“Can we bring this up with the town council?”
“Cecil? What leverage do we have?”
A man in his late sixties stood slowly and headed for the pulpit. The church had called this impromptu meeting by mass email that morning.
Mary felt like she was at a lynching. Something didn’t sit right with her. She had spent her entire life living by the very doctrines of this church and one exactly like it. This was the denomination she was raised in. Something felt off. She didn’t know how to explain it, but her skin crawled. Her world was off-kilter.
In theory, she had always learned it was wrong for a woman to lie with two men. It was against human nature. However, in reality, who was she to judge? Her world had so altered in the last months that she wasn’t sure about any of the teachings of her church lately. And how was the relationship between three people going to hurt anyone else in the community?
On the other hand, if this was the third such family to form of three people—two men and one woman—where would it stop? She didn’t want an entire community of polygamists sprouting up between Sojourn and Cambridge any more than anyone else in this room. The concept made her uncomfortable.
It was an abomination to the teachings of the Bible. Right? She shuddered as she questioned her beliefs. It seemed like everything she’d ever been taught was shattering around her like broken glass. But threesomes? Wasn’t that going too far?
What gave Mary the most pause was the issue of race. She knew for a fact in her heart that no one should be arguing that somehow this new woman in town, Laurie Hamilton, should be shunned for being mixed. That was ridiculous. Jesus would not have agreed with that idea.
It seemed to her that what the church really took issue with was Laurie’s mixed blood, and they were using her chosen way of life as a smokescreen to cover their racism.
Cecil cleared his throat and leaned into the microphone. “Calm down, folks.”
“We won’t calm down until those people are run out of town,” someone shouted. “They’re a mockery to our way of life. We can’t tolerate it.”
Pastor Edmund stood from his chair next to the pulpit and raised his hands. “Sit. Everyone, please. Let’s hear what Cecil has to say.”
A hush fell over the audience. Well, a partial hush. There were about a hundred people in the room, and most of them were still grumbling to their neighbor.
Some sat in silence like Mary, but not many. She glanced around to see a few heads bowed and lips pursed. Would the silent few keep quiet even if the majority suggested something abominable?
Hell, would she?
Cecil held the mic in one hand. “Folks, I was a lawyer in this town for thirty years, and though I’ve been retired for ten, I can tell you times haven’t changed that much. Unless someone comes forward and tries to actually marry more than one person, we don’t really have a leg to stand on.
“Three people living in one dwelling means nothing to the courts. There’s no law that says a couple can’t rent a room to someone, for example.”
People started grumbling again, their voices rising so it was difficult to hear what any one person said.
Cecil held up a hand and waited patiently. “People. Listen. No matter how you break this down, the truth is none of these people have even married
one
member of the household. No one has attempted to marry two.”
“What?” Mary recognized that voice as Ada’s. She sat on the front pew and stood as she spoke. “They’re all living in sin?”
Cecil’s shoulders slumped. “That wasn’t my point at all, Ada. My point is that you can’t accuse anyone of breaking a law and marrying more than one person if they aren’t married at all.”
“How do we know this?” someone yelled.
“I looked it up. It’s a matter of public record. None of the Masters’s households lists any of the occupants as married. Not even Adam and Carlie.” He muttered that last part.
“Are you kidding?” This was shouted by a woman holding a baby and bouncing the tyke on her leg as she also stood.
Cecil shook his head. “None of the family members are married. And there’s no law that says they must be, either.”
“So the entire Masters family is living in sin? Right here among us? Living in our neighborhood and making a mockery of the entire Bible?” Ada said all this in a tone that said she meant it solely as a repetition. Not a question.
Mary rolled her eyes. She didn’t even know why she was in disagreement with this mob, but she was. Oh, who was she kidding? She knew exactly why she was moving away from this denomination’s doctrine.
Someone else shouted. “What about the fact that these heathens are mixing with those nasty Indians? Why isn’t anyone addressing that issue?” The man’s face turned a dark shade of red while he ranted. Spittle flew into the air. And his hands shook. He ran one through his already disheveled hair.
Pastor Edmund stood again and nudged Cecil to the side so he could lean into the mic. “We aren’t here to discuss race. This kind of thinking will get us nowhere. We need to stick to the points we can support reasonably.”
The room got louder.
Pastor Edmund raised a hand again. “Folks, I know most of you have lived here your entire lives in peace.”
“Among our own kind,” someone shouted. Mary shifted her gaze to see the speaker was Brock Henson, a guy a few years younger than her who worked as a ski instructor at the resort. He’d always seemed like a bit of a hothead to her.
Pastor Edmund nodded. “I hear you. I do. But times have changed. No judge in this country is going to listen to a complaint about mixing the races. We wouldn’t be taken seriously in any court of law or in front of any government official. If we have any hope of putting an end to the practices of these people, all of you need to leave race out of it. If anyone anywhere gets wind of the fact that this issue is about race, we’ll fall on our faces.”
And there it was. The real reason for the mayhem.
The red-faced man spewed his filth again. “Those Indians should stay on their own land and keep to themselves. Nothing but handouts. Centuries of our government coddling them. They’ve been given everything from land to food to education to healthcare. And still they want more. And now they want our women and our children.
“Well, I’m not going to stand for this. And I hope none of the rest of you are, either.” He pointed around the room, letting his finger and gaze land on many different individuals. “For years we’ve lived here among ourselves. There’s no need for us to bow down and let those nasty Indians infiltrate our lives.”
Mary shuddered. How had she gotten so far off track that she ended up sitting in a room full of such hate? And when did she begin to see it that way?
Oh, she knew when. The exact date, in fact. She was kidding herself if she didn’t face reality.
She no longer agreed with this man or anyone else in the room.
Rumors. Every single piece of this was rumors. The only thing these people leaned on was racism and hate. Maybe the Masters were living in sin. Maybe they weren’t. But what
was
clear as a bell was that this mob had no leg to stand on.
She pursed her lips and held her tongue. The entire thing had disintegrated to a mission of hatred and racism. And that was more than she could tolerate. On some level, she’d always known her denomination was racist and intolerant, but knowing it and hearing it stated out loud were two different things.
“I say we show them they’re not welcome,” the red-faced man shouted, pumping his fist into the air. “Make them leave town. If we band together, we can put an end to this insanity.”
Several other people yelled their agreement, jumping to their feet and calling for what amounted to a lynching.
Mary cringed. Would these God-fearing people actually try to hurt anyone? She seriously hoped not. For her own sake as well as those who were at the bad end of today’s ranting mob.
One woman raised her hand and then stood, visibly shaking. Her small voice rang out, hushing everyone. “What are you planning to do? These are human beings. We can’t ruin people’s lives just because we disagree with them. What happened to ‘love they neighbor’?”
Mary watched as the woman’s husband tugged on her arm, trying to get her to shut up and sit down.
Ada straightened her spine in the front of the room and cleared her throat. “Have you noticed how many strange things are happening right here under our noses in this town?”
“What are you talking about?” Brock asked.
“Earthquakes, fires, unexplained snowstorms, weird rain fall. These events are all warnings we need to heed. Messages from God that we need to clean up our acts or suffer the consequences. Do you suppose everyone who lived on the planet when Noah walked the Earth was a sinner? Maybe if the people of that time had spoken up and put an end to the sinners instead of quietly accepting their fate, things would have turned out differently. We have to stop this sinning. If we don’t, God is liable to wipe us off the face of the Earth.
“And let’s not forget Sodom and Gomorrah. God brought fire among the people of those towns and killed every person in the area. Why? Because they were sinners. Do you people want us to succumb to the same fate?” Her voice shook as she finished.
Several people yelled “Amen!” and pumped their fists in the air.
Mary’s mouth fell open, but she said nothing. Sodom and Gomorrah? Was it really necessary to bring up a story from the Old Testament to prove that God was trying to send them a message?
A few people, with tears in their eyes, fled the room. Were they in disagreement?
Another man jumped up. “This is all speculation. We have no idea what the Masters kids are actually doing. There’s no place in the Bible that insinuates races should not intermix, so that’s purely ignorant talk. And as for the possibility of polygamy, it’s all conjecture. The Bible actually did in fact have polygamy.
“Now, if you want to argue against homosexuality, that’s another thing, but just because one person thinks they saw this Laurie woman at the resort with two men means nothing. Maybe they’re all friends? Has anyone ever seen any of the Masters kids in a compromising position with another man?”
A hush fell. No one said a word.
Finally Florence stood. “The Bible
does
argue against interracial marriage, in Deuteronomy.” She pointed a finger at the man who’d spoken.
He rolled his eyes. “Come on. You know good and well the issue there was believers and non-believers, not race. Don’t even start on that rant.”
Ada spoke up next. “I disagree, and as for polygamy? Are you kidding? The Bible clearly states in 1 Corinthians that a man shall have his own wife and a woman her own husband.”
Pastor Edmund responded to his wife. “Sit down, Ada. You know better than anyone there are dozens of mentions in the Bible of men marrying two or more women.” He turned toward the congregation. “What the Bible does
not
mention is a woman marrying two or more men. We can’t presume anything with regard to that scenario and God’s intentions.”
Mary swallowed hard. This was going too far. Too close to home. She wanted to fall through a crack in the floor and die.
Pastor Edmund spoke again. “We need to calm down.”
Someone shouted over the pastor, “What we need to do is eradicate this vermin from our town. If we do not, we’ll all die an ugly death. Ada is right. The Lord is giving us a chance. He’s sending repeated warnings. It is up to us to stop this madness before we succumb to a fate none of us can imagine. Death. God has shown us He is a powerful being with many options—fire, earthquake, snow, rain… We will not be able to escape his wrath. We must act now and act fast. It’s only a matter of time before we are overrun with
locusts
.”
“We need to set up a committee. Decide how to handle this,” Florence proposed.
“I second that idea,” Ada added. “I think this meeting has run its course. Anyone interested in joining the committee can stay. Anyone who’d rather get home, may go.”
Pastor Edmund nodded agreement.
Several people got up to leave. Most in fact. Apparently it was all fun and games until a committee was formed.
About two dozen people stayed. She noticed Brock Henson was among them.
Mary held her breath. Could any of what had been said be true? Was it possible God would wipe out an entire town or county because a few people were not living by the interpretation of the Bible held by the majority of this congregation?
She sure hoped not. If so, she was doomed to the same death.
As much as she hated the idea of a sub-committee meeting to discuss ways to run people out of town, she knew she needed to stay. Her gut told her to listen to the plan. If she didn’t and something bad happened, she’d never be able to live with herself.
“You cooked,” Laurie said as she entered Corbin’s apartment and glanced around his space. She’d spent enough time with him to know he was a typical guy—slightly messy, but not disgusting.
And she was right. His apartment was relatively tidy, but had the obvious distinction of being lived in by a man with no woman’s touch.
Thank God Zach had a condo. This apartment was far too small for three people. The living room was inviting—beige carpet, an overstuffed brown couch, a large-screen TV—but it was tiny. And the kitchen was more of a corner. The table was in a dining area between the living room and the narrow space comprising a stove/oven/microwave combo on one side and a sink/dishwasher on the other. Cabinet and counter space was minimal. It was all done in the same brown tones common in an apartment.
The three of them would quickly suffer from claustrophobia in the cramped space.
“I did. I told you I could BBQ.”
“Ah. Is that what I smell?” She smiled as he took her in his arms and held her against his body, carefully making sure his cock pressed into her belly.
Normally she would find such a maneuver offensive. Most women would. But nothing about this situation fit under the category of “normal”. She was at least as needy as him, wetness already leaking between her legs, her clit pulsing with need as soon as he opened the door and his personal scent filled her nose.