“Hi. What are y’all gossiping about?”
“Girl stuff,” said Molly.
“With Xavier here?”
“We think of him as one of the girls.”
“I usually tune out,” Xavier corrected, eliciting a sympathetic chuckle from the usually poker-faced Wade as he bent to plant a dutiful peck on Molly’s cheek. Wade frowned and pulled away suddenly.
“Molly, is that lip gloss I smell?”
“You noticed! It’s new. It’s called Strawberry Fields, or Strawberry Kiss, or something like that.”
“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to wear makeup anymore.” His reproving look made Molly’s cheeks color.
“Wade, I wouldn’t exactly call lip gloss makeup.”
She flicked glances at us for support, but Xavier and I were too surprised to say anything.
“Does it enhance the natural appearance of your lips?”
“Um … I guess so. Yeah.”
“Then, Molly, you don’t need it. You’re perfect the way God made you. Why would you tamper with His work?”
“I’m sorry.” She hung her head. “I never thought of it that way.”
“That’s because it’s so easy to be sucked in by the lies cosmetic companies feed women. But it’s the Devil’s work, don’t you agree, Xavier?”
“Uh … yeah.” Xavier and I exchanged awkward looks. “But it’s not that big of a deal. Molly’s always worn it.”
“And now she’s trying to better herself,” Wade interrupted. “Is it in your handbag?”
“What?”
“The lip gloss.” The way he said it, the offending item might as well have been illicit drugs she’d stashed in there. Molly fished out a pink-tinged cylinder with a gold tip. I couldn’t see the label but I could tell it was from a higher-end cosmetic line. It had probably taken her ages to pick out. Wade held out his hand.
“Hand it over. It’ll be easier if I dispose of it for you.”
I looked expectantly at Molly, waiting for a burst of outrage or at least a snide remark, but neither was forthcoming. She just kept her eyes lowered as Wade pocketed the item in question.
“But Molly likes makeup,” I proclaimed. It was a challenge rather than an observation. “Why should she give it up?”
“Beth, leave it,” Molly said.
“It’s okay, honey.” Wade looked at me with his flat eyes. “Beth is entitled to her opinions. She’s probably too naïve to realize the damaging messages behind advertising.”
“It’s just lip gloss,” I said helplessly. There was a barely perceptible headshake from Xavier hinting that now might not be the time to engage in a heated debate.
“Cosmetics by their very nature objectify women,” Wade said. “How can you justify their use?”
Xavier got up suddenly and looked around at us all.
“I’m getting a frappe. Anyone want anything?”
“I’ll have a vanilla latte,” I said.
Wade shook his head to indicate he wouldn’t be joining us.
“I think we’d better get going.” He began to help Molly gather up her things but she seemed reluctant to part company with us. “Do you want to get an early dinner or something?” she suggested. “Do y’all have time?”
“Sure,” Xavier answered. “Beth, you up for it?”
Wade coughed conspicuously to get Molly’s attention.
“Um, sweetie, we’ve got a Bible Study to get to. Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“Oh, dang.” Molly looked torn for a moment. “It’s just that I haven’t spent time with my friends in ages.”
“Don’t worry,” Wade said. “I can go without you. You go ahead and catch up with your friends.” His words said one thing but his domineering body language told a different story. The folded arms and tapping foot told us he wouldn’t be happy if Molly bailed on him. She squirmed indecisively.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “We’ll do dinner another time.”
“Okay.” Molly hurried to Wade’s side but looked back at me longingly over her shoulder. “Don’t forget.”
“Not a chance.”
“Okay. I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Molly…” Wade cut in. The sound of his voice was really starting to get on my nerves. “We really have to leave if we’re not going to be late. You know how much I hate being the last to arrive.”
“Coming!”
Wade threw an arm around Molly and steered her out of the café. I watched them leave, thinking his grip on her shoulder was too tight. Xavier came back with our drinks.
“Boy, that dude is weird,” he said, setting my coffee down in front of me.
“Definitely,” I confirmed. “Should we be worried?”
“I don’t know. Molly’s not a kid. She’s makes her own decisions.”
“Do you get the feeling she was reaching out to us … like, for help?”
Xavier frowned. “She knows we’re here if she needs us, right?”
“Yeah, but what if she’s in over her head?” I persisted.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Xavier said. “But you’ll never get anywhere with Molly by confronting her. She has to come to you herself.”
I didn’t get the nature of Molly’s relationship with Wade, but I’d seen enough of it to know it couldn’t be healthy. The fact that they were together at all didn’t sit right with me. He wasn’t her type and it was obvious she had trouble asserting herself with him. I couldn’t help thinking she had thrown herself into this relationship as a way of trying to get over Gabriel. And now she was engaged. It must be confusing to say the least. I silently admonished myself for being so preoccupied by my own problems that I’d hardly noticed what was going on in the life of my best friend. But I wasn’t going to let Molly make a huge mistake. One way or another, I had to get her out of this.
Later at the house, I brought it up at the dinner table, relaying the exchange in the café while Ivy was heaping my plate with barbecue and salad.
“I have a bad feeling about Molly being with Wade.”
“What makes you say that?” my sister asked. Gabriel, who was standing at the bench, didn’t even look up.
“Can you believe he objects to her wearing lip gloss?”
“That makes him controlling, not a serial killer,” said my sister. “Don’t be too quick to judge.”
“What should we do about it?”
“Nothing; it’s not for us to interfere in other people’s relationships. Molly will let us know if she needs us.”
“That’s what I said,” Xavier added, cracking open a can of Coke and throwing me a look to say I told you so.
“What if she’s too scared?”
“Do you have any evidence that she’s in danger?” asked Ivy.
“No.”
“Then I think you should stay out of it.”
“She did have these bruises,” I said. For some strange reason bringing that up felt like betraying Molly’s confidence.
Gabriel finally lifted his head. “Bruises?” he echoed.
He’d refrained from commenting until now. In fact, I’d hardly spoken to him since that night in the basement. A few times I’d woken up in the middle of the night, gone downstairs to get water, and found his bedroom empty. He’d been keeping to himself as he tried to heal and like Molly, he hadn’t mentioned their encounter again. I didn’t think they’d even spoken to one another, both opting to pretend like it never happened. But Gabriel seemed to bristle at the idea of someone hurting her.
“On the inside of her arm. When I asked about it, she said she’d fallen over from wearing high heels.”
“Sounds plausible,” said Ivy.
But Gabriel had straightened up and was shaking his head.
“Not for Molly,” he muttered.
“Huh?” Xavier wasn’t following.
“Molly’s been wearing heels since the fifth grade,” I said. “I’ve never seen her even stumble. And besides, how do you fall so you manage to bruise only your wrist?”
r />
“I don’t know.” Xavier twisted his hand at different angles, trying to work it out. “I guess it could happen.”
“Maybe we should go and check on her,” Gabriel suggested. “Just to make sure.”
“But I just made dinner.” Ivy looked put out.
“Hold on,” Xavier interrupted. “How are you going to explain just turning up? It’s kind of weird, don’t you think?”
“We don’t have to speak to her,” I countered. “I just want to check up on things, make sure she’s okay. Then we can leave.”
“Where are they right now?” asked Gabe.
“Bible study.”
“Okay. Let’s head out there.”
* * *
IN the fading sunlight, the campus chapel was beautiful with its bell tower and archways. It operated as a sanctuary in the heart of the bustling campus. Stepping through its doors was always like entering another, quieter dimension where worldly cares could no longer reach you. I wondered if Wade had permission to use this place for his meetings. The door was open and a strange hypnotic voice reached us. It didn’t sound like any kind of Bible study to me and I guessed that was simply the excuse Wade had given the school in order to use the facility.
“The only way to conquer the flesh it to mortify it,” the voice was saying. “To crush it, to tear it down.”
Gabriel and Xavier looked at one another and my brother scowled. I tiptoed forward to peer around the door, far enough to see what was going on inside without disclosing our presence. Inside, I could see a group of about ten people gathered. Wade was the speaker and three other men stood by him. The rest were girls and they were kneeling in the pews. But Molly was before the altar and for some unbeknownst reason she was stripped of her clothes, right down to a silk undergarment, which looked like it belonged in a different century. Even from my distance I could see she had goose bumps along her arms and her alabaster skin was mottled pink from the chill inside the chapel. Wade’s eyes were burning with intensity and he was so engrossed in what he was saying he barely looked in our direction. He seemed to be speaking only to Molly.
“You must acknowledge your weakness before the Lord. You must reject those who will lead you astray and commit to a life of contemplation.”
“I know,” Molly murmured. She nodded but looked less sure of herself than she actually sounded.
“I want to help you but you have to work with me, Molly,” Wade said. “Are you ready to commit your life to this church?”
“I’m ready.”
“Are you ready to make the sacrifices required to serve as you should?”
Was this some kind of weird initiation?
“I am,” Molly whispered, but Wade wasn’t finished yet.
“To cast aside worldly vanity as a sign of your devotion?”
“Yes.” Her voice was muffled now as if close to tears.
Wade strode across to where Molly was kneeling, looming over her like the figure of an executioner. He had something in his hand that I couldn’t make out until he lifted his arm above his head. Then the light coming from the stained glass windows hit the metal and I realized it was a pair of scissors.
“Only when we master the weaknesses of the flesh can we be truly free.” He picked up the rope of hair with his free hand as if weighing it. Was Molly really going to let him do that to her? With her face scrubbed free of makeup, her freckles were highlighted and she looked like a child. I glanced across at Gabriel, whose features had turned to stone and his silver eyes narrowed into angry slits.
“Step away from her.” His voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the chapel. Wade, caught by surprise, lowered his arm and looked around for the intruder. When he saw me, he recovered his composure a little, although Gabriel’s presence had clearly thrown him.
“Who are you?” he demanded. He glared at Molly. “Did you ask them to come?”
“No,” she stammered, getting shakily to her feet. “I … I…” She looked around uncertainly, from Wade to Gabriel and back again. Then Gabriel said her name, not like he was calling her or commanding her to do anything. He just said it softly to himself like he was truly saddened seeing her like this. And then Molly broke. She twisted herself free of Wade’s grasp and stumbled forward, running straight into Gabriel’s arms, where she collapsed, sobbing.
Wade lifted his hands helplessly, like he didn’t know what to do. Molly still had her face buried in Gabriel’s chest and his hand rested protectively on the back of her head.
“What crazy notions has he filled your head with?” he murmured.
“Prayer and fasting bring us closer to God,” Wade shouted defensively. “Only then does He reveal his true purpose to us as he did to Daniel.”
“Daniel was a prophet, you moron,” I replied.
“Beth, that’s enough. Insults serve no purpose.”
“But he’s crazy.”
“He is just very misguided,” Gabriel said. “The path to God is a personal journey. Wade, you cannot force it upon someone by locking them up and cutting off their hair.”
Molly raised her head to look at him, the tip of her nose red from crying. “I was trying to atone for my past sins, because I realized that’s why you couldn’t love me back.”
Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment. “Molly, you atone through changing your life, not having someone change it for you.”
“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car,” I said, quoting a book I’d read awhile back. “It’s about how you feel inside, Molly, and you’re just miserable right now.”
“Molly, don’t listen to them. You’re a sinner,” Wade said. “You’re evil and I’m the only one who can redeem you.”
“Christ is the only one who can redeem anyone,” I yelled at him. “You have one massive God-complex, buddy!”
“Who are you to judge her?” Gabriel asked, fixing his gaze on Wade. “You are just as much a sinner as anyone else.”
“She’s a woman.” Wade shook his head. “That makes her corrupt and lustful by nature. It was Eve who introduced man to sin. That makes me more righteous than she’ll ever be.”
“Really?” Gabriel said. “What an interesting interpretation.”
“Molly, you’re making a big mistake,” Wade said, ignoring my brother. “I’m trying to help you because I love you.”
“Don’t make me laugh,” I snorted.
“You—” Gabriel pointed a finger at Wade. “If I see you speaking to her again you’ll have me to answer to. Got it?”
“And who do you think you are?” Wade’s confidence had returned. He wasn’t about to give Molly up to a stranger without a fight.
Gabriel gave a slight smile as the lights began to flicker and the windowpanes rattled. The door of the chapel burst open and a powerful wind swirled around him. “You have no idea.”
Wade took several steps back in alarm and his little congregation gasped. They may not have known exactly who Gabriel was, but it was clear they were in the presence of greatness. Gabriel took hold of the metal clasp that held Molly’s braid in place and removed it. She remained perfectly still while he shook her hair free so that it fell like a mahogany waterfall. Then without saying another word, we ushered her outside.
“We were going to get married,” said Molly forlornly once we were back in Gabriel’s car.
“That wasn’t about love,” said Gabriel. “It’s always been about power.”
“I sure know how to choose guys. What is wrong with me?”
“Everyone makes bad decisions sometimes,” Gabriel replied.
It was strange the way he included himself in the observation. The old Gabriel might have commented that to err was the nature of humans, but this time it seemed he was right there with us, rather than watching from afar.
“Really?” Molly wiped her nose with a tissue Xavier had handed her. “So you’re not all judging me?”
“No, that was Wade,” Xavier replied. “Not us.” r />
She sniffed and stared out the car window. “I just feel like such a failure at everything.”
“You’re not,” Gabriel replied from the driver’s seat. “You’re just young and confused. It’s normal.”
“How long did it take you to get so wise?”
My brother looked at her through the rearview mirror. “Give or take two thousand years.”
Even through her tears, Molly had to smile. “One day you’ll find your place in the world,” Gabriel said. “And all this will be nothing but a distant memory.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he included himself in that statement. Years from now would he too be nothing but a fading image in Molly’s mind? All I knew was that my brother wasn’t easy to forget and I could tell from the look on her face that Molly knew it too.
26
Take Me Home
MOLLY was still rattled from the scene in the chapel, and even Gabriel’s reassuring presence couldn’t stop her from shivering.
“It’s okay, Molly,” Gabriel leaned in to whisper. “It’s over. Wade won’t hurt you anymore.”
“Molly should probably stay with us for a while,” I suggested. “Just until things settle down.”
“Good idea,” Gabriel agreed. “I don’t like the idea of her being alone right now.”
“Thanks,” Molly said in a small, plaintive voice. “I’m sorry I’ve been so stupid about everything.”
“It’s not your fault,” Xavier said. “We all misjudge people sometimes.”
“I’ve messed up worse than you,” I added. “I once thought Jake Thorn just needed a friend.”
Xavier wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder, as if he would have liked to erase those bad memories from my past.
* * *
EVEN before we pulled up outside the house, we knew something was wrong. The trash can lay on the sidewalk, its contents spilled onto the path like someone had violently kicked it over. Gabriel slowed the car. As we drew up to the house, we saw something even stranger. The front door was wide open and half hanging off its hinges. Xavier’s grip on me tightened when we saw the porch strewn with shattered glass from smashed windows.