Chapter 7: Until Death

The fishing village is in a festive mood. Three of the villagers, two young fishermen and one young daughter of a fisherman are getting married. They are marrying partners from remote villages and farms, but the wedding ceremonies are taking place here. The couples will reside here afterwards. Many advance preparations are underway.

Houses are being built for the newlyweds and it’s a community effort. All the land is held in common and use is controlled by a village headman. It’s traditional for a young couple to start off provided with the basic necessities for making a home and without being burdened with a mortgage. The families of the couples chip in and provide the materials. Everyone in the village assists in the labor of construction.

The houses are small, just modern versions of old style grass huts. Major differences are a concrete slab instead of a dirt floor, and concrete block walls instead of mud and wattle. The thatched roof is still the timeless traditional style. No indoor plumbing or electricity. Cooking is done outside under an overhanging porch roof. Water is carried home in a bucket from a communal tap connected to a huge community water storage tank. The tank is normally refilled by tanker trucks, delivered by a water seller. Today, Tiger is providing free fresh water to the tank from his desalination unit through a garden hose. The river really isn’t a river, just an arm of the salt water lagoon. He has to back flush the water maker more frequently, because he sucks up a tiny bit of silt, but it’s working fine.

The weddings and receptions will take place on the Tiger town barge, which is being decorated with tropical flowers. Francine is deeply involved in the thick of the decorating. She couldn’t be more enthusiastic if she was arranging for her own wedding.

Well hell, why not?

A few words in Warren’s ear seeded the idea and he ran with it. Warren and Francine asked Tiger to marry them, under his authority as Captain of the Appeal to Heaven. Tiger is concerned with the legality of the whole thing. Consults with me. Tiger really is becoming puritanical in his ideas and perceptions. He should relax.

“What’s the problem, Tiger? Why are you reluctant?”

“I have serious doubts about the legality of my performing a wedding. Warren and Francine might go on for years, even decades, believing they are legally married when they might not be.”

“Well, if they erroneously believed they are married, and live together as man and wife for seven years, then doesn’t common law marriage take effect?”

“After seven years? Is that when the law applies whether you want to be married or not? Suppose you just want to live together and never intend on getting married?”

“Does it matter in this situation? Warren and Francine want to marry each other.”

“Yeah, nobody is holding a gun on them. Francine isn’t pregnant, is she?”

“Not so far as I know. Does THAT matter?”

“I suppose not. I feel weird, like I would be doing something illegal, if I marry them.”

“Maybe I can understand, I suspect you’re just having a word definitions crisis.”

“I’m glad YOU understand what you are talking about, because you completely lost me! Definitions crisis? What he hell is that?”

“Sure. Happens all the time. That’s why the legal profession has a special dictionary defining the legal meaning of words, opposed to the commonly accepted meanings. The plural of common, Meanings, is why a single legal definition is necessary.”

“You’ve still lost me.”

“Okay, suppose Warren and Francine are NOT legally married after you marry them. That does not mean they were illegally married. It is not illegal for you to preside over the ceremony, even if the ceremony is NOT legally binding. A confusing situation where words seem to mean one thing but actually mean something else.”

“I don’t agree. If something isn’t legal, then it’s illegal.”

“Unless!”

“Unless what?”

“Unless, there are extenuating circumstances.”

“Like what?”

“Lack of options? Under duress? What code you are operating under? Believing in good faith you are doing the appropriate thing.”

“I don’t agree. Ignorance of the law is no excuse! The law is law.”

“We were both in Vietnam and lost friends. Saw a lot of death. Did you ever observe a Jewish Rabbi Chaplain give absolution and the last rites to a dying Catholic soldier?”

“Well, not personally. I didn’t actually see it, but heard it was done. Chaplains had special dispensation to minister to all faiths. They were too few, and far between, and too many dying everywhere.”