Today, I want to spoil you guys. bit. I'm sharing a full chapter of on of my 2024 releases. I'm even going to share the title. This nook has a bery special place in my hear, as I sure all authors say of ebery book they write. This one saw me through a difficulty time in my nlife. I was actually writing this book, as I published Love at Sukkot.
I present to you, an unedited chapter of Love, Abba.
Zuri busied herself as the men passed by. She slid her hand to the hunting knife strapped to her side. It wasn’t safe to be a single woman inside the camp. Or outside the camp. She bowed her head and scrubbed the tattered material against the roughly carved washing board. Her back ached. Her arms were sore. The heat from the fires below and the hot water that reached her elbows made her sticky and uncomfortable in this fall heat.
But she must stay busy. She must be useful. She must have whatever protection she could from this mass of people gathered in the wilderness.
The end came quickly even though she and several others had been preparing for it. The kidnappings and public executions drove many who believed into hiding. Those who didn’t hide wish that they did. Amazing signs began appearing in the stars. Mystical, unexplainable things began to happen to those in hiding.
One moment, Zuri and the group of 20 people who were hiding in a small, backwoods area of Mississippi and then they were….snatched away. One day they were there camping in the woods. The next moment they were with a mass of people. There were about 250 people from all over in a wooded clearing. Nothing connected these strangers but their faith and their sudden appearance here.
It took several days for any sense to be made of the experience. A wisened black man with a thick white beard and a stature too proud and straight for his age entered the makeshift camp. He said that he was our father and that we should all listen to him.
“Here, together, you will be safe. Welcome any who approach the boarder of this camp in peace. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of your promise. Husbands protect your wives. Wives submit yourselves to your husband. The strong should care for the weak. A sign in the heavens will appear when you are to break camp. Leave only when it appears. Follow it faithfully. Stop where it stops and all woll be well with you children.”
After he delivered these instructions, he disappeared in a flash of light. Many mystical things had appeared to those in hiding so this sign was a minor shock. Whispered conversations later revealed that man was likely Enoch the grand sire of all men.
A community soon formed. Everyone had roles to play. People were appointed to watch for the sign in the sky so we knew when to move. Men were set up to guard the camp and watch for new comers. The set up was rough but functional. For those in certain positions at least. Zuri for one was stationed on the far edges of the camp catering to the needs of the single men. Washing their clothes, fixing their meals, and cleaning their tents. She learned to fight early because not all of the men were honorable. Many forces the single women to serve them in…other ways.
“Hey sexy. Make sure you get my clothes nice and clean. I may have a little something for you later.” Several of the men joined in on the catcalling. A few hands reached around the boiling pot to grope at her. Zuri jumped back dropped the item of clothing into the boiling water. She was moments from pulling her knife when salvation came.
“Hey! Get off of her, man. What’s wrong with you?” Chills racked uri’s body. Greater fear than she felt in front of these barbarian men over came her. Alexander. One of the leaders of the camp.
“It’s no harm, man. We were just playing with her. I may fool around and make her my wife.” The man’s evil laughter made her nauseous. More nauseous than she was typically.
“Not like that man. We are better than that.” No. No they’re not. Truly. He stood before the pot with stony, dark chocolate eyes as the rest of the men passed. She swallowed hard and reached into the hottest part of the water to get the clothes and leave.
“Aye! Wait that’s hot.” Thick, muscled arms reached past her into the water. Zuri leaned back as far as her heavy, aching body could go. His hair had grown. Many of those who had issues before had found those things healed in the wilderness. When Zuri knew Alexander before he was bald. He had trouble growing the hair on his head, so he kept it shaven. Now, Alexander had thick locs that fell to his shoulders. Zuri had seen his sitting between the legs of a woman who had found wild flax seeds and made a sufficient gel from them.
The women in the camp adored Alexander. She had overheard several of the unmarried women whispering about how they desired to play in his long hair. Zuri had loved Zander when he was bald. Before now. In the before he was always Zander to her.
“Why do you always call me Zander?” He had asked one day as they forged for wild onions, greens, and garlic.
“Well, because everybody calls you by the front of your name. I want to be different so I will call you by the back of your name.” He smiled and accepted this. He would always do that. Accept any wild thought that came to her mind and out of her mouth. The real reason she called him Zander was because it complimented her own name Zuri. And there was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to compliment Zander. To be suitable to him. But that was then.
“Here you go.” Zander laid the wash board and clothing on top of the pot. “How are you?” He looked at her intently. His dark eyes full of strength and passion. “I mean this water is really hot. Are you burned?” Zuri felt hot, thick emotion clogging her throat.
“I’m fine, Alexander.” He flinched at her use of his full name. A name she had never once used before. A cry sprang up from the other side of the camp. Zander turned to it.
“The sign has appeared.” He turned to her. “It’s time to march.”
It took a few hours for the camp to be broken down. The unmarried women scrambled to grab the youngest children along with the small girls and any too innocent. They needed to be rushed to the center of the pack for protection. Every single woman there had learned that any who strayed too far behind or who did have the gall to fight were easily picked off when marching. Not by the animals. By the men. Stories had passed through the group of 60 or so unmarried women that some of the men who joined the camp later had a taste for violence. They also had other appetites. One gaunt eyed mother shared that she had been traveling in a group of about 40 men, women, and children. There were a few times when hunting and foraging was tough. The men in the group would choose a baby, sometimes a toddler to sacrifice and consume. Two of her own children had been torn from her. This is partly why she was so reluctant to eat even now. She also shared that some of the women had been forcibly impregnated so that there would always be…food.
The older, more hardened women would cling together at the back. This made it more difficult for the men to stage successful attacks. Nevertheless, Zuri pulled the straps of her hiking backpack tight and touched the handle of her blade. She didn’t feel well enough for this march, but she had to make it. It’s wasn’t just her life that relied on her survival
Zander continued to look around, as he helped the mob set off for an unknown destination. Who was he looking for? Zuri. His best friend. The person he once thought would be the partner he would love forever. Coming here, being apart of this, this rapture group, ruined that possibility. He had ruined that possibility. He along with many others had spent a lot of time questioned what had happened to them. They knew that they weren’t the 144,000. There were barely 300 altogether. They weren’t even a whole tribe.
No one really knew what had happened to them or even where they were going. All they had to go on was the words of the old wizard who had appeared before them. They were to follow the sign. Allow others into their group. And… protect their wives. This was the command that kept Zander up most nights. After 9 months, he still didn’t know who was his wife. Had he done wrong those many months ago? Was...
“Alex, baby, let’s go. You know I like to set out in the front.” Courtney, his ex-wife and current situation, approached him. Her face was pinched in a tight smile. A smile he knew meant that she was angry with him. Sadly, that was an expression he knew better than any from their 6 years of marriage. Zander had loved her the best he could. Honestly, he did. His love for her drove him to the cross because he desired so greatly to be a good husband. A righteous husband. No matter what Zander did, Courtney had been displeased with him. He couldn’t even breathe right around her.
Zander allowed their marriage to go on like that for 3 years until he finally called it quits. His mind went back to something Zuri has said to him in the months they spent together in the woods of Mississippi.
“Zander, you can never be enough for the wrong person. But you will be more than enough for the right person.” For a while, Zuri had felt like the right person. Young as she may be, she was fierce and gentle at the same time. She had a natural submissiveness and curioucity that drew him like a bee to honey. Her bright eyes and happy nature was a breath of fresh air from the marriage he had been drowning in. Should she have been his wife?
Zander couldn’t ponder for long. Courtney was there. She was the one he had given his protection to in this camp. He couldn’t help the knot in his gut that told him that he had offered his protection to the wrong woman. Seeing Zuri hunched over, scrubbing another man’s clothing had angered him. Hearing how some of them spoke to her and tried to touch her made him furious. The once sweet, gentle young woman was no more. Her face was swollen, her eyes were sunken, there was no smile on her lovely lips, and when she had called him Alexander, he almost cried. He couldn’t help but think back on that moment as he moved with Courtney. His eyes continued to sweep, looking for her in the sea of moving bodies.
What had happened to her? His sweet Zuri. He had caught sight of her over the last nine months as they camped in various places. He never allowed himself to linger near her, or to watch her too closely. He felt like the worst kind of monster when he thought about what he had done to her and why they at the very moment weren’t together. Weren’t even friends. He could steal faintly here and regulate the voice in the back of his mind that spoke to him, saying, “that is your wife.“ The question was who was the voice referring to? Zander had to know. He could not go on like this much longer. He would find Zuri. He would talk to her. He would apologize. And he would find out for certain if she was the wife meant for him. And if so, he would need every mercy from the Most High to convince her to take him back.
Zuri busied herself as the men passed by. She slid her hand to the hunting knife strapped to her side. It wasn’t safe to be a single woman inside the camp. Or outside the camp. She bowed her head and scrubbed the tattered material against the roughly carved washing board. Her back ached. Her arms were sore. The heat from the fires below and the hot water that reached her elbows made her sticky and uncomfortable in this fall heat.
But she must stay busy. She must be useful. She must have whatever protection she could from this mass of people gathered in the wilderness.
The end came quickly even though she and several others had been preparing for it. The kidnappings and public executions drove many who believed into hiding. Those who didn’t hide wish that they did. Amazing signs began appearing in the stars. Mystical, unexplainable things began to happen to those in hiding.
One moment, Zuri and the group of 20 people who were hiding in a small, backwoods area of Mississippi and then they were….snatched away. One day they were there camping in the woods. The next moment they were with a mass of people. There were about 250 people from all over in a wooded clearing. Nothing connected these strangers but their faith and their sudden appearance here.
It took several days for any sense to be made of the experience. A wisened black man with a thick white beard and a stature too proud and straight for his age entered the makeshift camp. He said that he was our father and that we should all listen to him.
“Here, together, you will be safe. Welcome any who approach the boarder of this camp in peace. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of your promise. Husbands protect your wives. Wives submit yourselves to your husband. The strong should care for the weak. A sign in the heavens will appear when you are to break camp. Leave only when it appears. Follow it faithfully. Stop where it stops and all woll be well with you children.”
After he delivered these instructions, he disappeared in a flash of light. Many mystical things had appeared to those in hiding so this sign was a minor shock. Whispered conversations later revealed that man was likely Enoch the grand sire of all men.
A community soon formed. Everyone had roles to play. People were appointed to watch for the sign in the sky so we knew when to move. Men were set up to guard the camp and watch for new comers. The set up was rough but functional. For those in certain positions at least. Zuri for one was stationed on the far edges of the camp catering to the needs of the single men. Washing their clothes, fixing their meals, and cleaning their tents. She learned to fight early because not all of the men were honorable. Many forces the single women to serve them in…other ways.
“Hey sexy. Make sure you get my clothes nice and clean. I may have a little something for you later.” Several of the men joined in on the catcalling. A few hands reached around the boiling pot to grope at her. Zuri jumped back dropped the item of clothing into the boiling water. She was moments from pulling her knife when salvation came.
“Hey! Get off of her, man. What’s wrong with you?” Chills racked uri’s body. Greater fear than she felt in front of these barbarian men over came her. Alexander. One of the leaders of the camp.
“It’s no harm, man. We were just playing with her. I may fool around and make her my wife.” The man’s evil laughter made her nauseous. More nauseous than she was typically.
“Not like that man. We are better than that.” No. No they’re not. Truly. He stood before the pot with stony, dark chocolate eyes as the rest of the men passed. She swallowed hard and reached into the hottest part of the water to get the clothes and leave.
“Aye! Wait that’s hot.” Thick, muscled arms reached past her into the water. Zuri leaned back as far as her heavy, aching body could go. His hair had grown. Many of those who had issues before had found those things healed in the wilderness. When Zuri knew Alexander before he was bald. He had trouble growing the hair on his head, so he kept it shaven. Now, Alexander had thick locs that fell to his shoulders. Zuri had seen his sitting between the legs of a woman who had found wild flax seeds and made a sufficient gel from them.
The women in the camp adored Alexander. She had overheard several of the unmarried women whispering about how they desired to play in his long hair. Zuri had loved Zander when he was bald. Before now. In the before he was always Zander to her.
“Why do you always call me Zander?” He had asked one day as they forged for wild onions, greens, and garlic.
“Well, because everybody calls you by the front of your name. I want to be different so I will call you by the back of your name.” He smiled and accepted this. He would always do that. Accept any wild thought that came to her mind and out of her mouth. The real reason she called him Zander was because it complimented her own name Zuri. And there was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to compliment Zander. To be suitable to him. But that was then.
“Here you go.” Zander laid the wash board and clothing on top of the pot. “How are you?” He looked at her intently. His dark eyes full of strength and passion. “I mean this water is really hot. Are you burned?” Zuri felt hot, thick emotion clogging her throat.
“I’m fine, Alexander.” He flinched at her use of his full name. A name she had never once used before. A cry sprang up from the other side of the camp. Zander turned to it.
“The sign has appeared.” He turned to her. “It’s time to march.”
It took a few hours for the camp to be broken down. The unmarried women scrambled to grab the youngest children along with the small girls and any too innocent. They needed to be rushed to the center of the pack for protection. Every single woman there had learned that any who strayed too far behind or who did have the gall to fight were easily picked off when marching. Not by the animals. By the men. Stories had passed through the group of 60 or so unmarried women that some of the men who joined the camp later had a taste for violence. They also had other appetites. One gaunt eyed mother shared that she had been traveling in a group of about 40 men, women, and children. There were a few times when hunting and foraging was tough. The men in the group would choose a baby, sometimes a toddler to sacrifice and consume. Two of her own children had been torn from her. This is partly why she was so reluctant to eat even now. She also shared that some of the women had been forcibly impregnated so that there would always be…food.
The older, more hardened women would cling together at the back. This made it more difficult for the men to stage successful attacks. Nevertheless, Zuri pulled the straps of her hiking backpack tight and touched the handle of her blade. She didn’t feel well enough for this march, but she had to make it. It’s wasn’t just her life that relied on her survival
Zander continued to look around, as he helped the mob set off for an unknown destination. Who was he looking for? Zuri. His best friend. The person he once thought would be the partner he would love forever. Coming here, being apart of this, this rapture group, ruined that possibility. He had ruined that possibility. He along with many others had spent a lot of time questioned what had happened to them. They knew that they weren’t the 144,000. There were barely 300 altogether. They weren’t even a whole tribe.
No one really knew what had happened to them or even where they were going. All they had to go on was the words of the old wizard who had appeared before them. They were to follow the sign. Allow others into their group. And… protect their wives. This was the command that kept Zander up most nights. After 9 months, he still didn’t know who was his wife. Had he done wrong those many months ago? Was...
“Alex, baby, let’s go. You know I like to set out in the front.” Courtney, his ex-wife and current situation, approached him. Her face was pinched in a tight smile. A smile he knew meant that she was angry with him. Sadly, that was an expression he knew better than any from their 6 years of marriage. Zander had loved her the best he could. Honestly, he did. His love for her drove him to the cross because he desired so greatly to be a good husband. A righteous husband. No matter what Zander did, Courtney had been displeased with him. He couldn’t even breathe right around her.
Zander allowed their marriage to go on like that for 3 years until he finally called it quits. His mind went back to something Zuri has said to him in the months they spent together in the woods of Mississippi.
“Zander, you can never be enough for the wrong person. But you will be more than enough for the right person.” For a while, Zuri had felt like the right person. Young as she may be, she was fierce and gentle at the same time. She had a natural submissiveness and curioucity that drew him like a bee to honey. Her bright eyes and happy nature was a breath of fresh air from the marriage he had been drowning in. Should she have been his wife?
Zander couldn’t ponder for long. Courtney was there. She was the one he had given his protection to in this camp. He couldn’t help the knot in his gut that told him that he had offered his protection to the wrong woman. Seeing Zuri hunched over, scrubbing another man’s clothing had angered him. Hearing how some of them spoke to her and tried to touch her made him furious. The once sweet, gentle young woman was no more. Her face was swollen, her eyes were sunken, there was no smile on her lovely lips, and when she had called him Alexander, he almost cried. He couldn’t help but think back on that moment as he moved with Courtney. His eyes continued to sweep, looking for her in the sea of moving bodies.
What had happened to her? His sweet Zuri. He had caught sight of her over the last nine months as they camped in various places. He never allowed himself to linger near her, or to watch her too closely. He felt like the worst kind of monster when he thought about what he had done to her and why they at the very moment weren’t together. Weren’t even friends. He could steal faintly here and regulate the voice in the back of his mind that spoke to him, saying, “that is your wife.“ The question was who was the voice referring to? Zander had to know. He could not go on like this much longer. He would find Zuri. He would talk to her. He would apologize. And he would find out for certain if she was the wife meant for him. And if so, he would need every mercy from the Most High to convince her to take him back.
Zuri busied herself as the men passed by. She slid her hand to the hunting knife strapped to her side. It wasn’t safe to be a single woman inside the camp. Or outside the camp. She bowed her head and scrubbed the tattered material against the roughly carved washing board. Her back ached. Her arms were sore. The heat from the fires below and the hot water that reached her elbows made her sticky and uncomfortable in this fall heat.
But she must stay busy. She must be useful. She must have whatever protection she could from this mass of people gathered in the wilderness.
The end came quickly even though she and several others had been preparing for it. The kidnappings and public executions drove many who believed into hiding. Those who didn’t hide wish that they did. Amazing signs began appearing in the stars. Mystical, unexplainable things began to happen to those in hiding.
One moment, Zuri and the group of 20 people who were hiding in a small, backwoods area of Mississippi and then they were….snatched away. One day they were there camping in the woods. The next moment they were with a mass of people. There were about 250 people from all over in a wooded clearing. Nothing connected these strangers but their faith and their sudden appearance here.
It took several days for any sense to be made of the experience. A wisened black man with a thick white beard and a stature too proud and straight for his age entered the makeshift camp. He said that he was our father and that we should all listen to him.
“Here, together, you will be safe. Welcome any who approach the boarder of this camp in peace. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of your promise. Husbands protect your wives. Wives submit yourselves to your husband. The strong should care for the weak. A sign in the heavens will appear when you are to break camp. Leave only when it appears. Follow it faithfully. Stop where it stops and all woll be well with you children.”
After he delivered these instructions, he disappeared in a flash of light. Many mystical things had appeared to those in hiding so this sign was a minor shock. Whispered conversations later revealed that man was likely Enoch the grand sire of all men.
A community soon formed. Everyone had roles to play. People were appointed to watch for the sign in the sky so we knew when to move. Men were set up to guard the camp and watch for new comers. The set up was rough but functional. For those in certain positions at least. Zuri for one was stationed on the far edges of the camp catering to the needs of the single men. Washing their clothes, fixing their meals, and cleaning their tents. She learned to fight early because not all of the men were honorable. Many forces the single women to serve them in…other ways.
“Hey sexy. Make sure you get my clothes nice and clean. I may have a little something for you later.” Several of the men joined in on the catcalling. A few hands reached around the boiling pot to grope at her. Zuri jumped back dropped the item of clothing into the boiling water. She was moments from pulling her knife when salvation came.
“Hey! Get off of her, man. What’s wrong with you?” Chills racked uri’s body. Greater fear than she felt in front of these barbarian men over came her. Alexander. One of the leaders of the camp.
“It’s no harm, man. We were just playing with her. I may fool around and make her my wife.” The man’s evil laughter made her nauseous. More nauseous than she was typically.
“Not like that man. We are better than that.” No. No they’re not. Truly. He stood before the pot with stony, dark chocolate eyes as the rest of the men passed. She swallowed hard and reached into the hottest part of the water to get the clothes and leave.
“Aye! Wait that’s hot.” Thick, muscled arms reached past her into the water. Zuri leaned back as far as her heavy, aching body could go. His hair had grown. Many of those who had issues before had found those things healed in the wilderness. When Zuri knew Alexander before he was bald. He had trouble growing the hair on his head, so he kept it shaven. Now, Alexander had thick locs that fell to his shoulders. Zuri had seen his sitting between the legs of a woman who had found wild flax seeds and made a sufficient gel from them.
The women in the camp adored Alexander. She had overheard several of the unmarried women whispering about how they desired to play in his long hair. Zuri had loved Zander when he was bald. Before now. In the before he was always Zander to her.
“Why do you always call me Zander?” He had asked one day as they forged for wild onions, greens, and garlic.
“Well, because everybody calls you by the front of your name. I want to be different so I will call you by the back of your name.” He smiled and accepted this. He would always do that. Accept any wild thought that came to her mind and out of her mouth. The real reason she called him Zander was because it complimented her own name Zuri. And there was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to compliment Zander. To be suitable to him. But that was then.
“Here you go.” Zander laid the wash board and clothing on top of the pot. “How are you?” He looked at her intently. His dark eyes full of strength and passion. “I mean this water is really hot. Are you burned?” Zuri felt hot, thick emotion clogging her throat.
“I’m fine, Alexander.” He flinched at her use of his full name. A name she had never once used before. A cry sprang up from the other side of the camp. Zander turned to it.
“The sign has appeared.” He turned to her. “It’s time to march.”
It took a few hours for the camp to be broken down. The unmarried women scrambled to grab the youngest children along with the small girls and any too innocent. They needed to be rushed to the center of the pack for protection. Every single woman there had learned that any who strayed too far behind or who did have the gall to fight were easily picked off when marching. Not by the animals. By the men. Stories had passed through the group of 60 or so unmarried women that some of the men who joined the camp later had a taste for violence. They also had other appetites. One gaunt eyed mother shared that she had been traveling in a group of about 40 men, women, and children. There were a few times when hunting and foraging was tough. The men in the group would choose a baby, sometimes a toddler to sacrifice and consume. Two of her own children had been torn from her. This is partly why she was so reluctant to eat even now. She also shared that some of the women had been forcibly impregnated so that there would always be…food.
The older, more hardened women would cling together at the back. This made it more difficult for the men to stage successful attacks. Nevertheless, Zuri pulled the straps of her hiking backpack tight and touched the handle of her blade. She didn’t feel well enough for this march, but she had to make it. It’s wasn’t just her life that relied on her survival
Zander continued to look around, as he helped the mob set off for an unknown destination. Who was he looking for? Zuri. His best friend. The person he once thought would be the partner he would love forever. Coming here, being apart of this, this rapture group, ruined that possibility. He had ruined that possibility. He along with many others had spent a lot of time questioned what had happened to them. They knew that they weren’t the 144,000. There were barely 300 altogether. They weren’t even a whole tribe.
No one really knew what had happened to them or even where they were going. All they had to go on was the words of the old wizard who had appeared before them. They were to follow the sign. Allow others into their group. And… protect their wives. This was the command that kept Zander up most nights. After 9 months, he still didn’t know who was his wife. Had he done wrong those many months ago? Was...
“Alex, baby, let’s go. You know I like to set out in the front.” Courtney, his ex-wife and current situation, approached him. Her face was pinched in a tight smile. A smile he knew meant that she was angry with him. Sadly, that was an expression he knew better than any from their 6 years of marriage. Zander had loved her the best he could. Honestly, he did. His love for her drove him to the cross because he desired so greatly to be a good husband. A righteous husband. No matter what Zander did, Courtney had been displeased with him. He couldn’t even breathe right around her.
Zander allowed their marriage to go on like that for 3 years until he finally called it quits. His mind went back to something Zuri has said to him in the months they spent together in the woods of Mississippi.
“Zander, you can never be enough for the wrong person. But you will be more than enough for the right person.” For a while, Zuri had felt like the right person. Young as she may be, she was fierce and gentle at the same time. She had a natural submissiveness and curioucity that drew him like a bee to honey. Her bright eyes and happy nature was a breath of fresh air from the marriage he had been drowning in. Should she have been his wife?
Zander couldn’t ponder for long. Courtney was there. She was the one he had given his protection to in this camp. He couldn’t help the knot in his gut that told him that he had offered his protection to the wrong woman. Seeing Zuri hunched over, scrubbing another man’s clothing had angered him. Hearing how some of them spoke to her and tried to touch her made him furious. The once sweet, gentle young woman was no more. Her face was swollen, her eyes were sunken, there was no smile on her lovely lips, and when she had called him Alexander, he almost cried. He couldn’t help but think back on that moment as he moved with Courtney. His eyes continued to sweep, looking for her in the sea of moving bodies.
What had happened to her? His sweet Zuri. He had caught sight of her over the last nine months as they camped in various places. He never allowed himself to linger near her, or to watch her too closely. He felt like the worst kind of monster when he thought about what he had done to her and why they at the very moment weren’t together. Weren’t even friends. He could steal faintly here and regulate the voice in the back of his mind that spoke to him, saying, “that is your wife.“ The question was who was the voice referring to? Zander had to know. He could not go on like this much longer. He would find Zuri. He would talk to her. He would apologize. And he would find out for certain if she was the wife meant for him. And if so, he would need every mercy from the Most High to convince her to take him back.
Zuri busied herself as the men passed by. She slid her hand to the hunting knife strapped to her side. It wasn’t safe to be a single woman inside the camp. Or outside the camp. She bowed her head and scrubbed the tattered material against the roughly carved washing board. Her back ached. Her arms were sore. The heat from the fires below and the hot water that reached her elbows made her sticky and uncomfortable in this fall heat.
But she must stay busy. She must be useful. She must have whatever protection she could from this mass of people gathered in the wilderness.
The end came quickly even though she and several others had been preparing for it. The kidnappings and public executions drove many who believed into hiding. Those who didn’t hide wish that they did. Amazing signs began appearing in the stars. Mystical, unexplainable things began to happen to those in hiding.
One moment, Zuri and the group of 20 people who were hiding in a small, backwoods area of Mississippi and then they were….snatched away. One day they were there camping in the woods. The next moment they were with a mass of people. There were about 250 people from all over in a wooded clearing. Nothing connected these strangers but their faith and their sudden appearance here.
It took several days for any sense to be made of the experience. A wisened black man with a thick white beard and a stature too proud and straight for his age entered the makeshift camp. He said that he was our father and that we should all listen to him.
“Here, together, you will be safe. Welcome any who approach the boarder of this camp in peace. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of your promise. Husbands protect your wives. Wives submit yourselves to your husband. The strong should care for the weak. A sign in the heavens will appear when you are to break camp. Leave only when it appears. Follow it faithfully. Stop where it stops and all woll be well with you children.”
After he delivered these instructions, he disappeared in a flash of light. Many mystical things had appeared to those in hiding so this sign was a minor shock. Whispered conversations later revealed that man was likely Enoch the grand sire of all men.
A community soon formed. Everyone had roles to play. People were appointed to watch for the sign in the sky so we knew when to move. Men were set up to guard the camp and watch for new comers. The set up was rough but functional. For those in certain positions at least. Zuri for one was stationed on the far edges of the camp catering to the needs of the single men. Washing their clothes, fixing their meals, and cleaning their tents. She learned to fight early because not all of the men were honorable. Many forces the single women to serve them in…other ways.
“Hey sexy. Make sure you get my clothes nice and clean. I may have a little something for you later.” Several of the men joined in on the catcalling. A few hands reached around the boiling pot to grope at her. Zuri jumped back dropped the item of clothing into the boiling water. She was moments from pulling her knife when salvation came.
“Hey! Get off of her, man. What’s wrong with you?” Chills racked uri’s body. Greater fear than she felt in front of these barbarian men over came her. Alexander. One of the leaders of the camp.
“It’s no harm, man. We were just playing with her. I may fool around and make her my wife.” The man’s evil laughter made her nauseous. More nauseous than she was typically.
“Not like that man. We are better than that.” No. No they’re not. Truly. He stood before the pot with stony, dark chocolate eyes as the rest of the men passed. She swallowed hard and reached into the hottest part of the water to get the clothes and leave.
“Aye! Wait that’s hot.” Thick, muscled arms reached past her into the water. Zuri leaned back as far as her heavy, aching body could go. His hair had grown. Many of those who had issues before had found those things healed in the wilderness. When Zuri knew Alexander before he was bald. He had trouble growing the hair on his head, so he kept it shaven. Now, Alexander had thick locs that fell to his shoulders. Zuri had seen his sitting between the legs of a woman who had found wild flax seeds and made a sufficient gel from them.
The women in the camp adored Alexander. She had overheard several of the unmarried women whispering about how they desired to play in his long hair. Zuri had loved Zander when he was bald. Before now. In the before he was always Zander to her.
“Why do you always call me Zander?” He had asked one day as they forged for wild onions, greens, and garlic.
“Well, because everybody calls you by the front of your name. I want to be different so I will call you by the back of your name.” He smiled and accepted this. He would always do that. Accept any wild thought that came to her mind and out of her mouth. The real reason she called him Zander was because it complimented her own name Zuri. And there was nothing more in the world that she wanted than to compliment Zander. To be suitable to him. But that was then.
“Here you go.” Zander laid the wash board and clothing on top of the pot. “How are you?” He looked at her intently. His dark eyes full of strength and passion. “I mean this water is really hot. Are you burned?” Zuri felt hot, thick emotion clogging her throat.
“I’m fine, Alexander.” He flinched at her use of his full name. A name she had never once used before. A cry sprang up from the other side of the camp. Zander turned to it.
“The sign has appeared.” He turned to her. “It’s time to march.”
It took a few hours for the camp to be broken down. The unmarried women scrambled to grab the youngest children along with the small girls and any too innocent. They needed to be rushed to the center of the pack for protection. Every single woman there had learned that any who strayed too far behind or who did have the gall to fight were easily picked off when marching. Not by the animals. By the men. Stories had passed through the group of 60 or so unmarried women that some of the men who joined the camp later had a taste for violence. They also had other appetites. One gaunt eyed mother shared that she had been traveling in a group of about 40 men, women, and children. There were a few times when hunting and foraging was tough. The men in the group would choose a baby, sometimes a toddler to sacrifice and consume. Two of her own children had been torn from her. This is partly why she was so reluctant to eat even now. She also shared that some of the women had been forcibly impregnated so that there would always be…food.
The older, more hardened women would cling together at the back. This made it more difficult for the men to stage successful attacks. Nevertheless, Zuri pulled the straps of her hiking backpack tight and touched the handle of her blade. She didn’t feel well enough for this march, but she had to make it. It’s wasn’t just her life that relied on her survival
Zander continued to look around, as he helped the mob set off for an unknown destination. Who was he looking for? Zuri. His best friend. The person he once thought would be the partner he would love forever. Coming here, being apart of this, this rapture group, ruined that possibility. He had ruined that possibility. He along with many others had spent a lot of time questioned what had happened to them. They knew that they weren’t the 144,000. There were barely 300 altogether. They weren’t even a whole tribe.
No one really knew what had happened to them or even where they were going. All they had to go on was the words of the old wizard who had appeared before them. They were to follow the sign. Allow others into their group. And… protect their wives. This was the command that kept Zander up most nights. After 9 months, he still didn’t know who was his wife. Had he done wrong those many months ago? Was...
“Alex, baby, let’s go. You know I like to set out in the front.” Courtney, his ex-wife and current situation, approached him. Her face was pinched in a tight smile. A smile he knew meant that she was angry with him. Sadly, that was an expression he knew better than any from their 6 years of marriage. Zander had loved her the best he could. Honestly, he did. His love for her drove him to the cross because he desired so greatly to be a good husband. A righteous husband. No matter what Zander did, Courtney had been displeased with him. He couldn’t even breathe right around her.
Zander allowed their marriage to go on like that for 3 years until he finally called it quits. His mind went back to something Zuri has said to him in the months they spent together in the woods of Mississippi.
“Zander, you can never be enough for the wrong person. But you will be more than enough for the right person.” For a while, Zuri had felt like the right person. Young as she may be, she was fierce and gentle at the same time. She had a natural submissiveness and curioucity that drew him like a bee to honey. Her bright eyes and happy nature was a breath of fresh air from the marriage he had been drowning in. Should she have been his wife?
Zander couldn’t ponder for long. Courtney was there. She was the one he had given his protection to in this camp. He couldn’t help the knot in his gut that told him that he had offered his protection to the wrong woman. Seeing Zuri hunched over, scrubbing another man’s clothing had angered him. Hearing how some of them spoke to her and tried to touch her made him furious. The once sweet, gentle young woman was no more. Her face was swollen, her eyes were sunken, there was no smile on her lovely lips, and when she had called him Alexander, he almost cried. He couldn’t help but think back on that moment as he moved with Courtney. His eyes continued to sweep, looking for her in the sea of moving bodies.
What had happened to her? His sweet Zuri. He had caught sight of her over the last nine months as they camped in various places. He never allowed himself to linger near her, or to watch her too closely. He felt like the worst kind of monster when he thought about what he had done to her and why they at the very moment weren’t together. Weren’t even friends. He could steal faintly here and regulate the voice in the back of his mind that spoke to him, saying, “that is your wife.“ The question was who was the voice referring to? Zander had to know. He could not go on like this much longer. He would find Zuri. He would talk to her. He would apologize. And he would find out for certain if she was the wife meant for him. And if so, he would need every mercy from the Most High to convince her to take him back.
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