All the women sat, joining them on the grass.
Casey nudged him. “Would you like to hear a tale or two?”
Unsure, he nodded slightly, kind of hoping she might not notice. He was torn between wanting to know more and feeling the jealousy he knew would come from hearing tales of other men. To prevent the latter, he made a quick decision. “Could I hear the tale of a child?”
Kelly shouted and clapped her hands. “Yes! We do so love the stories of the children. Many of them are light and happy, and the little ones were able to pass on with no stains on their souls.”
Tia’s face softened, and she nodded. “Kelly has some wonderful tales. Since her gift is modesty, she often guides a soul through that crux in life called adolescence. It is a turning point for many a mortal.” After a moment, she snapped her fingers. “Tell us of Rebecca.”
“All right.” Kelly’s expression grew wistful. “Rebecca was a beautiful child with a voice like an angel. Her parents were wealthy and pampered her. Spoiled children often grow prideful, and Rebecca was no exception. Between her talent and her looks, she drew the attention of many men and the resentment of the women. I came into her life as a classmate. Disguised as a plain, uninteresting girl—”
“I cannot imagine that.” Thomas interrupted and was rewarded with sweet, musical laughter.
“Well, it is true.” Kelly smiled. “I became a target of teasing from the other children, but I gave Rebecca something to focus on besides herself. She never teased. Beneath the tarnish her soul received from mistreatment, she was a good person. She took me under her wing, and in doing so, found her own modesty. We became lifelong friends, and although she did find a career in music, it never owned her.”
Thomas realized just how important these women were. Not only to him, but to mankind. “Can you share another?” he asked.
“Kelly’s not the only one who works with children,” Jo said. “Nichole often does, too, since she offers the gift of peace.”
Casey tapped Nichole’s hand. “Tell him about the little boy named Zane.”
“Zane? Seems like an odd name,” Thomas said.
“Yes, but it means God is gracious, so it was fitting. He was in such a need for peace. His entire life had been one struggle after another, and he was battling extreme anger with his parents over their divorce. Every time you turned around, they were squabbling over money or visitation. Zane was having several impure thoughts about harming small animals and other children. I had to do something.” Nichole picked at the grass.
Thomas asked, “What happened? How did you get close to the child?”
“His father put out an ad for a nanny—with a little suggestion sent to him in a dream.” She winked. “I am the one who answered, and I was hired immediately. Zane and I used to play games all day, talk about everything that was bothering him, and I even taught him how to cook!
“There was nothing in the world I would not do for that sweet child. Cooking gave him something to focus on besides his anger, and he ended up becoming a world-renowned chef with a beautiful little family he adored until he took his last breath.” Rainbow tears ran down her face, and she swiped them away. “I miss him so much.”
“Are you not allowed to visit those you help once your task is complete?”
“No. It would be too painful. Along with our gifts, our mothers endowed us with the ability to love with the passion of an inspired artisan. Once our heart breaks and the trials are complete, we simply cannot bear to see the subjects of our adoration again.”
Rolling the idea around in his head, he became mortified at the thought of the five suffering so much heartache. It made him sick to think of them being used that way. “Who decided you ladies have to do all this? Why would anyone force you to suffer?”
“We do not suffer; we are allowed to love. Freely, with no restrictions but the assignment,” Tia answered.
“How can you shoulder so much loss?” he asked.
Jo narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “It is what we were created to do. It is in our nature to be what we are. Would you ask a tree to do something other than reach for the sun or bury roots in the ground day after day? Do you think it is sad doing what it was created to do? Would you lament its inability to move around freely?”
“No.”
“Then do not assume we are in misery because we are doing something you find difficult.” She widened her eyes.
“Point taken. But you never answered my first question.” For some reason he could not fathom, he felt like he needed to know who cast the women’s lots.
“Our mothers.”
“Why can they not do it? You said they are the three fates, right? Does that not give them the power to fulfill the assignments?”
She sighed. “Yes, but they grew tired of laboring over guiding each human on the path they were meant to follow, so they created us from their lifelines. Atropos chose to cut three, and her sisters, Lachesis and Clotho—my mother—each cut one. They dropped the five segments into a cauldron, and we arose, draped in beauty—even as infants—and endowed with gifts.”
“Gifts?” Thomas was intrigued beyond his wildest imagination.
“You already know of two: peace, which belongs to Nichole, and modesty, which is Kelly’s gift. Tia was given faithfulness, Casey generosity, and I was given the gift of self-control. As my sister stated before, we are the antithesis of the seven mortal sins. Therefore, we are sent to guide humans in need of direction.” Jo smiled. “Do you understand?”
“So, how was I brought into all this?” His nerves were frayed as he wondered what path he was supposed to have taken in life. “Did I complete my path?”
Tia said, “Your case was a special one, for it was not judged on one life, but six.”
“Six!” Shock caused him to yell the word, and the women flinched. “Sorry. Six?”
“You have seen a bit of your first life, the one that held such an egregious error, and you were returned to be tested five times. While we were able to guide you and help you right the wrongs committed by living five, pure lives, we were not allowed to interfere with your decisions once made.” She turned her mouth down.
“Can you tell me more, or give me more memories, of my first life?” While he was terrified to learn what kind of sin could have landed him in what was really a prison, his heart ached to know. He clutched the hem of his tunic between his fingers and pulled the fabric taught time and again over the atrocity that had been only hinted at.
Putting her hand on his, she gave him a small smile. “No. I am sorry. We cannot speak of it yet. You are to receive those memories last, before your judgment is delivered.”
“I see. But why was my trial handed to your mothers?”
“That is something you will learn in time.”
Their vague answers were annoying him, but he pressed on. “And what of your necklaces? I noticed they have words on them when I first saw Nichole’s. Now that I see the rest, I find myself a bit confused. If I am remembering correctly, they were blank in your lives with me.”
Jo answered, “They are gifts from our mothers, created to tie us to this realm and guide us on our journeys through yours.”
Leaning forward, he paused. “May I?”
She leaned toward him. “Of course.”
Carefully, he fingered the cool metal bars, turning them over as he examined them. “Sloth and gluttony?”
“They are the sins I am responsible for guiding man away from.”
“I see.” Clarity sank in, and he released his hold on the necklace to scratch his chin. “You have wise mothers.”
Laughing, Jo said, “Yes. They are wise indeed.”
He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Nichole interrupted, “I want another story! Casey, tell us of the time you were sent to Cleopatra!”
The mood was considerably lightened as Casey told her story, and they chatted amicably for a few more minutes before Jo announced it was time to return to the trial.
/> Everyone stood and brushed the grass from their clothing.
With a sweep of an arm, Casey made the table and its remnants disappear. Then the grove faded out, and they were once again in the white place.
“Please, return to your chair,” Tia said.
Once he sat, the shackles bound him as though manipulated by invisible hands. “I will not run. On my honor,” he said.
“You could not get out if you tried,” Kelly replied with a small smile. “Do you see a door?”
He did not. It was not something he had noticed before she called it to his attention. The room was both confining and seemed to go on forever.
“It is mandated,” Nichole explained. “We do not set the rules. We just follow them.”
As the women sat, he tracked them with his eyes.
“Are we ready to proceed, sisters?” Jo asked before he could question who did set the rules. Not that he minded the interruption; he had a pretty good idea of the responsible parties already.
“Every time you cast judgment, another piece of your character is revealed.”
Trial of T-Dogg - Lust
“My apologies. I should not have taken my seat.” Tia stood and approached him. Rather than the gentle brush of a hand, she gazed into his eyes.
Pain flashed through him, stealing his sight and causing his stomach to cramp. Wrapping both arms around his middle, he leaned over as the memories slammed into him.
“What is happening? Is it too much?”
He could hear her questions, but the bile in his mouth and rising nausea were causing his ears to ring. She sounded so far away. Gasping, he tried to hear the answer.
Not sounding the least bit alarmed, one of the ladies responded, “This is the fifth life of memories. It is normal. Just wait until he gets the rest of the ones from his first life. That will be agony. You have souls experience this before. Do not fret.”
Panic mixed with the searing pain, and he dry heaved until his sides ached. It felt like ages until the sensation passed. When it did, he sat up and took a deep breath as he accessed the memories he had been given.
“Perhaps, while he is recovering, sister,” Kelly spoke to Tia. “You can describe the events to us from your point of view. How did you come to know him in this lifetime?”
He studied her movements as she glided closer to him. Something on the edge of his memory begged for recognition.
“I called you Tommy, but you were T-Dogg to your friends,” Tia said.
As soon as the words left her lips, an avalanche of the crispest memories assaulted him. They came so fast and clear, his head ached with the jarring images. Guns, drugs, and sex. Over and over again. Something about that life felt dark and cold.
“Do you remember?” she asked.
He nodded. “You were so beautiful. Although every part of me wanted you, I knew you were safer without me as your lover.”
“I almost cannot remember a time when I did not love him. We lived in a very unsafe part of town, and he had to do what was necessary to survive and keep those he loved safe. It was never easy. Many a night I sat in bed, clutching the covers, as the sound of gunfire ricocheted through the air outside. I would whisper a prayer that I would see him again the next day. Drugs and gangs permeated our neighborhood.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, he recalled more than one occasion of taking a man’s life over some turf issue or drug deal gone bad.
Guns.
Drugs.
Sex.
Little else filled his mind. A cacophony of orgasmic responses, moans, grunts, gunfire, screams, and intense music left him feeling sick, and he put a hand on either side of his head, hoping he could squeeze hard enough to drown it out.
“This lifetime challenged T-Dogg with lust. On this sin, how do you believe he fared?” Jo asked.
Tia seemed lost in thought for a moment, and he wondered if she would even answer.
Jo cleared her throat.
Tia shot a glance her sister’s way. “To put it more in the terms of the time… he screwed everything that walked.”
He gulped. There was no denying her words. In a time filled with constant danger and loss, sex became an escape.
“So, then, how do you respond to the allegation of lust?” Jo asked him.
Thomas bowed his head, shame taking root deep in his gut. It was the fifth time he had gone through the pain, reliving and rehashing a life that was less than perfect. Admitting his faults and begging forgiveness was the only thing to do, but it was not easy. In fact, having the woman he loved in that life stand before him as he admitted his faults was killing him. The fact that he slept with more women than most in his short life, but never truly appreciated the one that mattered, made him regret his actions and despise having to voice them aloud.
Inhaling deeply, his chest expanded with the action. His lungs filled then emptied, but the weight of what he was doing did not leave him as his breath did. So, he did the only thing he could to help relieve some of the weight that lay upon his shoulders. He braced himself as he looked up and met the eyes of the one he loved in that life. “There is no denying that I am guilty of this sin.”
Once the words had left his mouth, the room remained eerily silent. His eyes met that of each sister, but when they came to rest once again on Tia, his heart broke as a lone tear slid down her cheek. On instinct, he tried to lift his hand, intent on wiping the tear from her soft skin, but he was reminded of his restraints when he was unable to reach her.
Tia held her hand up. “No, I am fine.”
“But you are crying,” Thomas stated, confusion flowing through him like a fountain.
Tia shook her head as she wiped the tear away and blinked the unshed ones back as well. “Do not mistake my tears. I am not crying because I am ashamed, or hurt, by your admission. In fact, it is just the opposite. The memory I have of you and our life together is very vivid and fresh because it is the last life I lived as well. Although my heart still aches for the love we were denied, I am also proud. You were not a man known for admitting when he was wrong. So, for you to admit your faults, and own them in the way you are, is very unlike the Tommy I knew. It makes me proud to see you as this man.”
Thomas shook his head. “I am not a man to be proud of. The life we shared together was one I am ashamed of. I was a kid from the hood that grew up to be a drug dealer. I threatened and killed anyone that questioned my authority or tried to move in on my turf. And just as you have said, I had sex with anything that walked and was willing. I am not even sure how it was that you came to love me.”
Tia stood and swiftly moved across the room until she was standing just before Thomas. Kneeling, she gripped his biceps tightly, her eyes boring into his. “Yes, you are correct.”
Thomas’s eyes widened with disappointment.
Tia’s fingers increased pressure like a vice, slowly, painfully. “But…” she said in a voice that commanded he give her his attention. “You were also much more than that. You were exceptionally smart and an extraordinary musician. To your friends, you were loyal to a fault, but more importantly, you loved your family fiercely and selflessly. You loved them so much you sacrificed yourself, your dreams, and ultimately, your life, so your parents would be safe and your sister could have a future. You may have committed many sins, but the good you did, the sacrifices you made, far outweighed the bad. At the core, you were a very good man. A man I loved easily.”
Thomas shook his head, still not agreeing with the words Tia spoke. “You should never have fallen for me. Had you not, you would still be alive as we speak, living the rest of your life. I am sure you would have graduated college, probably with an art degree, met a man, and fallen in love. All the sacrifices you speak of would have paid off. All the reasons I tried so hard to stay away from you would have afforded you the life I always knew you deserved, the life you were meant to have.”
“The life I was meant to have was the one I did have. I—”
Before Tia could continue to try
and convince him of his worth, she was interrupted by Nichole. “Tia, I think we have heard enough.”
Tia looked back at her sisters, each of them giving her a stern, yet understanding, look. The time had come. Giving a slight nod, Tia turned back to Thomas.
Recognition was clear in his eyes. He knew the time for pleading his case was over. All his lives with the sisters had been revealed, and the sins he committed within each lifeline divulged. The women would convene and discuss if his excuses and reasons for such sins were justified. They would determine his fate.
“A man can only walk so far in one pair of shoes; after that, he must find new soles, stop his journey, or be brave enough to continue barefoot.”
The Judgments
The five sisters held hands, a chain of blinding beauty mixed with fury, love, and grief. He felt the same emotions roiling through him, bubbling just beneath the surface of his skin, and he ached. His head, his heart, his hands—how they longed to reach out for the women he had loved. Others had gone through the trials before, had lived lives at an attempt at... What? Redemption? Thomas was not sure he deserved the chance at all, let alone the blessing of having such amazing women in his lives. Had the other people been confused or ashamed at having loved so fully, so incredibly, in each life? Had they been able to compartmentalize it all as he was doing?
His love for Tia was different from that of her sisters, for instance, but no less. He loved them each for reasons only they knew, for traits only they owned. Whatever the women were—harbingers, fates, angels—they were part his. They held his heart as much as memories of them and their lives together were etched upon his own.
“It is time,” Kelly said. “To remind you of your original life.”
She snapped her fingers, and every detail of that first existence flooded his mind.
Twelve. He was one of the twelve.
His name was…
“Judas,” Kelly murmured.
7: The Seven Deadly Sins Page 21