Chapter 8

            “Where have you been!”  Terry yelled at Kyle as he entered the door.

             “Honey . . . I . . .” he started before being interrupted.

             “Do you know what time it is?  It’s eleven thirty!  Eleven thirty!  I expected you home hours ago!”  She screamed.

             “What’s wrong, honey?” Kyle questioned.

            “What’s wrong?!  What’s wrong?!”  Terry mockingly repeated.  “You have the nerve to not call me for hours and stay out till nearly midnight and then ask me what’s wrong?” 

            Terry turned her back on Kyle and folded her arms.  Kyle moved toward her and tried to embrace her.

            “Don’t you dare touch me!”  Terry snarled as she took a step away from him.  “Who were you with?”

            “Aaron, George and Charles” Kyle answered.

            “Till this time of night?” she questioned incredulously.  “What were you talking about so long?”  she further questioned him.

            “Well . . uh . . . uh” Kyle began haltingly.

            “Uh . . . uh . . . what?”  Terry snapped.

            “He . . . I mean Charles . . . was explaining about how God never did condemn men who had multiple wives and even gave rules for it . . .”

            “What?!” she screamed.  “He’s over there indoctrinating you to believe it’s OK for men to have more than one wife, and you stayed all this time listening?”

            “Well, we all talked . . but . . . uh. . he proved from Scripture that God gave one man several wives,” Kyle explained.

            Terry turned to face him, her eyes ablaze, her hands on her hips.  “You sniveling little jerk!” she screamed “You couldn’t even tell him he’s wrong!  Could you?”

            “Well I . . . I . . .”

            “Forget it!”  Terry snapped once again, interrupting him as she marched off toward her bedroom.

            Kyle followed but Terry slammed the bedroom door in his face and then yelled “You can sleep on the couch, mister!”

            Aaron’s return home was not quite as tumultuous.

            “Honey, where’ve you been?” Cheryl asked, as she woke up at the sound of Aaron entering the room.

            “With the guys, talking” he replied.

            “So long?” she questioned.

            “Yeah” Aaron responded as he took off his clothes and prepared to put on his pajamas.  “We got quite involved in Bible study after we shot a few baskets.”

            Cheryl was now more awake.  “What kind of Bible study?”

            “Well, I told him about all the phone calls we got at the office from his message yesterday, and from there he went on to prove that many men had multiple wives in the Scriptures and that God never did condemn it,” Aaron said sleepily.

            “What!?” Cheryl said as she sat up in bed.  “Aaron Baldwin Cooper” she called out his full name for emphasis.  “Are you telling me that you let him convince you that having more than one wife is OK?”

            “Well, . . . uh . . . maybe in their culture it isn’t so bad” he hedged.

            “Isn’t so bad?  Sin is sin in any culture,” she lamented.

            “The problem is” Aaron said as he slid under the covers “that there is no Scripture that says having more than one wife is a sin.  Uh . . . can we get some sleep?”

            “Well it’s against the law,” Cheryl protested.

            “It is here but not there in Kenya,” Aaron said as he closed his eyes.

            Cheryl sat up in bed for a while, her arms across her chest, fuming that even the men were being convinced that Charles was right.  It was a long time before her mind would stop racing and allow her to sleep; and when she did, she dreamed.  Well of course Cheryl called it a nightmare.

            She dreamed that Aaron was reclining on a giant sofa chair with beautiful curvaceous women all around him.  One was massaging his shoulders.  Another was dropping grapes into his mouth.  Another was manicuring his fingernails, and still another was massaging his feet.  Aaron lay there enjoying the pampering of these four women whom Cheryl somehow knew were his wives.  Yet she seemed invisible in the dream and no matter how she called out to him, he either ignored her or couldn’t hear her.

            “Aaron, Aaron, please listen” she was talking in her sleep.

            “Yeah, babe, what is it” Aaron said not realizing that it was a dream Cheryl was having.  Finally, he realized she was having a bad dream and shook her to wake her up.

            “What! Oh . . I . . . I was having a nightmare,” she said tearfully.  “What time is it?”

            “It’s only six twenty two . . . go back to sleep” Aaron suggested.

            “No!  I am getting up,” Cheryl replied flinging the covers off and sitting up as she swung her feet around to the floor.  “I’ll make some coffee and breakfast” she said as she threw on a house coat and tied the belt around her waist.  “You get cleaned up and come downstairs” she ordered “we’ve got to talk.”

            “Babe, I was thinking about sleeping in a bit today.  It was a long night last night” Aaron said pleadingly.

            “I said, we’ve got to talk.” Cheryl repeated.

            Sensing the urgency in her tone of voice, he reluctantly agreed.  While Aaron showered and shaved Cheryl went downstairs and began to make his favorite breakfast of waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, orange juice and coffee.

            “Mmmm . . . something smells awfully good down here” Aaron stated as he smelled the aroma of coffee and waffles mingling together.  Entering the kitchen, he put his arms around his wife’s waist and kissed the back of her neck as she continued to stir the eggs.

            “Aaron,” she began, “do you love me?”

            “Do I love you?” he repeated the question.  “Yes, let me count the ways . . .”

            “No, I’m serious,” Cheryl said as she dropped the spatula and turned around to face him.  Aaron bent down to kiss her on the neck again but she stiff armed him away by pressing her hands against his chest and pulling her head back.

            “Hey, what’s the matter?” Aaron questioned.

             “Sit down and eat,” she said as she wiped tears away from her eyes.  “I’m just not so sure we should go to Africa” she stated as she retrieved a waffle from the waffle iron and placed it on his plate.

            “What do you mean?  Why?” Aaron asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the coffee pot.

            “I think . . . I think you’re being too influenced by this Charles character.”

            “Charles character?  When did he become that?”  Aaron said looking at her with a quizzical look on his face.

            “Well, a few nights ago . . .” she began as she dished eggs and bacon on to his plate.  “We were all in apparent agreement that polygamy is sin and now after one night you guys all agree with him that it’s OK?  I just don’t believe that!”

            “OK,”  Aaron began after taking a sip of hot coffee “I can understand that changing our position a little could be a little unnerving but to want to cancel the whole trip?  We’ve spent over three thousand dollars on just our tickets alone . . . and what about the others?  They’re looking to us for leadership.  I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

            “Aaron, you do love me don’t you?” she asked again.

            “Of course I do.  Don’t I tell you that almost every day?” he responded.

            “You don’t need another wife do you?” she questioned.

            “What?!” Aaron said, almost choking on his last sip of coffee.  “Why would you think something like that?  Just because Charles convinced us from Scripture that God is not against multiple wives marriages doesn’t mean I want more than one!”  he stated emphatically.  “And further more he’s never even suggested that any of us should.  And if you want me to I’ll make sure he understands that tonight.” he concluded as he rose and moved toward her to kiss her on the forehead.

            “Tonight?” she said.  “Tonight you have the elders board meeting about the church addition at six thirty” she reminded him.

            “Yeah, I know,” he said, “that’s why we’re not meeting till eight thirty.”

            “What?”  Cheryl took the cloth napkin she’d had in her lap and threw it on the table, indicating she was finished -- fed up and not in the mood to eat any more.  “What kind of hold does he have on you guys?” she questioned as she turned toward him with her brow furrowed.  “Are the wives invited?” she asked before he could answer.

            “Well no, we’re meeting at his place and you know he lives on the other side of town in a neighborhood that is not so nice” Aaron explained.

            “Well I’m coming, like it or not!” Cheryl promised.  “You’ll just have to protect me!”