The Family (3 page)

Twig thought of Rose and Thomas and hoped they had already gone to sleep. She hoped they didn’t see this. It seemed like a bad omen on their wedding night. Twig struggled to keep the woman upright. She was wearing shoes with high heels and was quite a bit taller than Twig.

“Come on.” Doc and Twig began to carry the woman together toward Doc’s cabin. Soon it was just the three of them.

“I’m going to be sick,” the woman said.

Twig held her up as she vomited onto the ground. Twig had to fight to keep from throwing up herself. When the woman was finished, Doc opened his cottage, and they managed to get her inside. They laid her on Doc’s cold, metal examination table.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to get a few things,” Doc said gruffly. Twig looked after him helplessly. She wasn’t even supposed to look at the uninitiated, and here she was, carrying this woman. And now Doc was leaving Twig alone with her? Twig felt sick and twisted up inside.

With shaking hands, Twig got a pillow and laid it beneath the woman’s head. She wet a cloth and wiped the woman’s mouth, then pulled her hair, which had traces of vomit in it, away from her face. The woman’s eyes were closed. Twig began to feel sorry for her; she seemed so helpless.

“It’s okay,” Twig found herself saying quietly. “It’s going to be okay.”

Doc came back and threw a dress, a bra and a pair of underwear at Twig. “Wash her and change her into our clothing.”

“But, Doc, I—” Twig felt completely overwhelmed and alone. “How long do I have before Adam needs to perform purification rites, Doc? I’m scared,” Twig admitted.

“He’ll be here soon. Now please, Twig, just get her cleaned up. Normally Tina would do this, but I can’t find her.”

Tina. The engagement. Twig’s stomach twisted further. She was worried she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from vomiting. Doc left the room shutting the door behind him. Twig wished he had left it open.

She looked around for supplies. Maybe if she hurried, she could get out of there and find Adam. She wondered how much time she had before the infection would set in and harm her. Doc didn’t seem concerned, but he also seemed so distracted and agitated. Twig didn’t think he was really paying attention.

The room had a sink, and Twig found towels, soap, and cotton balls. She located a small tub of Shea butter and wiped some under her nostrils to help with the smell and staunch her own nausea.

The woman seemed to be sleeping as Twig removed her shoes. Her feet were swollen and red, blistered. Twig felt bad for her, but she also couldn’t help feeling disgust. But she was going to be Adam’s wife, and she would have to begin to act like it. This is one thing she could do: help this woman get on their path, right here and now.

She began to wash the woman’s feet with warm water and soap, rubbing them to get the circulation going. Finally, she wrapped them in towels. “You’ll know peace soon. It’s going to be all right,” she whispered.

She worked quickly and tried not to think, desperate to keep her mind off the revolting task in front of her. Still, she continued to gag while she washed the woman’s face and sponged the vomit out of her hair. Twig couldn’t help noticing that the woman had a pretty face as she used cotton balls to wipe the makeup from her wide-set eyes. Twig wondered if she was Asian and where she had come from. Adam brought people from all over the world to their Family.

Twig had to prop the woman up against her own shoulder to remove her dress and then covered her with towels as she cleaned the rest of her body. She kept glancing at the door, hoping Adam would come soon. Twig squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth when she removed the woman’s underwear, exotic and purple, and flung them into Doc’s metal trashcan. When she bared her breasts, Twig felt embarrassed for both of them.

Finally, she was finished. The woman was dressed like one of them now. Soon she would be one of them.

Twig began to scrub her own hands with the hottest water she could stand.

The woman opened her eyes. She looked at Twig and began to shake. “Where am I?” she asked, quietly at first. “Where is Adam? Who are you?” Her voice became shrill and desperate. Twig didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t hurt me,” the woman said. “Adam will explain who I am—”

And then he was there. Adam. Standing in the doorway. Not looking at the woman, who was quickly becoming hysterical, but looking at Twig. He rushed to her and kneeled in front of her. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” Twig said quietly. “Please, Father.” Twig began to cry quietly. “Please, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but please, I don’t want to be infected.”

Adam laughed lightly in response. “You dear girl. Wait for me outside. I will perform purification rites on you. You will be just fine. I am so proud of you.” Twig felt herself blush with pride.

“Adam?” The woman was looking down at him with a strange mixture of relief and confusion. “Adam, honey?” she slurred.

“Be quiet,” Adam said to her sternly, ushering Twig out the door.

“But Adam, I don’t understand.”

“Twig, please wait for me right outside.”

“Adam, please,” the woman pleaded.

“Be quiet,” Adam repeated coldly, still looking at Twig.

“I would never let anything happen to you,” he said soothingly. “Don’t you know that?” Twig nodded.

“I want you to leave now, but wait for me outside. I will come perform purification rites when I am finished here. Don’t talk to anyone but Doc. Stay with him.”

Twig nodded again and then ran toward the door. As she moved to close it behind her, she could hear Adam speaking to the woman.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Twig heard him say in a new tone. A tone of affection. “Everything is going to be okay, darling.”

Twig stopped for a moment to listen, feeling sick to her stomach again. Why was he talking to her like that? He spoke to her as if he adored her. Twig felt a small claw of jealousy brush up her spine, but she forced it aside. Of course Adam would be kind to this woman. He was saving her from a life of darkness and ignorance.

“Close the door, Twig.” It was Doc. He was sitting there in the dark. Twig didn’t say anything in response. She shut the door and walked past him to the front door of the cottage. She opened the door and let the night’s warm air wash over her.

They stayed like that for a long time. Doc sitting in the dark and Twig standing in the doorway trying to rid her lungs of whatever poison she had breathed in while cleaning the woman.

“What’s her name?” she finally said out loud, not turning around.

“Anna.” It was Adam. Twig hadn’t heard him come out. “Her name is Anna. You will get to know her tomorrow. I will introduce her to our Family. She is ready now.”

“What was wrong with her?” Twig asked, turning to face him. She had so much to learn now that she would be Adam’s wife.

“She is a very troubled young woman, Twig. But that is in the past. Her new life starts tomorrow. Come on. We need to gather some witnesses, and then I can begin the ceremony.”

For a panicked moment, Twig thought Adam meant their wedding ceremony, but of course she quickly realized he meant her purification ceremony. She was so tired. Why else would the idea of marrying Adam make her panic?

6

For the second time that day, Twig stood on the stage. She was surrounded by about forty brothers and sisters, who all formed a circle around her. The mood was serious; infection could be fatal. If one member was infected, it could spread. The disease of the outside world started in the mind and then worked on the body. Despite their fear, witnesses had been easy to gather. The Family’s curiosity about their new member seemed to override their fear of infection.

“Please, kneel.” Adam touched Twig’s shoulder, and Twig fell softly to her knees. There was still no sign of her mother, and Twig figured she must be in bed by now. She wished she were there with her. She thought about asking Adam if she could go get her, but then decided against it. The more Twig kept Avery away from Adam, the better. But she felt so alone. Neither Ryan nor Sophie was among the group that had gathered.

Adam grasped both of Twig’s shoulders firmly. “I am going to lay hands on you now, Twig,” Adam’s voice fired into the night. The witnesses watched in awe. He laid his palms around her head and began to hum. Quietly at first, and then increasing in volume. He pressed harder into her head as his voice grew louder. “Flow into my hands, poison. Like a serpent’s venom, I draw you out of this innocent. Come out of this pure young girl. Come play with someone your own size. COME OUT!”

Twig felt lightheaded. Family members were humming and swaying.

“It burns,” Adam said, holding his hands in front of him. “Doc, get me water. It burns! How this poison from the outside world burns my hands!”

Twig looked up at Adam with concern. He was holding his hands out for everyone to see. She wondered if he had gotten all the poison out of her. Doc ran to Adam with a bucket of water, and Adam plunged his hands into it. Twig thought she saw smoke rise out of the water and imagined she heard sizzling sounds. She wondered if she would be okay now.

Without a word, Adam walked off the stage. Twig, still on her knees, looked up at Doc.

“Come on, Twig,” he said to her. He offered her his hand. “It tires him when he does a healing.” Twig nodded and took Doc’s hand. She was overcome with tender feelings for Adam. How much he did for them. He was always helping someone, always giving of his time, his wisdom. There were rumors that he never slept.

“Am I okay now?” she whispered to Doc. She noticed everyone was staring at her.

“Good as new.” He turned to the rest of the group. “Now get to bed, everyone. I want to see every one of you at breakfast on time tomorrow. Go.”

Twig had questions. Had she been infected? Had something from the outside world been inside her? Was she safe now? Doc had said “good as new.” But the crowd of people stared at her as she headed to her cottage. No one made a move to accompany her or help her. She felt ashamed, tainted. She had seen this happen before to other members of the Family, but she had never been on the receiving end. But Doc had said she was as good as new.
As good as new
.

Twig ran after Doc, grabbing at his arm.

“Yes, Twig, what is it? You should get some sleep.”

“Yes, yes, of course—I just…what was it, exactly?”

“What was what?”

“I’m sorry,” Twig stammered. “I just don’t understand. Was I poisoned? Like a snake bite? Like a venom poisoning my body?”

“Worse,” Doc said, staring down at Twig. “Like a venom entering your spirit. Much more insidious. It enters by way of your spirit and eats away at your soul.”

Twig felt confused. She didn’t understand, but she could tell by Doc’s tone that the conversation was over.

She repeated the words to herself as she made her way back to her cottage and into bed.
Good as new. Good as new
.

7

Twig slept deeply. When she woke, a cloudy, pink dawn was beginning to peek through the night’s curtain of ink. If she wanted to paint before breakfast call, she’d have to get up now. She thought about turning over and getting just a little more sleep, but it was her birthday, and she had a special painting planned for today.

She put on her dress and wrapped a thin, knitted sweater around her lean body without waking her mother or Rose’s mother, Evelyn. Rose would stay with Thomas’ family now. Evelyn was not Twig’s or Avery’s favorite person. She was tough, and Twig was not looking forward to life in the cottage without Rose to soften things.

Twig looked down at Avery, sleeping peacefully as she had been when Twig returned the night before. As much as she wanted to wake her and tell her everything that had happened, Twig let her sleep. Peace and sleep were two things that often eluded Avery.

Twig piled her hair on top of her head and pinned it up. The cottage was completely silent, save for the soft murmurs of sleep and the odd creak as Twig moved about. She stopped in the kitchen to grab a roll from a basket on the counter and drink a glass of water from the sink. As an afterthought, she removed the rolls from the basket and slipped it over her arm, then tiptoed out the door and shut it without making a sound. She was practiced at this. A feeling of guilt pulled at her stomach. She pushed it aside, but it remained in the background like Adam’s voice over the intercom.

Always remember that you are nothing without your Family. At times we can tend to think that we alone know something important, that we’ve figured some things out. That maybe we’re just a little better than our sister or our brother. A little smarter. These sorts of thoughts begin to make you feel separate. They are the first warning that you are headed for trouble. These thoughts are lies. Trust me, you are nothing without your Family. Repeat this to yourself like a mantra. Say it in the shower, as you fall asleep at night. Teach it to our children. “I am nothing without my Family.”

It was going to be a beautiful day. The sky rested in shades of purple and gray above the mountain range behind the rainforest. On a clear day, steam could be seen erupting from the Irazú Volcano, the highest volcano in Costa Rica. Twig had always longed to visit the volcano, but leaving the compound was forbidden. Thomas made trips into Turrialba for supplies, and Family members were allowed to explore the rainforest in groups or even pairs of two if they received special permission, but those were the only exceptions. Men stood guard twenty-four hours a day at the entrance, where a small road dead-ended into the compound. Adam said the guards were only meant to keep people out, and his teachings kept people in. Twig could not remember anyone leaving the Family, ever.

Adam’s teachings, his love, his care and his rules
did
keep the Family in. For the most part, Twig enjoyed her life. Her days were spent learning or creating. Building her physical body or her intellect. Together, the Family had built and maintained a vegetable garden that brimmed with abundance, and they were able to harvest almost all of what they ate. They had a small pineapple plantation. Adam sold the pineapples in the cities to pay for things they needed. Twig believed in the Family’s mission toward peace. She believed the way they lived could serve as a model to change the world.