Free Water is Thicker than Blood by julie ann dawson

Water is Thicker than
Blood
     
     
    Rue had suffered just about
all the crap from Hank she could abide.
    The water purifier was
still broken, even though he had promised not once, not twice,
but three times to
get it fixed before their stockpile ran out. But the stockpile of
clean water was gone, and even the little bit of gray water she
kept on hand for washing was almost done. She sure didn’t have
money to pay $25 a gallon at the market for fresh water.
    She walked over to the
relic of a sink in the kitchen. It was dark with stains but there
wasn’t much she could do about it. The only thing that would clean
it was bleach, and bleach was more expensive than water. She turned
the rusty knob of the faucet. Nothing came out. Not that she
expected anything to come out. Apparently there was a time before
Doomsday that you could walk over to any sink, just turn a knob,
and clean, fresh water would come out. Sounded like craziness but
it was true. She’d even confirmed it with Old Man Blue, who was a
boy before the war and remembered.
    Rue took off her grimy
apron and walked out onto the porch.
    Maybe Lula would let me
borrow some water, she thought. A shiver
shot through her as soon as she finished the thought. Rue didn’t
have no quarrel with Lula; she was a good Christian woman and been
a dear friend all their lives. But that boy of hers surely did not
know the fear of a Righteous God. Her son Joseph had fallen in with
those people at the Circle of Magi. Even the Queen’s Circle showed
proper respect for the Lord. But those people at the Circle of
Magi, they didn’t seem to respect nothing but their hocus-pocus and
what it could afford them.
    Joseph had changed his name
to Joshua Dunwich. Lula had said it was something to do with his
occult research and realigning his identity to his path. She didn’t
say more than that. Rue sure hadn’t pushed the issue. It was
painful for Lula to talk about.
    But Joseph (Rue refused to
call him by that Devil-name he had chosen for himself) continued to
be a good son and care for his mama. So maybe God still had an
opportunity to set the boy back straight.
    Rue took a deep breath and
walked across the street to Lula’s house. There were no lights on
in the house, but it was the middle of the day and most folks
didn’t waste candles or generator fuel if they could just make due
with natural light. Old Man Blue said there was a time when all you
needed to do was flip a switch and you could get light in just
about any building you walked into. Some folks even had light bulbs
in their closets to better see the color of their clothes. More
crazy-sounding talk. But he was alive back then so she guessed he
knew for sure.
    She saw the front door was
open, but she didn’t see anyone in the living room. She knocked on
the screen door. “Lula? Girl you home?”
    Joseph emerged from the
kitchen. He waved and smiled. Rue’s blood ran cold.
    “ Why good morning, Ms.
Rue,” he said. He opened the screen door and joined her on the
porch. “What can I do for you on this fine day?”
    “ Is your mama
home?”
    “ No, ma’am. No she is not.
She went off to the Quarter to see about finding a dress for the
Court’s open session this month.”
    “ She got trouble with
someone that she need be calling on the Court?”
    “ No, no. No trouble, Ms.
Rue. She just heard tell that the Court was taking petitions in
regards to the reconstruction efforts. And you know well as I that
whenever the Court speak on that subject Lady Rae always there to make her opinions
felt.”
    “ Oh, that’ll be some
fireworks for sure. I’m gonna hate missing that. Just let your mama
know I was looking for her when she gets home.”
    “ Now Ms. Rue, wait a
minute. If the Mister ain’t home from his scavving in time, you are
more than welcome to accompany mama and me to the Courthouse if it
is you don’t want to go alone.”
    Rue took a deep breath. It
was hard to be hating on his Devil-worshipping ways when he