Latter-Day of the Dead (6 page)

Keturah put both hands over her mouth and nose. Tears of sheer joy ran down both of her reddened cheeks. Her mother hugged her. Her father stood up and received congratulations from the nearby families.

Keturah composed herself and swiveled her head over to me in excitement and shock. I felt like walking over but wanted our prophet to officially announce it first. Sariah hugged my hips in anticipation.

Verdell continued, “It is indeed a glorious day, and Keturah has been asked to step into one of the highest honors in this lifetime. The Lord has told me that Keturah is to be the sixth wife of the prophet.”

“No,” I said loud enough for my father to hear.

“Keep your mouth shut,” he ordered.

“I thought you said you were getting married?” Sariah asked, confused.

“I…I thought…I don’t know.”

I attempted but could not make eye contact with Keturah. She was surrounded by well-wishers who were overjoyed. In their minds bearing the children of the prophet is the most important calling a woman can receive. She could potentially give birth to our next prophet.

Verdell’s five current wives went over to welcome Keturah. It would be a quick turnaround for her to be wed. Once God gave the word it was time to fulfill His plan.

“Let’s eat and give much thanks,” Verdell said, concluding the Glory Session and releasing everyone to the picnic tables for dinner.

I stood there in shock; my stomach ached with a hollow pain. This couldn’t be right; I felt it in all my body.

“Elias…time for supper,” my father turned back and yapped. The family had already made their way over with the migrating crowd.

“Father,” I ran over to him, panicked, “this wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know what to do.”

He squared up to me and got in close, making me lean away. “Somethin’ wrong with you, boy?”

“What? No.”

He sneered, “You see it fit ‘n proper to question our prophet? To question the Lord Jesus Christ himself? You best think, boy. We clear?”

I thought of a few different rebuttals before landing on the one that wouldn’t get me whipped in public. “Yes, sir.”

If I had to describe my father in two words I would probably use:
heavy
and
handed
.

He had a strict upbringing on the compound and passed that stringent guidance to us. His heavy brow compressed his face, making it look like he was constantly angry. He was humble and God-fearing, like the vast majority of people in our group.

He pushed me towards the crowd, most of whom had already found spots at the tables. Mothers quieted their children in preparation for the meal. My sister Sariah had saved me a spot on the dilapidated wooden bench.

I settled into the open seat before Verdell announced, “Today I will ask Brother Elias to bless our food.”

My mothers smiled with pride and all eagerly turned to me. I did not intend to make my sigh as audible as I did when I rose. I looked around the tables, partially to stall and partially for hopes of some sort of inspiration, before falling back to the usual standard blessing.

“Dear Lord, we thank you for the bounty you have bestowed upon the righteous. Our path is the right path; we know this to be true. Please keep us in good health, and bless our crops so we may continue to have such plentiful feasts.”

“And?” the prophet asked from the other end of the group.

“Annnndd…” I elongated, seeing if anything would come to mind.

“Annnndd…” the prophet repeated, nodding to Keturah Dawn sitting to his left.

“Annnndd…we thank you for continuing your plan for us. Your wisdom has brought another celestial pair to our family. Please bless Keturah and the rest of our prophet’s flock.”

Verdell acknowledged, looking more than pleased. If I had to describe giving the last part of that blessing in two words I would probably use:
excruciatingly
and
painful
.

The noise level jumped to a low roar as everyone began dishing up food around the tables and talking amongst each other. This was
usually
the part of the week that brought me much joy, but I didn’t feel like interacting with anyone. I am already twenty and still don’t have a wife? People will surely begin to think something is wrong with me.

I ate solemnly and tried to slow down all the thoughts rushing through my head. I pretended not to notice Sariah and my moms continually looking at me to make sure I was alright. Keturah was surrounded by folks sharing their congratulations throughout the meal, making it difficult for my frequent attempts at trying to grab her attention from a distance.

As people finished up and darkness began to blanket the sky, Verdell made his usual rounds to each table. In most cases I would look forward to the words of our prophet, but today I was not interested. I shifted on the bench anxiously, trying to find a reason to leave before Verdell got to the table. Two of my mothers began clearing the dishes from our table.

“I’ll help!” I blurted, grabbing Sariah’s plate as she was still eating.

Both mothers froze while my other two mothers sitting on each side of my dad looked up in surprise. During everyone’s stillness Sariah reached up and pulled her plate out of my hands and continued eating.

“That’s the woman’s job, boy, what’s wrong with you?” my dad gruffly asked.

“Nothing…just trying to be helpful,” I mumbled, already realizing that was the wrong move.

He looked down the length of the table to see Verdell heading our way. He squinted back at me through the corner of his eye and grunted, “Sit.”

I sunk back down and my mothers jumped back to clearing the table. Sariah looked up at me and shook her head. Verdell made it over to my father’s side of the table. He stood and enclosed Verdell’s hand in both of his.

My dad’s personality perked up, “What a blessed day! We all rejoice in your news.”

Sariah elbowed my arm, catching me roll my eyes. I found myself even more disgusted than usual with the prophet’s stained face. Keturah was going to spend eternity with him? My stomach again knotted up.

“And thank you for today’s blessing, Brother Elias,” Verdell said as he made his way to my side of the table. I stood up, slouched, and prepared to greet him.

“The Lord has great plans for us, Brother Elias,” he explained as I closed his extended hand in-between each of mine. “He is so proud of our group.”

“I would just hope His plan for me unfolds soon,” I replied, seeing my dad’s physical reaction of displeasure from my peripheral. “Many of my brothers have been blessed with families…but God does not see it fit for me?”

“I am sure he will tell me when the time is right, Brother Elias,” Verdell comforted.

“Really?” I questioned, staring at his blind eye.

Uncomfortable laughter slipped through the prophet’s closed lips before he asked, “Where is this discontent coming from, son?”

“Well, golly, with Keturah joining your family there aren’t really any women who are unwed,” I explained as politely as I could.

“God has not forgotten you. He is so grateful to the sacrifice you have made in order to care for us medically. It is not unnoticed, and your opportunity will come soon. As a matter of fact, young Sariah will be ready to serve a husband soon.” Verdell began stroking the back of her head.

“But…that’s my sister.”

Verdell and my father shared a glance before he backtracked slightly, “Yes. Yes of course. I can’t claim to know the Lord’s plan before he tells me. That was just an example, that’s all.”

My dad nodded appreciatively before Verdell headed off. I could already see my dad’s disappointment in how cavalier I was being with our prophet. Hopefully he would not want to have a talk back at home.

Verdell made it partway up the path before turning back and summoning me over, shouting, “Brother Elias!”

I put my head down and slowly made my way up, sure I was in trouble.

“Tell me something, Elias,” he said, looking elsewhere.

“What is it, sir?”

“Have you checked in on Brother Benjamin?”

“Not since you saw us earlier…s’pose I could go do that now.”

He still wasn’t looking at me when he said, “Is that him?”

My eyes followed Verdell’s outstretched index finger up the hill to a figure standing alone.

“I can’t quite tell. Let’s go see.”

I took a few steps before an unsure Verdell started following me up the hill. It was dusk, so it was hard to make out who was standing up there. The person was standing perfectly still.

As we got a little closer I called out to the shadowed stranger, “Brother Benjamin? Is that you?”

There was no response, but the figure was now swaying back and forth. Verdell slowed, falling further behind me.

“Benjamin. Is that you? What are you doing?” I shouted.

I turned back to see Verdell had stopped. While waiting for him he took two steps backwards and pointed past my shoulder. I spun around just in time to see the man sprinting down the hill towards us.

Reaching my hand out to try and get the person hurling towards us to stop, it wasn’t until he blew past me that I could see it was indeed Benjamin. As soon as I turned I saw him lower his shoulder and crash into the prophet. The two tumbled down the dirt hill.

Verdell slid to a stop facedown. I rushed to his side and pulled his shoulder to get him on his back.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

He grimaced in pain before answering, “Yeah.”

The two of us turned to Benjamin, who was lifting himself up. He sneered and shot a glare at us. His entire eyeballs were black.

“Whoa. Benjamin, hey,” I said, startled.

I stood upright and kept both hands outstretched, trying to cautiously approach. Benjamin was still hunched on his hands and knees when he violently began to cough, his back arching up like a cat. Blood splattered across the dusty road as he continued to hack.

“Benjamin, are you alright?” I asked.

When the coughing stopped he grew very still and quiet. His head gradually cocked towards me, where I was once again met with his clouded, starless eyes.

Before I could get a word out he leapt up and sprinted down the hill towards the crowd that had yet to leave.

“Benjamin, wait!” I shouted.

Verdell picked himself up as I began to cautiously jog down to the bottom of the hill. There was a path of startled onlookers so it was easy to determine which way he headed.

“Doc, Brother Benjamin ain’t right in the head,” said one of the elders.

“I know. Where did he go?”

Preceding the answer was a shudder-worthy wailing echoing across the range. It sounded like it was coming from near the schoolhouse. Verdell still hadn’t made it all the way down. A couple of the men ran with me towards the screaming after telling the women to get the children in their homes.

We rounded the side of the schoolhouse to find Brother Parley collapsed and crumpled on the ground. I hurried to him and could see blood seeping through his flannel shirt.

“Parley, what happened?” I asked tranquilly.

“One of my wives mentioned that this window here wouldn’t open during the children’s class today.” He cringed and shifted in discomfort before continuing, “I was checking the windows along this side when Brother Benjamin…he…he came out of nowhere.”

“And he hit you?” I questioned, disconcerted.

“No…no. He bit me.”

“What?” I looked up to the other men who began to defensively check our immediate surroundings for Benjamin.

“He bit me, right here in the shoulder. He wouldn’t let go. Luckily, I had my screwdriver with me on account of the window-fixing. I jabbed him with it to get him off then he just bolted. I ain’t never experienced nothin’ quite like it. And it
really
aches.” Parley gingerly pointed to the back of his shoulder.

“Let’s get your shirt off so I can have a look.” I helped prop Parley up to a sitting position.

The removal of his shirt revealed a significant piece of flesh missing. I could also see something else that verified this was indeed Benjamin’s doing. The gash was deep and gaping, I examined closely before proceeding.

“Parley, I am going to need you to stay still for a second, okay?”

“Is something wrong?”

“Just stay still.”

I moved my index finger and thumb, pressed together, guardedly into the wound. I pinched the foreign object and dislodged it. Parley winced and jerked his shoulder forward.

Sitting back, I studied the undersized tooth that was just abstracted from Parley’s shoulder. He turned around to see what I had.

“What is it?”

“A canine tooth.”

“A dog’s tooth?”

“No. It’s Benjamin’s. The type of tooth is just called canine.”

“Benjamin has dog teeth?”

“No, Parley.”

One of the men that were searching for Benjamin came back from the field behind the school, seeming relieved to say, “No sign of him.”