Sinister - 4. Chapter 4

The back roads were empty as Sam rode his bike home. After the urgency of changing classes, it felt like his first chance to digest the huge amount of new information poured into his brain Monday afternoon. What would it mean to escape? Does it mean never seeing my family again? Am I ready for that? I'm only fourteen. If I make it to Califoregon, would anyone give me work, a place to live? What are these "sanctuary churches," what do they offer, what if that doesn't work out? What if Pa and Ma came to get me? Could they force me to come back? If they did, life here would be hell. Everyone would know I tried to run away.

Sam had heard rumors about left-handed teenage runaways in big cities. They ended up on the street selling curses and hexes for twenty dollars, getting mixed up in drugs, dodging the law. It was a sordid, precarious existence from which it was almost impossible to re-enter respectable society. Were the rumors true? Reliable information was hard to come by.

A car approached in front of him. Sam slowed and pulled to the side of the road. So did the car. It was Harry Tubman, who oversaw the garden center at Daley's Hardware, where Sam's father was in charge of lumber. "Hi, Sam. Heading home?"

"Hi, Mr. Tubman. Yes, school just let out."

"Well, I'd offer you a ride, but I'm going the other way. How are you doing these days?"

Mr. Tubman had always been nice to Sam, letting him wander among the plants if he ended up at the store while his father worked, answering any questions Sam had. "Oh, I'm doing fine. How about you, Mr. Tubman?"

"Can't complain. This doesn't seem like the shortest way from the high school to your house."

"It isn't. But it's prettier."

"Yes. Yes, it is. Well, maybe I can offer you a ride some other time, if you need one."

"Thanks, Mr. Tubman."

"So long now."

"Bye."

Mr. Tubman drove away.

Sam continued home, passing fields, houses, and the New Damascus Road Church of Bethel. Hillcrest's six thousand residents all belonged to the New Damascus Road Church, but of course they did not attend services in the same building. There were ten New Damascus Road churches, each named after a different city. The New Damascus Road Church of Memphis was the biggest, and all the church leaders deferred to its pastor, Reverend Ramsey Farrow.

The subject of Sam's new class came up at dinner. His father was only mildly disappointed that Sam did not sign up for metal shop. Neither his mother nor his father raised any objection to his choice of ASL. Judy was curious about what it was, and Sam pre-empted any further discussion by teaching her a few signs.

The rest of the week went surprisingly smoothly. He was apprehensive about hanging out with Glen too much, but had so much he wanted to ask him. He settled for addressing his big worries.

After ASL class, standing to one side in the hall as students raced to lunch, Sam asked Glen, "What if we made it out of state and our parents tried to come and get us? Could they?"

"In Califoregon any attempt to forcibly 'cure' a child of left-handedness is considered child abuse. If you can demonstrate that you were leaving an abusive situation, then they can be stopped. Believe me, just living in Hillcrest qualifies as an abusive situation."

"But how could I live there? I'd have to have a job. I'd have to have a place to stay."

"There are foster families waiting. Just come back to Science Club. We'll tell you everything you need to know."

Saturday Sam rode his bike out to the quinoa fields and tried to sketch them. The sketch didn't come out the way he had hoped. He sat quietly for a while, then started a new drawing. He drew his father, mother and sisters seated around the kitchen table. It was the way he always pictured them, the way he had so often seen them as he came downstairs. As he finished, it occurred to him that he wasn't in the picture. Family portrait minus Sam.

On Sunday, Reverend Cooper chose Exodus 22:18 as the subject of his sermon: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." He added Deuteronomy 18:10-11: "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."

"We live in darkening times," Reverend Cooper said. "There is a resurgence of pagan beliefs, so-called New Age practices, so-called Wicca. Even in our country's military. Yes, there are service members who practice witchcraft and want a pentacle in place of a cross on their gravestones."

Sam was noticing the different wear patterns on the shoes of the people in front of him. Mr. Wood must walk on the outsides of his feet; the outer edges of his heels were worn down a half-inch lower than the insides. Mrs. Hall's shoes were far too small. The stitching was coming undone from the pressure.

"God says -- Leviticus, chapter 20 verse 6 -- 'And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, I will set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.' 'The soul that turneth after such.' See, it's not just the person who engages in these ungodly practices. Anyone who turns to such a person, who associates with someone who sells enchantments, spells, charms, curses, hexes --"

Sam looked up. Was Reverend Cooper looking directly at him?

"-- has sinned."

I can't breathe, Sam thought. I'm being nailed into a coffin.

Reverend Cooper concluded with an impassioned account of how oppressed the true believers of the New Damascus Road Church had been, persecuted for their faith in the Bible and their steadfast opposition to witchcraft and New Age beliefs, before they found the sanctuary of their mountain community. Sam stood for the concluding hymn: "Go Down, Moses."

When Israel was in Egypt's land,

Let my people go.

Oppressed so hard they could not stand,

Let my people go.

Go down, Moses,

Way down in Egypt's land.

Tell old Pharaoh,

Let my people go.

************

Monday after school Sam went directly to room 214. The door was locked. Sam knocked.

Glen opened the door. "Sorry, we keep it locked for the first few minutes after school. Come on in."

Naomi was already there. The others arrived over the next few minutes, one by one. Glen set up the radio. Soon he had it tuned in to the voice of Adam Talbot.

"This is Adam Talbot for Radio Free America, broadcasting from Blythe, Califoregon, radio station KRFA. Today we have Jerry Moore as our guest. Jerry?"

"Hello, Adam."

"Jerry, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"Can you tell us about your experience with the Ecumenical Universalist Church of Blythe?"

"Yes. They took me in and found me a foster family two years ago. They housed me until my foster family was ready to take me."

"And how did you end up there?"

"My family kicked me out of the house."

"Why?"

"For, you know, being -- they saw me using my left hand to eat with."

"They kicked you out for being left-handed."

There was a nervous laugh. "I didn't know you were going to talk dirty on the air."

Another laugh, different voice. "Oh, you think that's talking dirty? Well, that's one of the things we're trying to change. How have things been going with your foster family?"

"Good. I'm going to high school here, and it's so different from the school I came from. I'm accepted for who I am. I can write with my left hand, play sports, use equipments, and nobody seems to mind. And my foster parents have been really great. They don't judge me at all."

"Quite a change, huh?"

"Yeah, it --" It was clear from Jerry's voice that he was getting choked up. "It's like a miracle. I didn't even realize until I got here how much I was constantly looking over my shoulder, and now the way things are here, it's just such a weight off --" Jerry's voice trailed off.

"Jerry, just that much of your story is going to give hope to a lot of people. I don't want to make you relive your old life. Thank you for coming into the studio today. Your story is very much like mine.

"Now I'll go on to the astronomy report. Our listeners know this is one of my personal interests. For those of you who keep an eye on the sky and watch the stars and planets, Mercury will be visible in the sky north of the crest of the hills at eight o'clock PM on Friday. That's eight o'clock PM on Friday, Mercury in the sky north of the crest of the hills.

"In sports, in the Southpaw Baseball League, the Boston Da Vincis beat the Detroit Eschers 7 to 4 in the second game of their three-game series. Also, rumor has it that one of the teams of the U.S. League may be signing Arnold Wilkinson as a pitcher. If this is true, Wilkinson would be the first player to break the laterality barrier in professional baseball. For that matter, in all professional sports.

"And now I'll sign off. Remember, we are everywhere. This is Adam Talbot for Radio Free America, radio station KRFA."

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. "There's a Southpaw League? A whole baseball league of southpaws?"

Noah's eyes shone with excitement. "There is so much out there that no one will tell us about!"

Sam didn't know what to ask about first. "What was that stuff about astronomy?"

Glen looked up from whatever he was writing. "That was the most important part. Mercury is the god of communication and travel. The astronomy report is a code Adam set up before he left. 'The crest of the hills'? That's Hillcrest. Someone from Blythe is going to be here, north of town, Friday night at eight. Someone who can take us."

"What? Friday?"

Just then the door opened. Mr. Inram, the Science Club's faculty advisor, poked his head in and looked at the still-crackling radio.

"What's going on in here?"

The students froze.