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It wasextremelyirritating but she knew she had to keep her mouth shut about it. She just hoped she didn’t explode from extreme frustration before the day was over!
SEVENTEEN
MIA
The walk through the Dome was pleasant enough. They saw other couples leaving their homes and Brother Jonash waved at them and greeted most of them by name. The men answered him in turn but Mia noticed that the women said nothing, only nodding their heads respectfully.
That’s right—they’re not supposed to speak to another man unless their husband authorizes it first,she thought and clenched her fists in irritation.
She kept her own mouth shut as they walked down the paved lane that led from the rows of little white houses and towards the center of the Dome, where the park and the Inner Sanctum of the Prophet was located.
Sev walked with Brother Jonash, both of them a little ahead of her, and this morning he wasnotslowing down so she could keep up. In fact, even Brother Jonash was looking a little winded as he tried to match the big Kindred’s stride.
Guess he’s still mad at me,Mia thought as she hurried after him and wished they could have a moment alone to talk. But there was no way she could say anything in front of the irritatingly pious Brother Jonash.
“Where is everyone going?” Sev asked, breaking the silence at last.
“To their work assignments of course,” Brother Jonash answered. “As you and your wife will be, after you finish your review and the Induction Ceremony.”
“I thought the women worked in the home, though,” Mia said, forgetting she wasn’t supposed to talk.
Sev shot her a glance over his shoulder but repeated her question to Brother Jonash, who doubtless would have ignored it otherwise.
“Oh, well the womennormallystay in the home, but tonight we have a special treat—the Prophet himself is going to give us a lecture,” he told Sev. “So the women will be working today in the communal kitchens to prepare dinner for everyone. We’ll all eat in the park and then we get to hear the Wisdom of the Prophet!”
He had an enraptured look on his narrow face, as though he was a kid talking about Christmas morning or his birthday party, rather than listening to a boring lecture in the park, Mia thought.
She wished she could say so to Sev—or at least give him a significant look—but she couldn’t catch his eye. Was he deliberately ignoring her? How angry was he over the smoothie incident, anyway? Was he going to carry a grudge the whole time they were here? He—
“Excuse me, Brother Jonash! Excuse me, strangers.” The voice belonged to a youngish man—probably in his twenties, Mia thought. He had pale blue skin and silver hair just like Brother Jonash and most of the other people she had seen in the Dome and he was clean shaven and wearing the standard white shirt and black trousers.
“Yes, Brother Enoc?” Brother Jonash said—or rather panted. Sev had been walking so fast, he had clearly been hard pressed to keep up with the big Kindred. Mia was a bit out of breath herself.
“I can see you’re in a hurry, but I desperately need your Spiritual Guidance,” Brother Enoc said. Where had she heard that name before, Mia wondered?
“Oh, well…I suppose we can stop for just a moment.” Brother Jonash looked relieved. “What can I help you with?”
Mia expected Brother Enoc to ask about some matter of spiritual piety or a particularly knotty theological problem he’d been struggling with. But what he said instead, nearly made her jaw drop.
“I fear that my wife has been very disobedient and I need to punish her,” he told Brother Jonash.
Brother Jonash frowned.
“Why don’t you just punish her then? What’s the problem?”
“Well you see, she’s been soverybad I fear I need others to witness the punishment—to bear witness to her shame,” Brother Enoc said. “Can you spare a few moments to witness for me? And you too, stranger,” he added, looking up at Sev, who was giving his best blank face, Mia saw.
“Actually, I think this is an excellent opportunity,” Brother Jonash said, nodding. “It will be good for our new converts to witness how a wife is properly punished and put in her place here in the PPP Dome. Yes, Brother Enoc, we would be pleased to bear witness for you.”
“Thank you—she’s just over here in the park waiting for me.”
Brother Enoc led them further into the parkland—which was all green, rolling hills and pleasant paths lined with colorful plants. There were occasional benches here and there too, where you could sit and enjoy the nature. Brother Enoc led them towards one of these and Mia saw a young woman was kneeling beside it with her hands clasped in her lap and her head bowed low so that her long silver hair fell in her face and obscured her eyes.
“Lisha!” Brother Enoc barked. “Get up, wife! I have brought some people to witness your punishment.”
The girl’s head jerked up and to her shock, Mia recognized her.
It’s her—the one we saw reciting the Rules of Conduct on the recording disk thing Sev found in the bathroom mirror last night! She and Enoc must have lived in our domicile for a little while at some point.
