Long Lost - James Scott Bell Page 0,70

Just hearing her voice would have been enough.

The women who had served dinner also laid out refreshments for the Bible study. These included a large platter of deli meats, with bread and condiments on the side, and a wash tub of ice for beer and soft drinks.

Beer?

Johnny offered Steve a Coors. Steve went for a Pepsi instead. Then Johnny introduced him around. Steve shook hands with Axel LaFontaine, a friendly sort in a Hawaiian shirt who had done time at Soledad.

Don Stead was a dog lover who had once been in prison for shooting cows. “Target practice,” he said.

Mike Dietz was fast-talking, guitar-playing ex-con from Fresno.

All regular guys with one thing in common—loyalty to an old man who preached the gospel of racial segregation and white superiority.

The sooner this thing was over, the better Steve was going to like it.

A little after seven, the big door opened and Eldon LaSalle drove his throne-like wheelchair into the room. Steve wondered how fast that baby could go if he cranked it up.

On his lap was a big black book with gilt edging. Everyone took Eldon’s entrance as a cue to find a seat.

Steve sat near the back, next to a guy named Bill Reagan. A friendly sort. Did time for grand theft auto.

Eldon LaSalle wheeled to the front of the assembly, smoking his ever-present pipe. The room was silent as he slowly opened the Bible and took a few studious pulls on his tobacco as he turned the pages.

Then he looked up.

“The Word of the Lord,” LaSalle said, then put his eyes back on the Bible and began to read. “‘And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.’”

The words came out in the rich honey-tones of a baseball announcer. Steve could see immediately how LaSalle might hold a crowd in rapt attention. He would have made one great trial lawyer, too.

Instead, he had chosen the life of a nut. But a powerful nut, not easy to crack.

“Yea,” Eldon said, not reading now but looking at his congregation. “Ham did have his own mother, as the word of the Lord tells us in Leviticus twenty and eleven. And the product of that union was Canaan, the cursed one. His was a perverted, animal race. And lest they become enticing unto the line of Shem, God did remove their white skin and cause blackness to come upon them.”

Steve looked around the room, wondering if anybody at all would at least ask a question. Like, How can anyone believe this?

No one spoke. Obedient little ex-cons.

“Cursed too shall be those who mix their seed with the accursed ones. A sentence of death shall be upon their heads.”

Some in the group nodded their heads.

“It is pleasing unto the Lord to have a pure race in covenant with him, without any of the blood of Ham running through it. The boil that holds such blood must be lanced and cauterized with fire.”

Steve murmured, “Oh, brother.”

A little too loudly. He got a frown from Bill Reagan. The LaSalleites were vigilant.

And, Steve shuddered to think, completely sold out to the man in the wheelchair.

The sermon continued. Steve tuned it out. He was more interested in scanning the faces of the men who were listening.

Especially Johnny’s. But his expression was blank and unreadable.

Something moved in the back of the room. Steve turned and saw one of the women. He recognized her as the one who had briefly made eye contact with him in the dining hall. She was thin, with brown hair worn short and plain, and was holding what looked like a jar of pickles.

She placed this carefully on the table that held refreshments. She looked nervous. Then she