Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
PART I
SPEAKING IN TONGUES
12
MARINA’S MOTHER WAS short with her for the next three days, and not even Trey and Gene waiting for her and Dot at Kresge’s every afternoon could make her feel better. Marina did her chores and made herself scarce. Father either didn’t notice or didn’t care, but he was pleased when she brought home an E on her math test.
“What happened?” he asked over dinner Wednesday just before church.
“Last week, Trey showed me how. Remember? I told you how we met.”
“Oh, yes. Yes. Excellent.” He perused the test, his lips pursing here and there. “He did well, then. I like that young man more and more.”
Marina was very, very pleased by this.
“And English?”
“We had a pop quiz,” she said proudly and handed it over. “I got a perfect score!”
His eyebrows rose and took it. “A Tale of Two Cities,” he mused. “Mm hmm. Mm, I see, yes.” He slid her a glance. “Did he help you here too?”
“He didn’t tell me answers or spoil the story for me. He just told me how to read the story in a way I could understand and enjoy it. Well, turns out, I was already doing that, but I just wasn’t calling them the right things and I was getting confused. It was easy after he straightened all that out for me. I even wrote a little essay at the end there for extra credit.”
“Mm hmm. ‘The Noble Lout.’” He read through it then nodded approvingly—perhaps impressed. “I hope,” he said as he passed it back to her, “that he doesn’t come to see you as merely a pupil.”
Marina hesitated. “What do you hope for?”
“Well,” he said matter-of-factly, “you’re a bit too young yet, but he seems intent on settling down and I would not object if he should find you a suitable wife in a year or two, provided he remains interested.”
Wife! Marina caught her breath. She hadn’t allowed herself to even think the word, much less anything else.
“We don’t know anything about him,” Mother said tightly, sawing at her liver’n’onions. “They met last week. He has helped her with her homework.”
“And come to church!” Marina said earnestly. “He re-dedicated himself to Jesus the first night.”
“Kneeling at the altar means nothing,” she said dismissively.
“Now, Mother,” Father said gently, “our little girl’s growing up. We can’t keep her here forever.”
Marina didn’t like this discord between her parents. To her recollection, Mother had never contradicted Father’s wishes, or if she had, she hadn’t done it in front of Marina. On the other hand, Father made a point Marina had never thought of: What was she going to do when she graduated from high school and … didn’t have a beau? Was she going to stay at home, being a burden to her parents? Girls got married soon after high school or, as in Dot’s case, went to college to become teachers or nurses.
Marina didn’t want to go to college or become a teacher or nurse, but she had no skills or talents to make her own way in the world.
“Mother,” Marina ventured, “do you want me to stay after high school?”
She slammed her fork down and glared at her. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re—”
Marina waited, relieved because if this was why she was angry … “I’ll stay if you want me to, Mother,” she said softly. “Nobody will want to marry me and I won’t be suited to do a single thing on my own and when Dot leaves for college, why … Well, I just don’t want to be a burden to you.”
Mother seemed to relax a little and flicked a glance at her. “Of course you’re not a burden, Marina. But Mr. Dunham does seem rather determined.”
Marina shrugged, reality asserting itself once again. “He’s a lot smarter than I,” she murmured, looking down at her plate and picking at her liver. She hated liver. “And handsome. A prettier girl will turn his head soon enough and she’ll be smarter than I ever will be. I would just like to enjoy having a beau for a little while. May I, Mother?”
Marina’s mother studied her for what seemed an eon, then sighed. “I see. You’re right of course.” Marina felt vaguely disappointed in her easy agreement. “I don’t suppose any harm can come of keeping company with him until you—until he gets bored, as young men do, so long as Dorothy is with you. I can say a lot of bad things about her, but in this case her off-putting behavior may be advantageous.”
Until he gets bored of you …
Marina nodded sadly, suddenly seeing herself at twenty, still sitting at the table with her parents and discussing … something. Twenty-five. Thirty. No beau. No job. Just chores and books and taking care of her elderly folks.
“May I be excused?” she asked quietly. “I want to finish the kitchen before church so I have time to do tomorrow’s assignments after.”
“Of course.”
• • •
Marina’s heart raced in delight. He was here! Again! And so was Gene!
Trey smiled at her as she and Dot rearranged themselves to give the men room to sit with them. She’d had no reason to think Trey would be here, as at Kresge’s, he had said nothing of attending, much less Gene.
He leaned into her and whispered, “I think you were right about Gene.”
“I know,” she whispered back.
“Has Dot said anything?”
Marina shook her head because the service was starting and she didn’t want to give Mother a reason to be mad at her again—except she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened since Monday afternoon.
Gene had started off a bit on the shy side, but made an effort to ask Dot about her interests haltingly, as if he couldn’t quite form his vowels properly. Dot had made an effort to look in his eyes and answer, but she couldn’t look at him for more than a few seconds and she’d stammered a lot. Tuesday had been a bit better, as Gene remembered what Dot had said and got her to open up just a teeny bit more. This afternoon, Dot had started off more her perky self, but she was nowhere near normal.
Then after a few false starts, Gene asked her about her church and Dot lit up like Fourth of July fireworks.
Once again, Marina felt herself allied with Trey as they exchanged glances and merely listened. Marina and Dot had never discussed her religion this deeply because Marina didn’t want to hear it and Dot didn’t want to expose herself too much in case Marina found it too off-putting. It was their only real barrier to knowing everything about each other.
But just about the time Marina was getting uncomfortable with Dot’s beliefs, she felt Trey’s hand under the table, closing around hers. She shot him a surprised look and he smiled wryly at her. She couldn’t help but smile back because it said he no more wanted to hear this than she did.
Going against every discomfort in her body, she forced herself to squeeze Trey’s hand lightly.
Gene, on the other hand, seemed to be soaking in every word, watching Dot raptly while she spoke with joy Marina hadn’t ever seen her display, and made giant gestures with her hands. Gene sipped his phosphate, asked for another, nibbled on the onion rings, and never once took his eyes off her or interrupted her. When she finished a thought, he asked a question that sent her off again.
“Soooo how does your god decide who goes to hell?” he asked.
“Oh,” she said brightly. “We don’t believe in hell.”
Of course, Marina already knew that, but that had caught Trey’s attention too. “You don’t believe in hell,” he said flatly, his first contribution to the conversation.
“No. After judgment, the worst sinners of all sinners go to a place that’s like Earth, but a whole lot prettier. I don’t know what they do there. I think I might be bored after a while.”
“The worst of the worst,” Trey repeated.
Dot nodded. “My father says spending eternity with your regrets is enough hell for anybody. You don’t need to burn for them, too.”
Gene and Trey exchanged glances. “Regret,” Gene said carefully. “Not guilt.”
Dot shook her head. “You don’t learn anything from guilt. Guilt makes you stay in one place. You learn from regret and you can go forward, doing better as you learn more. At least, that’s what my father says.”
“If you’re spending eternity with your regrets, you’re not learning anything,” Trey pointed out. “If you don’t have any way to advance, it’s just guilt spelled differently.”
Dot blinked. “Oh. You’re right, I suppose. In that case, it must fade because punishment isn’t the point. Justice is. The punishment is not having God’s presence with you all the time, but my father says some people don’t want that anyway and so why would God make them feel his presence if they don’t want to? For those people, that’s a mercy.”
Marina was watching this very carefully because she expected both men to challenge her, especially Trey. Gene had mentioned he’d grown up Catholic. Trey was Methodist. They and Marina all believed in a place of eternal torment.
Dot was finished, eagerly looking between Gene and Trey for more questions. Trey sat back and folded his arms across his chest and said, “Huh,” while contemplating the back wall of Kresge’s.
Gene, on the other hand, stared at Dot, who stared right back with bright eyes and a happy smile. As Marina watched, Gene’s expression subtly changed from surprise to the same look every other boy who wanted Dot’s attention gave her.
And Dot didn’t notice.
Marina drew her lips between her teeth and wondered if Trey had noticed, but it didn’t matter. Marina decided to keep her thoughts to herself because she suspected Trey was now paying Gene, so she wasn’t quite sure if Gene was acting.
Finally Gene spoke. “Everybody. Everybody’s saved. Nobody goes to hell.”
“Everybody,” Dot affirmed. “There is no burning lake of fire. My father says on Judgment Day, you get what you deserve, but you’re probably going to be content with it.”
Gene gestured toward Marina. “But you go to her church on Wednesdays.”
Dot’s smile faded a little. “I’m being nice. Marina knows that. I wish her father would let her come to my church or even our activities, but—”
“What activities?” he asked. “You don’t have church on Wednesday nights like everybody else?”
She shook her head. “We have our weekday meetings on Tuesdays, which aren’t at all like other churches, but on Fridays and Saturdays, we have talent shows or plays or dances—”
“You dance?” Trey blurted.
Dot nodded. “I know most churches don’t, but we do.”
“What kind of dancing?”
“Oh, the Lindy Hop,” she gushed. “I love the Lindy Hop.”
“You do?” Gene asked thinly, his complexion paling a little.
“Oh, yes! My dance partner and I—”
“You have a dance partner? Are … you and he … ?”
“Oh, no,” Dot said airily. “He’s never walked out with a girl at all. He said he and his best friend are going to live together and be confirmed old bachelors.” Gene nodded sagely. Trey’s mouth pursed. “That’s why I like him. He doesn’t make cow eyes at me.”
Marina sighed and stopped listening to study the wall on her left, the wallpaper she saw every afternoon, but had never had a reason to examine this closely.
“ … outfit Marina made for me. I wish she could come and see for herself.”
Marina, jolted out of her melancholy, cast a vague smile across the table.
“Marina,” Gene asked politely, “would your parents allow you to go to Dot’s talent show if Trey and I went too?”
Marina was stunned, but Dot squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea! Yes, Marina, you must ask. Your parents like Trey and if they meet Gene, too … ”
“I’ll ask,” Marina murmured. “But I doubt it. Your parents won’t mind if Gene goes.”
Dot’s face fell. “But I wanted you to see it, too. Mama wishes she had time for you to teach her how to sew as well as you do, but with a new baby and all … ”
Dot kept chattering about her brand-new baby sister and Marina’s head started to hurt. Yes, she wanted to go to Dot’s church Friday night to see her do her skit in the talent show in the dress Marina had made for her. Yes, she wanted to go with Trey and Gene. No, she wouldn’t be allowed to.
She started when Trey nudged her. “Hey, listen, you two mind if we got some air?”
Dot and Gene both waved them off, Dot never missing a beat, while Trey slid out of the booth and assisted Marina out.
Once they were outside, Marina cleared her throat. “Um, thank you. We … don’t talk about those things.”
“Why not?” he asked soberly, stepping around her to walk closest to the curb, his hands behind his back.
“My father says they’re sinful and I … ” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to put it into words. You say things that help me understand what I think, but I can’t do that for myself.”
“Try me.”
He’d understood her so far, so she began. “I don’t know how Dot can call herself a good girl when she dances. And the Lindy Hop. That’s— Boys touch you— Places. So they can throw you in the air. And then your dress— Um … ” Her face heated. “Um.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, it’s not proper, those dances.”
Trey didn’t speak for a long while as they strolled up Main Street to Petticoat Lane and turned the corner toward Walnut. “Dot’s generally a kind person, isn’t she?”
Marina gasped. “Oh, yes, of course! I didn’t mean to say she wasn’t.”
“I know. Aside from the Lindy Hop, she’s a proper young lady, is she not? I get that impression, anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Would you say your father would not let you run with her if he thought she was not a proper young lady, fit for his daughter to keep company?”
“My parents don’t like her.”
“Is it her or her religion?”
Marina thought.
“Is there anyone your parents would absolutely forbid you to run with?”
Marina shrugged. “Lots, I suppose. The girls my age at church and most of the girls at school have their own cliques. They don’t want to run with preachers’ daughters.”
“But Dot is at least acceptable.”
“My father says God told him I am to work on saving Dot’s soul.”
“But Dot thinks her soul is already saved. She thinks your theology is just as misguided as your father thinks hers is. She’s just not intimidated by yours the way your father is hers.”
Marina took umbrage at that. “My father is not intimidated by anything!”
“Of course not,” he said immediately, without a trace of sarcasm. “I apologize. Anyway, Gene seems to have gotten his act together, don’t you think?” he teased.
Marina smiled up at him. “Yes, thank you. But I don’t think you’re going to have to pay him anymore.”
Trey stopped cold. “What do you mean by that?”
Marina tilted her head. “He just fell in love with her.”
12
If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.
44 minutes in and still no comments? Where is everyone?
Frozen.
Too Late: Frozen
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VUPfwARKi1Y&feature=shares
And my comment is off-topic. Sorry Mojo.
We had lunch with this guy and his wife today. Fascinating fellow, he made a fortune, then lost it, then rebuilt himself. He is writing a book about the early days of Taos, NM and contacted my about my family info of the time and place. He wrestled away the contract for road signs from the Prison-Government complex. Before he started his campaign there were zero private companies making road signs for the states. Now there are hundreds.
Commentary anarchy?
“Howdy friends, Ralph Spoilsport of Spoilsport Motors. . .”
“‘Give the people a light and they will follow it everywhere!'”
“Dogs flew spaceships! The Aztecs invented the vacation!”
“When in the course of human events. . .”
“. . . tear down this wall!”
“My God! It’s full of stars!”
“If it can’t be expressed in figures, it is not science; it is opinion.”
“No state has an inherent right to survive through conscript troops and, in the long run, no state ever has. Roman matrons used to say to their sons: “Come back with your shield, or on it.” Later on this custom declined. So did Rome.”
“Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.”
I have a grand-niece whom I call “Butterfly” exactly because of this quote.
Thanks for the quotes from RAH, Hobbit!
I also apologize, Moj. I don’t read the stories. Nothing against any of you Glib writers. Just not my thing.
But sharing things I find amusing is: Step Bro, We’re Home Alone.
No big. I took the Friday evening slot because nobody wanted it because it doesn’t get much traffic.
We’re home alone
My love for you is like big truck, berserker
Would you like make big f***, berserker
Now you’re talkin’!
I got a call from my dau’s teacher in 2d grade because she was singing Dinah-Moe Hum at school. Luckily we sailed her and her husband so no repercussions.
I had my dau sing “Moving to Montana” at school after that. It was more fitting since we were PCSing to Montana in a few months.
Zappa was the man when he testified to Congress. Here is his last 5 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ZGKd9Wh1A
I give big props to Zappa, Dee Snider, and John Denver. None of them backed down. All of them, in their own way, took it to the the idiot senators questioning them.
I watched Clerks 3 this week. I feel I am the exact age to enjoy all of Kevin Smith’s movies.
“Dogma” is great. Plus Hayek is in it- and not the economist.
I had a “Buddy Jesus” dashboard statuette until our bored and pissed off Labrador chewed it to bits.
I found Dogma to be rather faith-affirming. I loved it.
I love it as well. But I’m of an age of Kevin Smith, which means the Clerks and Mallrats series resonate with me.
He is less than one year younger than me so yeah.
He is six months older than me, which is always kinda weird when I find this out about people.
Me too.
I thought Chasing Amy was great, but I haven’t seen too many of his flicks.
Yeah, I haven’t seen Mallrats or Dogma. Been meaning to. Chasing Amy is a favorite.
Bravo! Still hooked.
“Gene” kills me.
I lol’ed here.
Spoiler alert: He’s a sweetheart.
I am glad there’s at least one.
And only one. LOL
*narrows gaze*
“INSPIRATIONAL HOLIDAY VIDEO” — A Bad Lip Reading of Joe Biden
YouTube saw fit to provide a clarification on this comical video:
2020 United States Elections
Wikipedia
The 2020 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party’s nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, defeated incumbent Republican president Donald Trump in the presidential election. Despite losing seats in the House of Representatives, Democrats retained control of the House and gained control of the Senate.
Just so we are all clear. Thanks, Google. The propaganda must be embedded in everything.
The average Youtuber needs these progsplainers lest they go astray.
On topic!
https://archive.ph/ZDTpt/239353fb50f2502c8e2c050fc9365e0c837957d1.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.ph/trRRB/ff16dcb1b37e65ea9dc9f7b41e6594a750540e26.webp
NSFW.
https://i.imgur.com/wg49e3q.mp4
NSFW.
https://archive.ph/p09La/f2af6ae305e5d513aa7fbb75fd53b709f546fe3f.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.ph/J8r2H/4957f5016a4fa161e6a57caff64b7062c8894d17.webp
NSFW.
A titillating ornament.
I like her smile.
Winner.
“Oh,” she said brightly. “We don’t believe in hell.”
Oh, honey, no alcohol and no caffeine is hell.
I larfed. However, the no-caffeine thing is a cultural phenomenon, a game of telephone, that has no basis in any of our theology.
One gets me through the day. One gets me through the night.
I can, and have done without alcohol for a year at a time…but if you take my coffee and/or Coke Zero…I will FIGHT YOU.
Something has turned me off coffee. I can barely finish one cup in the morning. I used to love it.
Who are you and what have you done with Rhywun?
If I had to choose one I think I’d rather have lost the taste for alcohol. 🙄
Amen, brother.
Brother.
“Oh, the Lindy Hop,” she gushed. “I love the Lindy Hop.”
🙂
He said he and his best friend are going to live together and be confirmed old bachelors.
Dot’s dance partner is gay.
😉 And everybody (at church) knows that but Dot.
Did I ever post this for you?
I don’t think I’ve seen that before.
That’s a good song.
I can’t see enough of the dancers’ feet and legs to see if they’re dancing Lindy Hop. The beat is a bit off for Lindy Hop. The moves all look like Lindy Hop moves though. Maybe something like Charleston mixed in with Lindy Hop?
Thanks! I like it.
GAYDAR FAIL
I don’t have any gaydar. The Bro does not see penises. The Bro has Firstdar.
This explains A LOT.
So, do you gladiator movies?
Firsters are the gladiators of this and every generation that has ever existed. The climactic clash between Firsters, the crossing of swords and the duel of fates is the embodiment of Firsting. When two Firsters collide, there can be only one.
Gladiator movies are a celebration of Firsting.
As always, I’m late to the party. I got a little confused, thinking they were in church when they were really in Kresge’s.
Wait. They were in church and then Trey took Marina’s hand? Mo, I am confused, re-read it and still didn’t get location sorted out. I do like the part about dancing, Lindy Hop, etc. Recall doing that at a Methodist meeting hall a long, long time ago. Why we had access to it I don’t recall, maybe some of the parents were members. We were 4-H-ers and our usual meet up place (township hall) was cold, unheated and parking lot was not plowed. It was a different era and we were young.
Thanks for your efforts, I’m enjoying it and waiting for a week.
The scene at Kresge’s is a flashback while they are at church. Trey says, “I think you were right about Gene,” and Marina says, “I know,” and the Kresge’s scene is flashing back to how she was right about Gene.
Sorry to confuse, 4×20. I don’t do flashbacks much, and I try to make those and transitions smooth, but I’m not always sure if I get it right.
You know what the problem with this world is?
Too many white people.
The Russians and Ukrainians are helping you with that problem
Speaking as a (Ukrainian…) Slav , I wish the Slav on Slav violence would end. But the US gov’t does not seem keen on letting that happen.
Spirited is worth a watch IMNSHO
This is a bad argument.
That said, you cannot win by debating the enemy on their terms. You have to set your own terms. The above argument is bad because it does the former. There is no logical distinction between “weapons of war” and items that are currently deemed appropriate for “civilian” use. Weapons are weapons. Arms are arms. A Second Model Short Land Pattern Brown Bess is the same as an M4, just from a different era. It is a different level of technology, but a literal “weapon of war”, i.e. a “weapon.” There is a reason that the term “arms” is used in the federal constitution and that of the several States. Words mean things.
Founding fathers thought private citizens could own cannons on their own with no permission needed from the government.
The weapons of war argument is stupid in every sense. The government has no basis to regulate the availability of any weapon and any argument to the contrary is special pleading at best.
Just from the title of the bill being discussed, you can tell its bullshit regardless. Equal access to justice for victims of gun violence? I take that to mean that they will accomplish something that is the exact opposite of actual justice.
Count on it. Also assume it will not provide equal access or address violence.
It’s so meaningless if you pick at it even a little. So victims of things other than gun violence don’t get equal access? Victims of ‘gun violence’ are the only ones who don’t have ‘equal access’ somehow?
It’s all just barfing out “Sounds Good” words strung together. But yes, will end up with nothing like justice.
It’s the horrid idea that law shouldn’t be based on equality, but who was the right social or emotional values.
See the hounding of Alex Jones for thoughtcrime.
Tis the season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouWQ25O-Mcg
Redemption through music.
The only way for redemption is through Firsting, but simple acts of Firsting do not bring one closer to Firstvation. It requires true faith in the one and only savior, our lord The Great Firster.
Tonite’s low has been revised to “8”.
WTF is that even.
/bitching
At least you get to pay high taxes and get substandard public services.
8 isn’t odd at all.
If there is any justice, this guy will get a longer sentence than Bernie Madoff.
https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/im-truly-sorry-what-i-did-sbfs-girlfriend-confirms-they-conspired-steal-ftx-customers
The arrogance to believe they would get away with it is breathtaking.
He’s telling that guy sitting next to him how he’s totally going to beat these charges because he owns the Democrats.
I don’t know if it’s sunk in for him yet that he was their useful idiot.
I will wait for sentencing to see if they were correct or not…
There will be no sentencing. Both of those kids are all but dead.
I know that it too late for anyone to read this comment but I just need to say that Froot Sushi has the dumbest hair on television. Hairspray and a curling iron.
Some of us are still up Festus.
I’m sorry you’re up Festus.
Up, Festus! Up, Chafed! Up, Ted! Away ho!
First on, Festus. First on.
Good lord, whoever brought up the PMRC. I remember it but I had forgotten how bad the 80s could be. I remember Zappa and Dee Snider but not John Denver.
Thank you Al Gore’s wife.
That’s Rightful First Lady Al Gore’s Wife.
I member Tipper, though still a wee lass then. Watching Dee Snider right now! Very eloquent.
It’s morning again.
*waves*
https://www.wfmz.com/features/historys-headlines/historys-headlines-crusader-with-a-hatchet/article_634064ac-7be5-11ed-ac07-9b45b83da25f.html
Busy body bitch.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/another-nasty-surprise-gop-sellouts-gave-biden-regime-11-million-target-gun-owners-repulsive-omnibus-bill/
Commie
Rat
Fuckers
Stupid question… how does that even work? How do you “allocate money” to a law?
https://nypost.com/2022/12/23/bomb-cyclone-blasts-us-killing-at-least-12-people/
Yikes.
Sad.
https://fox4kc.com/news/netflix-to-put-a-stop-to-password-sharing-in-2023/
Keep annoying your fan base. That will surely work out for you. 🙄
To be fair, that sort of password sharing does seem dishonest.
Doesn’t bother me at all. Banning password sharing, that is.
If you rented an apartment to somebody and said “No more than 4 people at a time”, and they turned it into a flophouse for 20 people, I think you would be 100% within your rights to kick them all out.
https://www.wgal.com/article/samsung-washing-machine-recall-fire-risk/42330975
Wi-Fi on a washing machine? Gtfo.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11570309/Woman-reveals-left-tampon-inside-two-years-thought-Lyme-disease.html
Wut?
Mornin’ Sean, Ted’s, TO’G and Rhywun and all other Glibs, Sleeping in or not,
Happy Christmas Eve and may all your gifts last the whole of 2023!
Morning, 4×20!
😁🍳☕
Morning, PA!
👍🏻
-11 this morning but the furnace is a-ginnin’ and it’s warming up. I let the fire go out about 7 PM and rekindle in the morning, temp drops to about 60.