Ben – 2004, just before Samuel leaves
Grandma was taking a meatloaf out of the oven when I came running through the kitchen door. The screen slammed behind me. She looked around, sat the hot dish onto a trivet, and said, “Ben, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam the door like that? You’re going to bend the frame. Go wash up, dinner is ready. Where are your brothers?” She wiped her hands on her old red apron with sunflowers.
“I thought they were right behind me,” I said, grabbing a buttery little potato out of the dish on the table when she turned her back on me again to open the refrigerator. “Guess what? Grandpa’s going to take us to the snake church after dinner!”
She spun around towards me so fast that I had to step back out of her way. I was trying to swallow the little potato without her seeing it, but she clearly didn’t care about that.
“He is taking you where?”
She sat a bowl of green jello BRAND NAME: JELL-o onto the table with considerable force. I couldn’t answer for a second while I tried to swallow the potato.
“Benjamin Jordan, what did you just say?”
I swallowed, managed not to choke, and said, “Grandpa’s taking us to the snake church. I didn’t even know there was another snake church! It’s going to be really exciting – do you want to go with us?”
It always made me nervous when Grandma fixed me with a stare like that. As usual, I was babbling on, saying things that would only make it worse.
She didn’t answer, just shifted her stare to the doorway where we could see Samuel, Quentin, Joel and Grandpa all coming up the back steps to the kitchen. They filed in, oddly quiet. Grandpa came in last, and Grandma said, “You boys go wash your hands right now. Joel, tell Jessie and Albert dinner is ready.”
“Yes ma’am,” we all said, more or less in unison. Joel made a dash for the stairs, and the three of us headed along the hallway towards the downstairs bathroom. I lingered just out of sight of the kitchen for a minute, wanting to hear what Grandma was going to say to Grandpa, but Samuel grabbed my arm and yanked me away as Quentin gave me a light shove from behind. We heard Joel and Jessie clattering back down the stairs. Joel shouted “Dinner’s ready!” towards the living room at Albert. When Joel and Jessie appeared around the corner, Samuel waved at them to follow us.
“Is she mad?” I asked, as soon as we were out of hearing. “She’s acting REALLY mad! I told her about going to the snake church, is that why?”
“Get in here,” Samuel said, and pulled me into the bathroom. Quentin herded Joel and Jessie in behind us and shut the door. It was a very small bathroom that had been added to the old house way before we were born. There was barely enough room for one person. Quentin sat on the toilet lid. Samuel shoved the pink flowered shower curtain back and stepped into the big clawfoot tub. Jessie, Joel and I smushed ourselves together between the old pedestal sink and the door. There was an ancient COMMA? gold-tinted globe light over the sink. Combined with the mint green tiles all along the walls it gave an eerie underwater feel to the little room.
“What are we doing?” Jessie said. “Why did you make us come in here?”
“You should have taken your shoes off,” Quentin said to Samuel. “Now you’ve got mud in the tub on top of everything else.”
“Oh, oops,” said Samuel, distractedly. “I’ll rinse it out. Ben, do you not realize why she’s mad?”
“Who’s mad?” Jessie asked.
“Grandma looked pretty mad,” said Joel. “Is it because of the snake church?”
“What snake church?” asked Jessie.
“The one we’re going to after dinner,” I said, and her eyes widened.
“Not you,” Samuel said. “I wish it was not anybody, but definitely not you, Jessie. You’re way too young.”
“I’m ten,” Jessie said, loudly. “That is not too young!”
“Shhhhh!!” Samuel hissed. “It’s not negotiable, and I just want all of you to understand that Grandma has a reason for being angry and…” he trailed off.
“But why?” I asked.
“She doesn’t want anything to happen to Samuel,” Quentin said.
“What could happen?” Joel asked. “Grandpa says God chose him, so He won’t let anything happen.”
I started thinking about the things that could happen. But Grandpa wouldn’t have Samuel do anything dangerous, I told myself. He knew it would be fine.
Just then Grandpa’s voice came booming down the hall. “Children, it is dinnertime. Come to the table.”
“I can’t do it,” Samuel said. He was looking at Quentin. “I just can’t.”
“I know,” Quentin said. “So don’t.”
We all watched Samuel, who was rubbing his hands through his black hair, making it stand on end. I’d never seen him look so upset, and it suddenly scared me.
“They told me I have to,” he said so low that I could barely hear him. “They said it’s very important.”
“Who did?” I asked. “Somebody besides Grandpa?”
“That sounds crazy, Samuel,” Quentin said. “You know it does.”
“Boys,” Grandpa’s voice boomed again, this time a little fainter like he was going up the stairs. “Jessie! Get down here now!”
“Out,” Samuel said. His eyes looked red. “Hurry.”
Joel opened the door and we all spilled out into the hallway.
“We’re coming!” Samuel called, pushing us toward the kitchen. “We were just washing up!”
Grandpa’s boots clomped down the stairs, and he came around the corner as we got to the kitchen doorway. He looked a little puzzled to see all of us, but gave Samuel a small smile.
“Come on, son,” he said, “you need to eat so you’ll have energy for tonight.”
We sat down at the table, Grandpa at the head as usual, Grandma setting down plates and silverware a lot harder than she normally did. She finally sat down herself at the other end of the table. All of us were unusually quiet as we passed around the meatloaf, little buttery potatoes, and green beans. Samuel and Quentin didn’t either one say a word, which was normal for Quentin, but not for Samuel. Even Albert didn’t say anything, just looked from Grandpa to Grandma with worry lines on his forehead.
I never have been able to just sit still and keep my mouth shut when there is too much silence and tension in the air.
“It’s really going to be cool seeing the snake handlers,” I said. “Sorry you’re too little to go, Jessie. Maybe Albert ought to stay home too – he probably won’t appreciate it. It’s really too bad Eddy’s at work! Grandpa, are you going to handle a snake?”
Samuel kicked me underneath the table, hard.
“OW”, I said. “What was that for? I know Grandpa used to handle snakes, a long time ago. I bet he can still do it.”
“That is enough, Ben,” Grandma said. Her eyes were blazing, but she was looking at Grandpa.
“No, Ben,” said Grandpa. “ I’m not going to take them up myself. Not tonight.” He was watching Samuel, who was staring at his plate and shoving his meatloaf around. I felt the hair on the back of my neck prickle. Maybe this was not going to be the exciting outing that I’d anticipated. At least not exciting in the way I’d expected.
”That is no place for children, Jacob,” Grandma said, NO COMMA? in an oddly low voice.
“They are not children any more, Opel,” he said. “Jessie is the only child here, and she’s not going. The boys are old enough.”
Jessie looked mad enough to spit. I smirked at her, but made sure Grandma didn’t see me. Quentin did, and kicked me under the table too, not quite as hard as Samuel had.
“They need to witness this,” Grandpa said. “They need to understand. HE needs to understand.”
“And did she understand? You led her to believe she had to prove herself, that God would not just accept her for the kind and caring person that she was, and she listened to you.”
Grandpa’s face was like stone. “That was God’s will. Her belief was lacking, but she is where she was meant to be now.”
I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from asking who they were talking about. I knew from their faces that it would be a very very bad idea. Grandma took a sip of her tea, then said, in a low dangerous voice I’d never heard her use, “It is on your shoulders, Jacob. And this will be too. I can’t stop you, but I know you will answer for it.” SO BEN WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT HIS MOTHER? DOES HE KNOW SHE GOT BITTEN BY A SNAKE AND THAT’S HOW SHE DIED?
He looked at all of us, one by one, and then said in his booming preacher voice, “ ‘And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues. They will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.’ ” DID HE COME UP WITH THAT ON HIS OWN OR IS HE QUOTING SOMEONE?
We were all motionless. Then Samuel said, “It’s okay, Grandma. I’m okay with it.”
“You are sixteen years old,” she said to him.
“He is a man in the eyes of God,” said Grandpa. “He knows his own mind.” He paused, then added, “I am the head of this house and you will submit. This is what has to be done.”
“Samuel, come with me,” Grandma said. “I need a word.” She got up and left the kitchen without looking back. Samuel glanced at Grandpa, then followed her. Grandpa took in a breath like he was about to say something, but didn’t. We all just sat there pushing the meatloaf around on our plates and staring down at the red and white checked plastic tablecloth. Nobody said a word until Samuel came back into the kitchen alone.
“It’s time to go,” Grandpa said. He stood up. Samuel nodded, then walked out the kitchen door and to the truck with us trailing behind him. Jessie stood at the door by herself and watched us leave.
****************************SO THIS IS SAME SECTION — TIME CONTINUATION? STILL FROM BEN’S POINT OF VIEW
Me and Joel and Albert rode in the back of the old pickup. It lurched and sputtered us out to the main road, then Grandpa turned away from town and headed north. It was getting dark, and the air whipping around us was chilly. I looked through the little back window at Grandpa and Samuel and Quentin. I could tell they weren’t talking. We didn’t talk either. The roar from the wind was too loud, and for once I didn’t have much to say. We just huddled close to the cab and watched the road behind us disappear into the darkness. Going to the snake church didn’t seem nearly as thrilling as it had back at the house.
After about 20 minutes Grandpa turned off the main highway beside a Kountry Korner convenience store with a flickering yellow sign and bluish lights over the gas pumps. We bounced along a narrow bumpy dirt road for another half mile or so, passing a few old ramshackle houses that didn’t look lived in, then he pulled into a gravel parking lot in front of a small concrete block building. It used to be a little store, and still had wooden platforms on either side of the saggy old door for stacking produce. The small windows in front had been painted over so you couldn’t see inside. There was just a hint of light coming out at the edges. There weren’t any signs to let you know what was going on.
Joel and I looked at each other as Grandpa parked beside an old rusty station wagon that was tilting to one side. Our Twin Spidey Sense was kicking in, and I could tell he was having doubts about this after Grandma’s reaction. Albert was looking at the little building with a tiny smile on his face.
There were quite a few cars in the lot, mostly old and beat up, spotted with rust and dirt. Nobody was outside. Grandpa got out of the cab and Samuel and Quentin climbed out the passenger door. Samuel looked at the three of us still sitting there.
“Well, come on, guys,” he said, stretching out a hand to Joel, who was closest to him. “Can’t be late for the festivities.” He didn’t say it very loudly, though. We climbed down and followed Grandpa towards the door. Grandpa didn’t even look back at us until he was nearly there, then he just waved an arm to hurry us up.
“What did Grandma say to you?” I asked Samuel, trying to keep my voice low so Grandpa wouldn’t hear me. He didn’t answer for a second.
“She said to be careful,” he finally replied.
“Why couldn’t she say that in front of us?” I asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” he said, watching Grandpa.
As we reached the door, Quentin leaned over to Samuel and said, barely loud enough for us to hear, “I hope you preset wherever we’re going on the time machine. I think we’ll be in a hurry.”
Samuel snickered a little, then got quiet again as Grandpa held the door open for us to go inside. We filed past him, and he swatted lightly at me and Joel and Albert’s hair to smooth it down from the ride in the back of the truck.
MOVE # OF PEOPLE SENTENCE HERE? The room was small and dim, with dark panel on the walls and a low uneven ceiling covered in dingy tiles. Yellowing rectangular fluorescent light fixtures speckled with dead bugs on the inside ran across the ceiling, some of them burnt out so the light seemed grim and unpredictable. There were rows of folding metal chairs along a center aisle, and Jesus stared intensely at us with his big sad blue eyes from random spots all around the room. A home-made sign with uneven letters and way too many curlicues was tacked to the wall behind the wobbly podium at the front, proclaiming this to be The Holy Church of The Illuminated Lord Jesus Christ.
Samuel and Quentin headed for the last row of chairs, and after watching them for a second Grandpa followed with me and Joel and Albert at his heels. There were about forty people there, men and women milling around and talking quietly. QUESTION: SHOULD U PUT THE # OF PEOPLE IN THERE 1ST; I WAS ALMOST WONDERING IF THE CHURCH WAS EMPTY WITH THE DESCRIPTION ABOVE I didn’t see anyone near our age. They looked a little odd, and it took me a few minutes to figure out why. Most of them were dressed like people from Grandma’s old picture album. The women had long hair, long dresses and no makeup. The men had greasy looking slicked-back hair and were wearing outdated polyester suits or blue jeans with shirts made from shiny unfashionable fabric.
Grandpa kept standing in the aisle after we all sat down on the shaky metal chairs. People were coming up and talking to him, taking his hand, leaning over to tell us hello as he introduced us. Every one of them let their gaze linger on Quentin’s dark skin. Quentin’s face was expressionless, frozen. And every one of them looked with a small, knowing smile at Samuel. One extremely skinny man with shifty eyes who seemed weirdly familiar to me stared at Samuel the longest.
“I’m glad you’re finally here, son,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
He touched Samuel’s shoulder and then headed towards the front of the church.
I was sitting between Joel and Quentin, and leaned over to whisper to Samuel. “So what’s going to happen? When does it start?”
“Just hang on,” he whispered back. “Soon enough.”
“It was fast that other time,” Albert said. Joel and Quentin and I all stared at him. Samuel took a deep breath and looked at the painted-over window.
“What other time?” I said. “Have you been here before? And I mean in this timeline, Albert, not during your Civil War years.”
He looked at me seriously. “I was here that other time. Samuel held the snake. It was scary.” NEED MEMORY JOLT!
“Hush, Albert,” Samuel said. He kept rubbing his hand through his hair so it was standing straight up.
“I can’t believe you kept this so quiet,” Quentin said.
“Neither can I,” said Samuel. “That may have not been such a great idea.”
“You’ve been here before?” Joel said, his eyes huge.
“Just once,” Samuel said. He was looking up at the front of the church now, watching the people from the past milling around. “It’ll be okay, don’t worry.”
“You were okay,” Albert said. “Sarah wasn’t okay, though. I remember that.”
All of our eyes pivoted to Albert. He was looking up at the podium.
“What?” said Joel. “Who’s Sarah?”
I felt a chill go racing right up my spine. “Jesus God, Albert,” I said. “Do you mean your sister? Our mother??” I GUESS BIG QUESTION IS DOES ANY OF THEM REMEMBER SARAH BEING BITTEN — ALBERT SEEMS TO/ SAMUEL. ANYONE ELSE?
“Albert, stop it now,” Samuel said. He had turned pale, wouldn’t look at any of us.
“Hang on,” I said. I grabbed for Samuel’s arm, reaching across Quentin and accidentally ramming my elbow into his side. “What does he mean, Samuel? What’s this got to do with Mom? Is that what they were talking about at dinner?”
Joel was leaning across me, trying to get a look at Samuel’s face. Quentin was attempting to disentangle himself from my elbow, and Albert was just staring absently towards the front of the church. Grandpa was still chatting with the people from the past and hadn’t noticed our private commotion.
Samuel took hold of the hand I was trying to grab him with, and held it down as he leaned over Quentin and looked me in the eye. “I’ll tell you after this is over,” he said. “I swear, buddy. It’s complicated.”
I jerked my hand back, feeling a huge black pit forming in my stomach. Joel froze, looking as bloodless as I felt.
“You’ve got a lot to tell us,” I said. He nodded.
“Shhhhh,” Quentin whispered at us. “It’s starting.”
I turned to the homemade stage up front, my brain feeling fuzzy and weirdly detached. I couldn’t unravel what I’d just heard. Samuel had his eyes fixed on the podium and wouldn’t look at us. Quentin glanced at me and whispered, “Breathe, before you fall over.”
The congregation was taking their seats. A young guy with a scrubbed-looking face picked up a guitar beside the podium. He strummed a few notes and everyone got quiet. Grandpa sat down on the end of the row beside Albert.
“Welcome, brothers and sisters,” the guitar guy said, NO COMMA? in a surprisingly booming voice. “Welcome to The Holy Church of The Illuminated Lord Jesus Christ.” That would have made Joel and I both start giggling a few minutes ago, but it fell flat now. A murmur rose in reply, and he started playing a fast, weirdly hypnotic song on the guitar. It didn’t take long before most of the women and a lot of the men too were standing up and swaying in time.
Another man stepped up to the podium, a tall bald guy whose tight suit shirt barely buttoned over his bulging stomach. He said something, but the music and a general murmuring from the congregation kept me from hearing him. I kept catching the words Jesus and Lord, but the rest was garbled. It was getting very stuffy inside the small room, and the swaying bodies were making me feel a little dizzy. Samuel and Grandpa were staring at the speaker. Albert was gazing around the room like he was enjoying the show, and Quentin was scrutinizing his own scuffed up blue sneakers.
Several women started dancing up near the front where there was some space between the chairs and the stage, and another one appeared beside the guitarist and jangled a tambourine in time with his music, which was growing more and more frantic. The dancers were flinging their arms around and whirling in circles, so fast that their long skirts were flying out and nearly hitting the people in the front row. U WROTE ABOUT THIS BEFORE WITH SARAH I BELIEVE An old man joined them, stamping his feet like he was trying to kill something on the floor. I’d always considered dancing to be a graceful thing but these people looked like they were having convulsions. I kept sneaking glances at Joel, wishing we could have a laughing fit like we ordinarily did when faced with something this bizarre, but he was looking as pale and jittery as I felt. U’VE ALREADY COMPARED THE 2 THIS WAY ABOVE (“JOEL FROZE, LOOKING AS BLOODLESS AS I FELT”) The heat and the whirling dancers, the racket from the musicians, combined with that sudden blast of almost-knowledge that we’d gotten from Albert were all churning around in my stomach until I was starting to seriously fear I would lose my meatloaf and little buttery potatoes. I was looking around behind us trying to spot the restrooms when the voices started.
They were low at first, blending in with the rest of the noise, but gradually rose above it, louder and louder. Joel stared at me, eyes huge, mouthing, “What is that??”
I shook my head, tried to see around the people in the rows ahead of us who were nearly all standing up by now. They were blocking my view of the dancers and musicians at the front of the room, but the eerie voices were becoming more distinct, sending another shivery chill down my spine. They were chanting something, but I couldn’t make out any actual words. It was rhythmic and almost musical itself, rising and falling again; some otherworldly language I’d never heard before. It sounded like five or six people speaking at once, both garbled and transfixing.
“They’re speaking in tongues,” said Quentin, leaning over to us and nearly yelling so we could hear him.
“That has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Joel. He was leaning up against me again and I could feel him shivering. I finally found a spot where I could see between the swaying bodies all the way to the front. It was only three people chanting, spaced across the area where the musicians were playing – two very old women and a much younger man, all swaying violently back and forth with their eyes closed and their faces raised to the ceiling. Three rows ahead of us a woman with puffy blond hair suddenly collapsed into the floor and writhed around like she was having a fit.
“Something’s happened to that lady!” Joel yelled, pointing at her. “She needs help!”
I looked over for Grandpa and realized that he and Samuel had both gotten up without us noticing and were at the front of the room now, way beyond the convulsing woman. They were standing still against the far wall, and Grandpa had his hand on Samuel’s shoulder. Even from that distance it looked like he was holding Samuel down.
“This is kind of scary,” said Albert, scooting closer to Joel.
“Are they just going to let her die?” said Joel, as the woman continued to jerk and twist in the floor.
“She’s not dying,” said Quentin, raising his voice again so we could hear him above all the noise. “It’s just one of the crazy things they do.”
“How do you know? Why would she do that?” said Joel, just as an old woman and a man in a fancy cowboy shirt collapsed into the aisle too and began to flail.
“It’s the Spirit of the Lord,” said Quentin. “Apparently.” He was looking at Grandpa and Samuel too then, his face becoming even more still. “Do you guys want to go outside?”
“Yes”, said Joel, as I said “Maybe…”
Albert said, “I want to see what happens!”
There was a change in the air, and the voices got a little softer. We all looked towards the stage. The skinny man was bent over a group of wooden boxes that were so far back at the end of the room I hadn’t noticed them before. He picked up one and carried it to the podium. He unclasped the lid. Then he reached into the box. I craned around, trying to see what was going on as more people in the rows between us started swaying back and forth. I finally just stood up on my wobbly metal chair for a better view.
He was lifting a huge grey snake with dark diamonds down its back out of the box, raising it up carefully as he would a baby. He held it high in the air, letting its tail slap against his arm. WOULD THIS BE A RATTLER? DIAMOND BACK RATTLER? IF NOT WHAT OTHER SNAKE? DID IT MAKE RATTLING NOISES? (WATER MOCCASIN? BUT THEY AREN’T AS BIG I DON’T THINK) I could see its head waving around slowly, like it was trying to figure out where exactly it was. The bald guy with the barely concealed stomach appeared beside him, and the muffled voices all around us seemed to grow louder and louder again. They both shouted at the snake in that unearthly language, and it swayed like there was a wind blowing it around. My metal chair started tipping and I grabbed at Quentin’s shoulder to steady myself. I caught sight of Samuel and Grandpa moving close to the podium, bent toward each other and both talking at the same time, their voices lost in the crowd.
I didn’t know whether to watch them or the skinny man who was holding the snake over his head now, swaying slightly, his mouth moving, his eyes shut. He was saying something I couldn’t make out, then he opened his eyes and said Samuel’s name, loud and clear. Joel grabbed my leg, THIGH? KNEE? and I nearly fell off the chair. The crowd seemed to take one breath, and became completely silent.
Samuel stepped towards the skinny man and the snake. They were both motionless, watching him. The skinny man was smiling. Samuel had no expression at all. The skinny man slowly held out the snake, and Samuel reached for it.
“Fuck,” whispered Quentin. “Fuck fuck fuck…” Then he clamped his hand over Joel’s mouth before he could yell at Samuel. Joel fought back for a second then hid his face against Quentin’s shoulder.
Samuel had one hand just under the snake’s big head and the other holding up its body. He was looking it right in the eyes. The snake was staring back into his.
“I’m sorry,” we all heard him say to the snake. “This is wrong. I’ll take you back home.” He took a step away from the podium with the snake in his arms.
The crowd began murmuring again, the skinny man grabbed at him, and the snake started to thrash around. The skinny man blocked my view of Samuel for a second and before I could see what was happening my chair finally tipped completely over and I landed in the floor. A woman shrieked. The voices around us rose.
“Let’s go,” Quentin said, jerking me up with one hand and yanking Joel out of his seat with the other. He pushed us into Albert so we all ended up in the aisle. I kept trying to see what was going on, but the congregation had swept forward and I’d lost sight of Samuel and the snake and the skinny man.
“I want to see what happened!” I yelled, trying to squirm back around him. “Where’s Samuel??”
Then the crowd moved just enough that I could see Samuel standing alone, staring at the snake handler lying in the floor by the podium with blood running down his cheek. His eyes were shut. He had his hand pressed to his face, and he was smiling. The snake was gone.
“Get on out that door right now,” Quentin said, and yanked my arm hard enough to spin me around and nearly knock me over. He pushed us all three out the side door with such force that we came spilling into the gravel parking lot, banging against each other like pinballs. Quentin slammed the door behind us, and the noise of the congregation dimmed.
“What happened?” I asked. “I saw blood – is that guy dead?”
Joel shoved at me then. “Just shut up,” he hissed. “Get in the truck.”
“Where’s Pa?” Albert said. “Where’s Samuel?”
Albert’s lip was trembling. Him pitching a crying fit was all we needed.
“Get your ass in the truck right now, Ben,” Quentin said. “I’ll go find them.” QUENTIN IS THE OLDEST? WHERE’S EDDY?
Albert stared at him in delight, forgetting he was about to cry, and said, “Quentin, you are not supposed to say ass!”
Just then, the door opened and Samuel came out, followed by Grandpa. The noise of the congregation swelled for a moment, then died again as the door shut behind them.
“Let’s go,” said Grandpa. “That’s enough for tonight.”
“Is that guy okay?” I asked.
“He was spared,” Grandpa said. I decided it was best to not press him for details.
He opened the passenger door and held it as Samuel climbed in without looking at any of us.
“Get in,” Quentin said to us. “It’s over now.”
He gave me that level, narrow eyed look of his, and I surrendered and got in the back of the truck, scooting in between Joel and Albert who both sat with their arms wrapped around their knees.
As soon as Quentin was inside, Grandpa backed the truck out faster than usual, making gravel ping against the car beside him. I watched the concrete building fold in on itself, vanish in the darkness. We rode home without saying a word, the air getting colder and colder around us.
Quentin – 2004, the night before Samuel leaves.
Samuel didn’t say a thing when Albert stopped talking. Just stuck that torn tiger picture into his pocket, looked around one more time, and went out the door. Albert and I followed him, and we started back down the mountain. The sun was getting low, throwing long shadows over the ripped-up dirt road, making it hard to see the potholes and rocks and tree limbs strewn across it. We all kept tripping, but Samuel just walked faster.
When we finally got back to the house, Samuel turned to Albert and said, “You go on inside now, buddy. Grandma’s going to wonder where you are.”
“Aren’t you coming in?” Albert said. “We can watch Law and Order EMPHASIZE in a little bit!”
Samuel smiled at him. “Not just yet,” he said. “We’ll catch it later.” Then he turned to me and said, “I really need a drink.”
“Right,” I said. “You do. Let’s go.”
The old black Taurus that Samuel and Eddy shared was parked around the back of the barn with the keys in the ignition, so we didn’t need to go inside the house and try to make up something for Samuel’s granddaddy about where we were going. Where we were going was where we generally went when one or both of us needed to think or to stop thinking. We’d go riding around the back roads, in the middle of nowhere. Drinking Schlitz and throwing the empty cans into the backseat. Samuel would usually drive. He was a good driver even when he’d been drinking. He didn’t just think that he was, like most people do. He didn’t speed, didn’t waver in the lanes, used his turn signals. I knew I couldn’t drive when I was drunk, so it worked out fine. It was our favorite thing to do: buy beer at the Blue Light, where they sold it without needing an ID, and go out driving around the country.
Samuel had made up all kinds of stories for his brothers about how we’d go down to the Roadhouse, that boozy concrete block dive down by the river with a reputation for violence, but we hardly ever did that. I didn’t fit in down there, and neither one of us was the dangerous type. There was another place we went to more, if we felt like being social. Another little nondescript building on the opposite side of town, which was more of a Black hangout. Neither one of us really fit in there either, but they’d have a jazz band on the weekends and we both liked to hear it. One of my cousins tended bar so it didn’t matter that we were underage.
Usually we’d just buy some beer and drive around. We’d take all the back roads, windy and dark and going anywhere. Houses flitting by, lights on in the livingroom, TWO WORDS so you’d just catch a glimpse of someone sitting by the window, or passing through their front room. TVs flickering, lamps burning. I liked trying to see into other people’s lives while we flashed by.
So that was what we did. We drove all the way up to Tennessee. There’s miles and miles of tangled little back roads up there with hardly any traffic. We had the windows down and the radio up loud. Every time one station faded out I’d tune in another one. I tried to avoid country and pop since we both preferred the alternative stations, but none of them lasted long before fading away. GOOD DETAIL — I REMEMBER WEAK ALT ROCK STATIONS
We must have gone thirty miles before either of us said anything about what had happened. I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. It was full dark by then. I watched how the center lines flashed underneath us, steady and hypnotic.
“I always knew there was a lot more to what happened with Mom,” Samuel suddenly said. “It never did make sense that nobody talked about her. It didn’t make sense that nobody ever even said her name. I asked Grandma about it a few times but she wouldn’t tell me anything. It upset her to be asked so I stopped. Kids at school would say stuff sometimes but it was behind our backs. They wouldn’t say it to our faces.” SO NO ONE KNEW SARAH WAS BIT BY SNAKE FOR THE KIDS EXCEPT ALBERT — HE WAS OLDEST AND HAD SOME MEMORIES
“You don’t remember what Albert told us?” I asked him. “You don’t remember being there when it happened?”
He stared out at the black road, at the flashing lines. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I can’t decide. I need to ask Eddy if he remembers but I’m sure he would have said something.” INTERESTING — NEED TO CHECK THIS CAREFULLY
I didn’t want to bring up the obvious, but finally did.
“Seems like you’re getting set up for that same thing to happen to you,” I said. I stared out at the black trees whirling by my window instead of looking at him.
“It does, doesn’t it,” he said. “We just crossed the state line. Let’s keep going. Where do you want to go?”
I tried to think where I’d go if I could go anywhere. It sure wouldn’t be back to Skye. HOW MUCH HAS SKYE BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE… CHECKING… THIS IS ACTUALLY FIRST MENTION IN THE BOOK SO MAYBE NAME DROP THIS BEFORE. NAME OF COMMUNITY IS SKYE NOT SNAKE MOUNTAIN. Nothing would come to me, though. I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than where we were, flying along on that peaceful empty dark road, listening to the radio, watching other people’s lives flit by.
“Where do you EMPH? want to go?” I asked him. He drained his beer, tossed the can over his shoulder into the back seat. Squinted his eyes.
“You know,” he said, slow and thoughtful, “I have no idea. Not one.”
“Me neither,” I said. There’s definitely something wrong with this, I thought. Two sixteen year olds with a car and no idea of where they’d go, even if they could go anywhere. Something wrong with not being able to come up with any one spot, anywhere at all. Even when the alternative was staying where we were and facing what Samuel was facing.
Finally I brought up the thing that wouldn’t leave me alone.
“So why did you not tell me about what was going on? About this whole new snake church development?” I asked. I tried to sound like I was just curious. Like I didn’t really care that my best friend BEST FRIEND — HAS THIS BEEN EMPH BEFORE? had left me out of something so major. He glanced over at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought I could just get by with one trip to the church and it would be a big failure. Then Grandpa would see I wasn’t who he wanted me to be. And maybe he’d just drop it.” NO NEW PARAGRAPH?
He paused, took a deep breath. “I couldn’t tell anybody, Quentin. He said not to tell anybody, but that’s not why I couldn’t. They told me to keep it quiet too, because I needed to be…ready. Unencumbered. So there wouldn’t be ties or questions or anything. So I could just…do what I have to do.”
All that had poured out of him and he was rubbing his hand through his hair till it stood on end again.
“‘They’?” I said. “They who?” Like I didn’t know.
“You know who,” he said. “And I know you think it’s crazy. Maybe it is crazy, but they’ve been contacting me since I was a kid, Quentin. WHAAAA? They looked out for me, they helped me. I used to see them! Grandpa thought I was possessed by demons and I had to stop talking about them, but they’ve always been with me!” His voice had gotten louder and he was clutching the steering wheel, knuckles turning white.
“But what are they telling you? What do you mean unencumbered? Are they telling you to do something?” SHOULD HE BE MORE SHOCKED? My voice was getting louder too and suddenly I was afraid of what he would say. I started to ask him if this had anything to do with the Time Machine, which we both knew wasn’t real, but before I could open my mouth something was in front of us.
It just loomed up out of nowhere, a dark shape that filled the windshield. SO THIS IS THE 2ND TIME THEY’VE SEEN THE UFO, OR THE 1ST RESTATED? The brakes screamed, the car twisted sharp to one side. I saw huge glassy eyes staring in at us, lit up by the headlights, just as the car started to spin. Everything seemed like slow motion, the pines circling around in the headlights, a fence sliding by, us going in loops with the tires screeching. Slow motion, but no time to do anything about it. I braced myself against the dashboard, tried to cover up my face with an arm. Then as suddenly as we’d started sliding, we stopped. In the middle of the road, facing back the way we’d come, just sitting there still and quiet. I could smell the smoking brakes and the sharp burn of rubber from the tires. We looked at each other. Samuel’s face was like a ghost in the dim light. I couldn’t get my breath. THEY LOOKED BACK? Nothing was lying in the road, no deer or anything else. Nothing on the sides either as far as I could tell. ALTERNATELY MAYBE THEY DIDN’T GO INTO A SPIN, JUST STOPPED WITH SCREECHING BRAKES SO THAT THEY’D STILL BE FACING FORWARDS – BUT I GUESS THEY HAD TO SWIRVE SOME
“Was that a deer?” he said. “Did that look like a deer to you? All I could see was eyes – I don’t know how we didn’t hit it!”
“I don’t know how we didn’t hit a tree,” I said, finally able to speak. My heart pounded so hard it almost hurt. “Get out of the middle of the road before somebody comes along and finishes us off!”
He started to put the car in reverse, then stopped, staring up above us, his mouth open.
“What? What is it?” I said, then looked up myself. Something was filling the sky right above our heads. Something dark and enormous, blocking out what should have been the stars and the half moon that had been following us on the ride. At first it seemed so flat and close that I couldn’t make out any details at all. Then I could see lights scattered around the edges in a big oval – odd translucent greens and blues. They looked close enough to reach up and touch. That’s when I realized I shouldn’t have been able to see anything but the inside of the car right up above our heads. I’d have to be looking right through the roof to see what I was seeing. Before I could process that COMMA there was movement on the road in front of us. Something tall and thin flashed there, facing us. A bright blue beam shot over and lit it up for a split second. Then it was gone. Whatever was in the road and whatever was above us, they were both gone. Vanished in an instant. Samuel and I stared at each other, then looked back up at the peeling nubby stuff lining the inside of the car’s roof. Not at the sky. We jumped out of the car and stared upwards. The stars and the moon twinkled back down at us.
“That’s it,” said Samuel. He grabbed my arm, smiling up at the sky. “That’s it!”
“What are you talking about? What just happened?” My legs were shaking. I leaned up against the car for support.
He looked over at me, his green eyes glowing. “It’s what I asked for! When I said let’s just keep going, I was asking them for a sign to show me what I was supposed to do. And I got it, just like that.” He was beaming at me. “Just like magic! Quentin, they’re helping me, I know what to do now!”
“I don’t understand,” I told him. “What did we just see?”
He gripped my arm tighter, staring at the sky. “It was them, and now you’ve seen them too! You know I haven’t just lost my mind!” He grinned at me, happier than I’d seen him in a very long time.
“I guess if you’ve lost yours, so have I,” I said slowly. “But what does it mean, what are you supposed to do?’
“Escape,” he said. “I have to escape and I’m ready.”
He turned towards me again, suddenly serious. “We’ve got to get back home. It’s time.”
And that’s all he would say. We drove back in silence, not even listening to the radio. His face was glowing in the dashboard lights and he never stopped smiling. When he stopped the car in front of my house he got out too.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you, Quentin,” he said. “And I can’t tell you what’s next either, but I’ll be in touch quick as I can. I need to do some work on the Time Machine.” He suddenly hugged me, then pulled back a bit, grinning at me. “I love you,” he said, “and you know I don’t tell just anybody that!”
Then he hopped back into the car and was gone.