I have spent the better part of the last hour working in the garden in the backyard, not only to keep an eye out for Jake to get back from his walk, but also to give Silas some space to calm down and collect himself.
He wasn’t happy to come back up to our room after his shower to find out that I had agreed to tell Jake our secret. Silas quickly began to lose his temper, letting the raging beast restrained inside him come free just the smallest bit, but I managed to help him rein it in and regain control of himself.
When we both came downstairs and ran into Joseph, I thought that all hell might break loose between them. But Silas only silently fumed at him instead, anger and frustration clearly visible in the vicious stares he sent Joseph’s way. I gave Joseph an apologetic glance and did my best to get Silas out of the house immediately. I left him in the garage where he could focus his mind elsewhere and blow off some steam.
I haven’t heard much from him since then, the lack of the sound of buzzing power tools telling me that he’s likely wood carving. It’s unclear to me if his continued efforts to perfect and beautify the wooden baby cradle are an attempt to give me hope that we might still have a baby someday or if he’s just being stubborn and won’t stop until the project is completely finished.
I’m running out of creative ways to find work to do in the garden when I hear a faint, but familiar sound coming from the direction of the garage: the quick rush of metal against metal.
It’s the sound of Silas’ .22 caliber rifle chambering a round.
I stand up and bolt across the backyard to the stone walkway separating the garage from the house. When I reach the other end of it, I see Silas crouched at the far corner of the garage just inside the door with the barrel of the rifle sticking out toward the tall front gate.
Silas leans out of the doorway when he hears me coming and silently motions for me to enter the garage behind him. I follow his instruction and slip inside the garage, but I crouch down and keep my head tilted just enough to peek out from the side of the doorway.
I’m about to ask Silas what the hell is going on when the solar-powered, wooden driveway gate suddenly begins its slow roll to the side. My heart hammers in my chest in nervous anticipation, but floods with relief when I see Jake appear from behind the gate.
Then the gate rolls farther to the side, and a man with slicked-back, light-brown hair appears with two men armed with rifles standing defensively behind him.
Any second now, Silas and his rifle will begin their assault on these armed men standing next to my brother. At any moment he’ll enact his defense of our home and our family.
He lowers his rifle instead and slowly stands up.
Is he admitting defeat already? What the fuck is he doing?
“Silas?” I whisper out of concern for our safety and the safety of my brother standing next to these armed men.
“It’s okay,” he breathes out, though his unsteady tone isn’t particularly reassuring. “I know the man next to Jake.”
I stare at him with confusion, not sure that I’m as okay as he is that these people have shown up at our gate with my brother, even if Silas is already acquainted with one of them. “Who are these people?”
“Silas,” the man with the slicked-back hair says cheerfully as he spots us in the doorway to the garage. He steps forward and approaches us with his arms raised out to his sides invitingly.
Silas maintains his hold on the rifle, but steps into the driveway to meet the man halfway. They come together and briefly embrace, the man clearly more enthusiastic about this meeting than Silas.
“It’s been too long, old friend,” the man says with a wide grin as he pulls back from Silas.
I haven’t moved from my position in the doorway, so I can’t see Silas’ expression with his back to me, but I can tell by his stance and body language that he’s apprehensive about this exchange.
“It’s been a long time, Xavier,” Silas responds, and at his mention of this name, my eyes immediately dart to Jake. He seems indifferent to being in the presence of the man who held him against his will at the community in Ohio at Silas’ request.
Quickened footsteps approach from the stone path between the house and the garage. They come to a stop as Joseph appears there with an AR-15 in hand, but he similarly has the tip of its barrel pointed harmlessly to the ground.
“Joseph,” Xavier offers in greeting to him. “It’s good to see you.”
I’m concerned to see that Joseph looks just as unsettled about the appearance of these visitors as Silas, even though they all seem somewhat friendly with each other.
“Surprised to see you out this way,” Joseph responds without acknowledging the greeting offered to him.
For the first time in this exchange, Xavier is the one who appears to be uncomfortable as he looks down to the ground and says, “A lot has changed. Things aren’t as they once were.” He looks back up and immediately locks his eyes on me where I’m still standing partially hidden in the doorway to the garage. “So, are one of you going to introduce me to the lady or what?”
Silas slings his rifle over his shoulder as he turns and nods at me, letting me know with these simple actions that everything is okay and I should come to him. Despite my instinct to keep my distance, I reluctantly step out into the driveway toward them.
When I get close enough to Silas, he reaches his hand out to connect it with mine, pulling me to him so that the sides of our bodies are touching each other, making our relationship status blatantly clear to our visitors.
“This is Ash,” he says while indicating me with his free hand. “Ash, this is Xavier.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Xavier replies as he offers his hand to me in greeting with a broad grin on his face.
A brief smile is as much of an acknowledgement as I can manage when I take his offered hand and shake it. His skin feels softer than Silas’, but his grip is just as strong.
I feel almost instantaneous relief when our hands disconnect for Xavier to motion behind him to Jake. “Your brother told me a lot about you during his stay at my community. It’s no wonder he was so eager to get back here. You appear lovely.”
Silas’ grip on my left hand suddenly tightens. He steps forward to insert himself into this one-sided exchange and suggests, “Why don’t we move on to the business at hand. What are you doing here, Xavier?”
The briefest flash of irritation crosses Xavier’s face before he smiles as if the preceding moment never happened. “We’ve been on the road for a while now, and our food supply is low. We just need a decent meal and a comfortable place to stay for the night, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Silas appears unaffected by Xavier’s explanation. “You’ll forgive me if I have my reservations about allowing others stay on my property, even old friends.”
“I understand your reluctance,” Xavier replies, “but don’t you think you owe it to me after I took Jake in for you before?”
Now Silas appears irritated, his brow furrowing as he glances back to the two armed men still waiting just outside of the open gate.
“No weapons,” Silas demands. “You and your men aren’t going a step farther onto my property with rifles or knives or even toothpicks in hand.”
Xavier nods and looks back at his men, giving his silent instruction for them to comply with Silas’ request. They don’t hesitate to toss their rifles to the gravel in front of them. They then proceed to remove the handguns, switchblades, and pocket knives from their gear and add them to the pile.
Joseph slings the AR-15 behind him as he strides over toward Xavier’s men. He ignores the pile of weapons on the ground and focuses instead on quickly patting down one of the men to check him for additional weapons. Silas proceeds to do the same pat down on Xavier, taking the time to check him more thoroughly.
When Silas crouches down to perform the check all the way down to the ankles, Xavier finds my gaze and beams a smile at me, instantly making me uncomfortable. I feel the sudden need to be useful in this moment and get out of Xavier’s line of sight, so I walk past him and approach the pile of weapons on the ground.
Jake steps over and joins me, exuding all sorts of uncertainty and concern about this situation as we crouch down to the gravel together to collect the weapons.
By the time we have the weapons in hand, Joseph has finished frisking the second man. He turns and looks between me and Jake, silently communicating to me that my planned conversation with my brother will have to wait until after our visitors are gone.
“Please, come inside,” Silas tells everyone, indicating the stone path between the garage and the house. “We can all have a drink while we figure out tonight’s meal.”
Xavier’s men waste no time in walking up the driveway toward the house. Xavier and Silas move together in that direction, too, but Joseph, Jake, and I aren’t as quick to move.
When everyone else is up ahead and out of earshot, I whisper, “Do either of you trust him?”
Both Joseph’s and Jake’s expressions remain firm as they both fail to respond to my question, giving me all the answer I really need.
Joseph enters the code into the nearby keypad panel to close the driveway gate. The three of us then slowly start walking toward the house.
Keeping his voice just above a whisper, Joseph turns to Jake and asks, “Why did you bring them here?”
“They were already well up the road to the house when I saw them,” Jake replies quietly. “I thought it would be best to control how they approached the house if they were going to find it anyway.”
Our brief conversation is forced to an end as we round the corner at the back of the house to enter into the kitchen behind Silas and our unexpected guests. Silas directs Xavier and his men into the dining room while the rest of us remain still, awaiting instruction near the door.
Silas turns to us with a serious expression, focusing his attention on Joseph first as he whispers, “I want you with them at all times. No one separates from their group without one of us accompanying him.”
With a quick nod, Joseph maneuvers around the kitchen island to enter into the dining room with his AR-15 still slung over his shoulder.
Silas looks between me and Jake. “Take their weapons upstairs for now,” he directs quietly before placing his hand gently on the side of my face. “I want you to stay upstairs as much as possible while they’re here.”
“I can’t hide away while you’re all down here dealing with this,” I argue in a whisper through gritted teeth.
“You can, and you will.” Silas leans forward and gives me a chaste kiss, giving me no option other than to comply as he turns to grab two random bottles of liquor from the serving cart against the wall. Before I can get a word out, he’s standing still in the doorway to the dining room, giving Jake and me the opportunity to slip behind him through the doorway toward the living room without drawing too much attention.
We hurry down the hall to the door leading upstairs to the bedroom. As quietly as possible, we ascend the stairs and enter through the door at the top.
“Just throw them on the bed,” I suggest, and we both pile the weapons onto the disheveled sheets.
Jake grabs my arm the moment my hands are free of the weapons. He pulls me toward him so that I’m forced to meet his gaze.
“Silas is right,” he warns. “You need to stay up here.”
If I weren’t so worried for my family’s safety, I would roll my eyes at him and admonish him for being overprotective, but it seems wrong to do this when he’s about to put his life at risk to protect me and our home.
“How bad is he?” I ask hesitantly. Jake has never said much about his experience in the weeks he spent at Xavier’s community.
“He could be worse,” Jake replies vaguely, “but he could also be a lot better. The people at the community loved Xavier despite the tight leash he had over them.”
Between Jake’s brief description and the creepy looks Xavier was giving me out on the driveway, my unease about this situation hits its peak. I hate to admit that I feel some relief at being told to stay upstairs.
Jake pockets one of the switchblades from the pile on the bed then walks toward the open doorway.
“Please be careful,” I call out to him.
He smiles and gives a firm nod before leaving the room and rushing down the stairs.