As the trio approached, Joy made out three other shadowy forms barely illuminated by the light of the candles in their hands. How did they keep the candles from going out?
“Come on, Joy.” Raven tugged on her sleeve. “We’ve got to hurry. We only have a couple of minutes. Cops don’t like teenagers in graveyards in the middle of the night.”
Luc nodded. “You can say that again.”
“Hey Joy.” Heather called from the tree cluster.
“Hey. Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Heather looked Joy over. “I really like your jacket.”
Joy fingered the black leather fringe hanging from the silver grommets. “Yeah, somehow I got my mom to buy me this a week ago. Must’ve been in a moment of weakness.” She didn’t have to admit to Heather that it was a guilt purchase after the drug test humiliation.
Heather chuckled. “It’s totally cool.”
“So what exactly are we doing out here?” Joy looked around the group. Nothing seemed odd that she could see right away.
“Beats me.” Heather shrugged. “Lucas called this gathering.”
Luc cleared his throat. “We’re waiting for someone to bring something.”
Well that cleared things up.
“Ah. There he is.” Luc nodded toward a dark figure lumbering toward them.
Hey. Wasn’t that …? She peered closer. Oh yeah. Kyle from that store. What was he doing here?
Kyle approached from beyond the tree line behind them carrying some kind of lump wrapped in a burlap bag and stopped at what looked like a miniature grave with a blank headstone just a few yards away.
How had Joy not noticed that before?
Kyle scooted the sack into the hole, looked down, and pulled back the edges.
Joy gasped. The baby Jesus lay in the grave wrapped in a sack. “You guys stole baby Jesus? Where did you get it?”
“It’s from outside the Methodist Church. They won’t miss it.”
“You guys are crazy. Who steals baby Jesus from a nativity scene in front of a church, the night before Christmas?” Joy laughed. She had to admit, the absurdity made the risk worthwhile. “What are we going to do with Him?”
Kyle’s mouth curled into a sinister grin. “We’re having us an old-fashioned sacrifice.”
Joy’s chin dropped. She stared at Luc then turned to Raven. “Is he serious?”
“Why don’t you think of it as a rite of passage? Here, you can write on the headstone.” Raven passed Joy a black Sharpie.
Joy looked at the marker in her hand and then at the blank piece of wood standing at the head of the grave of the Christ child. Should she do it? Rite of passage, huh? She looked down at Silas. Did he approve or not?
He was panting and wagging his tail. Clearly happy.
Here goes. She knelt down and pulled the homemade headstone from the ground and laid it flat on the ground. What would she say at the top?
Jesus Christ, son of Mary and Joseph.
Leaves behind billions of followers.
Rest in peace.
That’s all she could think of. It would do. She turned the slab up and stuck it back in the hole.
Heather backed away, her jaw unhinged. “Yeah. Guys, this is just too much for me. I’m out of here.” She turned and fled the cemetery without looking back.
“Anyone else?” Lucas looked Joy in the eyes.
Her moment of truth. “I’m good.”
Lucas gave Kyle a single nod. “Do it, man.”
Kyle opened a bottle of Mountain Dew and sprinkled it all over baby Jesus and the burlap bag.
Why did he do that? Wait. What was that smell? Gasoline. He had gasoline in that bottle, not Mountain Dew. Smart. But did Joy really want to be a part of that?
Lucas lit a match and dropped it in the hole. Fire caught immediately.
Joy watched as the flames licked the baby’s face. She glanced at Raven, who seemed to be in a trance as she stared into the fire.
Kyle stepped forward as he closed his eyes and raised his face toward the moon. “May our actions tonight serve as a symbol of our desire to separate ourselves from organized religion, matters of God, obligation, and accountability. Let this symbolic act serve as proof of our desire to be separated from all things of God and released to exist as the human spirits we were meant to be.” He opened his eyes and stepped back into place in the circle around the grave.
Wow. That was deep. Joy looked around the circle. Everyone stood transfixed on the burning baby. She looked into the consuming flames, the image no longer recognizable.
Bright lights drenched the space and shone on their faces.
“Hold it right there. What do you think you’re doing?”
Joy froze, her heartbeat stilled. Busted.
Kyle turned and sprinted into the trees like a shot. A cop tore off after him.
Raven and Luc stepped closer to each other, and Raven slipped her hand in Luc’s.
Joy stood alone.
“Drop to your knees, and put your hands behind your head.”
If only Joy could have an out-of-body experience now.
How was she to talk her way out of this one?
“Trespassing.” Bang.
“Destruction of private property.” Bang.
“Theft.” Bang.
Dad slammed his fist on the kitchen table with each word.
Joy slumped lower and lower in her seat with each jolt.
“You know, Joy Christianson, those were words I never thought I’d hear associated with you, let alone on Christmas Eve. I don’t get it.” Dad put his head down in his hands.
Mom wiped away a tear. “I don’t understand either. Do you realize what you were doing? You and your … friends … were burning a stolen baby Jesus in a grave on Christmas Eve?” Mom paced across the kitchen.
“Oh!” She whipped around to face Joy. “I get it now. Those people you’re hanging around with, the clothes you’re wearing, your mood change … it’s all making sense. How could we not have seen what was happening right before our eyes?” Mom hung her head and sobbed. She dropped into a chair and laid her face on the table, the weight of her realization too much to bear.
“Any of the possible things, Joy, drugs, pregnancy, anything you could have done would have been preferable to this.” Dad glared at her.
Mom lifted her head and looked at Dad. “I don’t know what to do. We have to do something. I don’t even know how this would work.” She jumped up and started pacing again.
Dad stared ahead, all his words gone. He looked beaten.
“What do you do, Alan? Ground someone for satanic sacrifice in a cemetery? Is that the standard protocol? I don’t think there’s much about this in a typical parenting manual.”
What could Joy say? It sounded really bad when Mom put it that way, but Dad looked ill.
“Daddy?”
Joy waited. And waited.
Finally he turned his face toward her. His eyes sagged. Defeated.
What had she done to them? But maybe if they understood. “You guys, you have to have an open mind. Listen, I just started searching. I needed answers about life and death and eternity and all of that. Some things happened and my eyes opened to stuff I’d never considered before. You’ve always taught me to study and learn and decide for myself. So I did.”
Face red with anger, Mom pointed her finger in Joy’s face. “Don’t you dare turn this on us and suggest we encouraged you to go off on a search like this. I will not accept that, and don’t you dare try to convince me you’re right about this.” She covered her mouth and ran from the room, her sobs growing even louder as she moved farther from the kitchen.
Dad shook his head. He didn’t say a word.
“Daddy, trust me. If you would listen, you’d understand why I …”
He turned his pale face, eyes brimming with tears, toward Joy. “I love you with all my heart. That will never change, but I’m telling you right now I won’t understand, and I won’t listen to you justify wh
y you sacrificed baby Jesus.”
“But Dad …”
“I only wish I’d been a better example to you. I’ve let you down.” Dad stared down at the floor.
Oh man. Yeah, it might’ve helped, but now she needed to feel guilty that he felt guilty? Too much.
Dad stared into Joy’s eyes. “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore. You’re a shadow of the person you once were.”
“That’s way more than Melanie is. She doesn’t even cast a shadow anymore.” Joy jumped from her chair. “There’s nothing you can do about this. A person’s spiritual journey is personal. I’ve chosen the path to walk mine.”
Chapter 18
If Santa had made his list and checked it twice, there would be nothing under the tree for Joy that Christmas morning. All she wanted to do was pull the covers over her head and wallow in equal parts self-pity and embarrassment. But the flaw in her plan was the extended family. They’d eventually come knocking. Mom and Dad would drag her out of bed to socialize, pretending nothing happened and ignoring Joy’s bed head and smelly breath. She’d be better off being proactive so she could face them showered, dressed, and on her own terms.
After her shower, Joy quickly made up her bed and tucked the covers under the mattress just like Mom liked her to. Today required extra effort. Clothes. What to wear? Nothing phony looking. Joy dragged her fingers over the pink sweaters and girly, flowery clothes. They’d see right through her if she wore something like that. She’d be better off in a more subdued choice, but a little brighter than black.
Oh, perfect. Joy tugged the charcoal cashmere sweater Stella bought her last year off the hanger. That over a red cami would be perfect. Maybe she’d even wear a pair of silver hoop earrings. Why not? Might as well go all out.
Joy paused for one last glance in the mirror and smoothed down some flyaways. Good as it was going to get. She pulled her shoulders back, held her head up high, and strode from her bedroom. If she didn’t feel confident, at least she could look it.
“Good morning.” Mom handed her a cup of black coffee. “You know where the sugar is.”
“Morning, sweetheart.” Dad looked up from his paper. “Merry Christmas.” Almost an afterthought.
“Merry Christmas to you guys, too.” If Joy held a knife, she’d be able to cut the tension in the room. No one seemed to want to address the big white elephant over there in the corner. Yet there it sat. Hungry. Looked a lot like a wolf to Joy, actually. An unhappy one.
“When’s everybody coming over?”
Mom checked her watch. “Still have a couple hours before Grandpa and Stella arrive. Aunt Sue will bring Bea over at noon.”
Joy nodded. “Smart.” Always best to give Beatrice a chance to adapt to her surroundings on an exciting day, before throwing a crowd on top. She loved a party, but sometimes it was a bit too much stimulation for her. “You guys want your presents now?”
Mom shrugged. “Yeah, I guess this is as good a time as any.” She plodded off to the family room.
Joy turned to pour a fresh cup of coffee. It was already exhausting having to choose every word perfectly, trying not to respond to Mom’s clipped tone and dead short sentences. But they needed to give her a break. Didn’t she have the right to explore her own spirituality? Didn’t she? That would be something she asked Mary Alice Gianetti at their next session. Best guess? Mary Alice would commend her for finding a way to cope with her loss in her own way, but then go all Jesus on her.
Dad took a spot on the couch, so Joy curled up in his recliner. She pulled her heels under her thighs and tucked a blanket around her legs while she waited for Mom to take her regular role as Santa.
Mom smiled as she picked up the first gift. “Well, this one’s for Joy.” She handed a rectangular package to her. “Now before you open it, I want you to know I bought it months ago, not at all in response to what happened yesterday.”
Joy shook the box. It was heavy, kind of dense. She lifted the corner and sliced the tape with her fingernail then peeled back the wrapper to expose two words. Holy Bible.
Silas stirred at the foot of her chair. He lifted his face and nuzzled her arm away from the Bible. How bizarre he’d react that way.
“Aw, thanks, Mom. We have a ton around here, so why this one?” Silas grew more agitated the longer she held the book.
“Well, I just wanted you to have your own engraved with your name. It felt like time.” Mom shrugged. Her eyes looked heavy, like she’d been crying all night and just remembered why.
“Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad.” Joy put the Bible back in its box and slipped it under her chair. Silas let out another growl then settled down.
Merry Christmas.
If only she hadn’t gone to Raven’s yesterday, she wouldn’t have ruined her parents’ Christmas, along with their hope.
“Okay, this one is for you, Alan.” Mom gave her first real smile of the day as Dad accepted the gift.
“What could it be?” He shook the checkbook-sized box. Finally, he ripped off the paper and lifted the lid from the box. “Papers?”
Mom grinned and nodded.
Dad opened the top one and read. “Is this for real?”
“Yep. I can’t wait.”
“What is it?” Joy leaned over, trying to read the words on the paper.
“Your mom bought us a cruise. We’re going on a cruise in the spring.” He looked back at the travel documents in his hand. “Wow. Total surprise. Something I never would have expected.”
“Yeah, you guys never take a vacation alone. It’s totally time.”
Dad stood up and walked to where Mom sat on the floor. He leaned down and gave her a kiss. “Thanks, honey.”
“Now it’s your turn, Peg.” Dad pulled a small robin’s-egg blue box from his pocket.
Mom giggled. “Oh, you’re a sneaky one.” She accepted the box and turned it over in her hand a few times. “Is this from Tiffany’s?”
Mom had always said she wanted a box from Tiffany’s, even if it had nothing in it.
“We’ve had a good year, and I wanted to celebrate.”
Mom pulled the bow and lifted the lid on the jewelry box to find a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings nestled in a velvet cushion.
“Oh Alan, these are gorgeous.” Her fingers shaking, Mom plucked the earrings from their nest and slipped them into her lobes. She hurried to the mirror over the fireplace and peeked at her reflection, her fingers wiggling the diamonds so she could watch them sparkle. “So beautiful.”
Dad smiled as he stared at his wife in the mirror. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Mom locked eyes with him in the reflection and smiled. “I love you, sweetie.”
“I love you, too.”
Joy cleared her throat. “You guys want me to give you some alone time?” But at least they’d made each other happy on what was destined to be an otherwise morbid day.
Mom laughed. “No. No. But here’s your next gift.”
Another small box. What could it be? Joy ripped off the paper, this time not even trying to be careful. She immediately recognized the item in her hand. “You have got to be kidding me. The newest iPhone?” Hot off the shelves, barely in stores. “Honestly, guys, you couldn’t have picked anything better.”
Mom lowered her eyes. “We just love you so much, Joy.”
At least she hadn’t said it in the past tense.
Joy’s gurgling stomach and prolonged lack of appetite made it very difficult to sit before her plate of Christmas dinner. They were watching her; she just knew it. She’d have to eat enough to make them happy, but not so much she got sick.
As she nibbled on a deviled egg, Joy tried not to look as Beatrice piled more and more onto her plate and attacked it with a vengeance. That girl sure loved to eat. But how could Joy blame her? Bea didn’t have much in her life but simple pleasures, and food was one of them. One Joy would never deny her, but the crumbs falling from Bea’s lips and the smacking noises she made when she chewed were almost
too much for Joy to take that day.
Grandpa reached around to his right to wipe Beatrice’s mouth with a napkin. “You’ve got a little smudge there, Bea.”
Beatrice laughed, exposing her mouthful. “It’s so good.”
Everyone laughed.
“So, Joy.”
Oh good. Distracted by Aunt Sue.
“How are things going at school? How are you coping with everything? Are you able to stay up-to-date with your schoolwork?” Sue forked a bite of mashed potatoes into her mouth.
“Things are pretty good. I mean, it’s not fun. It’s been a rough couple of months, but my grades are fine. I’ll pull through.”
Aunt Sue nodded then turned to her brother.
“How about you, Alan? How’s work? Sell any houses lately?” She set her fork down and waited for his answer.
At least she’d moved on from Joy. What were the chances Joy would make it out of the house to hang out with Raven tonight? Yeah, slim to none. But she’d really wanted to see what they did on Christmas. Didn’t look like this year would be possible.
Mom scraped some food from one plate onto another, and Sue stacked some dishes and gathered a handful of silverware.
“If you guys will excuse me, I need to use the restroom. I’ll be back to help with the dishes in a second.”
Joy stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her then slumped against it. Maybe she could just hide out in there for the rest of the evening. Would anyone even notice?
Rinsing her hands at the sink, Joy stared into the mirror. You can do this. Just get through the next couple of hours. But then what? There was no way she’d be allowed out of the house later. She’d have to see what happened. Maybe she’d just leave. She’d better get back in there though, or someone would come looking for her. They didn’t give her a minute alone to catch her breath anymore.
Joy grabbed an armful of dirty plates and headed into the kitchen to help clean up.
“… Joy …”
Huh? Had she just heard her name? She leaned her head a bit closer to the kitchen opening. What were they saying about her?
THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL Page 14