Pearls and Manners - Part 3

When they arrived, they knocked on the door, and Mia hesitated before answering. She had been sitting on the floor crying while Gabriel screamed upstairs. By the time she opened it, they were already moving past her.

They went upstairs, grabbed him, and dragged him out of the house. Mia didn’t follow. She stayed frozen in the doorway as they threw Gabriel into the back of the truck.

He landed hard and looked up to see nine other men packed in beside him. Some faces were familiar. Others were strangers. All of them had tape over their mouths, just like him. No one made eye contact.

Gabriel didn’t know if it was disbelief or shame that kept them silent. For him, there was neither, only anger. His chest tightened until each breath burned. His hands shook as he tried to push himself upright, panic rising fast and sharp.

He screamed into the tape and struggled to stand.

A hand clamped around his arm.

Gabriel looked up. One of the men met his eyes, steady, warning. Without a word, Gabriel understood. He stopped fighting. His breathing slowed.

He knew how this went. They all did.

This was now their tithe.

From this day forward, all ten of them would be responsible for one another. If one disobeyed the Decree again, they would all be punished. Gabriel had heard the stories of men who tried to escape their Wakening, tried to run. They were charged with bearing false witness, and their entire tithe was sentenced to something worse.

The truck lurched forward.

Through the slats, Gabriel heard laughter, easy, familiar.

They were at the square.

Mia walked through the square past rows of picnic blankets spread across the grass. Ten wooden tubs were lined up on the stage. The air smelled like magnolias and fried fish. Families gathered in clusters, waiting. Children ran barefoot between them, laughing, playing tag, and throwing rocks.

Ms. Smith was already set up, selling sweet tea and lemonade. A line had formed early. Everyone loved her drinks and her fashion. She wore an all lime green skirt suit with a matching elaborate hat. Like most of the women in the square, she wore pearls.

Mama always said Southern women should have two things, Mia thought. Pearls and manners.

Mia had neither.

Ms. Smith had been a friend of her mother’s. People were always saying women like her would be there if Mia ever needed anything. But when Mia actually needed them, when the nights were long, the money was tight, when Gabriel’s apologies came faster than his change, they were nowhere to be found. Their concern lived best in daylight, in public, where it could be seen.

Mia’s chest tightened as she imagined the looks, the whispers, the questions once people realized Gabriel was part of the Wakening. Bovina was too small for secrets. Everyone knew everyone.

She got in line for tea, hoping to avoid conversation while the crowd was still thin.

“How’s your mama and n’em, Sally?” Ms. Smith asked the girl ahead of her, pouring lemonade into a plastic cup.

Mia rolled her eyes. Why is everybody so nosy?

“Such a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Ms. Smith said when Mia stepped forward.

“Yes, ma’am,” Mia replied.

“Mia, it’s so good to see you, honey. I think about your mama all the time. She was such a sweet woman.”

“Thank you, Ms. Smith,” Mia said quietly. “Can I get a cup of sweet tea, please?”

“Of course you can. You know I’m here if you ever need me. Losing your mama so young, and now Gabe being in the Wakening…” Ms. Smith shook her head. “Bless your heart.”

Mia took a slow breath.

She had seen women who were too ashamed to come to the Wakening, women who stayed home because they wanted to give their husbands another chance. She had also seen how that choice followed them. Mia didn’t know yet what she was going to do, only that staying didn’t feel like an option. Gabriel would be furious afterward, and she knew what his fury could look like.

Some marriages survived the Wakening. Some men understood their wrongs and got it right. Others didn’t. Either way, everyone moved forward carrying scars.

Mia set the money on the table. “Thank you for the tea, Ms. Smith.”

She took the cup, murmuring nosey bitch under her breath, and walked away just as the town hall bell rang.

The Wakening was starting.

The men were being led in, one by one. Mia scanned the line, her eyes searching. Whatever came next, she wanted to stand proud in her decision. The shame was not hers to bear.

She wondered if Gabriel could see her, and if it would make it worse if he did.