the Season of Leo - 2. The Vicissitudes of Virgo

The time of Virgo runs from the last week of August into the first three weeks of September. That time found me in a whole new world.

In the Prophet’s Compound, you are born without records, without doctors and, without access to the modern world. My mother died there in childbirth. I was completely alone now; a stranger in a strange world.

They asked me all sorts of questions about my mother’s name and my birthday. They were astonished to find out that it was July 28. The very day of the raid on the Prophet’s Compound, I turned fifteen.

So much happened so fast I can probably only remember a quarter of it all. I started dreading seeing the doctors because all of them seemed to have a new vaccination for me. The police investigators had a lot of questions for me, some of which made me really uncomfortable.

It was at this time I met Dr. Price. She was a middle aged woman with red hair and a bright disposition. She was easy to talk to and had a very motherly quality about her that made me very comfortable.

She sat in with me during the police questioning and I was glad she was there. Their questions were about the Prophet’s greatest secrets about all of his wives and the pictures he took of us. It was very hard to talk about. If we were ever overheard by the Prophet's men, we would be beaten. The things the detectives asked about made me feel filthy and hate myself.

Dr. Price told me that nothing that happened was my fault. I was just a kid and adults were the ones ultimately responsible.

After we were through with the questions, Dr. Price told me that she was going to be my doctor for a while. I was going to stay at a place called an adolescent treatment center where I could transition from living at the Prophet’s compound to living in the real world.

We finished with the police and I went with the doctor in her car. It was comfortable and interesting to look at the town we were driving in. She said it was Hattiesburg and the treatment facility was just a few minutes outside town.

On the way she stopped at a place called 5Guys and bought me a bacon cheeseburger. These people outside may be shameless infidels but they sure have better food than the Prophet ever did.

When we arrived at the treatment center, I got my own room for the first time ever. The room had a desk, and a computer. I had seen computer’s in the Prophet’s house when I was there but I had never operated one. Dr. Price said that when I got settled in, a young man from the church that was sponsoring me would come show me how to use it.

The food was so good! All I used to eat was grits in the morning, rice and vegetables that we grew. Occasionally we would have ham or chicken but most of the time it was very bland. Every meal here was good.

The next day Dr. Price and one of the other Doctors took me to a huge store called Target to get me some clothes. The variety was astonishing. As I made my selections, Dr. Price asked me about the colors I was picking. I told her that colors have meaning and that while there are all sorts of them here, a few of them have a special meaning for me. Red is my favorite because it is the color of courage and I need to be brave. Blue is the color of purity and I honor the Son with it. Those are the two colors most meaningful to me. Not sure why Dr. Price writes notes all the time.

I think we got everything! I had new shoes, socks, underwear, a backpack, pens and, notebooks. Dr. Price told me that I would soon be taking tests to see where I would be placed in school.

Of course I could read the bible— the King James Version of course. The Prophet held all others to be heretical. I was sure that I had a lot to learn.

Later that same day, a frumpy man came to the center. He said that he was from the state Dept. of Education. He loaded a computer program on my new PC, told me that they were equivalency exams. He showed me how to use them. Three hours later Mr. Frumpy took the CD out of the computer and said that Dr. Price would have the results next week.

Staying at the center had its ups and downs. I thought that it might be fun to get to know some of the other kids. That was a bad idea. Meeting them made me feel a lot better about my own situation.

I had heard of drugs but never met anyone who actually did them. Half the kids at the center were there to kick some sort of habit. The others were a mix of various adolescent problems like depression and other things I didn’t have a clue about.

I might as well have been a space alien. I knew what a cell phone was but I had never used one. The biggest issue that some of these kids had was they weren’t allowed in the center and they complain about it endlessly.

When they found out I had a computer, they instantly hated me. I tried to explain that I didn’t even know how to use it and that made matters worse.

Oh— never quote scripture in group therapy. It never ends well.