The next morning was a hassle. Penina woke up naked and Mustafa was missing. Two other girls, Abby and Sarika woke up naked. They couldn't find their clothes. And again Mustafa was missing.
I woke up and help Emil look for their clothes. I checked over my bed and Emil checked Mustafa's bed and discovered a gun in his pillow. "This nigga must sleep weird. I checked my pillow and found a heavy sack of flour.
Literally flour. I opened the bag and rubbed the contents on my bottom lip. "This is flour."
Then the girl checked their beds and Penina found a letter in her pillow. Sarika, an Indian girl checked her pillow and found nothing. She looked under her covers and found nothing. She looked under her bed, under the mattress and found a necklace with a stake emblem dangling from it. "What is this?"
Everybody started searching their beds. Emil found a necklace with a shoe. Dexter found a necklace with a record emblem. "Who's been in here?" Anneke Vogel probed. "Why aren't my clothes gone?"
"Where the fuck is Mustafa?" faltered Emil. "My sister's clothes is gone!"
Penina opened the letter and her eyes dimmed. "What does it say?" Emil rushed.
"I pick you." she says.
"What does that mean?" Dexter's lips sneered. "I think he wrote it."
"Nigga he probably a praiser. He love talking about Aleigha."
"Hell yeah… that nigga strange. He be mumbling in his sleep and humping the air." says a man in the room. "Aleigha was… gay."
"He wasn't." told Dexter. "That was one of the best kings to sit. Something wrong with Mustafa."
"I AM NAKED!" tanturmed Abby. I swore her voice summoned the maid, "My lord…" she steps back. "Orgy?"
"NO!" Abby hops. "WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES! WHATEVER YO NAME IS!"
"Oh… my name is Eglantine. You can call me Birdie."
"Fantastic." I throw my arms up. "Birdie. Why is there flour under my pillow?"
"I got a necklace."
"I'M NAKED!" shouts Abby.
Penina shakes her head at the tomfoolery. She walks up to Birdie. "I got this." she hands her letter. "Mustafa is in here flirting with me. Can you do something about that?"
"If you don't I will eat him." threatens Emil. "Oh no," Birdie pouts. "I can try. But I assure you nothing will be done. As for your clothes. I'll give you the baptism gowns to wear. You'll look proper." Birdie bows and steps out the room. I hear her go, 'Oh.' And she comes back, "For this morning's chores. A Ghost will be in here and this evening, you'll be told to sit for conversation with the Archbishop. Late tonight, your letter should be dropped off."
"What about tomorrow?" asks Asghar.
"When do I get to take a bath!" yells another much older man. "Baths are allowed after the second dinner." says Birdie. "Then you get to dress for church. We're having new people arrive some time tomorrow as well."
"Y'all is sick as hell." huffs Dexter. "They are. I never said I like it."
.
.
.
We waited in that room for hours. None of us started a conversation. To be honest, I started hating everybody in the room. The girls covered up with sheets. Asghar breathes too fucking loud, Urick looked out a window, Dexter plucked the fibers out the blanket.
Eventually the madness of silence ended with one of the Ghosts entering the room. He gave the girls the white baptism gowns, no underwear were added. "Do you speak?" asked Penina.
"I could…" he said in a monotonous tone. "Hey, can you find the nigga that shouldn't, should, and ain't in this room?" said Emil. "He raped my sister in her sleep."
"I'm not a guard dog…"
"Well shit on my grave, what the fuck do you do?"
"I'm just a soul… what do you want?"
"Find fucking--what's that niglet's name?"
"Mustafa," answered Sarika. "I wouldn't have asked. If he ran from the plantation, he'll be caught. They'll kill him."
"What are you doing to us?" Asghar stands up. "There were people in this room. And now they are missing."
"Clearly." said the Ghost.
"Have you no emotion?" He is talking. You respect that man--entity. "Have you no memory of the past. People have died you watch idly as more and more get caught in the chaos."
We can't see his face but as we call them, him, they, a ghost. I don't think he has a body to claim. "What do you want me to do?"
"Free us!" Asghar exclaims. "I can."
Abby's mouth comes open, she stands up. "How?"
"You will die." he tilts his head to her. "She will die." he points at Sarika. "He will die." he looks at Emil. "And that is your freedom."
"You think death is freedom?" Asghar's should slack. "What about life?"
"Arabs are so funny." the Ghost walks out the room. "That was the rudest shit I ever heard…" Dexter said. "What are we doing here?"
"I was with… my grandpa." I say.
"I work at a business. One of my coworkers was a vampire and he getting used to the merge. We started talking for weeks. Months go by and he gives me a flower, for valentine's day." states Abby.
"Classic…" Emil says rolling his eyes. "I didn't think anything of it. A week goes by, we're eating lunch and he asks me where can he buy furniture. I don't know any special places. I order online so I tell him a website. Another coworker, his name is Marvin. He says we're having a little costume party. I went and I don't think I should… have."
"You a dumb bitch, excuse me." said Urick.
"I didn't know." she clarifies to him. "Are you victim blaming me?"
"Suck my dick. Pretty white girl gets dragged by a vamp and you scared. You asked for this."
"So if I was raped?"
"Really?" he chortles. "Rape and vampires go together like a lie. Who you finna tell?"
"Y'all chill…" Dexter begs and I agree with him. Urick keeps talking, "Twilight, y'all fuck with that bullshit. A White vampire would never last. It's niggas in full sunlight, exposed to the damn sun. Bitch look melted on tv."
"Twilight is a movie!"
"Well, sugar bitch! This shit is real now, don't you wanna fuck me?"
"Urick, chill!" protest Dexter. "Let it go, shit." Emil adds. "Let her ass be."
"Nah, it's pissing me off. I don't understand how the fuck y'all let vamps sparkle. I don't understand how this shit can excite you. I don't get it, it's wild to me. In this day and age. Love is so empty that girls and boys are selling soul for this now. You met a nigga on valentine's day! ON VALENTINE'S DAY! And got the nerve to be throwing a fit!"
The room is cold, at least it feels that way. "It's ridiculous!"
.
.
.
Later on, another Ghost came in and guided us to the church that covered about 457 acres of land on the plot. It was a barnyard with an arch, attached to a long smaller lower side to the left of it. It even had a small parking area to the right. Bushes were placed by the stairs going into the church and a rectangle sign of the name. The design was natural to me being a white sign with a baby angel and three large clovers splattered at lower left corner.
"What are we going to church for?" Dexter asked in my ear. "I don't know…"
"I already got baptized. I'm finna have weird ass dreams again."
"Dreams?"
"Last night I had a dream a black ass creature was in a hallway. It kept peeking at me from a wall. I don't know what that means."
"Maybe you can ask the bishop…"
"I hate you…"
We walk into the coolness of the church. In front of the door are two statues of angels. Nothing major, just art work. There is a brown lengthy carpet that splits in three directions. To the west side of the church is for bible study. I see a nun come out of the bathroom that is adjacent from the hall. To the North is where the nave his.
Something is calling me there. I'm drawn by the bright lights and I see a man instructing a small choir. The Ghost guides us to the right of the church and I start thinking about the outside…
We go down a hall, pass a picture of the what I think is the Virgin Mary but the color scheme is a woman dressed in a black hood with a red undergarment and her eyelashes are full of glitter. Her eyes are closed in prayer.
I stare at the picture too long and it looks at me. "This is too late to tell you but pictures hold the devil." mumbles Dexter. "You don't say…" I furrow. We turn left to a door that the Ghost opens. It's a wide square room. "Here…" says the Ghost.
"Wonderful, thank you Calab." the bishop beckons us in. "Please sit down."
"On the floor again?" Penina pouts. "Just deal…" her brother pushes her forward. We all sit down on the floor which is rather childish. It's a designed carpet of white jesus waving, in big letters it says, 'BOW TO THE LORD'. I want to leave.
The bishop sits down in a red recliner chair. What the fuck. What is he so relaxed about?
"My name is Archbishop Jayden Foreman." This man is color of caramel. His face is wrinkly, his bottom lip is fat and he has a mole on his nose. Bishop Foreman is wearing this black and white robe with a red bandana out his pockets.
"I'm here to tell you about the practices we teach so you don't get lost." he says.
"I'm lost… I'm afraid…" I hear Dexter to my side. "First, I want to talk about sin." Everything is a sin. You can't even sleep as a teenager without being called lazy; that's sloth. "Did you know that they all mean the same thing?"
"No…" I hate how we sound like a bunch of kindergartners. "well, let's talk about the first sin. Wrath, Ira, it talks about anger and the devil thing is Charquon."
He is lying.
"He is a devil thing of the church. He has three faces and walks on one leg. He is always praying for peace but his anger is strong. So strong that it took his heart. So the devil, Carquon has a hole in his chest when you see him. Sometimes you can see Uone-In." I start rubbing my face. I'm not tired. I can't even say how I feel. "Uone-In is a bird that lives inside of his chest. When he gets angry, the bird starts to squawk. And the sound makes your ears bleed."
Somebody rises their hand. "What does Charquon do?"
"He is a vampire and he collects hearts. He takes what he can eat and what you love, to replace his own. The Obayifo of Anger and he appears when you are upset about something. He leaves when you admit." Bishop Foreman explains.
Another vamp raises their hands. "Are you gonna get arrested?"
He chuckles, "of course not. I used to be a sinner. I thought I could be a rapper but Aleigha didn't like my tone. He didn't like my lyrics either."
"You know the Vamp king?"
"I did, briefly. He's a fucking faggot." he grins, "I hope he dies twice."
"why?" What did my granddad do. "why is my grandpa to blame?" I cover my mouth. Bishop Foreman's head grows, his skin red and tongue hanging out his mouth. "FUCK HIM!" he screams. "FUCK HIM LIKE HE FUCKED ME!" He has a row of teeth and savage claws gripping the recliner. "I HATE HIM! HE SENT US HERE. FUCK HIM! FUCK HIS WIFE! FUCK HIS DAUGHTER! FUCK HIM!"
My heart is about to give out. "He started this! He lied!" his head spins one time. "FUCK HIM! FUCK HIM! FUCK HIM!"
What did grandpa do? I have to turn my head, Dexter falls over, I hoist him up. "Dex!"
"I got low blood pressure…" he gasps. "I can't breathe…"
"Stay up!"