Page 75 of Gideon
“My marriage is faring well, Reverend,” I answered dutifully, hoping my curt response would appease him. Of course, it didn’t.
“Come now, young Temple. Enlighten us,” he urged me, giving me the floor. I faltered for a solitary moment before finding the words I knew they all wanted to hear.
“My wife’s training has gone well. It was a battle in the beginning, to be sure, but she has learned her submission well and I have faith the Lord will bless us with an heir very soon.” I caught Ollie’s look from across the table as I said the wordsubmissionand struggled not to snort a laugh. I was grateful my brothers were there to make this even marginally bearable.
“The Lord is good and will bless you soon!” the Reverend exclaimed, to much cheering, yet again. Gross.
“Hear, hear!” Father’s voice rang out amongst the cheers and well wishes.
“Now, Gideon, you will work with Leviticus today. He will show you the ropes. In true Temple fashion, he has exceeded our expectations and picked up on the work needing to be done here in the church faster than we could have imagined,” the Reverend lauded my brother’s progress. I was pretty sure my father’s face would split in two, he was smiling so widely. Smug bastard.
“Now everyone, let’s get to work and build the kingdom of God, as proclaimed. Let us bow our heads in prayer before we set about our day. Lord Father, hear our prayer…” The Reverend led us all in prayer. My hands fisted at my sides and I took the moment to take a few deep breaths. It was far more difficult than I had expected, being in the same room as my wife’s kidnappers and abusers. The worst of them all being my father.
My father had been the one who had taken my wife as a child. That thought sat in the pit of my stomach like a cancer, festering and turning my entire being into little more than murderous rage. It took all I had to keep my cool. Malachi needed to hurry his ass up and fulfill his part of this whole plan so we could get the hell out of here. I didn’t know how long I could carry on like this. How my brothers had done it for this long was beyond me.
“Gideon, I’m going to have Elder Shepherd show you around and give you the lay of the land to begin,” Father spoke as he pulled me aside. The rest of the Elders were filing out of the room one by one, chattering among themselves. “I have need of Leviticus for a while.”
I glanced at my eldest brother out of the corner of my eye. He didn’t even flinch. The man was a masterclass in acting with this shit. His face gave away nothing as Ollie and Zeke met me at the door, ushering me out to where Elder Shepherd waited for me.
“Come, young Temple. Let me show you the inner workings of Zion,” Elder Shepherd said with a grin that looked far more menacing than welcoming.
This was going to suck.
“Fuck this goddamn fucking place!” I yelled as I walked into my home. Naomi jumped in the kitchen at the sound of the slamming door.
“Holy crap on a cracker! You scared me!” she yelped, turning away from the sink where she was doing dishes.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” I grumbled, running my hands through my hair errantly.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly, walking over to me with a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah, but no. Christ, if I thought those fuckers were bad before, it’s nothing compared to how they are behind closed doors,” I answered heavily, sitting on the couch with a thud. The day had worn me out beyond belief, and that was saying something. I had spent many a day working on the Ataraxia or with Malachi. I was no stranger to hard work. But just being around the Zion Elders took everything out of me and then some.
“Want to talk about it?” She sat beside me on the couch, her hand rubbing across my back in soothing circles.
“Not really. We need to get over to Zeke’s house, anyway. We are going to have dinner over there tonight.” I knew my words would affect her. We had agreed this morning that tonight would be the night she told her truth to them all.
“Okay,” she said with a deep somberness that weighed just as heavily on my own soul.
“You ready for this?” I squeezed her thigh in comfort and support.
“No,” she huffed out a laugh. “I’m scared. I know you said that Talia had a similar experience to mine, and that they all know, but this is still really big for me.”
“I know it is. But I’ll be there the whole time,” I reassured her. This was no small thing, and I was under no impression that it was. Her courage astounded me.
“Well, then fuck it! Let’s get this over with,” she exclaimed. She quickly readied herself to leave, and we headed to the truck.
“It’s not a far drive,” I commented randomly as we pulled out of the driveway. I was aiming at a moment of levity, but I’m pretty sure I just sounded like an awkward asshat. Obviously channeling Ollie.
“What’s Zeke’s house like? I have heard that Levi has a beautiful home, but yours is…” she trailed off in embarrassment. I caught her blush-tinged cheeks in peripheral vision and laughed aloud.
“Mine is a shack. I’m well aware. I was way more interested in boats than in a house when I got the place. And honestly, Levi had to twist my arm to even get it,” I explained.
“Would you have just stayed living with your parents, then?” she questioned, her hand finding mine between the seats.
“Oh, fuck that shit! No, I had planned on just shacking up with Kai, truth be told,” I guffawed. “But he put the kibosh on that real damn quick. That man needs his own space and quiet. So, I found this place which was right on the water, much to my parent’s chagrin.”
“Circling back, what’s Zeke’s place like?” she asked again through giggles. I loved when she laughed at my antics. A little laughter would do us both some good before tonight’s heavy conversation.
