SNAKE EATER - THE BRAVO BOYS [book three]

Chapter TWENTY FOUR

Logan Nash

… Over twenty years ago …
~Waco, Texas~

"You think you know better'n The Prophet, boy?" My father sneers down at me with an unforgiving ridicule.. I have never been the son he wanted me to be and he had always made that perfectly clear, but today, the day of my purification and thirteenth birthday, he is especially displeased by my inquisitive curiosity and I don't entirely understand his frustrations.. I know it is my duty to follow the word of the Prophet or else bring shame upon my family, but it has always been in my nature to ask questions and that has made me an undesirable problem child in the eyes of my parents.. "Why can't you be more like your sister? Dixie knows better than to question what is ordained!"

I look up at the man who raised me to be obedient above all, terrified of what he might do, yet unable to keep my tongue in check.. My mouth has always gotten me into trouble more times than I can count and I never seemed to learn that one lesson the COD Church recited above all others.. 'Silent is the lamb and dutiful is the lion, obedience is everything and defiance is the devil'.. "But– why do I have to do it alone?  Why is it just me?"

Ever since I can remember I have been promised the gifts of the celestial kingdom above and lived by the doctrine of what it would take for me to enter into its glory.. But the path to salvation is twisted and steeped in suffering.. Strange things have begun happening at the compound, people are on edge as if we were waiting for some kind of storm to arrive..

Lately I am not so sure any loving God would ask his children to endure what I have witnessed these past few months, limited supplies and missing mothers.. Starving kids and sick fathers.. This place has become a prison that confines us all without walls or locks.. And if there were a God cruel enough to cause so much hardship and pain, then that isn't the kind of God I'd want to worship..

"Because that's God's will, Son.. He chose you.." My father brushes away the dark curls from his weathered features before he leans down to place a heavy hand on my shoulder, along with the burden of expectation.. "Don't you wanna walk in the kingdom of the Lord with your family?"

My own mind turns against me to restrict the limitations of possibility, screaming internally at me to shut up and my stomach knots at the finality of his statement.. Of course I want that.. I want to know that kind of happiness and freedom just like all the other COD believers.. "Yes, father.."

"Then you'll do what you gotta do.. For your ma and your sister, Logan.." With a rough shove he pushes me towards the barn door and my feet drag in the dirt and I begin to feel woozy and wobbly from the soda-pop my father had uncharacteristically allowed me to enjoy.. The world dims to a grey scale haze as I approach my purification.. "Trust in God, Lo, and The Prophet'll guide you to what's right.."

"Trust in God.. God is good.." I mumble repeatedly to myself as I stumble into the barn to find a group of four men that I recognise as the lead preachers, Luke, Michael and Matthew and The Prophet himself, David..  They all wait for me, dressed in their ceremonial black robes.. David watches me with the cold eyes of a snake and I know at that very moment that my faith is to be tested here in this place..

"Come now, My Child, the time of cleansing is upon you and with this purification you shall be redeemed.." Preacher Michael steps forward to beckon me closer with a soft purr, placating in his approach. He is a gentle and calming spirit I very nearly trust.. Still, none of this feels right..

I blink an uneven rhythm, fighting to keep my eyes open as I look to the leaders of the commune.. "Will it hurt?" I hesitate by the door before Preacher Luke swoops over and grabs me by the arm to yank me to the old table.. Far less forgiving and filled with a vile impatience he lifts my feet from the straw and sets me on the splintered timber planking of the benchtop..