The Family (2 page)

The group roared with laughter. Twig felt her stomach flip-flop. She looked at Rose, who was glowing as she stood in front of the crowd.

Adam clapped his hands together loudly and continued. “Now listen. The last thing I want to do is steal this young couple’s thunder, but I have news.”

The crowd went silent, waiting for Adam’s words.

“I am going to take a new bride.”

There was a collective gasp of surprise.

What? Tina and Adam had been married Twig’s whole life.

Twig’s eyes darted to Tina. Something quick and sharp flashed in Tina’s eyes, but her overall demeanor betrayed nothing. Something in Tina’s expression made Twig wonder if Tina was learning this for the first time along with the rest of them.

“As you know, Tina has only been able to give me one child,” Adam continued. Twig felt Kamela go rigid beside her. She noticed Tina shift slightly.

Adam paused for a beat. “I need a new wife in order to bring us more Family members. I have decided to bestow this precious honor on one of our beloved daughters. An original daughter, born and raised in our Family.” Adam paused. “The young lady I have chosen is smart and resourceful, and she’s grown into a beautiful young woman. Be sure to wish her a happy seventeenth birthday tomorrow.”

Rose gasped. Twig looked at her in confusion, until finally it hit her, too.

“She is the partner I need to continue to expand my vision for our Family,” Adam continued. “To bring us closer to our peace. She’s a natural-born leader. The universe has whispered its choice, and I have listened.” He paused thoughtfully. Twig started to feel faint.

“When I get back from my winter pilgrimage, I am going to marry Twig.”

3

Twig was suddenly surrounded. People were congratulating her and hugging her from all sides. She was so shocked she could barely process the news. A wide grin spread across her face as she accepted the congratulations. She was getting married! To Adam! Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined herself married to Adam.

“Come here, Twig.” Adam beckoned her through the small throng that had enveloped her. People parted to let her go to him.

“Will you accept this honor?” Adam asked her.

Tina stood by his side. Her expression was always hard to read, but it was especially so in this moment. It suddenly occurred to Twig that Tina might be jealous. Perhaps she really was just finding out about this news along with Twig and the rest of the Family.

Twig’s heart sank at the thought. Tina might be alone now, like Twig’s own mother and Rose’s mother, Evelyn. Tina was not old, but she was past childbearing years. How she must hate her. And Kamela. Kamela and Twig had never gotten along. They were the same age, and soon Twig would be marrying her father and living with them.

“Don’t you worry about a thing.” Adam tilted Twig’s chin up to his face, leaning in to whisper in her ear. He felt warm, and his breath smelled like mint and apples. Being next to him was like being caught in a sudden storm: beauty, surprise, and the possibility of destruction. In a conspiratorial tone he whispered, “I’ll handle the girls.” He lifted his head and flashed his brilliant smile at her. Twig felt her insides melt. Adam always knew what people were thinking, and he always knew just what to say.

Twig stood on the stage, the setting sun reflecting in her hair, making it shine like gold, falling in thick, butterscotch waves down her back. She couldn’t help but smile beneath Adam’s gaze of adoration. He pinned her with his large, black eyes. With his tanned skin and shock of black hair, his looks were arresting.

“You haven’t answered,” Tina said suddenly, breaking the spell. Tina stood just behind Adam. She matched him in height, somewhere around 5’ 10”.

“What?” Twig asked, flustered.

“You haven’t given your answer,” Tina said flatly.

Twig looked to Adam. No one ever said no to Adam. Of course her answer was yes.

“I’m honored, Adam. Thank you. It is a true blessing.”

Her voice did not betray the nervousness she actually felt. It came out quiet and clear as a bell, a silver thread in the dusk that had begun to descend around them.

“I knew you’d be pleased, Twig. Happy Birthday.”

4

Twig pulled her shawl closer to her body. The night was hot and sultry, but she had a strange chill that she couldn’t shake. She wanted desperately to find her mother, but she hadn’t seen her anywhere. Able to recede into the background during the revelry, Twig had taken a chair from the midst of the party and was sitting on the edge of the clearing staring out into the forest. Parties were rare events saved for weddings or Adam’s birthday. Usually Twig’s days were packed from the moment she got up until the moment she went to bed. Exhaustion had hit her, and it felt good to just sit and look out into the darkness. Every tree in sight had been hung with lanterns, and candlelight danced all around her. Adam’s voiced buzzed through the outdoor speakers, camouflaged by music from the party, but there all the same.

Everyone is accepted here. In America, people are hated and terrorized because of the color of their skin, because they don’t have the right clothes or drive the right kind of automobile. Here, everyone is loved equally,
unconditionally
…

“Hey.”

Twig jumped at the sound of someone’s voice behind her.

Ryan. She felt so relieved to see him that tears sprung to her eyes. She hadn’t known she’d been holding in so many feelings.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked.

Twig smiled and wiped away the sudden tears. She extended her hand, and Ryan dropped a chair down beside hers. She fingered the garland of orchids they had placed upon her neck at dinner. Ryan’s normally unruly chestnut brown hair was combed into submission for the wedding. He was on the shorter side for a guy, somewhere near Twig’s height. He was sinewy, skinny like Twig, but all muscle. Twig thought his angular face looked especially handsome, softened by the candlelight.

“Congratulations, Twiglet,” Ryan said quietly.

“Thank you, Ry. I’m sorry; I just feel so tired all of a sudden.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I noticed you didn’t eat at dinner.” Twig felt herself freeze just a little. She should have eaten. People were always watching, and something like that could have been taken the wrong way. They were trained to watch each other, help one another to follow the correct path, to not stray…

Twig thought back to dinner. People would probably think she was just too excited to eat, which was true. Maybe no one had even noticed. Either way, she knew Ryan would never report her.

“Do you want to talk?” Ryan asked. “Or just have a little company?” They both looked behind them toward the party to make sure no one else was listening. It was habit.

“I was just sitting here thinking,” Twig said quietly. “Something is bothering me, but I feel guilty about it. I don’t even really want to say it out loud. You know that feeling?” The Family members were required to confess all of their doubts or sinful thoughts, and it was sometimes a challenge.

“You don’t have to. Not now it least. This all just happened. Maybe give yourself some time.”

“You have a dad,” Twig blurted out suddenly. “Sophie has a dad. Adam is the only father I have. I’m losing the only father I have ever known. This is the greatest honor I could hope for, but it is confusing. On one hand, I feel so happy. On the other hand, I just feel a little sad. And I feel bad for feeling anything but joy.”

“I understand.”

“You don’t think I am bad for feeling this way?”

Ryan laughed softly. “No, not at all.”

Ryan and Twig had managed to get away for these talks for as long as she could remember. She wasn’t even quite sure how they did it. They had some strange thing between them, always knowing when there would be an opening, where the other one was and how long they’d be there. She felt like she would die without their talks. And there was no one else she could talk to like this. No one. If she ever made a mistake and spoke to the wrong person as openly as she talked to Ryan, she would end up paying for it dearly. All of the things she loved—yoga, school, gardening—would be replaced with months of hard labor. Digging holes just to refill them. Painting buildings just to have Adam walk by and order that it be done all over again, even if it meant not sleeping for days in a row. She’d seen it happen to enough brothers and sisters. But she and Ryan had held each other’s secrets for a long time now. Their friendship had formed as children, long before they knew concepts like paranoia and betrayal.

“We’ll talk later, Twiggy. I just want you to know that
I
know this might be hard for you, and I am here for you.”

“Hard for me in particular? Because I don’t have a father?” Twig asked, suddenly feeling slightly defensive.

“Maybe, but I meant for other reasons, too. You’re a little different. I’m a little different. We always have been, and you know it. Our little Sophie … not so different.”

Sophie was Twig’s and Ryan’s other best friend. Twig knew what Ryan meant. There wasn’t the same push and pull within Sophie that both she and Ryan experienced. Sophie’s parents were married to one another, and they were Elders—founding members of the Family alongside Adam. Besides Adam, Elders garnered the most respect in the Family.

Every Family member had “lore,” a story Adam would tell that explained how that brother or sister had come to the Family. Sophie’s parents, Farriss and Yasmine, had met Adam while he was traveling in Morocco before he started the Family. They’d helped Adam find the location in Costa Rica where they had built the compound. They’d helped Adam realize his dream. There were a handful of Elders, including Doc and a few others. While Twig loved them, she was also scared of them. They were so protective of Adam that sometimes Twig thought they found fault where perhaps there wasn’t any. People got nervous when the Elders were around, fumbling with their words and maybe even saying things they didn’t mean to say.

Unlike Twig, Ryan had both his mother and father, but they were like oil and water, always fighting. Adam had arranged for them to remarry other Family members, but they all lived in the same quarters. As much as they worked on their issues at Meetings, their relationship was a tangle of tension and unhappiness.

Twig just had her mother, Avery. She had never had a father, and Adam had never arranged a marriage for Avery.

Ryan’s voice pulled Twig back from her thoughts.

“I don’t mean to be a downer. It’s an honor, Twig. And let’s face it, he’s not ugly.”

They both laughed quietly, but their laughter had a heaviness to it. Adam said it was natural for some boys to love other boys, but that Ryan could not live that way. Family members needed to live in husband and wife pairings so that they could make babies and continue growing the collective.

“I wonder who I’ll be paired with,” Ryan said thoughtfully. Then he shook his head as if to clear it. “Come on, let’s see if there’s some cake or cornbread or something left. You need to eat. Tomorrow could be a fasting day. You never know.”

“What about Kamela?” she asked warily. “She might try to poison me or something. As if she didn’t hate me enough already…”

Ryan smiled, extending his hand to her. “I’ll be your royal taster. Come on.”

5

Eventually the party began to die down. Twig wasn’t on cleanup duty, so she was free to leave. She was looking forward to falling into her bed. Looking forward to sleep. But as she began to wander back to her cottage, she noticed a commotion. She turned toward the noise to see a woman being escorted through the edges of the crowd. She was dressed in civilian clothes.

A new Family member. Twig knew immediately that she was supposed to avert her eyes so that she wouldn’t be infected, but she couldn’t help but look. Twig was used to seeing newcomers only after they had been through purification rites. This woman looked different, dazed and disheveled. Her face was drawn and her eyes were dark and smudged with what must be makeup.

“Do not look,” Twig could hear Doc saying. “You will catch the poison she’s brought from the outside. She is riddled with it. It crawls all over her.”

People were starting to gather around despite Doc’s warnings. People began to spit at the woman, trying to ward off infection. The woman tried to look toward her shoulder, but her head just lolled back. She leaned heavily into Doc. Twig wondered what was wrong with her.

“That’s enough!” Doc shouted. “Move out of the way!” Doc and the woman drew closer to where Twig was standing. Twig wanted to move, but she couldn’t seem to get her feet to move forward. She was fascinated. Before she knew it, they were standing right in front of her.

“Twig,” Doc snapped.

“I’m so sorry,” Twig stammered and turned away sharply. She avoided looking, but everything about the woman assaulted Twig’s other senses. Her perfume, which might have smelled nice at some point—oranges and vanilla, maybe—was now stale and mixed with the scent of sweat and something sharp and metallic.

“Twig, I need your help. Follow me,” Doc said urgently.

“I don’t—” Twig hesitated. She didn’t want to become infected.

“Now! Come with me,” Doc barked. “Move!”

Doc put the woman’s arm around Twig’s neck. “Hold her.” Up close, the woman’s stench was so strong that Twig nearly gagged. She didn’t want to be unkind, but her first instinct was to drop her.

“Doc,” Twig pleaded. “I don’t mean to be disobedient,” Twig rushed to get the words out, “but I don’t want to become corrupted—”

“What?” Doc looked at Twig with irritation. Perhaps he hadn’t heard her.

“Become like her. I—I’ll be infected, I—”

“Adam will perform purification rites on you. You will be fine,” Doc said hastily. “Now please, just hold her.” Twig felt anxious and nauseated. Doc knew what he was talking about. He did this all the time, and he was okay. She would just have to trust him.

“Leave! Go back to your cabins!” Doc shouted at the crowd, waving his arms up and down as if he were fanning a fire. The brothers and sisters started to back off.