Page 14 of Bartholomew
“Mrs. Temple, please lie back on the bed here so that Elder Jared, I mean, Doctor Rivers, may inspect you,” Reverend Jacob spoke loudly from the foot of the bed. My eyes flitted over the room, finding my father in one corner, finding Delilah’s father in another. Neither of them seemed to be paying much attention. No one in the room seemed to be. Perhaps that was for the better.
I helped her to the bed and calmed my nerves as best I could when the doctor reluctantly took his seat there beside Reverend Jacob.
“We will now inspect the new bride for her purity. It is required by God our Father for all brides of Zion, all brides of His Holy Church, to be pure not only of heart but also of body. Doctor Rivers, you may begin.”
I stood beside her, wanting nothing more than to take her hand in mine as I watched her eyes move around the room in near panic-stricken confusion.
And then it disappeared.
Like a magic eraser had wiped all emotion from my new bride, she laid there on the threadbare, sheet covered mattress, and looked up at the ceiling.
Like this was something she had experienced before.
The thought took hold deep in the core of my most human instincts and refused to let go.
I needed a drink.
I needed to get the hell out of here.
I needed…
I needed to protect my wife.
CHAPTER4
DELILAH
Don’t show emotion. Don’t show them anything.
His hands were on my ankles, handing one of my legs to Reverend Jacob, and the other to a man I refused to look at or acknowledge. I didn’t want to know who else stood there.
Don’t show emotion. Don’t show them anything.
I could hear the shuffling of feet as the Elders of the church gathered around closer.
Step. Step. Then the slide of the doctor’s hands. Step. Step. Slide.
Higher and higher they moved until my skirt rose up above my hips and my undergarments were being tugged down in jerky tugs over my thick thighs.
“This is one I would have volunteered to miss,” one man’s voice whispered to my right.
“Why are you here, Christian? Didn’t you bow out of your other daughters’ days?” Another man goaded my father to my left.
“Delilah ain’t much of a daughter. Besides, needed to make sure she went through with her godly duties.” Father’s voice was rough. He had likely been sneaking cigars again.
“Sounds to me like you might be worried she’s impure,” that same first man teased.
“She’s ugly, not impure,” my father argued.
Don’t show emotion. Don’t show them anything.
I focused my eyes up on the ceiling. I felt the doctor’s fingers touch me.
Don’t show emotion. Don’t show them anything.
Ollie was there to my right, and my eyes found his. Only for a moment, but a moment was enough. The pain and disgust I saw there spoke volumes.
Don’t show emotion. Don’t show them anything.
