The Chosen

by Patricia Bell

  “WHAT A RACA!” JACOB’S older brother, Malachi, spat at him when he entered the room they shared. “Empty headed! What were you thinking?” He slapped Jacob in the back of the head.

  “Leave me be.” Jacob pushed Malachi, standing up to him for the first time in his life.

  He didn’t care anymore. Malachi was a bully. Soon he would be given a wife at the next Winter Ritual and then Jacob would have the room to himself. Jacob felt sorry for whoever was to marry Malachi. He was a harsh man. In fact, Malachi had pushed him around all of his life. He had a temper that couldn’t be controlled. The numerous trips he’d taken to the shed had only served to make his brother angrier and meaner. And unfortunately, Jacob had become his primary target.

  “Oh, you think you are tough, now?” Malachi pushed back.

  “Let me be,” Jacob said as he braced himself on his bed so as not to fall.

  “Yes, little brother. I will let you be. You have enough troubles of your own. Now that you sent Rachel out to die in the desert,” he mocked. “Alone and with child.”

  “Shut your mouth, Malachi!” Jacob rushed his brother, and they crashed onto Malachi’s bed. Jacob raised his fist to his brother.

  “Be careful, brother.” Malachi grinned. “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”

  Seething, Jacob hovered over Malachi for a moment longer before he lowered his fist. He pushed off his brother, stumbled back to his bed and sat. He put his head in his hands and took in a deep breath. As mean as his brother was, he would not take his frustration out on him.

  “At least you will marry her sister,” Malachi said. “Now you can spoil another of the Pence girls.”

  “Shut up,” Jacob growled. “It is not like that.”

  “Like what, brother? You are a murderer, you know. Rachel will never make it. She will die. If she is not already dead.”

  Malachi would not stop. And experience told Jacob that the more he answered Malachi, the longer he would keep going. Malachi knew nothing about love. He laid back on his bed and rolled over.

  “That is what I thought.”

  “JACOB, AWAKE,” A VOICE called out to him in his sleep. He opened his eyes to a bright, all-consuming light. A man dressed in white robes stood above his bed. A man he’d never seen before. Jacob scooted back against the wall as fear encircled him.

  “Do not fear,” the man said in a soothing voice. “I am with you.”

  “What . . . who are you?” Jacob looked around the man to see if Malachi was seeing what he was seeing. Malachi was fast asleep. “Are you . . . God?”

  The man smiled. “I am only a messenger.”

  “Wha . . .” Jacob’s body wracked with trembling fear. “What message?”

  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved,” the messenger said.

  A euphoric feeling fell over Jacob, and he no longer feared the messenger.

  “I believe,” he cried out, not caring if he woke his brother or not.

  The messenger smiled compassionately, and his body radiated with kindness.

  “The angels rejoice over your soul,” the messenger said.

  “But Rachel . . . Is she safe? You must know . . . Please . . .”

  As the messenger faded into the night, he gave Jacob a small nod. What did that mean? Was she safe? Was the messenger telling him she was safe?

  Jacob lifted up from his bed and looked around. Malachi slept soundly across from him. Had it only been a dream? He tried to recall the events, they slipped swiftly from his memory. The only thing he was left with was an indistinguishable comfort.

  Chapter 16 - Luna

  Morning came too soon. It always did. When you got up before the chickens, it was too early. And after the nightmare Luna had, she couldn’t seem to get back to sleep. Still, to save herself from more punishment, she grudgingly pulled herself out of bed and prepared for the long day ahead.

  “A blessed morning to you.” Tabitha smiled annoyingly.

  Luna had never been a morning person. It took at least a good hour before she was willing to even make conversation, let alone get herself ready for the day.

  Tabitha, on the other hand, was already dressed and ready.

  What Luna wouldn’t give for a nice hot shower. The Chosen didn’t even know what a shower was. The body odor was quite an issue when she’d first gotten there. What with the lack of electricity and the sweltering heat, it didn’t take much to get a good sweat going. But after a while, she hardly noticed it, and by now she stunk as much as the rest of them.

  “Morning,” Luna grumbled as she grabbed for the dress that hung on a knob beside her bed. She had three of them, each one exactly like the former. None smelling any better than the other. But she hardly noticed anymore. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.” She yawned.

  “I can. Mondays are always so long,” Tabitha answered as she laced her oversized work boots.

  “I know. Laundry day. But after that, we get to bathe. The highlight of my week.”

  The two of them, being the oldest, were in charge of laundry which took up most of the morning. Miriam and Leah helped but being that one of them was only twelve, and the other had just turned thirteen, they were still learning. And a good portion of the time, the older girls ended up having to rewash what they tried at but failed, which made their morning much longer.

  In the afternoon, all the girls lined up to wash. There were ten in total, but two of them were too young to bathe with the rest. Anna, who was six months and Lydia only a few weeks. Tabitha and Luna were in charge of getting the others washed, and that usually turned into a fun time. By the time it was their turn in the tub, they’d already been plenty wet. It was the most refreshing day of the week. No electricity meant no air conditioning. And that meant hundred-degree temperatures inside and out until fall when the weather would cool. The water made for a refreshing time.

  The rest of the week, all the girls from the ages of thirteen and up who did not have children, went to the industrial building where they dyed materials, sewed blankets, and other products to sell out in the world. Luna had first been placed in sewing, but after ruining several items, she was moved to making rope baskets which were extremely rough on her hands. Not to mention, the stitching was done inside the building, and the rope baskets were made out on the back porch with the sun beating down on her. That’s what she got for never learning a skill.

  On Sundays, the entire compound got together for what they called Sacrament. That’s where they spent the entire day in a barn-like structure and sat on bottom-numbing wooden pews while they listened to several of the elders condemn the congregation as a whole for their past sins, current sins, or ones they might be thinking of committing.

  They spoke of God as an overbearing dictator whose only goal was to convict His people for their transgressions. It was like a night and day difference from the church her mother used to drag her to. Sure, they had talked about sin and all, but mostly they spoke of God as a loving being. One who was willing to forgive us of our sins if we asked. But all of that was in the past.

  Now, she sat on a hard, backless pew as Elder Joseph lectured her and the rest of the congregation on what worthless pieces of trash they were. And it would go on for hours until finally, the service broke for an hour lunch provided by the women of the community. And then ― back to condemnation.

  Luna swiped at her brow and wondered at the time. There were no clocks in the building. There were no clocks anywhere at all. People just seemed to know what time it was, or maybe they didn’t and didn’t care.

  Sweat moistened her armpits. It had to be at least a hundred degrees out, and with no breeze, the air was stale. The hum of Elder Joseph’s voice lulled Luna to the brink of sleep.

  “But ye must repent!” he roared, and Luna jerked her head up so fast she almost fell over backward into Mama Esther’s lap.

  Tabitha covered a giggle, and Luna elbowed her. “How can you stay awake?” she whispered as she straightened
on the hard bench.

  Tabitha shrugged. “It is almost time for the noon meal.”

  Mama Josephine turned her head abruptly and scolded them both with her eyes. Tabitha looked down in shame, but Luna just smiled. Soon she would be Josephine’s sister-wife. What would the woman do then? Luna’s stomach turned at the thought. She was too young to be a wife . . . Or a mother.

  The best she could hope for was to disgrace herself in front of these people. Maybe then they would allow her to leave. But where would she go? Her mother was gone, and she didn’t know her father. Maybe she’d better learn to enjoy the cult life.

  With nothing else to do to pass the time Luna fell into the memories of the day her life changed forever.

  She was living on the streets, too proud to go back home and apologize to her mother. She’d been much less mature at that time. Though it was only a few months prior, something about living off the land, scrubbing your own clothes, and bathing once a week tended to mature a person rather quickly.

  She’d only been on the streets for about a week. The day she’d walked out of her mother’s house, she’d been so angered she’d left with nothing. No extra clothes, no spare food, nothing but a couple of bucks in her pocket and her cell phone. And that couple of bucks was just that. Two dollars and seventy-three cents, exactly.

  With her meager amount of money already spent, Luna had learned it was better to sleep during the day and prowl for food at night. It was much easier to reach into a dumpster to retrieve a half-eaten cheeseburger when no one was around. Besides, it was better to keep your eyes open at night. There were just too many things that could happen.

  It was midday, and she’d just woken up and was still a bit dazed when the three guys came up on her from out of nowhere.

  “Whatcha selling?” one of them asked, hiking his baggy pants up. He was a young guy, maybe a couple of years older than Luna. His skin was dark, his hair locked in tangles and a gold tooth sparkled in his mouth, making him look like one of those rapper guys. She’d seen him around.

  Before she could answer, he and his two buddies started toward her.

  “I’m not selling anything. Get away!” she screamed, but they weren’t buying it.

  “Come on, sweet thing. Whatcha got for daddy?” another guy, bright blue eyes, milky-white skin asked as the three of them pawed all over her.

  Afraid she was about to be a victim of sexual assault, she screamed.

  “Awe come on. We just wanna have a little bit of fun.” The third guy, looking like the brother to the first, licked his lips as if she were a tasty chicken dinner.

  “Leave her be,” a gruff voice commanded from out of nowhere.

  The guys backed away and turned to the man that strolled toward them. He was a large man. The biggest Luna had ever seen. And his face was scarier than the three trying to hurt her. He wore jeans and a white button-down shirt with suspenders. He had on a big brimmed hat and sported the longest beard she’d ever seen.

  “Beat it old man,” gold toothed guy said, brandishing a pipe.

  “I would not do that,” the stranger advised.

  “No?” Gold tooth looked at his buddies and laughed, hiking up his oversized pants again. “And what are you going to do about it, Gramps?”

  As the stranger stepped forward, Luna scooted back against the wall and stared at the scene in awe. He might have been big, but there were three of them and that steel pipe looked dangerously threatening.

  Before she had a chance to wonder what would happen next, the stranger grabbed the pipe so quickly that gold tooth fell backward onto the ground, his pants around his knees. He raised it in the air, and glared at each of the three guys firmly, one at a time.

  “You do not want to test me, son.” He towered over the guy who still sat on the ground. The coward scooted backward while the other two stared in awe. “Get out of here!” the man’s voice boomed through the alley. “And clean yourselves up. You smell of rancor.”

  “Whatever, old man,” the dummy on the ground said. “We were just having a good time, weren’t we, honey?”

  Luna shook her head and stared at the humongous man in front of her. “No.”

  The bullies backed away out of the alley, and the big guy waited for them to leave then turned to walk away.

  “Thank you,” Luna squeaked in a voice she hardly recognized.

  The man turned back around. “You are welcome, child. Go home where you belong. It is not safe on the streets.”

  “I have nowhere to go,” she lied, still too proud to admit her faults.

  “You are homeless?” he asked.

  Luna nodded

  “You are hungry, no?”

  She nodded again.

  “Come, I shall feed you,” he said and turned.

  Luna followed. For some strange reason, she didn’t fear the guy. She didn’t know him from those other three, but she felt a sense of security just being near him. Together, they walked up the street until they came to a fast-food restaurant. He ordered food for them, and they sat in a booth to eat.

  “The name is Naaman,” he barked as he stared at the burger and fries in front of him.

  “Luna,” she answered.

  “Like the moon?” His bright blue eyes twinkled as the edges of his lips turned up slightly.

  “I guess so,” she answered, taking a big bite of her burger. It had been some time since she’d had a full meal.

  “Where is your family, Luna?” He spoke her name as though it was a strange word.

  “I don’t know.” She didn't dare look the man in the eyes, fearing he would see through her lie.

  He stared at her while she ate ravenously. His fluffy eyebrows raised in question. His mouth twitched, making his beard jiggle. He seemed to be rooted in thought.

  “Let us now break for our noon meal,” Elder Joseph announced, bringing Luna back to the present. “We shall reconvene in one hour.”

  As she stood and stretched, her bottom felt numb. She walked around to get the circulation flowing. “Did he talk for an extra hour?” she whispered to Tabitha.

  Tabitha giggled. “Come. It is our turn to serve.”

  Luna let out a groan. That meant they’d be the last to eat. And the pickings would be slim. “Okay, let’s get it over with.”

  Luna and Tabitha stood behind a long table with three other women and served the rest of the community, men first, then women and last of all the children. Jonathan made his way through the line and stopped in front of her. She happened to be passing out small pastries filled with meat and cheese.

  “Blessed day, Rebecca. I would like two, please.” He winked at her.

  “Sorry. No special favors for you, Johnny boy,” she answered louder than she meant.

  As luck would have it, the man next to him happened to be Elder Joseph. The scorn on his face was proof he’d overheard her comment.

  Luna lowered her head. “Apologies, Elder Joseph.” she said in hopes he wouldn’t make an issue of it and then placed an extra pastry on Jonathan's plate.

  Jonathan gave her an apologetic smile as he continued down the line. She had a feeling she’d be hearing about it later. She just didn’t get these people. They were so serious about everything all of the time. When did they ever laugh? Have fun? To them, everything worth doing in life was a sin.

  “I hope he does not report that to Father,” Tabitha whispered.

  “I don’t care if he does,” Luna answered defiantly.

  She did care. Naaman had the power to make her life miserable. Even more than it already was. She shuddered at the thought of the last time she was severely punished. As she robotically placed pastries onto the plates that went by, she remembered.

  It was about a month before. Her crime? Talking back, what else? It seemed as though, more often than not, her sarcastic brain got the best of her, and she said things out loud that were meant to be held inside. Like the incident only moments before. She knew better than to crack jokes amid others, but sometimes
it just came out. The last event was one of those occurrences, but times it by ten.

  It happened to be at the dinner table that one of the younglings broke out with a song. Music was strictly forbidden. It was considered the work of the devil or something like that. Well the day prior, Luna had thought she was alone and was singing a secular song a bit too loudly.

  Tamar, a seven-year-old girl, happened by and overheard her. She caught on to the words quickly and belted out a verse herself. Luna had thought it was cute at first, and the girl’s voice was beautiful. She was a natural. But Luna quickly realized that it would not be a good idea for Tamar to show off her singing ability in front of the elders, or anyone else for that matter.

  Luna tried to explain to Tamar that it was wrong. She’d even gone so far as to tell the girl that she’d been wrong herself for singing and that Tamar shouldn’t do it either. Not that she believed it, but she wanted Tamar to. If nothing else, to save the young girl from trouble. But the sound of the young girl’s voice was mesmerizing. Not only to Luna but to herself. Tamar had found a talent she’d never known, and she could carry a tune beautifully.

  Well that day, at the table, when Tamar belted out the chorus to Redneck Woman, she’d have been taken to the center of the compound and stoned to death if Luna hadn’t stepped in and took the blame. One look at Naaman and Luna swore there had been smoke protruding from his ears. If it weren’t a serious situation, she’d have burst out in laughter. He’d looked an awful lot like Yosemite Sam.

  “Tamar, to the shed!” Naaman pointed an angry finger toward the front door.

  The entire house stilled as Tamar stood up from the table. Terror eclipsed her face.

  “Now!” Naaman belted out.

  Tamar jumped at Naaman’s words and rushed to the front door. The fear on her face was palpable. Luna couldn’t let her go down for it.

  “It was me, Father Naaman. Please don’t punish Tamar. It was not her fault.”

  “Rebecca, this is not your concern.” As Naaman stood, the wooden chair behind him slammed to the ground with a bang.