If you have not read the prior installments, please do so now.
“As I was saying” I began again. “The Law of Civil Dawnings is a work of literary fiction that explores, by way of multiple literary devices, the natural course of mankind's evolution from chaos to civil order, at any given time or location. It starts with the lead character, Moses, who is mysteriously propelled into the future. As a result of his mysterious appearance, Moses is brought before a counsel of world delegates. He is asked to stand before them and give a report on a subject of his choosing.
He chooses to speak about how natural law dictates that civil order is only maintained when leaders reorder historical facts. Moses is concerned for the world and its current situation, as the leaders had lost the ability to alter reality using language. 'Their lives are too open, their sins made public,' he said to the counsel. He chooses to demonstrate the meaning of his statement by relating to them a story known only by a few, yet had it not been concealed, chaos would have resulted. He tells the story of how the baby Jesus was kidnapped by a love-crazed Philistine with whom Mary had had an affair.”
Then it started. Just as I had imagined. Donovan placed his open hands upon his face, his head tilted up. Slowly, he wiped his hands downward, as if this would remove the words he had heard, as if the words were mere spittle sprayed from my lisping lips, as if he could wipe them from existence. But the words had soaked in. At least he tried. The others simply looked down and rhythmically moved their heads left to right, left to right, working the painful splinter in further. Mrs. Heirs, however, was completely motionless. She stared directly ahead, unblinking, face drooping, mouth slightly open.
“The catalyst for the event, Moses explains, was a questionable relationship shared between two of Mary's students. The fact that Mary was a teacher is also not widely know, Moses explains to the counsel. But more importantly, the two students in question were superb athletes and Mary's eyes did often look upon the one with small hands that sat at the front of the class. This caused much discord between the two students, and greatly angered the one with wide eyes.
The wide eyed student confronted the student with small hands, and then cited a verse common to the period. 'Beauty is but an unknown presentation, my dear friend. Seek not the soft embrace of that which creates life, but seek ye instead a dark flower, a flower of savory earthen musk that grinds the refutation out of all who cling to forgiveness.'
The student with small hands would no longer yield to the boy with wides eyes. The relationship between the two boys was in danger. The angered wide-eyed student knew he must act boldly. He promptly sought out the Philistine friend of Mary and told him of her wistful eyes and lustful ways. And so, the love-crazed Philistine took Mary's child so that she might pause and think over her actions.”
Mrs. Heirs was moved by my report. Her tears flowed freely, and she ran from the class. Donovan was moved as well. He felt the urgency of the moment. He knew that no amount of face wiping could remove my words. He sought instead to return them to their source. He pulled at the words from his face one last time, reached for those that had made it to the back of his neck, balled them up into his hands, and tried, oh he tried I tell you, to return them to their source. Over and over he threw his fist. The class stood and jumped about. They grasped at my words as well and shook them high into the air, screaming, cheering, praying for victory. Poor souls. They did not understand the nature of words.
Mr. Locksley, the principle, he understood. He called me into his office the next day. There was a copy of the “Georgia Weekly” on his desk, the pages turned to an article printed a month earlier.
Date 4/16/82
“ The child of Vicky Heirs was kidnapped Friday at 7:45 pm by an unidentified black male. According to the description given to police, the man is 6 foot 1 inch tall and was last seen wearing dark blue pants and a white shirt. Heirs said she did not know why the man took the child from her home, and she had never seen the man before...”
Then, another article dated 4/18/82.
“The child of Vicky Heirs has been safely returned after a three-hour standoff that occurred at a house on the corner of Savannah and Washington street. It is still unknown as to the reason Aaron Stiles took the child. He released the child after the mother, Heirs, was allowed to speak with him on the telephone. Johnny Heirs, the father, was unavailable for comment...”
Mr. Locksley asked if I had seen those articles before. He asked if I had heard the rumors about Mrs. Heirs and Aaron Stiles. He wanted to know what I had heard about Donovan and Mike, if he should be concerned about their relationship. He asked what I meant by the report I presented. He asked if I meant to be sacrilegious. He questioned me about my religion. He expressed his concern over the stitches I received. He wondered when I would return to school. He explained that Donovan, being 18-years-old now, was arrested, and Mike was transferring to a Catholic School.
I explained that the book I read would lead one to believe it is best not to share the whole truth. I thought it an interesting view, one the class may find interesting as well, and perhaps they would learn something in the process. I explained that I was a devout Christian. I explained that the most beautiful thing about living in the South, Georgia in particular, is that it is perfectly okay for a man to love Jesus and at the same time hate Jews, blacks, Mexicans, and men of any color who refused to lay with women.
As for Donovan and Mike, I assured Mr. Locksley there was nothing questionable about their relationship. Everyone knew they were very outspoken about their feelings concerning men who refused to bond with women. I reminded him of the time Mike was suspended for putting the effeminate student from California in his place last year. “A great service he did for our school,” I said.
I swore I knew nothing about any rumors concerning Mrs. Heirs and Aaron Stiles. I told Mr. Locksley I was telling him the truth—the whole truth—which is always the best course of action.
Reflections
“If rape and arson, poison and the knife have not stitched their ludicrous designs onto the banal buckram of our fates, it is because our souls lack enterprise!”
From the poem “To the Reader” found in the collection of poems Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) by Chaurles Baudelaire. Translated by Richard Howard. Lines 25-28.
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