Free A Just Farewell by Brian S. Wheeler Page A

barged into his room, each brandishing kitchen knives
for defense. Abraham’s mother trembled in the center of the room,
pointing towards the corner where she spied her monster while
Rahbin kicked at the hard floor.
     
    Rahbin turned and squeezed his wife’s
shoulders. “What did you see, Rebecca?”
     
    Rebecca covered her dark glasses with her
hands. “It was a terrible cockroach.”
     
    “You’re acting like a foolish girl,” Rahbin
snarled. “The cockroaches visit us everyday. Such a bug is no
monster.”
     
    Rebecca shook her head. “It was an unnatural
bug. It was orange, and black swirls decorated its shell, surely
the runes painted by the great devil to employ that cockroach as
his tool.”
     
    “You’re talking nonsense,” snapped
Rahbin.
     
    Ishmael continued to pace about the
chamber’s walls. “Maybe not, father. Others in the village have
whispered of seeing bugs of unnatural color. I heard our neighbor
John describing a blue cockroach he saw scurrying across the floor
one night when I went to the market for onions.”
     
    “Do you know what John did about it?” Rahbin
asked.
     
    Ishmael shrugged.
     
    “I’ll inform the clerics,” nodded Rahbin.
“We must be on guard against the great devil, and we shouldn’t be
surprised if he sends a spy into Abraham’s chamber. Abraham has dug
his own hole and started his year into manhood, and the clerics are
already teaching him a butcher’s trade. You must be careful,
Abraham. This year will tax you, and the great devil will try to
exploit your exhaustion.”
     
    Abraham swallowed. He considered telling the
truth concerning those bugs for a second, that his hands were
responsible for the colorful cockroaches scurrying about the
community. Perhaps the great devil was truly testing him. Perhaps
the great devil had inspired Abraham to decorate those bugs when
the boy thought that the Maker was guiding his brush. Perhaps
Abraham needed to explain to his father and the clerics that the
great devil had employed him as a tool, so that his elders could
protect the village. But Abraham could not. He was afraid of losing
what he recently gained - a foothold on the threshold of manhood
and a butcher’s training. He was afraid of being cast out of the
village, or of being cauterized like an infected wound so that the
great devil’s touch didn’t infect the remaining village. So he said
nothing while he watched his mother tremble in fear.
     
    Rahbin smiled and kissed his wife’s tattooed
forehead. “Take a breath and calm now, Rebecca. We must keep the
faith that the Maker protects us. We cannot let any bug, as
unnatural as it may be, prevent us from appreciating the blessings
our divine creator bestows upon us. Show Abraham what you’ve made
for him.”
     
    Rebecca smiled as she held out her arms to
offer her son a new tunic. Abraham grinned as he accepted the
clean, unsoiled clothing. The fabric felt softer than anything he
had previously worn, and he recognized the care his mother must
have invested in its creation. Abraham looked into his mother’s
face, where he admired the tattoos inked below her skin. For not
the first time, he wished the Maker permitted his wives to remove
their dark glasses in the privacy of their homes so they might show
their children the color of their eyes.
     
    “I don’t understand,” spoke Abraham.
     
    Rahbin winked at his youngest boy. “The
Maker already favors you with another special day, Abraham. Our
neighbor Josef offers his twin daughters to your charge, and
expects you to visit him today to mark your ward upon them. You
have butchered animals the last three mornings, Abraham. You’ll not
offend Josef by wearing a blood-stained tunic into his home.”
     
    “What about my duties in the butcher’s
shop?”
     
    Rahbin chuckled. “The high cleric gives you
permission to take a morning off from such chores. In fact, he
requests that you honor Josef’s offer. You can catch up on your
butcher training