The day is past and
gone,
The evening shades appear;
O may we all remember well
The night of death
draws near.
It
is Wednesday, 7:30 pm in Exodus, Nevada.
The First Baptist Church’s annual potluck is winding down, and the
members are making their way to their homes. The women, dressed in long,
colorful dresses attempt to hold on to casserole dishes and the hands of their
small children. The men bark out
orders to their broods as they mill around and chat to each other.
Audrey
Lawrence-Malcowetiz sits in the 1989 station wagon, waiting for her husband to
appear. “Where is that
man?” She says to herself, tapping
her fingers against the dashboard. “Where is that man?” She knows where he is: smoking a
cigarette with Sheriff Shore’s son behind the church. He likes to pretend he quit 20 years ago, but she can smell
it on him.
“Where
is that man?” She says to herself
again.
“Mighty
cold tonight.” Says Sheriff Shore
to Barry Pedula.
“That
it is.” Barry takes a sip of
his cola. At 70 years old
Barry has bad knees and is fifty pounds overweight. Last year he was told he has diabetes. He’s been taking insulin, which is all
he is willing to do. He figures,
what ever happens, it’s in God’s hands.
Out
of the corner of his eye he’s sees his son’s wife talking to Charlie Bath. Talking about Mrs. Bath’s tater-tot
casserole. Before he can break up
the conversation, his son Angus does it for him: he grabs Camille by her wrist
and hauls her away.
Barry
nods once again to the Sheriff.
“God Bless, Sheriff. I’ll
be seeing ya.’” He lumbers away,
to his truck, which takes some effort getting into.
Across
from where Barry lives sits “The Church of The Horsemen Coming In Preparation
for Christ’s Glory.” The church is
nothing more than an old painted barn, but the idiots who have been attending
it, don’t seem to realize that.
There’s
a single light on in the trailer next to the church. And on the step outside is that dammed woman. Not reading, not smoking, not
drinking. Just sitting. Her black
hair blends into the darkness, so all Barry can see is her pale face and her
red lips.
“What
in the hell are you doing?” Barry yells.
The
woman stands up, and Barry sucks in his breath: even after a year, he still
can’t help but be astonished by how tall she is. For a second it seems she’s about to walk over, but she
doesn’t. She just smiles and walks
back into her trailer.
Barry
yawns. He’s got to get to sleep; he probably should survey the junkyard in the
morning. He’ll a take Angus along
as usual, glad that the boy is finally interested in the family business. Angus was always his favorite.
By
10pm. Barry has fallen asleep on
his couch. He’s in the middle of his favorite dream. His wife is back; she’s young again and she loves him. She’s sitting in his lounge chair in
her panties and her bra. Her dark
brown hair is down around her shoulders, and she is smiling. “I’ve missed you,” she says. He usually is awake by this point; his
arms reaching out to her. Barry
does not wake up, the dream continues.
She runs a finger down his cheek, sweaty and grime covered from work,
then, begins to unhook her bra. Her breasts are beautiful, ripe little
things. She presses herself
against him.
“I
missed you so.” She says.
Across
town, Lexi Bailey presses her hands against the plastic. Outside there’s flashing red lights and
smoke. She can make out shapes,
hear music; but she can’t get out. She’s had this dream before. She’s always had this dream. Usually she’s afraid; she often wakes
up screaming. This time she’s
not. She’ll be free of it
soon.
It
opens, and a hand reaches out to her.
Lexi takes it. Smoke fills
her vision, then through the smoke she sees a woman with red hair, far redder
then hers; and green, green eyes.
“It’s
coming, be ready.”
Her
eyes open. She fumbles for the
motel’s alarm clock, trying to figure out the time. The red numbers on the
clock: 1am. Monday morning.
Lexi
sits up. It is very cold. She
heard that the desert was cold at night, but this? Despite the cold, she needs a smoke. Wrapping a blanket around her, she
heads outside.
The
wind is blowing, and she has to shield her face from the sand. Off in the distance Lexi is sure
she can see lighting. She tries to
think about what her dream meant, but realizes she’s unable to remember
it. Dreams don’t mean shit
anyways.
She breathes in the air and coughs a
little. Nothing like Hannah’s
place in Malibu, but it will have to do. It’s a good place to spend sometime cleaning
up. No access to anything other
than booze.
3:30
AM. A man emerges from the trailer
next to the church. He is dressed in a bathrobe, and he’s shivering.
The
man whispers, “Lucille?” When
there is no answer he calls out
again “Lucille?”
He
remains outside for a few seconds, and then walks back in.
