Chapter 17: The Temple
1113 Words
“It sounds as if you’ve had your share of pain too,” Candy said to Jason. “I know what happened to me is hard for people to understand, but I don’t expect them to identify with me. At least you don’t try to find a way.”
There were back at the motel room and Jason didn’t know what to say. Her verbal skills picked up in an extraordinary way over the past few months and he didn’t know where to begin when it came to speaking about his past.
“Was she also dark, Jason,” Candy asked him.
“What did you mean?” he responded.
Jason had noticed Candy looked at him different than most of the people on the staff. As a black man, it was something he’d come to expect. His parents taught him not to give in to the anger that came with subtle racial attitudes of people. He remembered plenty of times where he wanted to say to someone “Oh, it because I’m black?”, but avoided the temptation. Let them drown in their own feelings of unearned superiority; he was above such things.
He knew the question would come up eventually. He’d noted the way people in the town of Louisville did and about-take when Candy and he walked by them. No one said anything, but it did make him feel uncomfortable. Including the brother who smirked at him as he crossed the intersection of the street.
“Yes, Candy,” he finally told her. “She was very dark. I don’t think that woman had a darker person in her town. She was the color of a black diamond at midnight in a cave before it was uncovered. She was dark as a thousand midnights in a temple hidden beneath ten layers of soil. She was the blackest black woman I’ve ever known and I loved her with all my heart. But I couldn’t give her the things she expected and one day she left me. I came home to a house emptied of all her things and a note from her lawyer taped to the door. It happed right before you were found.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she told him. Candy sat on a chair with her legs folder under her. Another thing he needed to talk to her about today.
“How did you meet her?” she asked him. This was odd; Candy didn’t usually show such interest in his background.
“I met her at a temple,” he laughed.
“What is that?”
“It was a place where her family attended religious services. They were followers of the Hermetic Path.”
Now Candy really looked confused.
“Her parents where involved with mysticism. A bit odd since her father was a surgeon and one of the best in the city. I suppose we all have a need to determine what the universe is about, but these people took it to the maximum. They had a whole complex degree system and claimed to have unlocked the secrets of all time. I don’t know about the last one. I think they took a lot from the Freemasons, but so does everyone. Now I see you are very puzzled, so I won’t go into what they did on Friday nights because that would even make you more confused.”
Candy laughed. Something he seldom heard from her.
“Anyway, I lived over the place in school and decided to check it out one day when they were having some kind of social. I went downstairs, introduced myself, and mingled with the guests. Her parents were the center of attention. I didn’t know who they were at the time, so I went up and introduced myself.
“The place was hoping. I saw local politicians there and people connected to my college. I didn’t find the discussions to my liking; too much talk about rapping with the angles and other spirits. Therefore, I was ready to leave and made my way to the door.
“And then I saw her. A vision in anthracite if there ever was on one. She had on this white dress that contrasted with her in a way I can’t describe. She was a few years younger than I was, but I had to meet her. Walked right up to her and introduced myself. It wasn’t easy because there were plenty of other suitors around her.
But I pursued her. I began to attend the temple just to be near her. I made certain that her parents knew who I was, who my parents were, and the background I possessed. I found out what they and their daughter liked and matched it to my own interests.
“In a year we were engaged. Lucky me.”
Candy stood up and walked over the window. In the common room the two suites shared, there was a large window that looked out to the city. She pulled the curtain back and looked out to the buildings beyond.
“I used to see these sights when I lived in the forest,” Candy sighed. “I didn’t know what it was at the time. I thought it might be part of the bad place where The Shape lived. All I knew was the woods was a safe place where I didn’t have to go back to that room. I don’t like to stay inside, even when it’s cold. Did you know that Jason?” She continued to stare out the window.
“I suspected it,” he replied from the chair where he was seated. It was one of the reasons they had Candy outside as much as they could. It seemed to relax her.
Jason phone buzzed and he looked down at it. This was the Louisville police department. He doubted it was any good news.
“Jason,” he identified himself. “Who am I speaking to?”
“Sargent Evans down at the central station,” the voice replied. “The chief wanted me to call you. Seems there’s been another abduction of a young child. Can you come back to the central police headquarters? We’re about to start a lineup of suspects. There was one witness to the kidnapping and we may have someone of interest.”
- Writer
