The next morning Levi Saint awoke to
the sound of breakfast being prepared.
It was Saturday, which meant chores and then church. Levi’s father, Obadiah, was a local pastor,
and even though Levi was not as religious as his parents would have liked, he
still knew that a sermon without the presence of the Pastor’s family would not
be highly regarded in the community. Of
course Levi was more than happy to make these small concessions, especially in
light of what he was doing after dark and his parents were asleep.
Levi rolled himself out of bed and made the short walk to
the kitchen. The house itself was small,
but that was how his parents preferred it.
On many occasions, they made it known that they would rather have clean
souls and a small house then a mansion tainted by dirty hearts.
As he sat at the table, Levi’s
mother, Mary, poured him a glass of orange juice. Upon placing the glass container into the
refrigerator, Mary took her usual seat next to Levi. Her hair was in curlers and the old,
weathered bathrobe that she wore every morning made a scratching noise against
the cheap plastic seat of her chair as she sat down. This time, instead of instantly depositing
three spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee, as was her normal routine, she turned
to Levi, who had just placed his half-empty orange juice glass on the rickety
wooden table and was reaching for his napkin to dab the juice remnants from his
upper lip. Something was wrong. Mary never broke routine.
“Levi.”
“Yes, mother?”
“Listen, son. We know about Sonia Durant.”
“What do you mean you know about
her?” asked Levi, doing his best to throw his mother off the trail before she dug
up anything incriminating.
“Your father and I know how you feel
about her,” replied Mary, finally adding the sugar to her coffee cup, “ Isn't that right Obadiah?”
“Son,” said Obadiah gruffly. He did everything gruffly, but because of his
faith all that gruffness came across as that of a gentle giant, someone that
was only concerned for the well being of those around him and never annoyed by
it, “Sonia is a nice girl, don’t get us wrong, but her family is not one that
we should be socializing with.”
“Whoa, dad, we shouldn't be
socializing with them? That sounds a bit
prejudiced don’t you think?” That’s it,
just keep them on the defensive, thinking that they are the ones in the wrong
for even suggesting this.
“Levi,” continued Obadiah, unfazed
by the sudden accusation, “Sonia’s father is a scientist, which you know flies
right in the face of our beliefs. To
make matters worse, Sonia’s mother has been know to practice witchcraft. Actual real witchcraft, son. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“Come on dad, a witch? That’s just ridiculous.” With that Levi’s mind raced back to the
previous night and the mention of witchcraft from Sonia. Celia isn’t actually a witch is she? The very thought of this caused a shiver to
run through him regardless of the relative heat in the air at eight in the
morning.
“Son, regardless of whether you
believe or not, the evidence is quite clear.
While your mother and I will pray that you make the right decision, the
choice is up to you.”
Nothing more was discussed as the
family finished their breakfast quietly.
In the Durant household, the morning discussion was far less peaceful.
“Mom, how many times do I have to
tell you that nothing was going on out there.
I was sleepwalking!” shouted Sonia, unable to believe that she was
having this discussion with her mother again, regardless of how right Celia
was. “I haven’t even seen Levi in the
past three months, since that night you told me not to.”
“Sonia, this sleepwalking story is
awful hard to believe, especially based on its frequency. Are you sure that there is nothing that you
want to tell us? It’s better that we
find out now instead of catching you in the act.” The accusation spewed forth from her mouth,
unencumbered by the cereal that was in its way.
“Moses, help me out here.”
“Now Sonny, I have to agree with
your mother on this. If there is
something that you are not telling us, it is in everyone’s best interest if you
brought it out in the open now instead of keeping it from us. Secrets can lead to poor health.” Moses was obviously caught in the battle of
being the “good cop” to Celia’s “bad cop” but he also wanted to maintain that
positive relationship with his daughter, a relationship that was obviously
deteriorating between Sonia and her mother the further Sonia got from infancy. Moses was determined not to let that same
thing happen to him, regardless of how much it may anger Celia.
“I have nothing to fess up to dad,”
said Sonia, placing her plate in the sink and washing the toast crumbs off of
her hands.
“Okay, if you do need to talk about
something, your mother and I will be here for you.”
“Thanks dad, I’m going to go for a
walk. Are you going to your lab?”
“Yes, I’ll be home this
evening. Science waits for no man, you
know.”
“Oh, I know.” She kissed her father on the top of his head
and walked out the door, saying nothing to her mother.
“You know how much I hate ‘good
cop-bad cop’ Moses,” Celia growled at her husband through another bite of
cereal.
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