The Blameless Bystander Ch. 05

She must have sensed it when he was ready to finally explode. "Pour it into me!" she cried. He, again, did as she told him. In the end, their bodies were slick with sweat. Vicki's moisture had dried on James' face, leaving it with a sticky feeling. He rolled off to the side. They both panted from the exertion. Vicki rested her head on his shoulder and lay alongside him.

"You're a fast learner, James. That was very nice," she purred as she lightly stroked her fingertips over his nipple. "Soon you'll know all of my secrets."

"There's more?" he asked.

"Yes, there are more." she declared. "But I'll only give them up one at a time." She rose up a little and kissed him. "Let's take a shower together," she lilted in a happy voice. "Then you can go home to your own bed and leave me to mine. We've got an early day tomorrow."

*************

It was mid-morning on Sunday. While James and Vicki made small talk at her breakfast table a quite different scene played out at the First Baptist Church. The Reverend Chandler had already led the congregation in prayer. The choir was turning in a fine rendition of "Rock of Ages", the Reverend's favorite. Below the choir loft the congregation sang along. It was a stronger voice than usual coming from the rows of pews.

The increase in the collection was a welcome relief. There would be some extra to help the church get caught up on the mortgage. The Reverend stood looking out on the sea of expectant faces. It was satisfying to know that they had gathered especially to hear what Harvey English had told them he would say.

The voices of the choir fell to silence. The organ did the same after a few more closing chords. Ethan did not turn abruptly and stride to the pulpit. He stood still for half a minute, looking out again over the flock, as if he dared them to demand that he ascend the steps to the pulpit. The people looked back at him, wondering and waiting. Eyes were wide. Some jaws slackened and dropped open. Ethan sensed the timing and walked slowly. When he reached the steps, he mounted them as if he carried a heavy burden. His faced was etched in pain, as if it hurt to ponder what he was about to say to them.

When he arrived at the top of the pedestal where stood the pulpit he grasped the lectern tightly with both hands, turning the knuckles white, as if bracing himself against the furies of heaven and hell. He stood ramrod straight, casting his eyes above, moving his lips in silent prayer. Ethan slowly lowered his head and began his sermon in a booming voice, aided by the public address system of the church.

"Hear, oh Israel! Thy children cry out for thy succor from the torment of Babylon. The Serpent of In-i-quit-y hisses at their feet!" he thundered out. He paused, allowing the assemblage to ponder the words and he gauged their impact on the hollow faces in the pews.

"I'm so good at this!" he thought to himself. "They think that I'm quoting Scripture."

After a few seconds he continued. "How true those words were in ancient days when the Israelites were enslaved in Babylonia. Here we are—thousands of years later—in modernity. Are those words still true today?" A few 'yea, yea's' filtered forward from the crowd. "Yes, our society has become a modern-day Babylon, full of false gods and temptations of the flesh." Ethan looked down at Jarrod in the front pew. He looked nervous. The Reverend ignored him. "What father would not give all to save his son? To what ends would a mother go for a daughter?" he stormed, then spoke quietly. "Is it enough? Can it ever be enough? Inside our homes we fear the Lord. What about outside?" He shook his head sadly.

"One needs only to pick up a newspaper, or view the evening news to know of what I speak. Cities rife with sin! Drugs! Sex! Brothels! Pornography! Can we be safe in our small town?"

"No!" a man cried from the midst of the congregation.

The Reverend stretched his long arm our straight and pointed a finger at the man. "You're right, Brother!" he answered. "One need only read the 'selections' at the Bates Movie House this very week." He waved a newspaper clipping that the assemblage assumed to be the movie listing. It served to verify his claim. It reminded them that all that he uttered from the pulpit was God's own truth.

The Reverend orated for the next fifteen minutes on a familiar theme. It was, in most ways, a sermon like countless others he had performed over the years. On this Sunday, the mood was different. The faithful were more easily inflamed. There was expectation, a promise of "warning and revelation" that he had delivered through his clarion, Harvey the Barber. It was a two act play, in which Act I was memorized by the audience, serving to pave the way for Act II. It was the second stanza for which they all came. The mention of children in the prelude kept them alert, because they knew that it was about something in the school.

Soon enough, it came time for the Second Act. Jarrod Morris shifted in his seat. The worshipers sensed it coming.

"Wolves are amongst us in Sheep's Clothing." he breathed out in an urgent tone. "Some claim to be servants the Lord, but their real aim is to lead our children to sin." A murmur spread trough the assembly. "I hold proof in my hand." He waived another newspaper clipping over his head. The congregation drew in a collective gasp. Some strained to make out the headline, but it was too far away. Jarrod Morris was wide-eyed and perspiring.

Ethan fell silent for a moment, but kept holding the clipping over his head.

"Just concentrate and do this right and you'll have them." Ethan said to himself.

Ethan slowly lowered his hand holding the paper to eye level and read the headline. "Lesbian bishop ordained," he enunciated slowly. "A woman of the cloth—flaunting her abomination under the approving eyes of her church. All their robes and pious words do not matter. It is still an abomination."

The assembly grumbled, showing God their displeasure.

"There is more; there are others. We have all heard about them. Do I need to remind you?" The crowd awaited the revelation in awe. "Defrocked priests!" Ethan shouted, ignoring the lack of connection. "Pedophiles, stripped of their ordinations, let out silently into the public, to commit their deadly sins over and over again on weak and unsuspecting youth." Ethan paused to let the point sink in. He leaned forward from the pulpit. His bloodshot eyes filled with hatred and rage. He was shaking. He spied Mrs. Corbett nearby. He pointed at her and directed his stare her way.

"One might be teaching in Bates!" he hissed.

The congregation drew in a collective breath. Mrs. Corbett let out a muffled wail, and then began fanning herself with her church bulletin (both pages) to prevent herself from fainting.

Ethan straightened up, placid and serene, as though the expurgation had exorcized the demon. "I'll say no more today," he said calmly, "except, that it is up to all of us to do the work of the Lord."

He descended slowly from the pulpit. The final hymn was "Give Me That Old Time Religion". The choir shook the rafters with the strains of the old hymn. Ethan sang with them and clapped out the rhythm. The spirit infected the people in the pews. They felt Righteousness descending on them; who would resist?

It wasn't necessary for Ethan to lay out his evidence like a lawyer. He had implied that he had knowledge of something and the people wanted to believe him. It was enough.

Ethan had them.

*****

TO BE CONTINUED...

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