Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
His mind was wild and whirling. Bible scriptures flooded his brain, fluttering and turning on their own. The pages began to tear, and fly around the room like cream colored birds with black lettered tattoos. The scriptures poured out of his mouth, and he spoke in tongues, choking on his own voice! He started spinning around, praising God, thanking him for his daddy dying, and his mother being spared another night at the hands of a ghastly man used merely to bring him into the world. The spirit became heavy and light, all at once.
Daddy, you had a hard life. I almost forgive you. You didn’t want your sons to grow up and be scared of their own shadows. Scared to go out and make a living. Scared to challenge rules that were unfair, and to handle people who’d done us wrong. You told us to read our Bibles, stay away from drugs, keep clean, and work hard.
“My Tina said I became my father, the very man I had hated, once I became a man. Now, I’ve had plenty of women since Tina. I’ve loved many, but been in love only once. That’s what my daughter told me about her dead lover… about Kage’s daddy. Sarah’s mama, Dorothy, was a wife of mine, so long ago. She lives far away now, and we don’t speak. Nevertheless, she was what we called a handsome woman, back in my day. I didn’t marry her for her beauty, so it wasn’t of any concern to me.
“I married her for her strength. I wanted to destroy that strength because it was beautiful, like her soul. Break her down. If she could take it, she passed the test, but like all the others, she failed. Because she wasn’t as strong as Tina. I felt she only pretended to be. Dorothy produced a beautiful daughter – gave me my Sarah. When Sarah was born, she was one of the prettiest babies this town had ever seen. Sarah grew up a good child. Decent grades, polite, and mild-mannered. She was obedient for the most part, but had a little bit of a witchy streak.” He took a deep breath, and held his head high. Feeling better now.
“I’m not sure where she got it from—her mother was a devoted Christian. Sarah at one point began reading up on evil things. Drawn to the peculiar and mysterious things in life. Black magic, the occult and such. She liked horror movies and horoscopes. She was a bit of a strange child, but also so gorgeous and so sweet, it was overlooked. Said she could see and feel things, too. I didn’t like that, so I forbade her from talking about it, especially in mixed company. Psychics don’t exist, and God says in His word that anyone claiming to predict the future is not to be trusted. It’s demonic. I threw away strange cards she had in her room—with Egyptian and Roman symbols all over ’em. I threw away her silk cloths she used for chanting and prayers. I threw away her crystals and candles—all of that weird shit she’d bought with my money. Shit that Tina liked, too… But no matter what I threw away, she never lost her composure with me about it. It was a bizarre reaction, in retrospect.
“Like she knew something that I didn’t. The bottled herbs. The dark rock and roll records. The dancing and clapping alone in her room. Sarah loved music, the kind that vibrated through you. She loved soul music, and rock the most. She played those records loud, stating it was a way for God and the dead to speak to folks. I told her to stop saying that crazy shit. Sarah was like some blonde-haired gypsy that had been adopted by strange spirits, but was passing herself off as my child. The face of an angel, the heart of a sorcerer. I clung to that child because some parts of her reminded me of my Tina. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was there. Not in a romantic way, but the way she’d lean into different worlds, naturally. She was uninhibited. Free. Like Tina. She didn’t care about the opinions of others. Like Tina.
“Then, she ran off and found an awful man to fall in love with. Some believed it was to spite me. Some said that it was true love. His name was Kane Austin. He was about six foot five, long dark brown hair, tattoos all over his body, and looked every bit how he behaved. He was the leader of a motorcycle gang—an abomination. Then, come to find out, he was an atheist. How could she? Older than my Sarah, he got his hooks into my child and never let go. The more I tried to break them apart, the more they came together—so much so, he got my daughter pregnant, out of wedlock. I was furious. She was ecstatic. She and Kane produced a son. Her one and only child. Kage Wilde.