Page 108 of Leviticus
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“What the fuck?” I sputtered as I woke abruptly. The early morning light was barely over the horizon and I glanced at the clock, noting that it read only just past eight in the morning. After last night’s activities, it was far too early to be awake.
“Levi?” Ruth muttered in question, still snuggled up close to me in sleep. “What was that?”
“I have no idea,” I grumbled, sitting up and immediately regretting it as the cold morning air chilled my naked torso. I wanted nothing more than to curl back up with my wife, but —
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“I swear, if that is Malachi, I’m going to shove my fist so far up his —”
“Hush, love,” Ruth chided. “Early morning anger doesn’t suit you. Plus we both know that you would never fist your brother. That’s not either of your kinks. At least, not to my knowledge.”
“Minx,” I scolded.
“Sex god,” she giggled.
“And don’t you forget it,” I reminded.
“LEVITICUS!”
Both Ruth and I froze as my father’s voice sounded from outside our front door. Without another thought, I raced to grab my clothing and headed down the stairs.
“Father,” I greeted, opening the door, but I didn’t get a chance to utter another word. My father pushed the door open with force, the knob surely making a dent in the wall as he threw it open. His hand was on my chest, pushing me backwards and guiding me to the nearest wall that he could press me into.
“What do you think you are doing?” His voice was quiet, eerily so and laced with an undercurrent of danger that I knew better than to protest. My mouth had not even opened to speak but still he pressed on. “Do not even think to argue with me. I am your father. I am the Elder Temple. I have begun a legacy that I will NOT allow you to dissolve all because you cannot seem to keep control of your wife,” he seethed. That was it.
“My wife?! Do not presume to know anything about my wife, Father. And how is it I have failed the Temple legacy so quickly? Pray tell me what I have done to dislodge the work you have done.” I knew it was stupidity in that moment, but I could barely keep the thin reign of control I had.
“Word has made its way to me that you are not obeying your marriage vows,” he hissed in my face. I could see the vein in his temple popping, his teeth clenched as he forced out each word. My mind raced. Had they discovered my time at Abditory? Had they learned of our plan? Had they —
“The church has taught us much, Leviticus and you will not squander the life that I have given you. That God has given us. Youwilltake your marriage vows seriously. You will take your rightful place in the church. You will begin a family as the Lord has commanded you. And if you do not heed my words, so help me, Leviticus, I will be forced to ensure that your brothers marry Ruth’s sisters within the next year so that perhaps they will have fortuitous marriages. If you do not heed my words, I will take all of this away and remind you what it is to build something out of nothing. I will make sure that you and your brothers do not take a single thing for granted ever again. Do you understand me?”
His words rang in my ears and I bit back the words I longed to say. They would not help me now.
“Your wife’s family has been to see me already this morning. Do you know why? Because they can tell something is going on with your wife. She is acting strange, they tell me. That she is happy, and yet is still not with child. You are a Temple. This is unacceptable. Do I need to remind you how a husband should keep his wife in line? Certainly you remember how to use the strength God gave you to —”
“Husband, are you coming back to bed? Perhaps this time will be the time we create a child – Oh!” Ruth’s voice called from the top of the stairwell. Abruptly, panic took over me. I did not want her here, near my father in this state. My father’s hand released me and I turned to look at where my wife stood — naked except for a bed sheet wrapped around her form. Her blush spread rapidly over her face as my father looked at her. I saw the look in his eyes and felt all the anger a person could bodily possess rise up with in me. He didn’t just look at her. He leered at her like prey. Never had I been more solidified in the plan my brothers and I had made all those months before.
I looked from my father back to my wife. Her eyes found mine. And I knew. She knew exactly what she was doing.
I cleared my throat and listened as her feet skittered back down the upper hallway and back into the bedroom, the door shutting a little harder than she probably had intended. It was nearly impossible to keep the smile off of my face.
“Well, I will, uh, I will leave you to it. It seems you were at least attempting to do your husbandly duties. See that you get that wife of yours pregnant soon, Son. It is your duty to go forth and multiply. Do not forget that this Sunday will begin your leadership courses. Do not be late. You have a legacy to uphold.”
“Of course, Father.” Just like that, my father’s entire demeanor changed. It gave me emotional whiplash, truth be told. I showed him back out of the house and closed the door carefully behind him, locking it immediately. I didn’t move from my position there in the front hallway until I heard his car speed off down the road. Only then could I get a real breath into my lungs.
My father was not a kind man. He never had been. But this kind of outburst was not typical of him. Something about it set off an alarm in my head that would not quiet. I needed to talk to my brothers. We needed to move the plan along. I needed to —
Ruth.
I turned abruptly and bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time. When I opened the door, I saw her there, pacing the floor, still wrapped in the bedsheet. Immediately, I ran to her, taking her into my arms. The bedsheet fell down around the floor and I saw that she was wearing my clothing. One of my tee shirts she had pushed down so that her whole body was through the neckline, making it a tube-top of sorts. That paired with my sweatpants made for quite the sight.
“What are you wearing?” I asked, with confusion.
“Levi Temple, did you really think I was going to waltz out there in nothing but a bedsheet? You’re out of your damned mind,” she chastised, pulling me closer. I took comfort in her embrace and brought her lips to mind, stealing her breath with a kiss.
“I can’t believe you did that,” I breathed out in a huff.
