother did not have the strongest faith, but he was my closest friend.
“Do you desire a marriage to Jeremy?” He asked.
“Desire?” I asked. That was a tricky word, desire. It was mainly used as a term for the sins of a woman. A woman with desires was led down a path of sin. I did not welcome that word from my brother, hoping our prophet didn’t know of my secrets. How could I desire a marriage to anyone that was not meant to be mine? It was a word I never spoke out loud, a word that many saw as a sin by anyone with a female form.
Koty leaned against the wall. “I understand I should rephrase. Do you hope for a marriage to Jeremy? Have you prayed for it?”
“Of course not.” I was not meant for just any earthly man, which was a prophecy I barely believed, but wished was true. The man destined for me had a light in his soul because he carried the mark of God. He was born with the soul of God’s mightiest soldier.
“Papa may be wrong about Melinda, but he is not wrong about Jeremy. As soon as papa takes his last breath, Jeremy plans to make you his legal bride. We cannot allow a false prophet to force your hand in marriage. He wants it to be legal, and in front of God. He is going to bring the law of mankind to our community and destroy it. If you do this, all of your brothers will be arrested. They’ve…well they’ve shared a bed with their wives, where I have not.”
I tilted my head in confusion. Of course they shared their beds with their wives.
“It’s unlawful, Belle. They’re minor children in the eyes of the law. You are a teacher, you should understand that their mind and bodies aren’t ready for such things.”
I continued to stare at him in confusion. I always felt the same as my students were taken as wives, but it was just one of many questions I felt would be sinful to ask. I had so many questions that I began to believe would die with me. I craved things that my family wouldn’t understand, and I was both scared and intrigued by the outside world. I wanted to be a part of it someday, but not at the expense of losing my mama and papa.
