𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬━𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡

Ⅵ

A WEEK WENT BY BEFORE ARVIN AND REAGAN SAW EACH OTHER AGAIN, it was that following Sunday that they had seen each other. Reagan had gotten up earlier, as she promised Arvin that she would ride with him to church. It was the second week in a row that she had gone to church, the first week she went for her mother, to make sure that she was okay and pray for her father's soul, the second week she was going for Arvin. 

The two were becoming better friends again. Reagan went over there almost every night for dinner. She enjoyed spending time there. His grandma and uncle were very nice to her. She was very close with Lenora. It was as if she had a second family. One that didn't put someone else in front of her. 

Reagan had arrived about twenty minutes or so before they had to leave for church. Arvin was standing outside, smoking and talking to his uncle. She couldn't make out what they were saying before she got out of the car. She shut the door and made the attention turn to her. Reagan walked up and shook her head. "Smokin' kills, Arvin." She told him. Reagan looked around, looking for Lenora. She always rode with them to church. 

"Where's Lenora?" She asked, looking around. "Inside. She ain't feelin' to good." Arvin told her, still smoking his cigarette. Reagan walked around him and walked inside. The smell that came inside made her smile a little. It was one of the best smells she had ever smelled in her life. 

"Somethin' smells good, Mrs. Russell." Reagan said as she walked into the kitchen. She turned and smiled. "Thank you, Reagan." She looked around for a minute. "What room is Lenora in? Arvin told me she ain't doin' to good. I just wanna check up on her." 

Mrs. Russell pointed her to the room where she was. Reagan walked to the room. She peeked in and knocked on the door. "Hi.." Reagan said, trying not to be too loud. Lenora smiled a little as she looked at the girl. "Arvin told me you aren't feelin' so good." The girl groaned as she crossed Lenora's room. She could see the girl gag and she quickly helped her up and get to the bucket that was next to her bed. Reagan held her hair back and waited for the girl to be finished before she sat down on the bed and looked at her. 

"Lenora, I want you to tell me the truth alright?" The girl nodded. "A girl only throws up like that when they have one of two things. The flu or...a baby." Reagan looked down to the bed. "If you had the flu, you wouldn't have been at school or church last week. Lenora...are you pregnant?" 

The girl looked down to the bed and nodded. "Don't tell anyone thought, alright? I don't want them worryin' about me." She pleaded. Reagan nodded. "Do me a favor though. Stay right here. I don't want nothin' happenin' to you or your baby. If you need any help raisin' that child, I will help you." 

There was a knock on the door right as Reagan finished her sentence. Arvin stood there. "I will leave you two to talk." Reagan smiled and left the room. She went outside and stood on the porch where his uncle sat. It was quiet for a minute before Reagan spoke. 

"Can I ask you a question?" The man that sat there nodded. "That gun..in Arvin's car. What type is it?" 

"A German Luger. It was his daddy's gun. Gave it to him for his birthday this year." 

"It was his daddy's?"

"Yeah, right when Willard came home from the war, he gave it to me. Told me it was the very same gun that Hitler used to kill himself." The man chuckled lightly as he finished the sentence. "What, you didn't believe him?" Reagan asked, still standing. "Willard believed anything he wanted to." 

Reagan chuckled and looked back inside. "I guess Arvin get's that from his daddy. He does believe anything he wants to." 

A few moments after, Arvin came out of the house with his grandma. She was ready to leave. "Ready?" He asked. Reagan nodded. "I have been for five minutes, I was waitin' on you." 

He chuckled lightly and walked over to the car. Reagan followed loosely behind him. She got into the car and rode with them to church. 

They sat in the church and looked up at the preacher man that Reagan found oh so creepy. He was strange, but it was his voice that bothered her the most. He cleared his throat and began speaking. 

"The good book is filled with men and women suffering delusions. Eve in the garden. Noah...naked, drunk. Bringin' shame upon his family. The idol the Jews bowed before in the desert. And even if the lord Jesus himself was presented with delusions in the desert that only through his faith...and his strength..overcame." He said in his high voice. 

Reagan looked next to her, trying to follow Arvin's eyeline, but it was no use. He was staring at the preacher trying to figure out who he might've been talking about. She couldn't make out what he was trying to do. The preacher man began again. 

"The lord's delusion in the desert was a game of the so called 'Devil'. And what the lord experienced was a delusion that would've kept him from saving us. But he did not fall for it. It is our delusions that lead us to sin. Strikin' a mother or wife for somethin' that you thought they said. Neglecting work or Sunday service, for that matter." 

A few people murmured and he continued on. "Some girl get's a feelin' for a fella. Let's him have her holy gift. Delusions! Blasphemin' the lord in your mind and in your heart for some wrong done to you by another person." And he was finished. 

Reagan sat in the back of the car on the way home, looking out the window the entire time. "What's your mama doin' tonight, Reagan? Maybe she can come by for dinner." Mrs. Russell said to her, trying to break the silence. "Yeah, I'll call her when we get back, see what she's doin'. Is that alright?" 

Mrs. Russell smiled lightly and nodded. The car ride wasn't long before they arrived back at Arvin's house. Reagan was out of the car first. She ran inside to make sure Lenora was still where she had asked her to stay, but when Reagan reached the door to her room, she froze. She just stared at the empty bed that sat in front of her. She hadn't even noticed that Mrs. Russell had entered the house. 

She ran out to porch. "Arvin! Lenora ain't in her room! She was there when we left." Reagan called to the boy as he walked up to the porch. He stopped mid-way and turned. Arvin walked back to the shed as Reagan just stood there. She waited for the boy to get to the shed and open it before she went back in and told Mrs. Russell what had happened. 

When he opened the shed door, Reagan saw what had happened and her heart broke. Lenora had been like a sister to her. She had lost another part of her family. From that point on, everything moved in slow motion. Reagan ran inside and told Mrs. Russell what had happened. She then called her mama to tell her what happened. 

Reagan didn't know what to do. She just stood on the porch and watched as Arvin wrestled to get her down and keep the door open. Once he had finally gotten the rope loose, he carried her out of the shed. "Arvin.." Reagan gasped. She ran down the steps of the porch and fell into her best friend's arms. That was all she remembered.