Chapter 7. Wedding Celebration Procession

Friday night September 26, 2008

On The Island

For my bride and I things started Friday night, after dark. Ximena and I went by boat to Avee’s Island, we wanted to spend the night under the stars in what we considered a sacred space. The retainers had set up a tent for us, but it was a clear night so we slept outside, looking up in awe and holding hands. It was so much clearer than the air in LA that the stars looked wonderful.

In the dark, in isolation, we felt a little like we were the only two people on earth, and we were in love. It was a mushy movie script. Under the stars we acted on those feelings, kissing and touching all of our lover, we held back only from the one act we considered the distinguishing act of a married couple. That was for tomorrow, after the Patron had relieved my bride of her virginity, as was the custom with virgin brides. The custom was established when the first virgin, Avee, was pierced by the first leader of the Colony, Captain Foxe. For her, where she was pierced and how, were surprises. She wanted more and she got it, accepting every member of the party several times. All the other maidens got the same treatment.

In the afternoon Saturday the retainers returned and took us to a raft anchored many yards offshore. The raft was small and had been rendered virtually invisible from the shore by putting up a curtain the color of the water, thereby hiding the raft and us from onlookers on shore. The retainers rowed away while we ate, drank and rested there. When the time came a bell sounded so we slipped in the water and swam slowly to the shore. The distance was short enough in the slow-moving river so it was well within Ximena’s swimming range.

Naked From The River

A crowd gathered on a small hill near the shoreline, the site of the original “piercing pole” that marked where, for some years, maidens from the island came ashore to accept adulthood. In their culture, females decided for themselves when they were ready and had the skills to move from adolescence to the next stage of life, taking a different name, a different appearance and the expectation that they would soon marry and start a family.

When the natives died out Foxe made a deal with the island elders, he would support them with food and supplies. The maidens could come when they were ready. But they had to come ashore the day their blood stopped. That way he knew when they might get pregnant, and know who it was with.

After the island maidens had married, weddings with their children and the European settlers took place near the hacienda, in a smaller space. But for this wedding the announcements mentioned the location near the shore, “the place where our first Mother came to the Conquistadors.” A processional path from the river to the wedding stage was marked and our guests lined that path.

Right on time, Ximena and I emerged from the river at the “piercing sign.” Today that sign also proclaimed the start of the “Bride’s Path.” The first faces we saw were my sister-wives-to-be, Mer and Per, who acted as our bridal maidens. They lent us their strong arms, taking our hands they helped us from the river as we stepped up on the shore. Both 16-year olds were solid muscle beneath the skin, I felt very secure.

Ximena’s parents, plus Pammie, Tonto and Tony were also waiting when we stood up, joined hands and strode like naked children from the river. Ximena’s mother was crying openly at being so close to me and my baby. Like so many women of the Colony she wanted to kneel and kiss my belly but that was not for today. Retainers kept the crowd lining the path rather than closing it off. Li’s mother Chin Li had gotten the Chinese girls to gather flower petals which were scattered along the path, marking it for our feet only.