Page 79 of Chasing Lynda

Aaron

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I SLAM THE DOOR TO my compound mansion, struggling to keep my temper under control.

“I’m surrounded by incompetence at every turn. I wonder how the fuck Harold kept everything under control, because I’m really struggling right now! Really, really struggling. If you, the man who’s supposed to be the most enlightened member of our church after me, don’t have control of your own bitches, what chance is there for the rest of our community?” I yell.

Again, Greggs doesn’t have the balls to respond. He knows he fucked up.

I take a deep breath, going into the living room and pouring a glass of whiskey into one of the fancy crystal glasses by the small bar on one side of the room.

Andy Greggs follows me inside but has the sense of staying away from me, because right now, I’m far from pleased by his stupidity.

The whiskey calms me down, but I’m still livid. I pour myself a second glass without offering Greggs a drink. “Truth be told,” I say, pacing on the oriental rug that covers the entire wooden floor, “Harold didn’t have a lot of shit under control; so much so that his whore of a daughter got us all arrested. So much so that the women he was supposed to herd back onto the path of the light where the ones that literally tore him apart.”

Greggs nods, at least he’s able to recognize a cold, hard fact. I continue, because if he wants to keep his place as my deputy, he needs to accept a lot of changes around here.

“Harold’s philosophy had a lot of great concepts and it’s no surprise that he gained such a widespread following. But at the end of his life, he had made some irreparable mistakes. We need to fix them if we want a chance in hell to continue to expand our church like he dreamed of,” I say.

He nods, hurrying to agree with me. “You’re right. But you have to remember, that I wasn’t the one who put that obituary for Lynda in the paper. We haven’t had an official identification of that body yet. Apparently it’s so badly burned that even using dental records is proving difficult. But I couldn’t keep Lynda’s mother from grieving her daughter the way she sees fit—”

“Why did you even tell her?” I snap. “Why couldn’t you keep your big mouth shut? At least until I decided how to tell our community. We can’t afford to show any signs of weakness, Andy. You know better than me that some men in the elder’s council and the inner circle are questioning my appointment as leader, even though it came directly from Harold.”

He flinches but looks for an excuse, like I knew he would. “You’re right. But you understand that my ex-wife decided to break from the church, after Harold’s murder. She followed Martha Winthrop and her daughters and—”

I look at him, disgusted by his lack of a backbone. “That’s all fucking fine and dandy, Andrew, but why in the world did you go and tattle to your ex-wife?”

He babbles some inane excuse. “But Lynda was her daughter. She had the right to know—”

“SHE WAS MY WIFE FIRST!” I bellow. “Lynda also was a part of this community and as such, it should be my decision what kind of communication, if any, the world is going to get about her death. People were already talking at the service today. We’ve known for less than twenty-four hours and it’s already public knowledge in the compound. Since we block use of the internet and restrict access to the press, and no one in the compound could’ve seen the obituary, there’s only two people who could’ve tattled. You or Kirk.”

He has the decency to look contrite under my accusatory glare. “Look, mistakes like these can cost us. We need to control every piece of information about our church, if we don’t want to end up like Harold. We need to control our members, especially the women. Harold got it all wrong and I plan to fix the doctrine he imparted. If we say that women can become vessels for the Light by offering their purity to a highly enlightened companion, Harold’s philosophy was flawed when he punished the impure women by forcing them to share their bodies.”

I nod, at my own words, emptying my glass in one single gulp. “Impurity shouldn’t be a dealbreaker; the Light should be able to make new everything it touches. Another one of Harold’s mistakes was to promise everyone that they could reach the highest level of enlightenment. That opened up the possibility of being questioned by the very people you admit into the highest tiers. The inherent flaw of his entire doctrine was that he missed the fundamental detail in the passage from philosophy to religion.”

Andy looks perplexed and I explain. “Philosophy can see us all as equals but religion? There can be more than one god, sure. But let’s face it, any religion that has had a shred of success in modern times focuses on one divinity. One God you follow blindly if you want to reap any rewards in this or in the next life. One incarnation of enlightenment that rights all the wrongs. Especially the impure acts committed by inferior beings. Women are easily led into temptation, and there’s only one way to solve the problem.”

I see the perplexity on his face before he even asks what I mean. “How will you bring the women back to purity?”

I smile, checking my watch. “You’ll find out sooner than you think.”

Right on cue, there’s a knock on the front door. I nod at Greggs, irritated that I even have to ask him to get the door for me.

A group of people is ushered into the living room and I invite everyone to sit down.

Delaney, the young woman who approached me not long ago to ask me questions about purity is here with her parents; so is Peter, the young man who petitioned in front of the council asking to be allowed to get engaged and then married to Delaney. The hopeful fiancé is accompanied by his own parents; his father is the a head of department at Shell Cove Memorial Hospital and is a member of the inner circle. I look at the girl, dressed in a shapeless, high necked shirt and a wide, long skirt that completely conceal her body. There’s no makeup on her face and her brown hair is covered by the blue bonnet most of the women in the community wear. I was wrong about her age, today’s the girl’s eighteenth birthday. These fucking “purity clothes” make it hard to judge a woman’s age and the lack of makeup makes mature women look older and young women look even younger. I’m going to think of a better uniform for them, but everything in due course.

“Good evening to you all,” I greet the two families. “I believe we’re here to discuss the engagement between Peter Berger and Delaney Connelly.”

Peter nods but his father intervenes. I swear to God, sometimes younger people have more sense than their parents. “Yes, we’re here to discuss the engagement. Everything should be fine but we’re missing Delaney’s purity check details. I’ve been advised by the hospital that she failed to show up at her appointment yesterday. As you’re well aware, the elder’s council has ruled that no impure women are allowed to take an enlightened spouse and live and work within the church’s property.”

I immediately dislike the asshole. I know he and Harold were tight but I’m also aware that when the council voted to designate the new Bridgeport Church’s pastor, Dr. Berger didn’t give me his vote. Apparently, the good doctor aspired to lead his own community and thought he was owed a fast track to enlightenment and leadership because he had Winthrop’s granddaughter under his care.

I never forget the people who help me along my path in life and I equally remember the ones who choose to get in my way.

It gives me great pleasure to put him back in his place. “You’re correct, Dr. Berger. However, under the new leadership of this church, some things have been changed. This is one of the new dogmas the Light has inspired me after some much needed meditation. Not all women will have to undergo a ‘purity check’ in order to be allowed to marry according to our community rules—”

The doctor’s behavior makes me seriously consider lowering his level of enlightenment and kicking him out of the inner circle.

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