My Creative Desk: September 2019

Five hundred years from now, the necessity of population control and a preference for male children has resulted in a shortage of women. Down from the Appalachian Mountains, comes Tory White, an unusually tall and muscular young woman. Unable to read, she is deceived into signing a lifelong contract as a concubine. Entirely unsuitable for the position, she soon finds herself slotted for the ‘beds,’ where few girls live beyond a month. Yet, her honest and forthright manner charms the head of security into saving her and sets her upon a path in which she becomes the ‘heart’ of the world and the savior of man’s future.

Excerpt

Finally, Tory’s time at the Gentleman’s club was coming to an end, and she couldn’t wait to leave. She was sick and tired of being called ‘monster’ and ‘freak’ by the hateful girls. The only person who’d been nice to her was Link Taylor. Him, she’d miss. He was unquestionably the nicest and smartest man she’d ever met. But it was more than that. He really seemed to understand her, and he never made fun of her ignorance or her largeness.

The truth was, she had never met a person she liked more, except for her Grams. And she had feelings for Link Taylor that she’d never had for Grams. She wondered if she might not be in love.

People made a big deal about it in the mountains. Whenever a girl had to marry someone they didn’t want, they’d claim themselves in love with someone else. And sometimes it worked. May Hatchet had declared herself in love with Jeffrey Summers, and at first there was a big fuss because she had been promised to Charlie Smith. But Charlie admitted he loved Anna Summers, and the families all got together and sorted out the couples, so that Charlie Smith and May Hatchet became brother and sister-in-law instead of husband and wife.

Everyone had been much amused and pleased by the whole matter, believing the marriages to be true ‘love matches.’ A few years later when Charlie and May were found in bed together, the Summers family wasn’t nearly as understanding. Charlie was forced to leave the mountain, and Anna, being his wife, had to go as well, even though she hadn’t done nothing wrong, and Charlie didn’t even like her anymore.

Tory had always felt bad for Anna.

“What has you looking so pensive this morning?” Link asked as he sat down beside her on the grassy hill overlooking the lake.

“Love.” She laughed at his look of concern. She explained the nonsense of the Summers/Hatchet/Smith affair. When she stopped talking, he still looked confused.

“People get married in the mountains?”

“Of course. How else would they keep the farms going? There’s man’s work, woman’s work, and children’s work. And you need all three parts to keep a farm running.”

“Why did you leave there?” he asked. His voice sounded strained as if he was upset that she’d left the mountains. He could probably hear in her words how much she missed her old way of life.

“Well, none of the boys wanted me for their wife. They were willing to take me on their farms, but not respectfully. So, when Leroy come around looking for a partner to sing duets in city clubs, Momma said I should go, for there weren’t nothing for me in the mountains but a future of shame and misery.”

“And you think this will be better?” he asked in surprise.

“No,” she laughed. “This ain’t at all what I thought I’d be doing. I was supposed to be singing for my living, but I ain’t done nothing here but get myself in trouble every time I turn around. I’ll be so happy when this week is out, and I can leave here!” She then paused. “Except, I’ll miss you terribly, Link. I ain’t never met a person ’cept for Gram that I like more.”

She had expected him to smile, for surely, he understood how big a compliment that was. But he didn’t smile. In fact, he looked most upset.

“What do you mean leave?”

“I mean pack my bags and go,” she said. “I’m sorry to sound so ungrateful, because you’ve been awfully nice to me. But beyond you, there isn’t one thing I like about this place. I will be very glad when our contract is up, and Leroy and I can leave. And just so you don’t think I’m some stupid-headed female, the moment Leroy hits the other side of that gate and I get my half of the money, I’m going on my own. Leroy only cares about himself and will sell me out any chance he gets. I see that now, and he’s not pulling this shit on me a second time.”

Link seemed more upset than ever. “Tory, only Leroy is leaving in a week. Your contract is for life.”

“For life? Whose life? Mine? That can’t be! Who would hire a musician for life?”

He shook his head as if trying to make sense of her. “They didn’t hire you as a musician, Tory. You signed on as a concubine.”

“A what?”

“A concubine.”

She’d never heard the word before. “Exactly what does a concubine do?”

He stared at her a moment and then he sighed. “It won’t work. We tape the contract signings to prove the girls are not under duress when they agree to become a concubine. I watched you read that contract word for word, myself. You cannot claim you did not know you were signing on as a concubine.”

She sighed. “Can I trust you with a secret?”

He nodded and reached out and took her hand.

“I can’t read. Girls aren’t taught in the mountains. But Leroy says it’s against the law not to teach girls, and if I told anyone I couldn’t read, they’d go up in the mountains and kill everybody for breaking the law. So, I did like he told me, and looked at each and every block of print for a moment before going on to the next block.”

“Which is why you smiled when you finished it,” he said, as if he finally understood something that had been bothering him.