The Beginning (Jessica Christ Book 1)

by H. Claire Taylor

  So Courtney was still sulking, was she? And all over some stupid argument about Noah’s ark? Jess probably shouldn’t have contradicted her when she got going on it, but the things Courtney was saying just didn’t make any sense. Jess was no scientist, but she’d watched enough shows on breeding animals in captivity to know there was no way two of each animal could repopulate the entire world without serious problems arising from inbreeding. She also knew you couldn’t put predators and prey on the same small ship without the food chain taking a severe hit. It all seemed obvious, even without God’s commentary bemoaning how a good scribe is hard to find.

  After the Noah’s ark disagreement, Courtney had decided to protest their trip to the zoo, or “the Devil’s menagerie” as she began calling it once a tour guide backed Jessica on the whole evolution thing. Jess knew better than to think this was the end of it with Courtney, though. Retribution would be swift, but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t come until after they’d left the zoo, so she might as well enjoy her day. Besides, Randy didn’t seem to mind having Courtney sulk next to him as they visited each exhibit on Jess’s must-see list.

  Luke was trying his best to tattle on Christopher, but Randy simply smiled placidly at his nephew, and even from ten yards away, Jess could tell he wasn’t actually listening.

  She sighed. “I wish I could have been in Mrs. Thomas’s group.” She turned back toward the giraffes.

  “Me too,” said Christopher. “And she doesn’t even like me. Anyone would be better than Luke and his weird, lumpy uncle.”

  It was such an apt description that Jess had to laugh. Randy wasn’t fat, and he wasn’t necessarily thin. Lumpy was a good word for it. Maybe soft too. It was like he stored most of his body fat in a doughy ring around his middle that sagged over his belt, straining against his tucked-in heather green polo shirt. The remainder of his fat was stored in two saggy lumps on his chest that reminded Jess of a pregnant gorilla’s teats.

  “What’s next?” Christopher asked.

  As much as she wanted to sit and watch the giraffes all day, she knew she’d regret it if she didn’t see all the animals on the list she’d spent the previous week compiling.

  She pulled the piece of notebook paper out of her pocket and began unfolding it when Christopher shouted, “Hey look! There’s Trent and Mrs. Thomas! And they have frozen lemonade! No fair!”

  He ran over to the other group.

  Jess looked over her list. The lions’ den was the next item down. It was three o’clock. They’d already spent five hours at the zoo, and Jess could tell her classmates were growing bored. She was exhausted, too, but who knew when her next chance to visit the zoo would be.

  She did, however, want to fill in Miranda on how annoying Luke was being and why Courtney was throwing a fit, so she followed Christopher over to where the two small groups had merged into one jumble by a tall map of the zoo.

  Before she could get a word out, though, Miranda had important information to report.

  “Mrs. Thomas is going to buy us ice cream after we finish our lemonade!” Miranda gulped her drink down hurriedly and then grimaced against the brain freeze. She held out the drink to Jess, who grabbed it and took a sip before handing it back to her best friend.

  “Stupid Randy hasn’t bought us anything,” Jess said, careful not to be overheard by someone who might rat her out.

  Christopher popped up next to her and tapped her on the arm with the back of his hand. “You hear that, Jess?”

  “No, what?”

  “Mrs. Thomas said our group can go with hers to get ice cream!”

  Jess forced a smile. “Oh cool!” But now she was left with the decision of ice cream or lions.

  “You don’t seem excited,” Christopher said, looking horrified.

  “I just want to see the lions, is all.”

  A man’s voice from behind her said, “Oh, I love lions.” Jess turned toward it to find Randy hovering behind her. “I’d like to see them, too,” he added. Then he raised his voice to address the rest of the combined groups. “How about this, everyone. If you want to go see the lions, come with me, and if you want to get ice cream, go with Mrs. Thomas.” He looked up at Mrs. Thomas for approval, and she shrugged and nodded.

  “That works,” she said.

  But whether it was because everyone had started ignoring Randy or because ice cream had a tastier payoff than staring at lions, no one else responded to his offer, which left Jess the odd girl out.

  Randy looked questioningly at Mrs. Thomas, who said, “I can handle them, no problem.” Then she stepped through the crowd and leaned close to Jess, saying, “I tell you what, you go enjoy the lions for a while and I’ll take the rest of the group over there in a bit and bring you some ice cream.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows inquisitively. “That work?”

  Jess’s spirits immediately rose. “Yeah! Thanks, Mrs. Thomas!”

  The teacher winked then pressed a furtive finger to her lips before turning back toward the other students, who she began herding in the direction of ice cream.

  “Great! Shall we?” Randy asked. He sounded almost as excited as Jess felt.

  “Yep!”

  Jess took three steps in the direction of the lions before she felt that familiar voice booming inside her skull.

  DON’T GO WITH HIM.

  But I want to see the lions.

  I’M TELLING YOU NOT TO GO WITH HIM.

  And I’m telling you I’m going with him.

  WHA— ARE YOU DISOBEYING ME?

  I guess so.

  THOU SHALT NOT GO WITH HIM!

  I’m not even sure what “shalt” means.

  Randy held out a crooked elbow toward Jess. Was she supposed to take it? She didn’t want to, but he moved it closer to her.

  DON’T TAKE HIS ARM.

  But she thought it would be rude not to. He’s lame, but he’s just trying to be nice.

  PEOPLE ACT NICE FOR A LOT OF REASONS.

  I’ll look like a jerk if I say no. He might even get mad and not take me to the lions. She didn’t know Randy well at all, but if he was anything like his nephew, he was the type to throw a tantrum or lash out if he didn’t get his way.

  So she grabbed his crooked arm at the elbow, unable to keep from grimacing when the close proximity to him yielded a strong smell of cologne and sweat, and he led her toward the lions’ den. She threw one look over her shoulder to where her classmates headed in the opposite direction and for a moment reconsidered how much she actually wanted to see the lions.

  But she tamped down that feeling and continued along the path and around a corner with Randy, behind tall bushes and out of sight of the others.

  “That’s a pretty shirt you’re wearing,” Randy said, staring down at her.

  How was she supposed to respond to that? It was just a shirt with an elephant face on it. “Thanks.”

  He jumped in front of her, halting her progress, and grinned. “You’re very welcome. I love elephants. You know what I love most about elephants?”

  Jess faked an itch on her shoulder so she could pull her arm free of his to scratch it. “No.”

  “Their silly trunks!” He reached down and traced his finger over the elephant’s trunk on her shirt, tickling her chest and stomach as he did so. She giggled involuntarily and jumped away. Randy laughed, too, showing off his yellow teeth and receding gums.

  OH FOR MY SAKE. DAUGHTER, I COMMAND YOU TO RETURN TO YOUR GROUP.

  No.

  THOU SHALT—

  Make me!

  I CAN’T.

  You can’t? I thought you could do anything.

  I MEAN, OF COURSE I CAN! I JUST DON’T WANT TO MAKE YOU. AND TRUST ME, YOU DON’T WANT ME TO MAKE YOU.

  You’re being weird.

  “You all right there, Jennifer?” Randy asked, still leaning over in front of her, his hands braced on his knees. His eyes shifted from her face to a mother and son who strolled by.

  She’d zoned out again, clearly. And Randy had noti
ced.

  “Jessica,” she corrected.

  Once she spoke, he seemed much less worried, and stood up straight again. “That’s what I said.”

  “No, it’s not,” she replied. “You called me Jennifer.”

  He flashed a forced grin. “Nope, you’re wrong. Doesn’t matter though.”

  He placed a hand flat between her shoulder blades and guided her onward. She wished he wouldn’t touch her, so she quickened her steps to outpace his hand.

  As they arrived at the observation area, separated from the lions by only a sheet of thick glass, Jess decided that it was totally worth braving Randy’s awkwardness to get this close to a super predator.

  One of the lionesses lay right near the glass, staring passively at the observers who came near. Jess thought there was something pitiful about the cat, something that made her wish there were no glass there at all, even though that probably wouldn’t work out well for any of the humans involved.

  Randy crouched down next to her, staring at the lioness as well. “I think I know where we can get a better look at the lions,” he said in a low, mischievous tone, like some other adult might overhear and get upset. Did Randy know he was an adult? He was ancient—perhaps even in his thirties—and already had a large bald patch in his wispy strawberry blond hair, but Jess felt like maybe no one had ever told him that he was grown up.

  “I can see them pretty well from here,” she said, pointing to the lioness only a few feet in front of her.

  “Yeah, but she’s just lion around.” He stared at Jess expectantly, and finally she gave in and chuckled at his lame joke so that he wouldn’t be mad. “Don’t you want to see them be more active?”

  She did. But whatever he had in mind sounded like it might be against the rules. “I guess. But this is okay, too.”

  “Oh come on, you’re not scared of breaking a few rules, are you?” He said it with a big goofy grin, and Jess finally felt too sorry for him to refuse.

  “I mean, okay.”

  NO. DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM. THOU SHALT NOT—

  I will if I want to.

  She wasn’t sure which was irritating her more, Randy’s wimpiness or God’s bossiness.

  “This way,” Randy said, and he led her around the enclosure to a set of roped-off stairs.

  The stairs were walled in on either side by cement made to look like ruddy boulders. Jess paused. A yellow sign in plain view said, Trained Zoo Personnel Only in large black letters.

  Randy followed her gaze. “Don’t worry. We’ll just go up there really quick. No one has to know.”

  When she didn’t proceed right away, he placed his hand between her shoulder blades again, and that got her moving.

  Once they reached the top, they found themselves in a cove of sorts that overlooked the enclosure. With the fake rock walls surrounding them on all sides except the one that looked out over the lions’ den, Jess was able to imagine there were no other visitors around, that she was on a solo safari in the wild, and it was just her and the lions. Well, and Randy.

  She approached the opening, which was blocked off with a chain-link gate. Beyond the gate was a drop of at least twenty feet into the enclosure, and Jess’s nerves wouldn’t allow her to lean against this fence like she had the one at the giraffes, for fear—albeit probably an illogical one—of the gate giving out against her weight, causing her to plummet off the platform.

  Stop it, she coached herself. She was letting her imagination run away with her and it was ruining what should be a tranquil experience. So she stood a foot back from the gate and kept a hand on the fake rock to keep herself planted in space.

  With the warm afternoon sun unable to reach her above the ruddy cement walls, the chill of the early November weather quickly began to bite at Jess’s ears and fingers. She removed her hand from the wall without thinking about it so she could rub her palms together as she looked down at a pair of cubs roughhousing near a small artificial pond.

  “Are you cold?” Randy asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Here.” He stepped between her and the gate, blocking her view of the cubs as he squatted down so he was on eye level. He took her chilly hands in his. “Let me warm them up.”

  “Um.” Neck hair bristled at the base of her skull. This wasn’t right. Jess knew that immediately. She didn’t know exactly how it was wrong, just that it felt not right. Randy was staring into her eyes in a way that adults never did.

  “Your ears look chilly, too. Here.” He reached up, placed a hand on either side of her head and began massaging her lobes.

  That was too much. She pulled her head away and took a step back.

  “What, are you scared of me?” Randy stayed crouched on his heels and motioned her back toward him. “Come on, Jennifer. I’m just trying to be nice. Nobody likes rude girls. If you ever want to have a boyfriend someday, you should learn how to relate to men.”

  Boyfriend? Why was he talking about boyfriends? That seemed to come out of nowhere.

  When Jess took another small step away from him, he huffed impatiently and began to stand.

  OH FOR THE LOVE OF ME.

  Before Randy was totally upright, he stumbled back, almost like he’d been pushed. His eyes jolted wide with shock, and he scrambled to get his feet back under him but failed. His back hit the gate, and the time between when the chain-link began to strain against his force and when it finally gave out seemed to stretch on forever.

  Jess either couldn’t move her feet or didn’t want to move her feet—even long afterward she wasn’t sure which was the case. All she could do was watch Randy’s terrified expression disappear from view as he toppled over the edge and fell twenty feet into the lions’ den. His yell was abruptly cut off by a hard thunk.

  I should go get help.

  DON’T BOTHER.

  Jess took a few hesitant steps toward the edge, braced herself on the fake rock and looked down to find Randy in a cloud of dust, rolling slowly onto his side, trying to sit up. He moaned against his injuries from the fall, and when he looked back up and saw Jess staring down at him silently, he shouted. “Don’t just stand there, you worthless little tease! Go get help.”

  It didn’t seem real. She nodded slowly at him, but didn’t move. She was only faintly aware of the few onlookers who’d noticed that there was a man in the enclosure and were beginning to holler and point. But she was acutely aware of the lions who had taken notice and were stalking slowly toward him. Jess had seen lions act like that on television programs and she knew what was coming.

  The lioness who had been “lion around” only minutes before was leading the hunt, and part of Jess was actually excited to see a pride in action like this.

  Randy must have noticed that Jess’s attention was no longer on him, and when he followed her line of sight and realized what was already in motion, he started screaming in a high pitched voice that only stirred a disgust deep within Jess and made her subconscious rooting for the predators become a conscious one.

  “There you are!” said a familiar voice behind her just as the lioness made her move. Jess gasped as she was jerked back from the platform, spun around, and pulled in to Mrs. Thomas’s soft body. The woman held her close and secure, making sure she wasn’t able to see the goring that immediately followed below. But Jess could still hear the screams that worked their way into her mind, creating a strange dissonance with the soft wool of Mrs. Thomas’s sweater against her cheek. Even when Mrs. Thomas pressed her hand firmly against Jess’s ear to block out the sounds, Randy’s screams muscled through.

  You did that, didn’t you?

  YOU LEFT ME NO CHOICE.

  I’m sorry.

  DON’T BE. I’M NOT. HE DESERVED IT.

  But he didn’t do anything.

  NOT THIS TIME. HE WOULD HAVE, THOUGH.

  The screams stopped, and Jess knew that didn’t bode well for Randy. Mrs. Thomas loosened her grip on Jess but kept her from turning around. “Don’t look. You don’t need to see that.”
r />   “I didn’t— I couldn’t have stopped it.”

  “Hush. Are you okay?” Her firmly set jaw made Jess wonder if she was angry or if this was some new emotion Jess had never encountered before.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Mrs. Thomas nodded, but her stern look didn’t waver. “He didn’t … he didn’t do anything that you didn’t like?”

  “He touched my ears,” Jess said, wondering if that qualified.

  Mrs. Thomas opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and gazed over Jess’s head toward the enclosure. What would be left of Randy by the time rescuers arrived? The image of a carcass picked clean of everything but saggy gorilla teats flashed in Jessica’s mind, but she tamped it down, recognizing it as completely unrealistic; no self-respecting lion would leave that much fat on the bone.

  Mrs. Thomas lifted up Jess’s chin to stare her in the eyes. “He deserved what he got, you understand me?”

  Jess nodded, and was now sure Mrs. Thomas wasn’t angry with her, which was a relief. After one last look toward the enclosure and a disgusted scowl that hitched her upper lip, Mrs. Thomas shook her head slowly before leading Jess back down the stairs and away from lions’ den.

  * * *

  Jess almost felt bad for not being more upset about what had happened at the zoo, but it seemed that Destinee had the upset thing covered.

  And now that they were in the car on the way home from Mooreson Elementary, Destinee’s well of panic seemed to have dried up, and anger had taken its place. “It’s a good thing those lions got him, or your mama would be locked up right now,” she rambled from behind the steering wheel before looking over to Jess and asking for the seventeenth time, “Are you sure he didn’t touch you anywhere bad, Jess?”

  “No, Mom,” Jess replied impatiently. “Just the earlobes.”

  Destinee snarled. “Probably some fucked up fetish. That son of a bitch …”

  LET HER KNOW I SAVED YOU.

  Why?

  JUST DO IT.

  “God was the one who saved me. He pushed Randy over the edge.”

  Destinee’s head snapped toward Jess, and her eyes laser focused in on her daughter. “Your father? He actually intervened?”