CLOTHES OFF

I have no "crush" - does that mean I should have learned no language? lol

G

CLOTHES OFF

Jem preached the longest, most tedious sermon she ever heard in her life. He said that sin was about the most sinful thing he could think of, and no one who sinned could be a success, and blessed was he who sat in the seat of the scornful.

He started on hell, but she said, "Now cut it out, Jem." Reverend Moorehead's description of it was enough to last her a lifetime. Jem reversed his field and tackled heaven.

Jem drew the service to a close by asking all who wished to be united with Christ to step forward. She went.

Jem put his hand on her head and said, "Young lady, do you repent?"

"Yes sir," she said.

"Have you been baptized?"

"No sir," she said.

"Well --" Jem dipped his hand into the black water of the fishpool and laid it on her head. "I baptize you --"

"Hey, wait a minute!" shouted Dill. "That's not right!"

"I reckon it is," said Jem. "Scout [Jean Louise] and me are Methodists."

"Yeah, but we're having a Baptist revival. You've got to duck her."

Jem looked at her. "Scout, you better take your clothes off. They'll get wet."

She divested herself of her overalls, her only garment. "Don't you hold me under," she said, "and don't forget to hold my nose."

She stood on the cement edge of the pool.

"How deep's this thing?" she asked.

"Only about two feet," said Jem, and turned to Dill for confirmation. But Dill had left them. They saw him going like a streak toward Miss Rachel's house.

"Reckon he's mad?" she asked.

"I don't know. Let's wait and see if he comes back."

***

"Get out of there!" Miss Rachel screamed. "Come on, get out of there!"

"Cut it out, Aunt Rachel!" burbled Dill, his head half under water. "Gimme a chance!"

Dill rose from the pool like a small fantastical water monster, covered with green slime. A tendril of ivy curled around his head and neck. He shook his head violently to free himself, and Miss Rachel stepped back to avoid the spray of water.

Jean Louise followed him out. Her nose tingled horribly from the water in it, and when she sniffed it hurt.

Miss Rachel would not touch Dill, but waved him on with her switch, saying, "March!"

She and Jem watched the two until they disappeared inside Miss Rachel's house. She could not help feeling sorry for Dill.

"Let's go home," Jem said. "It must be dinnertime."

They turned in the direction of their house and looked straight into the eyes of their father. He was standing in the driveway.

Beside him stood a lady they did not know and Reverend James Edward Moorehead. They looked like they had been standing there for some time.

Atticus came toward them, taking his coat off. Her throat closed tight and her knees shook. When he dropped his coat over her shoulders she realized she was standing stark naked in the presence of a preacher. She tried to run, but Atticus caught her by the scruff of the neck and said, "Go to Calpurnia. Go in the back door."

Calpurnia scrubbed her viciously in the bathtub, muttering, "Mr. Finch called this morning and said he was bringing the preacher and his wife home for dinner. I yelled till I was blue in the face for you all. Why'nt you answer me?"

"Didn't hear you," she lied.

"Ought to be ashamed of yourselves, mortifyin' your daddy like that!" 

(From Harper Lee: GO SET A WATCHMAN)

Kishalay Sinha [G]

Sweden or some other brutal European country nearby has the world's highest number of poor helpless single mothers turned into prostitutes by Nazis. - G