The Book of Zion: Dusty
By D.T and Mr Stepford
Dusty 4
Dusty woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed then had in a longtime. But his mind was as foggy as it would have been after a long night of drinking. It was pretty much a complete blur after the sister left. There was more of a spring to his step when he got out of bed but that came to a streaking Holt when he got a look at himself in the mirror “My Hair!” he thinks to himself. The other day it seem shorter but there was no doubt about it this time as it barley touch his shoulders. On a positive note his ache had seem to clear up, in fact his skin never look better. Of course there was the mystery of the light blue stripe pajamas he was wearing “This is something my grandpa would wear to bed. Where did it come from” Just then he remember that the sister did his laundry. Dusty looked over at his closet and while they was a array of his usual attire mix in with them were polo and oxford shirts along with v neck sweaters and a few pairs of slacks and dockers. Next to his beat up sneaker was a pair of loafers. “What in the heck is going on?.....Wait did I just Say Heck?”
This time Caroline and Grace didn’t bother to knock but simply let themselves in and went to work. Caroline started Dustin’s breakfast: pancakes and sausage while Grace tidied the rest of the house. While Dustin ate she’d give his bedroom a proper going-over. When the man himself appeared on the stairs she bid him good morning with a smile. “Um...Good Morning” Dusty said back still quite confused how all this came about. “I hope I am not out of turn for saying this” Grace Said “But you look quite nice this morning”. “What?” Dusty said, he looked down and saw the that he was wearing a black polo neatly tuck into a pair of tan docker with a brown belt “Why did I put this on?” he thinks to himself as he stare at the loafer that adore his feet.
“Perfect timing,” Caroline said as she came out of the kitchen. Her pink dress was protected by a white apron with a rosebud pattern in matching pink. Like all her aprons it had been made for her by her mothers and sisters. Caroline wasn’t quite as gifted in the needle arts. She could replace buttons and mend tears well enough, but Jacqueline was the truly gifted seamstress. “Your breakfast is ready.”
“I agree with Sister Grace,” she added. “You look very well this morning.” This time he felt more flattery then confusion by the compliment. Even with the apron Dusty was quite attracted to Caroline. “Why don’t more young ladies dress like that?” This mysterious thought popped into his head. As Dustin began to eat Caroline pressed Play and went to start the dishes. She worked more slowly however as she listened to her beloved father’s voice.
“Heed the words Elazer, whom the Lord was pleased to name as His Prophet: Be not complacent in your paternal duties for the Daughters of Zion are born as innocent and tender as the yearling lamb and the sapling tree. Without the shepherd the sheep would wander and be lost, at the mercy of the wild beasts. Without the farmer, the tree would grow wild and its fruit would rot on the branch. Therefore if a woman have no father, nor any kinsman to stand as such, a Brother of the Priesthood shall take her into his household as a daughter and cherish her accordingly until the day her husband shall receive her.”
Despite her best efforts to be brave, homesickness surged up within Caroline and in the pause of the playback Dusty could hear a sob escape from her throat. “Caroline” Dusty said “What is a matter” “I’m sorry,” she said taking a handkerchief from her pocket. Dusty couldn’t help noticing that her makeup stayed perfect in spite of the tears. “This is my first time away from my family,” she said. “I get a little homesick sometimes.” Caroline kneel down in front Dusty. He didn’t know why but the sight of her looking up at him felt so.....Right. Then as if some strange force took over his body Dusti....Dusty put his hand under her chin and said. “My precious sheep it must be hard to be away from your Shepard. But I know the Prophet is proud of you”
Caroline smiled through her tears. For a moment she had a sense of being exactly where she belonged. “It is hard,” she confessed, “but I’m not ungrateful. Uncle Simon, my guardian and his wives have been very good to me. They’re hosting an Open House at the Mission Center today. I’d love to introduce you to them.” Dusty mind was all over the place, he didn’t know why he said what he said....But it felt so good to see her smile and while the last thing he wanted to do was visit the mission center...he just couldn’t tell her no “Um...Sure” “Wonderful!” Caroline said placing her hand on his knee. “Grace and I have other calls to make this morning, but we could take you over there for lunch.”
The warmth of her touch sent Dusty into a deeper state of confusion....A part of him was pleased to make her happy another part was dreading having to go to the center. But his state of cognitive dissidence ceased as did all thought when Caroline turn on the MP3 player and he heard the Prophet voice “Heed the words Elazer, whom the Lord was pleased to name as His Prophet: Be not complacent in your paternal duties for the Daughters of Zion........
When they reached Claudia’s house, Sister Judith arrived. Caroline remembered her from Covenant and the two women hugged. Judith and Grace already knew each other since Judith was Brother Matthew’s niece and he served as her guardian. “I understand we have a case of melancholy here,” Judith said as the Grace and Caroline helped her with her gear. “I believe so,” Caroline said as they waited at the door.
Claudia looked a bit better this morning: her eyes weren’t as puffy and she was in leggings and an oversize top. While Grace and Caroline went to work on the house and laundry, Judith gave Claudia a facial and a trim. Sister Sophia was trying to put together a mobile salon, but with construction started on the Church on the Mountain, there weren’t as many skilled Brothers available as there used to be. Oh, well, Heavenly Father would provide and she would make best use of what she had.
“Without the shepherd the sheep would wander and be lost, at the mercy of the wild beasts. Without the farmer, the tree would grow wild and its fruit would rot on the branch.” The prophet voice flowed through Dustin mind. His breaths would follow the rhythm of the prophet voice, inhaling his chest would touch the breast of charcoal grey suit, during the exhale his chest would retract back along with his blue tie. Dustin looked down and saw Caroline kneeling before him, her head resting in his lap. Dustin gently stroke her hair. How right this all felt how.....
As the batteries died on the MP3 Dusty seemed to come to life again with the same foggy state mind that he had when he woke up this morning. He found himself sitting on the couch still in his polo and dockers with The Book of Zion open on his lap. “What have I gotten myself into”
After they finished hanging some dresses in Claudia’s closet the girls were startled by a heartrending sob. Hurrying downstairs they found Claudia weeping in Judith’s arms. “Let it all out, Sister,” Judith was saying. “Let Heavenly Father wash all that awful pain away.” Caroline had witnessed such moments but never experienced it herself. Grace recalled her own leading up to her conversion. It was a hard thing letting go of the lies you believed were true. She hoped Claudia would not come back here to be alone. If this tree was ever to bear good fruit, it would need the constant care of a devoted farmer.
Dusty skim through the Book of Zion and was taken back at the historical inaccuracy in it. While he wasn’t a great student he did have a love for US history and the things in this book was outright lies. Not that he had ever really consider join, but he couldn’t be involved with a organization that was this dishonest about history
After seeing Claudia off in Sister Judith’s capable care, the girls made the rest of the rounds. At the other house where there was usually no answer they realized the mail had piled up. The place looked abandoned. This time only one door was slammed in their faces. The woman who answered the other door took the brochure but wouldn’t let them in. Grace thought maybe she didn’t speak English. Finally they were ready to return to Dustin’s house.
“Man I hope no one notices me” Dusty thought to himself as he walked with the sister to the mission center. Of course the docker and the polo he was wearing made him almost unrecognizable anyway. “why didn’t I change?” The Mission Center was busier than usual because of the Open House. Added to that a Greyhound bus had broken down in the city center and some of the travelers on it had wandered over.
“Caroline, Grace, how delightful to see you,” a woman in a hunter green dress and chocolate brown heels greeted them. She seemed to be about forty but it was hard for Dusty to tell. “Sister Sophia!” Both girls greeted her with hugs and kissed. “How is Claudia?” Grace asked. “I believe she may be on the way to choosing the right path,” Sophia said. “Sister Marilyn and Bishop Simon are with her now.”
Grace nodded. Sister Marilyn was Bishop Simon’s third wife and a former fashion designer. Well, in a way she still was, but now all her designs conformed to Heavenly Father’s standards of modesty and femininity. Sister Marilyn often advised new converts on how to dress appropriately. “I don’t believe I’ve met this Brother,” Sophia said turning to Dusty.
In a corner of his mind that he did not want to acknowledge he real like her calling him Brother. “I’m Dusti....Dusty” “Pleased to meet you, Dustin,” she said. “I’m delighted to see these two are taking such good care of you. I’ll leave you in their capable hands.” Grace and Caroline each took one of Dustin’s arms and led him around. They showed him to the soup kitchen dining area where Sister Natalie was passing out sandwiches. “It’s important to nourish the body and the spirit properly,” she said greeting the girls with a hug and kiss. Dusty became aware of the Scripture reading in the background, not obvious, but the kind of volume that would let the words sink in on a subliminal level.
Next up was the barbershop where Grace introduced him to Brother Matthew.“Brother Dustin the sister have told me a lot about you” Matthew placed his hand firmly on Dusty shoulder. The strength of his grip sent wave through his body. " I currently have a opening in my schedule would you care for a trim” Matthew said. Dusty still didn’t understand why his hair was as short as it was, the last thing it wanted was for it to be shorter. “Um..yeah..I don’t....” “But Dustin Brother Matthew is the best barber in town” Grace said as she touch his other shoulder. The strength of the Iron hand on one side and the touch of the velvet glove dissolved his resistance. “Um..Maybe just a little trim”
“We’ll wait right here for you,” Caroline said. She’d never felt comfortable doing more than standing in the doorway of the barbershop unless she was delivering lunch. It was a very masculine place, unlike the salon.
Dusty felt like he walked into a time capsule, the room looked like it came straight from the 50’s with it checkered tile floors and shiny chromes chair. On the wall were pictures of clean shaven men with short hair wearing suits. “They all look the same” Dusty thought to himself. Matthew directed Dusty to a chair and placed a apron on him. Dusty was about to remind Matthew that he just wanted a trim when through the reflection in the mirror he saw a picture of the prophet wearing a black suit with a red tie, his hair perfectly part on one side and his eyes his Blue eyes. Dusty eyes lock with his as Matthew began to cut.
The sermon that was playing in the background began to get louder until it was all Dusty could hear. “One of the many criticism of the church from the sinful world is that we are all the same” the prophet voice rang through the barber shop. “We talk, act and dress the same. That to join the One True Church is to sign away your individuality. But this but one the adversary many lies, for what they call conformity, we call UNITY, What they call a cult, We call a BROTHERHOOD, For what they call individuality, We call a sickness. A sickness that allows men to indulge in gluttony and selfishness and thus make them weak. But once you take off the filthy rags of the sinful world and adore the holy garments of the One True Church...You will lost all desire to see yourself as a individual and you shall EMBRACE the BROTHERHOOD and you shall know true strength”
Dusty had never had a brother growing up, or a father for that matter. None of his mom’s boyfriends had had much of a paternal instinct. Looking at the prophet’s photo he found himself curious about the man’s family. Did Caroline have any brothers? Were her mothers and sisters all just like her?Deep inside something in him woke that he’d thought long dead and buried: an almost primordial yearning for masculine companionship.
“Were done” Matthew voice awoke Dusty from his slumber and straight into a state of shock. “Oh shit, what did he do” he thought himself. The sides and back of his hair was around an inch long, with about four inches on top. It was evenly blended and feel slightly square and was parted on the right side. " Well what do you think?” Matthew ask as he took off Dusty apron inside his mind Dusty knew exactly what he wanted to tell him but just then his eye caught the picture of the prophet “Our Hair look same” this thought brought a strange sense of comfort to Dusti...Dusty. Words like Unity, Brotherhood and Strength began to dance in his mind. “Um...it looks....Good”
“’Does not the very nature of things tell us that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him, but if a woman has long hair it is her glory?’” Matthew quoted. “Many of the men who walk in here have fallen into bad habits. Some were never taught good habits to begin with. Now I’m sure the girls have a lot more to show you.”