Saved - Chapter 2
Title: Saved - Chapter 2
Notes: I love a good cult so of course I am intrigued by everything that has been going down in Texas over the last couple of weeks with the FLDS. Personally, I have nothing against polygamy and everything against child abuse, yet I am the first to admit that my knowledge about what is actually occuring at these compounds is severely limited. The following story is completely fictional and has been written for entertainment purposes only.
2
“I think I see something.” Caiden didn’t look up. This was the fifth time Rainey had seen something that turned out to be nothing more than a mirage in the desert heat. “Caiden, look.” Caiden closed one eye and squinted up at the long, black, ribbon of road to his left. Far in the distance was a green speck moving in their direction. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was well past noon and he had been afraid to get up from their resting place along the road because they were out of water. Caiden figured that the chances of them surviving were higher if they just sat still and prayed. He didn’t tell Rainey that, just said he was tired, but he figured that Rainey would pray on his own, didn’t need to be told.
The speck moved closer and Caiden felt his body tense up when the green dot took the form of a rusty old pickup truck. The boys stood up and Caiden smiled when Rainey stepped forward to wave his arms at the truck. Caiden imagined that anyone who saw them standing out here on this deserted stretch was going to know they needed a ride, didn’t need a sign. The pickup slowed and pulled over, a woman who probably had her fair share of grandchildren at home leaned over and rolled down the window. The large german shepard that was sitting next to her in the passenger seat gave a sharp bark. “Go on and hop into the back now. Heaven knows you can’t sit out here.” The truck started rolling before they had a chance to sit down. The german shepard stared at them through the bug splattered back window and Rainey slowly put his hand up to the glass.
“Rainey, don’t, she’ll bark!” Rainey ignored his brother and ran his fingers over the smudged glass. The dog stared intently for a minute or two before licking the window. Rainey laughed.
“She looks just like Shade, huh?” Shade belonged to their sisters Maretta and Trulene. The girls mother liked to keep Shade inside for the most part though so they only got to play with her once in awhile.
When Rainey was younger he used to beg his mother to please ask Father to build a house that would be big enough for all three of the wives and all sixteen of the children. Then he could play with Shade everyday, she might even get to sleep on his bed since Caiden had given him the bottom bunk. Arleen always just laughed and told him that he should be careful what he wished for, it might just happen. That probably wasn’t the best answer since Rainey spent the next two weeks planning the room assignments for all of the children. At first he wanted just one giant room, but when Caiden reminded him that the boys and girls would need separate quarters, he had agreed to two. He was disappointed when he realized that Maretta and Trulene would probably still want Shade to sleep with them.
The truck picked up speed, hot wind whipping past the boys’ faces, stinging their cheeks. Sara had wanted to give them haircuts two days before they had left, but she became distracted when Arleen called her to help with the baby. Now the boys’ hair flew every which way, so they closed their eyes to protect themselves from the onslaught. About twenty minutes into the ride, Caiden felt Rainey’s hand cover his own, pressing down just a little. He took it away a moment later, resting it back on his own lap. Just checking to see if I’m still here. Rainey had been doing that ever since Caiden could remember. In church, at town meetings, even at school on occasion. He never saw Rainey do it with any of their other siblings, just with him. Another half hour or so later, the boys felt the truck begin to slow down. The highway stretched out before them, steep red cliffs on either side. Caiden sat up and turned to see where they were. A sign post up ahead announced a rest area, the truck was pulling over, jostling them about, as its wheels spun over loose gravel.
The driver’s door opened with a creak and the woman got out, the big dog following closely behind. “All right boys, you need to get off here. Take these and cover up, sun’s going to roast the hair right off of your heads you keep ‘em bare like that.” In her weathered hand the woman held out two dingy baseball caps, one blue, the other red. Caiden took the caps. “Thank you mamn’. Would you know by any chance, about how far Salt Lake is from here?”
“About three hundred miles north. You stay on the fifteen it will take you straight there. That’s a long way to hitch. You don’t have any family, can get you a bus ticket?” She was looking over at Rainey who was gulping water at the fountain next to the rest rooms. He shouldn’t be out here, he’s too young. He should be at home helping to build the new dormitory with father and the rest of the men.
“No mamn’, we’re on our own,” Caiden muttered; the half-truth embarassing him; he had never been able to lie like Dorrian.
“Well it’s about a four hour drive, wait around here and you might find someone willing to take you up. You just…watch yourselves, not everyone has grace in their hearts.”
“Yes mamn’, thank you.”
The woman was about to turn back to the truck, but stopped. “You need to tell him not to drink so fast. He’s going to throw it all up and end up dehydrating himself worse than before he drank anything.”
Caiden looked over to Rainey who was still drinking thirstily. “All right, thank you.” The woman nodded and headed over to the restrooms, the german shepard following her to the entrance. When she walked in, the dog stopped and wandered over to where Rainey was, began sniffing at his legs. Rainey was oblivious. Caiden went over and put his hand on Rainey’s shoulder. “Slow down, lady says you’re going to get sick if you keep drinking that fast.” Rainey stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Just so thirsty.”
“I know.” Caiden leaned down and took a drink, careful to pick his head back up after only a couple of seconds. He was dying for more but he needed to set a good example. Pulling the empty bottles out of his pack he began filling them up, one by one. He saved the canteen for last. “Let’s go rest in the shade for a bit.” Caiden led them over to a patch of grass that had a lone tree shading it. They sat cross legged on the ground and the german shepard made her way over quickly, resting her head in Rainey’s lap while he scratched her ears. Caiden wasn’t surprised, animals always knew about Rainey.
Caiden held the caps out. “The lady gave them to us. Which one?” Rainey took the red one, he knew that Caiden liked blue. Pulling it onto his head, he pushed his bangs out of his eyes, Caiden smiled.
“What?”
“You look like that boy from the magazine Dorrian showed us. You know, the one that had pictues from the movie about the killer robot?”
“I do?” Rainey was pleased, he had thought that boy was handsome.
“Yeah, except…” Caiden leaned over and rolled up the sleeves on Rainey’s white, button-down shirt, then he unbuttoned the first two buttons. Leaning back he inspected his handiwork. Shaking his head he said, “Nah, doesn’t look right, besides it’s too hot for this anyway. Take it off.”
“What?” Rainey was looking at him like he was crazy.
“C’mon take it off. We’re on the outside, no one will care, look.” Rainey looked around. There were a few girls walking around in skimpy tank tops and shorts. The men with them had their shirts either off, or unbuttoned all the way, their tan chests completely exposed. Slowly he unbuttoned his shirt and slid out of it. He had to admit, it made him feel better to be free of the extra fabric. Underneath his shirt he was wearing his traditional underthings. The white t-shirt was dingy with sweat but the square and compass were clearly visible. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment) The line at his navel was still hidden beneath the waistband of his pants.
Looking down, he whispered, “They’ll know.”
“No they won’t, outsiders don’t know anything about how we live.”
Rainey thought that was probably true, so he kept his shirt off. “Aren’t you going to take yours off?”
“No, it’ll look strange if we’re wearing the exact same thing.” Rainey looked down and began biting his lip. Caiden looked around. “Here, I’ll do this instead.” He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. Grasping the edges of his undershirt, he pulled it up swiftly, leaving himself bare chested. Rainey stared. Immodesty was not tolerated at the compound. What Caiden was doing was worthy of severe punishement.
“Caiden…stop.” Rainey whispered it harshly, afraid to call attention to themselves.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to walk around like this, do you think I’m crazy?” Caiden reached back and shook out his shirt. It felt so good not to have anything on, but he couldn’t stay that way, it wouldn’t be right. He pulled on his white shirt and began buttoning it back up.
“Better?” Rainey looked uncertain. “They’re not magic Rainey.” Rainey looked away quickly, blushing
“I know.” He didn’t look back , kept his eyes on the parking lot.
“Rainey, they’re not magic.” (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Magic+Underwear)
“I know, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, what about the stories? You don’t think they’re true anymore?” Rainey swallowed hard.
“No, it’s not that. I still think they’re true, it’s just …I don’t think those people escaped harm because their underwear was protecting them.” Rainey looked up to see Caiden smirking at him. “I think it was something else, something bigger. The underwear…I don’t know, I think it’s just underwear.”
“So you’d throw yours away?”
“Well no, I guess not, but I’m not going to count on them keeping us out of harm’s way either. We need to be smart. Now, how does the shirt look?”
“Well, maybe you should do this.” Rainey leaned over and unfastened the top two buttons. “We don’t want to look out of place.”
Caiden smiled. “Thanks,” he whispered. The woman who had given them the ride emerged from the restroom and made her way over to them, her mouth turning upward when she saw the cap on Rainey’s head. The german shepard stayed where she was, enjoying these last few minutes of freedom.
“Well, good luck boys…and try to stay out of the sun. It will do you in before you realize it.”
“Thank you mamn and God bless.” Caiden didn’t know why the woman suddenly looked sad, maybe she had boys of her own that she missed. She nodded at them and walked to the truck, the german shepard following her without being called. The boys watched her drive away, missing her presence almost immediately
“I don’t think outsiders say ‘God Bless’ like that.” Rainey was smiling.
“Why not? I know they are sinners and all but don’t you think some of them believe in God?”
“Yeah but, I don’t know…I don’t think they talk about it like that.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she believes, she was nice.” Rainey yawned and stretched. “I’m so tired, I want to take a nap. Can you stay up?”
“Yeah, sure.” Caiden watched as Rainey curled up on his side and closed his eyes. He had bunched up both his and Caiden’s shirt to use as a pillow. Caiden wished that he could just let Rainey put his head in his lap like they usually did when they were alone. They couldn’t do that out here in the open though. They couldn’t even do that out in the open at home. Caiden was exhausted too. It was no wonder, neither one of them had gotten a full night’s sleep in three days. The last two nights they had camped out by the side of the road, they only stopped walking when they had become too tired to keep going and it had become too dark to see anything anyway. If they had it to do over again they would have left a couple of weeks later, there was hardly any moon to see by at this time of the month.
Each night they would find a boulder large enough to conceal them and they would huddle behind it, taking turns sleeping fitfully. One of them would sit straight up with his back against the rock while the other would lay curled up on his side, head in the other one’s lap; it was okay, no one could see them. Caiden didn’t know exactly what they were watching out for since they couldn’t see anything in the pitch black night, it just seemed safer this way. Not that it mattered, they were both asleep in a matter of minutes, each one jerking awake throughout the night and falling right back to sleep when they felt the other’s presence.
Caiden leaned back against the tree and watched Rainey rock himself to sleep. He had always done that, Caiden didn’t even really notice it anymore unless he was looking right at him or touching him in some way. When Rainey had first moved into Caiden’s room, Caiden thought he wouldn’t be able to take it. Rainey would rock back and forth gently, making the bed frame squeak with every movement. When Caiden told their father about it he had laughed, said that Rainey had done that since he was a baby, there wasn’t going to be any stopping it. He came to Caiden’s room a few hours later with his toolbox and tightened all the nuts and bolts on the bunkbed. It helped some but Caiden still had to sleep with a pillow pulled over his head for the next month or so. Eventually he stopped hearing it and it was only now that he realized it wasn’t that Rainey had stopped doing it, Caiden had just grown used to it. He wondered if he would ever be able to fall asleep without it now.
Notes: I love a good cult so of course I am intrigued by everything that has been going down in Texas over the last couple of weeks with the FLDS. Personally, I have nothing against polygamy and everything against child abuse, yet I am the first to admit that my knowledge about what is actually occuring at these compounds is severely limited. The following story is completely fictional and has been written for entertainment purposes only.
2
“I think I see something.” Caiden didn’t look up. This was the fifth time Rainey had seen something that turned out to be nothing more than a mirage in the desert heat. “Caiden, look.” Caiden closed one eye and squinted up at the long, black, ribbon of road to his left. Far in the distance was a green speck moving in their direction. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was well past noon and he had been afraid to get up from their resting place along the road because they were out of water. Caiden figured that the chances of them surviving were higher if they just sat still and prayed. He didn’t tell Rainey that, just said he was tired, but he figured that Rainey would pray on his own, didn’t need to be told.
The speck moved closer and Caiden felt his body tense up when the green dot took the form of a rusty old pickup truck. The boys stood up and Caiden smiled when Rainey stepped forward to wave his arms at the truck. Caiden imagined that anyone who saw them standing out here on this deserted stretch was going to know they needed a ride, didn’t need a sign. The pickup slowed and pulled over, a woman who probably had her fair share of grandchildren at home leaned over and rolled down the window. The large german shepard that was sitting next to her in the passenger seat gave a sharp bark. “Go on and hop into the back now. Heaven knows you can’t sit out here.” The truck started rolling before they had a chance to sit down. The german shepard stared at them through the bug splattered back window and Rainey slowly put his hand up to the glass.
“Rainey, don’t, she’ll bark!” Rainey ignored his brother and ran his fingers over the smudged glass. The dog stared intently for a minute or two before licking the window. Rainey laughed.
“She looks just like Shade, huh?” Shade belonged to their sisters Maretta and Trulene. The girls mother liked to keep Shade inside for the most part though so they only got to play with her once in awhile.
When Rainey was younger he used to beg his mother to please ask Father to build a house that would be big enough for all three of the wives and all sixteen of the children. Then he could play with Shade everyday, she might even get to sleep on his bed since Caiden had given him the bottom bunk. Arleen always just laughed and told him that he should be careful what he wished for, it might just happen. That probably wasn’t the best answer since Rainey spent the next two weeks planning the room assignments for all of the children. At first he wanted just one giant room, but when Caiden reminded him that the boys and girls would need separate quarters, he had agreed to two. He was disappointed when he realized that Maretta and Trulene would probably still want Shade to sleep with them.
The truck picked up speed, hot wind whipping past the boys’ faces, stinging their cheeks. Sara had wanted to give them haircuts two days before they had left, but she became distracted when Arleen called her to help with the baby. Now the boys’ hair flew every which way, so they closed their eyes to protect themselves from the onslaught. About twenty minutes into the ride, Caiden felt Rainey’s hand cover his own, pressing down just a little. He took it away a moment later, resting it back on his own lap. Just checking to see if I’m still here. Rainey had been doing that ever since Caiden could remember. In church, at town meetings, even at school on occasion. He never saw Rainey do it with any of their other siblings, just with him. Another half hour or so later, the boys felt the truck begin to slow down. The highway stretched out before them, steep red cliffs on either side. Caiden sat up and turned to see where they were. A sign post up ahead announced a rest area, the truck was pulling over, jostling them about, as its wheels spun over loose gravel.
The driver’s door opened with a creak and the woman got out, the big dog following closely behind. “All right boys, you need to get off here. Take these and cover up, sun’s going to roast the hair right off of your heads you keep ‘em bare like that.” In her weathered hand the woman held out two dingy baseball caps, one blue, the other red. Caiden took the caps. “Thank you mamn’. Would you know by any chance, about how far Salt Lake is from here?”
“About three hundred miles north. You stay on the fifteen it will take you straight there. That’s a long way to hitch. You don’t have any family, can get you a bus ticket?” She was looking over at Rainey who was gulping water at the fountain next to the rest rooms. He shouldn’t be out here, he’s too young. He should be at home helping to build the new dormitory with father and the rest of the men.
“No mamn’, we’re on our own,” Caiden muttered; the half-truth embarassing him; he had never been able to lie like Dorrian.
“Well it’s about a four hour drive, wait around here and you might find someone willing to take you up. You just…watch yourselves, not everyone has grace in their hearts.”
“Yes mamn’, thank you.”
The woman was about to turn back to the truck, but stopped. “You need to tell him not to drink so fast. He’s going to throw it all up and end up dehydrating himself worse than before he drank anything.”
Caiden looked over to Rainey who was still drinking thirstily. “All right, thank you.” The woman nodded and headed over to the restrooms, the german shepard following her to the entrance. When she walked in, the dog stopped and wandered over to where Rainey was, began sniffing at his legs. Rainey was oblivious. Caiden went over and put his hand on Rainey’s shoulder. “Slow down, lady says you’re going to get sick if you keep drinking that fast.” Rainey stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Just so thirsty.”
“I know.” Caiden leaned down and took a drink, careful to pick his head back up after only a couple of seconds. He was dying for more but he needed to set a good example. Pulling the empty bottles out of his pack he began filling them up, one by one. He saved the canteen for last. “Let’s go rest in the shade for a bit.” Caiden led them over to a patch of grass that had a lone tree shading it. They sat cross legged on the ground and the german shepard made her way over quickly, resting her head in Rainey’s lap while he scratched her ears. Caiden wasn’t surprised, animals always knew about Rainey.
Caiden held the caps out. “The lady gave them to us. Which one?” Rainey took the red one, he knew that Caiden liked blue. Pulling it onto his head, he pushed his bangs out of his eyes, Caiden smiled.
“What?”
“You look like that boy from the magazine Dorrian showed us. You know, the one that had pictues from the movie about the killer robot?”
“I do?” Rainey was pleased, he had thought that boy was handsome.
“Yeah, except…” Caiden leaned over and rolled up the sleeves on Rainey’s white, button-down shirt, then he unbuttoned the first two buttons. Leaning back he inspected his handiwork. Shaking his head he said, “Nah, doesn’t look right, besides it’s too hot for this anyway. Take it off.”
“What?” Rainey was looking at him like he was crazy.
“C’mon take it off. We’re on the outside, no one will care, look.” Rainey looked around. There were a few girls walking around in skimpy tank tops and shorts. The men with them had their shirts either off, or unbuttoned all the way, their tan chests completely exposed. Slowly he unbuttoned his shirt and slid out of it. He had to admit, it made him feel better to be free of the extra fabric. Underneath his shirt he was wearing his traditional underthings. The white t-shirt was dingy with sweat but the square and compass were clearly visible. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_garment) The line at his navel was still hidden beneath the waistband of his pants.
Looking down, he whispered, “They’ll know.”
“No they won’t, outsiders don’t know anything about how we live.”
Rainey thought that was probably true, so he kept his shirt off. “Aren’t you going to take yours off?”
“No, it’ll look strange if we’re wearing the exact same thing.” Rainey looked down and began biting his lip. Caiden looked around. “Here, I’ll do this instead.” He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. Grasping the edges of his undershirt, he pulled it up swiftly, leaving himself bare chested. Rainey stared. Immodesty was not tolerated at the compound. What Caiden was doing was worthy of severe punishement.
“Caiden…stop.” Rainey whispered it harshly, afraid to call attention to themselves.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to walk around like this, do you think I’m crazy?” Caiden reached back and shook out his shirt. It felt so good not to have anything on, but he couldn’t stay that way, it wouldn’t be right. He pulled on his white shirt and began buttoning it back up.
“Better?” Rainey looked uncertain. “They’re not magic Rainey.” Rainey looked away quickly, blushing
“I know.” He didn’t look back , kept his eyes on the parking lot.
“Rainey, they’re not magic.” (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Magic+Underwear)
“I know, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, what about the stories? You don’t think they’re true anymore?” Rainey swallowed hard.
“No, it’s not that. I still think they’re true, it’s just …I don’t think those people escaped harm because their underwear was protecting them.” Rainey looked up to see Caiden smirking at him. “I think it was something else, something bigger. The underwear…I don’t know, I think it’s just underwear.”
“So you’d throw yours away?”
“Well no, I guess not, but I’m not going to count on them keeping us out of harm’s way either. We need to be smart. Now, how does the shirt look?”
“Well, maybe you should do this.” Rainey leaned over and unfastened the top two buttons. “We don’t want to look out of place.”
Caiden smiled. “Thanks,” he whispered. The woman who had given them the ride emerged from the restroom and made her way over to them, her mouth turning upward when she saw the cap on Rainey’s head. The german shepard stayed where she was, enjoying these last few minutes of freedom.
“Well, good luck boys…and try to stay out of the sun. It will do you in before you realize it.”
“Thank you mamn and God bless.” Caiden didn’t know why the woman suddenly looked sad, maybe she had boys of her own that she missed. She nodded at them and walked to the truck, the german shepard following her without being called. The boys watched her drive away, missing her presence almost immediately
“I don’t think outsiders say ‘God Bless’ like that.” Rainey was smiling.
“Why not? I know they are sinners and all but don’t you think some of them believe in God?”
“Yeah but, I don’t know…I don’t think they talk about it like that.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she believes, she was nice.” Rainey yawned and stretched. “I’m so tired, I want to take a nap. Can you stay up?”
“Yeah, sure.” Caiden watched as Rainey curled up on his side and closed his eyes. He had bunched up both his and Caiden’s shirt to use as a pillow. Caiden wished that he could just let Rainey put his head in his lap like they usually did when they were alone. They couldn’t do that out here in the open though. They couldn’t even do that out in the open at home. Caiden was exhausted too. It was no wonder, neither one of them had gotten a full night’s sleep in three days. The last two nights they had camped out by the side of the road, they only stopped walking when they had become too tired to keep going and it had become too dark to see anything anyway. If they had it to do over again they would have left a couple of weeks later, there was hardly any moon to see by at this time of the month.
Each night they would find a boulder large enough to conceal them and they would huddle behind it, taking turns sleeping fitfully. One of them would sit straight up with his back against the rock while the other would lay curled up on his side, head in the other one’s lap; it was okay, no one could see them. Caiden didn’t know exactly what they were watching out for since they couldn’t see anything in the pitch black night, it just seemed safer this way. Not that it mattered, they were both asleep in a matter of minutes, each one jerking awake throughout the night and falling right back to sleep when they felt the other’s presence.
Caiden leaned back against the tree and watched Rainey rock himself to sleep. He had always done that, Caiden didn’t even really notice it anymore unless he was looking right at him or touching him in some way. When Rainey had first moved into Caiden’s room, Caiden thought he wouldn’t be able to take it. Rainey would rock back and forth gently, making the bed frame squeak with every movement. When Caiden told their father about it he had laughed, said that Rainey had done that since he was a baby, there wasn’t going to be any stopping it. He came to Caiden’s room a few hours later with his toolbox and tightened all the nuts and bolts on the bunkbed. It helped some but Caiden still had to sleep with a pillow pulled over his head for the next month or so. Eventually he stopped hearing it and it was only now that he realized it wasn’t that Rainey had stopped doing it, Caiden had just grown used to it. He wondered if he would ever be able to fall asleep without it now.