Chapter 8

Lewis Zachary “Zach” Black

Thursday morning, I waited out before the school. Mr. Augustine pulled up with Susannah, giving my wife a ride to school. She climbed out, waving goodbye to her father. He saw me and raised his hand. I nodded to him.

Susannah hurried over. She wore a dark skirt and a white blouse. She took my arm and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek. Well, her father was watching. He pulled away as Susannah broke from me. She had such a dazzling smile.

Such innocence.

Like I saw in my mother’s eyes. Both had to be sheltered.

“Well?” she asked, a flicker of apprehension in her eyes.

“None of the wives who were at church were her,” I said and smiled at the way she relaxed. “Relieved, huh?”

“I just don’t want to think that someone who is faithful to the Lord could be in an empty marriage. Could be a false wife.” She quivered. “I know it can happen, but...”

“But if she goes to church, she’s probably not so into it to come to a Wednesday bible study.” Only about a quarter of the congregation came to Wednesday Night and Sunday Night services. Some because they saw church as an obligation they suffered through every Sunday morning and others because they couldn’t. Work. Life. Etc. “Well, she’s not here at the school. If she’s not at church, I really don’t know where she’s hiding.”

“Your neighborhood,” suggested Susannah. “Mine.”

“How knows,” I said as we headed to Mrs. Lindstrom. “I’ll have Nisha check mine tonight.”

“That is a good idea,” said Nisha. “Your trailer park is full of many broken families and broken people. It could be lots.”

I hoped so. I needed to find her. Then I had to find the mother. It made me wonder if that would turn out to be Susannah’s mother. Having a faithful and loving wife, a good mother like her, being one of the women I needed, well ... I bet there was power in it.

I was learning a bit about how magic worked.

It was all about creating energy. I would need that energy to help to galvanize my followers. I could never control them, but I could ... heighten what they felt. Turn supporters into zealots. Plenty of politicians cultivated those die-hard fans.

And I was learning that there were a lot of dark forces out there that you could sacrifice to.

That was the problem. How could anything good come of their work if they made pacts with demons? I would forge my own way. My own drive. Nisha was proof of that. My ambition. And these four women she prophesied about would be vital.

I just didn’t see how a cheating wife and loving mother fit that.

Susannah and I reached Mrs. Lindstrom’s class. The sexy MILF wasn’t in yet. I tried not to ogle her. I had to be discrete. A shame she wasn’t one of them. I knew her. This cheating wife sounded like she would be a stranger.

Susannah and I took our seats. The tardy bell rang started, and Mrs. Lindstrom hadn’t arrived yet. The class grew restless. Susannah and I started chatting about how the service at the smaller church went. She smiled as she talked about it.

How could she get such entertainment out of something so banal?

I kept up my mask, nodding to her, showing my interest while my mind drifted into different ways to flush out this wife. Did I have to wait for Sunday Service? I had a list of the members in the directory. It was pretty up to date. I could comb through it. See who wasn’t there Wednesday night and send Nisha after them.

Five minutes after the class should have started, Mrs. Lindstrom strode in with a new student. A few snickers echoed through the room at the sight of him wearing what was clearly a private school uniform. Gray slacks, a white shirt he wore beneath a gray vest, a red-and-gold tie tucked into it. He had loafers on instead of the latest Nike’s. He was a young man, my age, with brown hair and blue eyes.

“Knock that off,” Mrs. Lindstrom said, glaring at one side of the room. “This is Charles. He’s transferring into the class.”

I favored him a polite smile the way I would any other new arrival. He glanced at me and something in him relaxed. He nodded to me, heartened that there was one person in the room not mocking him.

I liked his style, frankly. If the school had a dress code, it would be much better.

“If you’d like to introduce yourself,” said the teacher.

“Thank you, Mrs. Lindstrom,” he said, speaking with confidence. “I’m Charles Swartzenburg the Second.” He had a New England, upper-crust accent. “My mother and I have just moved out here to Tacoma.” His cheeks had a touch of red. “Father ... Well, he is entering a new phase of his life, and I thought I might like to try a public school.”

A few smatters of applause echoed through the classroom.

“Uh, you can sit by Zach,” she said, pointing to the empty seat on the other side of me. “He’s a good student. If you have any questions, he can help you out.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Lindstrom,” he said politely.

She flashed him a favorable smile, her eyes flicking up and down him.

And she wasn’t the only one. A few of the girls were following him. I felt a shift in the classroom.

Susannah whispered, “They smell money. Cows.”

I fought a chuckle as Charles moved to the seat beside me. He took it and shifted, testing out the cheat desk. Then he glanced at me and thrust out his hand. He was a friendly guy. Definitely not from the Pacific Northwest.

I took his hand and said, “I’m Zach. Good to meet you. If you have questions, I’ll answer what I can.”

“Thanks,” he said, his handshake firm and brief. He didn’t linger.

“Of course the little bonny prince is making friends with Zach,” someone muttered behind us.

Charles heard, his shoulders stiffening.

“Don’t listen to them,” Susannah said, leaning past me. She wore a friendly smile on her face. “You look sharp. Like Zach. They’re just jealous.”

“Thanks.”

More snickers echoed while I smiled. It was nice to have one guy who dressed well. I wore my button-down shirt tucked into my black slacks. I would wear a tie, but it really made me stand out too much. So I was a tad more casual.

“Okay, okay, we have studying to do,” Mrs. Lindstrom said, patting her hair, her cheeks bright red. “Let’s see ... Where did we leave off?”

I supplied the answer and class went the way it usually did. It was over soon and Charles headed off to his next class. Susannah had PE while I had Math with Mr. Carlyle. My girlfriend gave me a chaste kiss before she hurried off.

I didn’t see any of the new guy. He wasn’t in my math nor my civics class, which I did share with Susannah. Together, we headed to the cafeteria for lunch. I was starved. Sable and my twin joined us as we queued up for food.

It was Thursday. Sloppy Joes.

The four of us took our table. It was becoming our usual one. Sable and Moira on one side, Susannah and me on the other. Sloppy Joes and tater tots. It was a good day if you liked the simple food. I had grown up with it.

Just as we started digging in, Charles appeared holding his tray and looked a touch lost. He swallowed and said, “Uh, mind if join you guys, Zach?”

“Sure, sure,” I said.

He grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it to the end to sit down with us. He glanced down at his food and arched an eyebrow. He then tucked the end of his tie into his shirt to keep it from dripping into the mess.

“I’ve never eaten ... something like this,” he said.

“It’s the fun of slumming it with us peons,” said Moira as she grabbed hers and took a big bite, the hamburger and sauce spilling out the back end and splattering on her plate.

“Yeah,” said Charles. “It’s different, you know. Moving and all.”

“Changing schools must be so difficult in the middle of the year,” Susannah said. “I bet you miss all your friends.”

“Probably a girlfriend or two,” said Moira. “Eh.”

Sable rolled her eyes. She was staring down at her plate with a look of disgust. She just poked at a french fry.

“It’s harder on my mom,” said Charles. “Dad basically dropped us off before jetting off. Not helping her get settled in at our new place.”

“Oh, I bet,” said Susannah. “It’s hard to have a marriage when one of the partners isn’t around. Does he work a lot?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “He’s hardly ever at home.” He picked up his Sloppy Joe and went for it. He took a bite and blinked like he was surprised to find it good. He took another one, being careful not to make a mess.

“Hardly home, huh?” I said, feeling Nisha examining him. She studied him. “Doesn’t sound like they have a great marriage.”

“I suppose.” He wiped at his lips with his napkin. “They fight a lot. She seems lonely. I don’t know. I’ve never had a girlfriend, so maybe that’s just how things are.”

Susannah shook her head. “Marriage is a partnership. My parents are...” She flushed. “Sorry, it’s not a competition.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He chuckled. “Most kids have parents with hollow relationships.”

“True,” I said. “Hell, my dad ran off. The dick.”

Moira flicked her eyes up to mine. She almost said something but instead took a bite of her Sloppy Joe.

“At least your father comes back from his business trips.”

“Eventually.” Charles shifted. “Um ... What do you guys do after class?”

“We have a study group going this afternoon,” I said casually. “You want to join it?”

Moira blanched as did Sable. They both gave me looks, not wanting Charles there to interrupt the fun. I ignored them as I said, “We rotate whose place we have it at. Interested? I mean, we only have one class, but I’m sure we can help with the other stuff.”

Charles smiled. “Sure, sure. I mean, you can come over to my place. Mom wouldn’t mind. She’s always worried I don’t have any friends.”