God's Children: A Cult

Show God our strength.                 Ignore the Devil’s seduction.

               Relinquish your body to God’s pleasure.                          Kiss the cross.

  Love is a debt. Indulge me.                                Listen to your soul.

Sitting at the dinner table I watch April casually travel around the kitchen. She has the radio cooing in our ears, hoping to create a more comfortable room for us. Her eyes are long and heavy, dragging with age like the rest of her face. Her body is far from satisfactory, yet she abides my Mother and continues to cook me dinner with her shirt off. I continue to look down at the wood table, picking at the wood chips on the edges. Father built the table himself, which was expected and not appreciated by Mother. April looks up at me with a pleasant smile.

“I’m making chickpeas and corn.” She says politely.

“Can I eat later?” I ask, noticing her careless mood today. She chuckles for a second.

“Mother would be very displeased. It’d be better if you didn’t. It’s late anyway. If you don’t eat now you won’t eat today at all.” She says awkwardly, now facing her body towards me. She is covered in sweat, and smells as such.

“I’m feeling ill.” I lie, standing up from the table. She eyes my jeans distastefully.

“You shouldn’t be wearing those.” She whispers, moving towards me quickly. Her hands are on me as she yanks my jeans off of my body. I don’t shiver, familiar to her touch.

“I would like to go to bed.” I say abruptly, ignoring the jeans around my ankles. She lifts my right foot and then my left foot out of my pants before answering.

“Fine. Go to the bedroom.” She sighs, pushing her hair behind her ears.

“You can go now.” I say sternly, walking myself to my room. She grabs my hands.

“There’s something wrong. I can see it.” She says dramatically, almost fooling me.

I ignore her and quickly march into my room, locking my door before she can stop me. Her knocks on the door grows louder and more violent by the second.

I feel adrenalin fill my body from the feet up to my head, as I push a chair in front of the door then a cupboard then a lamp. I continue this pattern for five minutes before I hear her knocks and shouts halt, Mother and Father are home.

I don’t take the time to hear April explain the “evilness that has indulged itself in my body” before I unlatch the window, ready to jump. Make a clean getaway I tell myself, I’ll never have to put up with this crap ever again I say. I take a moment to reconsider my emotional decision, but begin to smile at the clearness. I have never been more sure.

No more involving my body in everything, no more indulging, no more naked elderly women, no more enslavement. I’m f*****g free.

I climb out the window, hearing Father unlock the door. For a split second his eyes look at mine, his face is sullen and he moves to the side. I disengage myself from him and try to step down, but before I can move Mother comes blazing through my amateur barricade and closes the window on me.

I slowly climb down the wall of the greying house. I feel tears dance on my face, but I can’t remove the smile on my face. I just saved my life, I think.