Ethel's Final Day

CW: religious abuse, physical violence

“Speak, now.”

John Greene, father of Ethel Greene, was in the middle of a very hot-blooded conversation with his daughter about her recent shortcomings. Ethel, according to the rest of her family, has always been the “problem child” - but this recent discovery was too much on her fathers psyche. John had spent the last couple hours expressing the anger towards his eldest, switching between smacking her with a belt and reading the Holy Scriptures. His child, sitting on her knees with the Bible in her lap, looked up towards him, and uttered bitterly,

“Father, what is it you want me to say? ‘I’m sorry?’ I would be lying.”

SMACK. Ethel’s father smacked a warning shot on her wooden rickety bed frame, which caused it to rock back and forth for a moment. 

Ethel let out a smirk after his display of anger, and looked down at the Holy Text once again. She refused to look into her fathers eyes. Ethel was filibustering her father’s punishment, waiting for her mother to intervene in the violence. John leaned over and snatched the Bible out of Ethel’s lap and flipped through the thousands of pages, landing on Corinthians Six Verses Nine. He began reading noisily to her,

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God?”

Her father looked down at her, towering above her, shortly before sitting on her tottering bed. Ethel was using her amber locks as her comfort blanket.

“DO NOT BE DECEIVED! Neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor SEXUAL PERVERTS.”

Ethel was thinking about the previous day's actions. This entire debacle started with her seeing her close friend, and her illicit love affair, Rosemary Booker. The two were born and raised in the large fields of the Mayacamas Mountains, where they lived with their families on the Mayacamas Ministry Commune. The Commune was led by The Elder, who has remained nameless since the day he built the Commune by hand. The houses were unreliable and often needed repairs, so the people living on the field often spruced it up with beautiful native flowers. Rosemary was known as the Commune’s florist, which is why her and Ethel had met up that day.

John noticed Ethel’s lack of attention, and open palmed smacked her across the face. This got her attention, and she looked at her father with a red-stained face.

“Girl, this is probably why you ended up a sexual deviant. You won’t listen to nobody's gospel, not even your OWN FATHERS. You are a disgusting waste of flesh.”

His wife, Mabel Greene, walked in her daughter's room holding her baby in a handmade quilt. Mabel’s eyes were sleepy and heavy, and she pleaded with her husband,

“John. This is enough. She’s going to meet with Him tomorrow, I think He can handle the rest, alright? I made you something to eat. Please.”

John shot Mabel a domineering eye, and proceeded to drop Ethel’s Bible on the bed and rushed past his wife and child. Mabel walked over to Ethel’s bed and sat down on it, placing the Bible on her daughter’s bedside table. Her voice was hushed.

“Ethel, I know he seems harsh, but he didn’t want to wait for The Elder to come back. He’s been in town, you know, preaching the good word. Your father does what he knows best, and so do I, so trust our judgment. And if you don’t trust mine,” Mabel pointed towards the sky, continuing, “then trust the Lord’s. You know what the Bible says, right?”

Ethel knew exactly how to respond.

“Whoever spares the rod hates their children. But those who love them are diligent to discipline them.” Ethel kept her head toward her lap, not looking towards her mother.

“That’s right.” Mabel stood up, and offered her hand to help her battered child up. Ethel groaned as she stood, and her knees were bruised from sitting down for so long. Mabel moved her daughter’s butt-length hair out of her face, and kissed her on the cheek. Before exiting the room, Mabel looked back at her child, saying,

“The Elder will help take care of your problem, sweetie.”

After Mabel shut the door, Ethel grabbed her feathery pillow and screamed into it. Her tears were all dried - she had no more to cry. Her brain picked up on yesterday's actions, again.

Rosemary had left a note in the Greene’s makeshift mailbox for Ethel. Ethel’s screaming made her throat raw, and she stopped. She went into her bedside drawer, reading the previous days note.

“The Beautiful Misses Greene, 

Some of your favorite orange poppies have started blooming prematurely! Maybe we can meet up and cut up some old dresses? Maybe make some hairbows! I want to see you! Hurry up!

~ Rose”

Ethel had gone to see Rosemary, which is about a fifteen minute walk from her family's humble wooden shack. Ethel put on her “nicest” linen white dress (that had the least amount of dirt stains on the skirt), and her whitest hair bows that she planned on dyeing with Rose. They had gotten in minor trouble before for wearing color, but it never ended in anything physical, usually just a conversation with The Elder about Leviticus Nineteen Verse Nineteen.

Rosemary had everything set up for them to dye their fabrics, with plenty of different flowers and grasses to decorate their headwear. The girls were having a great time, until Rosemary asked Ethel about dating. At first, Rosemary asked if Ethel had ever kissed anyone, and that was a definite “no!”, to which both of the girls laughed and agreed. They were taught from birth how important their role in society as a babymaker is, and neither of them even wanted to kiss anyone before marriage. 

“I don’t think I ever want to be with a man, ever!” Ethel exclaimed, and Rosemary nodded thoroughly in agreement.

“No, me neither. I think girls are much prettier, but I don’t think I can be with one like a boy.” Ethel affirmed Rose’s statement, by saying,

“Me too! Maybe we can just be together, you and me, you know? We can build our own house here! I can do the building, you do the gardening?”

Ethel’s recollection between what she said and what happened afterwards was a slight blur, mostly because her heart was racing. Turns out, one of Rosemary’s siblings saw the two young women kiss, and that’s what landed Ethel in her predicament. Even thinking about the incident made her face flush in pink, turning her heart into a butterfly. But, for tonight, she had to get some sleep for what she was about to deal with tomorrow.

…

Ethel had woken up late, with her father banging on her door at noon. He was yelling for her to wake up, even though her baby brother screaming in the background was enough for her to wake.

She slipped into the same dress that she always wore: white, shapeless, linen. No hair bows today. Her father had already eaten breakfast, as well as her mother and younger siblings, of which they were either running around the house or screaming for her mother.

“You don’t get to eat today. Go.”

John pointed out the door, and Ethel shot her mother a look of vexation, feeling as if her mother was a human doormat. Mabel glanced back at her daughter, her eyes even more fatigued than last night. Ethel slammed the door on the way out, nearly knocking it off its weak hinges. 

The walk was a long one. The houses were purposefully spread out. The Elder always said it was due to the fact that everyone is owed a “personal domicile”, but Ethel always thought it was to make it harder to run away from Him. The more spread out means there’s more opportunity to stumble. The walk from Ethel’s house to His was at least twenty five minutes, which felt like forever. The sun was hot, as it was the middle of the blazing California summer. His home was closest to Mount Saint Helena, whereas her home was right at the edge of their commune. Rosemary’s home was very close to The Elder, and on her walk, Ethel stopped by Rosemary’s home. Her mother answered the door, she quickly slammed the door right back in Ethel’s face. She could hear her mother talking to Rosemary about “that corruptive girl”. Rosemary was sent to her room for the day. Ethel continued her trek, and made it to The Elders home.

Ethel knocked on The Elder’s door, to which the door quietly creaked open on its own. The Elder seldom left his doors closed when he knew there would be visitors. He was sitting on His couch, watching a new episode of I Love Lucy. He quickly turned off his TV to address Ethel’s presence. 

“Your parents told me about your shortcomings.” 

He patted the spot next to Him, and Ethel obeyed. Her palms were sweating, her heart was racing. Her vision felt fuzzy, only for a moment, before focusing her gaze out the window. She saw her Rosemary peeking through the window before swiftly bowing her head under the glass. The Elder fixed his look in the same direction, then grabbing Ethel’s face with his large imposing hands.

“Focus.”

Ethel nodded her head in affirmation, looking back at her Elder. His grasp let up, and He continued, grabbing a Bible from His side table.

“I assume you’ve read this wonderful piece of literature before, which implies at this juncture that you are deliberately disobeying me, your father, your headship, and most importantly, God’s.”

Ethel, halfway through His words, peeked through His window. She once again saw her partner peeking through. Rosemary had the orange bows in her hair from the two days before. He flipped through the Holy Text, before landing on Leviticus Twenty Verse Thirteen. He raises his voice to emphasize the importance of the scripture,

“IF a man LIES with a man as with a woman, both have committed an ABOMINATION.” He pauses, then follows up with, “Ethel, what do these scriptures mean to you?”

Ethel raised her eyebrow and pondered his question. What does that mean to her? She couldn’t think of much. In her thinking, she once again let her eyes wander to the window, where Rosemary waved lightly at her. Ethel let out a smile, and The Elder took great offense at this. He proceeded to smack Ethel, open handed, making a terrible SLAP noise. Her face became red, and she teared up. She looked out  the window again. Rosemary’s mouth was agape, her eyes welling with tears. 

“You are a Godless little girl, Ethel.” 

His words were like venom, burning her ears as she heard them. He continued reading His Bible.

“They shall SURELY be put to death. Their blood is upon them.”

He raised his voice once again, with His Holy Water spit flying onto her face. She felt a shiver go down her back. Ethel made the mistake of looking out the window, once again, and The Elder snapped. He cracked his neck towards the window, seeing Rosemary attempting to hide, but it was too late. He threw Ethel on the ground below him, shortly before standing up to go after Rosemary. Rose had already begun wailing, hoping someone nearby would intervene. 

The Elder was known for His violent tactics, His cult refused to acknowledge it. Over fifteen years after He formed the Mayacamas Ministry Commune, there was a very kind single older woman. Her name was Mildred Smith, and she “disappeared” on June 15th, 1947, four years prior to Ethel and Rosemary’s incident. They, along with all the other children, considered Mildred to be their inherited grandmother. Mildred had unfortunately, the night before, gotten into a spat with The Elder shortly after He was done giving a sermon. She had claimed that Him forcing the women to wear all white based on Deuteronomy Twenty-Two Verse Eleven, since it only spoke on “mixed fabrics”, not the colors of the fabric. He commanded all the other Commune members to leave, and Rosemary’s mother nearby heard Mildred pleading for God to intercede.

Mildred was never given proper burial, nor was she ever even spoken about again. Nobody on the Commune dared to accuse Him of doing the murderous act, but the entire Commune all understood that he definitely did this. Shortly after the rumors began to spread on Mildred’s death, The Elder held a sermon using Ephesians Four Verse Twenty-Nine. Unfortunately for Him, this never stopped the rumors - it only solidified what the Commune already knew, especially considering Mildred was not the only woman of their community to go missing. The women who were caught gossiping about the incident also happened to disappear. Rosemary’s mother never came forward about hearing Mildred’s screaming so she could avoid the same fate.

Ethel in this moment feared that either her or Rosemary would end up like Mildred, or any of the other missing women. The Elder had reached His hand through the open window, grabbing Rosemary’s hair and dragging her inside. Ethel had begun leaning upwards, trying to get a look at what He was doing. Rosemary was kicking at Him, attempting to get Him to let go, but He towered over her. He was attempting to put His fingers down Rose’s throat, in order to silence her, but these efforts failed. She bit down on His fingers, which caused him to slap Rosemary.

He began screaming obscenities at Rosemary for how she bit down on the Prophet of Christ. Rosemary was thrown on the ground by Him, cowering in fear on the ground. He began kicking her, continuing to shriek. Ethel gathered her courage and stood up as silently as possible, because she had a plan. The Elder had wooden chairs that were positioned slightly behind Him, and within reach of Ethel. She nearly stood as tall as Him at about 5’10, so she knew she had an advantage that the much shorter Rosemary didn’t. Ethel saw Him starting to lay fists into her partner's stomach, and she took swift action.

Ethel grabbed the medium sized wooden dining chair, slamming it over his back and neck. He fell forwards towards Rosemary, landing next to her on the kitchen floor. His wind was knocked out of Him, and He was gasping for air on the ground. Rosemary got up with a painful grunt with the aid of Ethel, whose hands had splinters in them. Rosemary’s hair bows were ripped out of her hair, laying on the ground close to Him.

The chair didn’t fend Him off for long. Standing at 6'3 and 240 pounds, He was much larger than the other girls, and He used this to His advantage. He swiftly got off the ground and began charging at the two girls. Rosemary pushed Ethel out of the way and a few feet into the living room, while Rose was tackled again. Rosemary screeched at Ethel,

“Please, DO SOMETHING!”

Hearing her pleading, Ethel sprinted towards the kitchen. She quickly rummaged through the drawers, looking for something to use as a weapon. Rosemary’s painful grunts could be heard from where she was, and it made her work faster. She found His knife drawer, and knew what she had to do. When running back into the kitchen, she found Him on top of Rosemary, assaulting her face, making her mouth bleed. Ethel felt rage fly through her body, and for her, the rest was a blur.

Rosemary was laying underneath The Elder’s now life-drained body. He was shallowly breathing, attempting to grab at either of the girls, but His time was now up. Ethel had to roll His body up to allow for Rosemary to get out from underneath Him. Ethel rushed herself and Rosemary to His bathroom, where she began washing Rose’s face. She noticed that she was now missing a front tooth. Looking in the mirror, Rose began crying, licking the wound.

“What did we do, Eth? What did we do? Why didn’t we just take it?”

Ethel ignored Rosemary’s cries. She was focused on cleaning her up. Rose kept repeating,

“What did we do?”

and eventually, Ethel responded,

“I don’t know, Rose. I don’t want to stay here any longer. I’m tired of all this.”

There was a long pause between the two, and Ethel continued after this pause,

“But I think we don’t have to be here anymore.”

Rosemary cocked her head, next her eyebrow. Her tears had dried, and she was now pondering what Ethel said. She responded after a moment of silence, saying,

“What? Just leave? I don’t know where anything is.”

Ethel was done cleaning up Rose, and she began to clean up herself. Both of their white linen dresses had been stained red.

Ethel followed up by saying,

“Well. The road. I don’t know where anything is, either, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. I don’t think we have a lot to lose. We can get help. I don’t know the world, Rosemary, and I’m scared of it when I shouldn’t be. I want to see what’s beyond that road.”

The two girls looked at eachother, and had a silent agreement between the two. They decided that today would be their final day at the Mayacamas Ministry Commune. 

The only people outside were the women who were watching their children playing in rocks and dirt. It’s like they didn’t even see the two. One of the parents, Loretta, even waved to the girls, and Rosemary waved back. 

The road was in front of them. It was long, rocky, and not easy to walk on. Ethel took the first step, with Rosemary following beside her. While they were walking, Ethel took ahold of Rosemary’s hand, which made Rosemary smile and flush. Rosemary had recently plucked an orange poppy, and put it behind Ethel’s ear.

“Now, I guess, you can wear orange!”