Latter-Day of the Dead (3 page)

“You miss me, Baby?” she asked with a seductive smile.

“Ummm, yeah,” Benjamin said nervously, trying to adjust in his seat without touching her.

She looked up at him, her head still in his lap. “You got something for me?”

She cupped both breasts in preparation for the offering.

“Oh, yes!” he said hurriedly. He jumped to his feet in a rush to get access to the money in his pocket, knocking her out of his lap. She swung her feet around and sat upright on the edge of the stage. She watched as he clumsily pulled out a twenty-dollar bill.

“Oooh,” she said, staring at the bill, “I might just need to stay on this side of the stage.”

Her hands pressed her tanned breasts over his hand with the twenty and removed the money slowly. She watched Benjamin glance to the patrons across the stage as this was happening.

“You know,” she said, glancing around the room, “you don’t have to share me with these other guys. We have private rooms if you feel uncomfortable out here.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I probably shouldn’t stay much longer,” he said.

Sapphire leaned over and whispered in his ear, “It will be fun…I promise.”

With that she spun to her feet and strutted back to the pole to continue her routine. Benjamin looked around the room, wondering to himself what on Earth was he doing, and more importantly, what was he about to do.

He was caught up in his own thoughts before being brought back to reality by the deejay over the loudspeaker. “One more time give it up for Ms. Sapphire! Harley will be up in two minutes.”

Sapphire made her way off stage after collecting the remaining dollars on the mirrored floor and approached Benjamin. “You ready for that private party, Sweetness?”

“What do we do in there?”

“It depends…come on.” Sapphire grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair.

He tried to look ahead of her as she led him down the back hall, still unsure of what to expect.

“Now, you’re gonna have to buy a bottle of champagne for us to be back here,” she explained.

“Oh, I don’t drink champagne.”

“You don’t have to drink it, Darlin’, but you
do
have to buy it.”

“Oh, okay.”

“And it looks like Big Mike is security back here tonight. If you slip him one of those twenties you have he will stay outside of the room, otherwise he watches over us from inside.”

“Well…okay.”

When they got to the door Benjamin handed one of his twenties to the extra-large security guard. The security guard looked at the twenty and then to Sapphire.

“We’ll be just fine, Mikey,” she assured.

Big Mike stepped aside as the two entered the room. Sapphire flipped the lights on and instantly gasped, startled by the sight of Jade standing in the middle of the room.

“Girl, you scared me half-to-death! Probably even more – like three-quarters-to-death!” Sapphire put her hand to her chest and tried to catch her breath. “Why on God’s green Earth are you standing in the middle of a dark room?”

Staring down at the floor, Jade did not move or acknowledge Sapphire and Benjamin. Sapphire walked up to her and leaned over, trying to make eye contact. Jade’s face was pale and blotchy. She had dried saliva at both corners of her crusted lips. Her eyes remained shut.

“You haven’t hit the tanning bed in a while, have you?” Sapphire asked rhetorically, looking Jade up-and-down. She walked Jade to the couch and sat her down.

Benjamin looked on with trepidation and again wondered what he was doing. He slyly walked backwards towards the door before Sapphire saw him having second thoughts.

“Going somewhere?” she asked.

“I just don’t know if I should….”

“Oh you definitely should, Sweetie,” she interrupted. “You don’t mind if Jade here parties with us, do you?”

“Ummm…is she alright?” Benjamin took a step closer towards the couch to get a better look at Jade. He cautiously waved his hands in front of her closed eyes and got no reaction.

“It will be fun,” Sapphire said, walking over to Benjamin and placing her hands gently on his chest. “And besides, Jade goes crazy for shy guys.”

Benjamin stood straight from the contact and stuck his chest out firmly. Sapphire slid her hands from his chest to each shoulder, removing his jacket.

“Sit down and relax, Baby,” she instructed.

She moved him onto the couch next to Jade and straddled him. The front clasp of her bra was undone and she playfully exposed her breasts to him. Benjamin pressed both hands into the couch cushions to brace himself without touching her. Her breasts grazed his forehead while she deliberately turned on top of him.

A hand grabbed his leg forcefully. His head fought through the suffocating breasts to see it was Jade’s hand. Sapphire leaned down and ran her hands through Benjamin’s hair. She stared deeply into his eyes, making him think it was an opportune time to kiss her. He closed his eyes, parted his lips, and moved slowly towards her. She looked into his open mouth at his rotted teeth and her face contorted to a look of disgust.

“Oooh, no, no, no! I’m sorry, Baby. I have one rule: I don’t put my mouth on anyone
or
any thing in this club. It’s just my rule.”

Benjamin was beyond embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. I just….”

“It is okay, Baby. Like I said, it’s just my rule.”

Benjamin smiled apologetically at her. She looked again at his disarranged teeth with a forced grimace.

Sapphire returned to dancing atop Benjamin. Jade’s hand was still clutching onto his leg. Sapphire saw this and asked Jade if she wanted to join. There was no response, until Jade’s other hand reached across and grabbed Benjamin’s belt buckle. He adjusted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Relax,” Sapphire said. She moved to his side to allow Jade access to his lap.

Jade unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his fly.

“Wait,” he said.

“Just enjoy yourself,” Sapphire ordered, her breasts rubbing against the side of his face, her head leaning over above his. “It looks like Jade is feeling better. I told you she likes shy guys.”

Jade reached into the open fly and clutched on. Benjamin sat straight up with increasing apprehension. Jade looked up at Benjamin and Sapphire, opening her eyes for the first time. Her dark pupils covered the entire eyeball of each eye, causing Benjamin and Sapphire to gasp in unison. A devilish grin crossed Jade’s face.

“What’s wrong with her?!” Benjamin yelped.

“I have no idea,” Sapphire said with distress. “Jade, Honey…I need you to let go of Benjamin.”

Jade still held a tight grip inside Benjamin’s fly. He squirmed to pull away but could not. Before anyone could do anything else, Jade’s head dove down to her hand in Benjamin’s jeans and bit down on him as hard as she could.

“Aaaaaahhhhhh!!” Benjamin shrieked in agony. He immediately jumped up in the chair. The top of his head crashed into the bottom of Sapphire’s jaw, causing her to bite her tongue and sending her crashing to the floor.

Still yelling in horror, Benjamin stood up, his hands holding on to the wet denim of his jeans drenched in blood.

Big Mike, the security guard that was standing outside of the door, came charging in. “What the hell’s going on in here?”

He surveyed the scene to see both strippers on the ground bleeding at the mouth. He angrily rushed to grab Benjamin.

Benjamin turned to him, still screaming, “Aaahhhh!!”

“Whoa, what the – stay back!” Big Mike was stunned at the sight of Benjamin holding his hands around a bloody mess at his crotch, tears racing down his face.

“Get out of my way,” Benjamin wailed as he headed for the door. Big Mike put his hands in the air and stepped to the side, wanting nothing to do with whatever was happening.

Benjamin shuffled bow-legged back out to the club. It was dark enough that no one could see the blood gushing down his pant legs.

He burst through the front door out to the parking lot. Richie, the manager, and the front-door bouncer were both outside. The two men stared, mouths opened, at Benjamin. He gingerly galloped to his truck and hopped in, letting out a slight moan. He pulled out of the parking lot, leaving Richie and the bouncer unmoved, still staring, mouths opened.

He leaned over the steering wheel for support as he headed back home. With tears steadily flowing down his face, he flipped the radio station. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon.

A different voice was preaching on the radio: “
Ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another and serve the devil, who is the master of sin. Mosiah, four-fourteen.”

chapter one

I
can remember exactly when it all started.
It was early morning and I was helping my father unload some grain. A truck came roaring down the road, reckless as all get-out. It was Benjamin “B.G” Gardner. He hobbled out of the truck and was walkin’ mighty crooked, looking like a sidewinder after you chop its tail off.

If I had to describe Benjamin in two words I would probably use:
bleeding
and
gums
.

It looked like he still had his kid teeth, honest. They were these small little pieces, none of them touching each other. They all sat separate, jutting out of swollen, bleeding gums. And the teeth didn’t look like they were securely in there; my guess was if you grabbed hold of one of ‘em they would slide right out of those mushy gums.

Benjamin thought we called him “B.G.” due to his initials and all, but it really stood for “Bleeding Gums.”

Sometimes I felt like they kept B.G. on the compound just to give us living proof of what can become of you if you don’t follow the principle. He was a mess of a man, and it seemed like he was fighting a lot of personal demons.

Benjamin was named after a Nephite King. The King was a prophet in ancient times. He ruled the land of Zarahelma. That’s really all I know about that.

As I continued helping my father unload the grain I could see B.G. making a beeline straight towards me. Well, he was walking all crooked-like so I suppose beeline isn’t the best choice of word. At any rate, point being, he was heading my way.

“Brother Elias! I was hoping I could borrow you for a few moments,” Benjamin said, standing cross-legged and hunched over. I could see stained blood darn-near everywhere on him.

If I had to describe myself in two words I would probably use:
righteous
and
doctor
.

“Is everything alright?” I asked. “What is all this blood from?”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about.” He looked up at my father, and then leaned in closer to me. “Do you think we could go into your office to talk?”

“Sure. Why don’t you head over and take a seat. I’ll tidy up and meet you over there.”

Relief washed over his face. “Thanks, Doc.”

I don’t believe I was named after anybody in particular, but my name, Elias, means:
a prophet who helps restore something of particular importance
. That’s really all I know about that.

After unloading the final sacks of grain, I cleaned off and headed to our medical station. I ran my hands through my neglected, dingy blonde hair, trying to make myself presentable after the hard morning work with my father.

It was just a quick walk away from the house to the medical station, as most things on the compound were. Our modest community was huddled tightly between a thickset forest that ran along the base of towering red rock mountains.

When I arrived B.G. was already sitting on the examination table, folded over himself. I went to the drawer and grabbed a pair of surgical gloves.

“Oh, Brother Elias! I am in bad shape…bad, bad shape,” Benjamin explained.

“Okay. Well, why don’t we have a look?”

“I got hurt…right down here.” Benjamin removed his hands from his lap.

“Right here?” I asked.

After Benjamin’s solemn nod I peeled back the unbuttoned fly which was sopped in blood. I immediately tried to change the shocked look on my face as I knew he was watching my reaction.

“Okay,” I tried to compose myself out loud. “Can you tell me what happened?”

If I had to describe what I was looking at in two words I would probably use:
mangled
and
mess
.

Benjamin tried to explain, “You see, Doc, I fell into this nasty thatch of sticker bushes.”

“You fell into some bushes? I must say, Brother Benjamin, that these wounds are much too deep to be caused by something like that. And if I can be honest, I don’t see any other scratches on you.”

“Well that’s the thing of it. When I fell into the bushes I was bitten by a raccoon. Ornery fella bit me something fierce!”