The Lioness and the Black Widow 7

When Roger had chewed his way down to the neck, he dropped Cecile and walked out the room. Antigone asked The Duchess, “What about the old man and Theresa?” The Duchess answered, “I’m not taking them to be raised. The old man is already falling apart. As for Theresa, you just don’t do that to a friend. Alright, I‘m gonna have Roger carry the geezer and Ms. Peacock up to the attic. I want the cars pulled into the garage and the girl on the sofa thrown in the trunk of your car. Then bring down Chris and the guy on the cross.”

We placed the young woman in the trunk of the Cutlass. The Duchess and Antigone came down with the two men, both men had their hands cuffed in front of them. The Duchess grabbed Chris by the hair and said, “You’re going in the trunk of my car. If you make any noise back there, I’m gonna open the trunk, pour gasoline all over you and set you on fire. Do you understand?” Chris muttered, “Yes.” She shoved Chris in the trunk and slammed it shut. She pointed at the other man, “That motherfucker can ride in the trunk with the dead body.”

As I rode in the passenger seat of The Duchess’ Lincoln, I stared out the window watching a world a I could no longer be a part of pass me by. Green lawns, gardening seniors, people bustling, hustling to and fro; people going about their daily business. People I could never be like, people I would never know. I was no longer a part of ‘humanity’.

The Duchess turned the music up, enthusiastically singing along to Esther Phillips’ “No Headstone on My Grave” at the top of her lungs. When her song was over, she turned off the music and said, “After we go see Lavinia, we’ll go visit some more of The Great Sathanas’ people. After that, I have another meeting set-up that you’ll need to attend.”

I asked, “Another Matriarch?”

“Not yet, she’s Second-Chair in her house.”

“Is it to see how I’ll react again?”

“No. I already know how you’re gonna react, just like I knew the last time. This time it’s about she reacts to you. I need her on board.”

“Don’t you worry that more of Theresa’s friends will show up?”

“I already anticipate that happening. I’m burning the house tonight.”

“Why was she connected to so many outsiders?”

“She wanted a normal life. I told her that she could live as she chose. Theresa could have just walked away from all this with her slave. Instead, she tried to have the best of both worlds. There is no gray area here. You are either on one side of the threshold or the other. Fence-riders get torn on half. That’s what happened to my friend Theresa.”

We arrived at the house, Lilith opened the door for us. Her cheeks were still bandaged and she had dark circles under her eyes. She was tired, but her will wasn’t broken. Her immense suffering made her stronger. I helped the twins carry the body of the young woman upstairs to Lavinia’s office. When we got there, Lavinia was seated behind her desk, Sally and Damijana stood at her side; just like I saw them in the vision.

The Duchess entered the office and stood in front of Lavinia’s desk smiling. She said, “I’ve got two more bodies for you to raise and a replacement for Alfred.”

Lavinia replied, “Alfred was one of a kind. There can be no replacement.”

“Yeah well, this fuck-up right here,” she pointed at Chris, “got my best friend killed. You know what happened. You can see everything through Clarence.”

“I did. I also saw all the unnecessary killing. Why did you attack The Fallen Angel?”

“She was faking the crown.”

“She was faking the crown? Are you sure it isn’t because of some slight that occurred a long time ago?”

“You know what? Fuck The Fallen Angel. She got what she deserved. I just helped her find her destiny a little quicker. What’s with the morality lessons?”

“You are killing innocent people for no reason whatsoever.”

“Innocent? I’ve never even heard of the term. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? And who are you to lecture me? Your house kills more people than we do.”

“There has to be a reason for me to kill someone.”

“Oh, you need a reason. So, when you kill someone for your own sick sexual satisfaction, you call that a reason?”

“Yes.”

The Duchess shook her head and lit a cigarette, “Whatever you say Lavinia. If you’re not gonna use Chris, we may as well kill him and raise him. Is that a good enough reason to kill?”

“Bring him forward.” Antigone shoved Chris toward Lavinia’s desk. Chris stood quivering, staring wide-eyed at the black and red mask in front of him. Lavinia said, “We are discussing whether you should live or die. Do you have anything to say in regard to that matter.”

Chris shook his lowered head.

Lavinia asked, “Do you prefer death?”

Chris shook his head and muttered, “N-no.”

“So why should I keep you alive. What can you do for me?”

“I-I…I will serve you…”

Lavinia interrupted, “Serve me? Do think that I would allow a horde of roaches into my house, as long as they promised to serve me? How could you possibly serve me?”

The Duchess said, “Theresa was pleased with him.”

Lavinia replied, “Theresa loved this man. I don’t. Theresa sought partners she could lose herself in, hoping to forget who she really was. I’m not. Most importantly, Theresa was into a different form of slavery. Chris was her slave because that was his choice. He could walk away at any time. I take slaves because I choose to. I take who I want, when I want, how I want. My slaves have no choices. None. I’m as similar to Theresa as a Palestinian suicide bomber is to our local congressman. Both are in the business of politics. But their methods are drastically different. The Palestinian woman who straps a bomb to herself, she has no use for the Congressman‘s books, rules, rhetoric and pomp. Just like I have no use for Chris. Kill him.”

Antigone pulled a length of rope from her pocket, wrapped it around Chris’s neck and strangled him. She pulled him down to the floor as he kicked his legs and struggled for air. Eventually, his legs stopped kicking and jerking. His body went still. Chris was dead.

Lavinia said, “I’m going to say this one time. We aren’t playing cowboys and Indians here. The stakes are high for us. If we don’t win, we will be destroyed. Dominating the other houses and Matriarchs, killing anyone who gets in our way or threatens to thwart our will; these things are necessities. We don’t do it because we think it would be ’cool’ to dominate the other Matriarchs and kill people, we do it because it is necessary for our survival. This is how we live, this is what we do. You’re out there killing Elvira-wannabes and aggressive housewives for no good reason. While that may be entertaining to you, to me it is a waste of time. I don’t have any time to waste. You endangered us all by allowing Theresa to form relationships with outsiders.”

“How I run my house is my business.”

“It is your business. But you know as well as I do that we can’t mix and mingle with outsiders as if we had something in common with them.”
“Theresa was looking for a way to live, grow and be happy without having to torture and kill people all the time…”

Lavinia slammed her fist on the desk, “There is no other way for us. My sister sought the same thing. That’s how we found Clarence. The bottom line is this, a square is a square. I don’t give a fuck what they call themselves, what kind of relationship they have with their spouses, how kinky their sex lives are or how anti-social they act or dress. They are outsiders and do not live the same way we do. From now on, nobody in either of our houses is allowed to form relationships with outsiders.”

The Duchess looked at Damijana and asked, “You found Clarence at one those places Theresa was going to? What brought you there?”

Damijana answered, “The same thing that brought Theresa. I was under the illusion that there was a place for me in this world other than here.”

The Duchess laughed, “Clarence, you were just hanging out looking for something kinky to get into, and Damijana found you? A black guy hanging out in places like that? You would have had a better chance finding a woman at a klan rally. You’re lucky Damijana found you.”

I replied, “I am lucky. I am also very aware of the difference between us and them. We shouldn’t have had to kill those three people this afternoon.”

The Duchess exclaimed, “Whatever Clarence. Lavinia would have killed that loud mouth bitch too, and you know it. She was offensive. I could look right inside her and see her fears, insecurities and envy. Ms. Peacock was a weak bitch and a bad actress. I‘m just surprised someone didn‘t off her belligerent ass a long time ago, probably because she surrounded herself with people who were either weaker than her, or infatuated with her.”

Lavinia said, “You’re right. I would have killed her. But that’s not the point. Clarence belongs here, we found him and brought him home. Shit like this,” She pointed to Chris’s body on the floor, “does not belong here. Theresa had no business getting involved with that man. And she definitely had no business confusing the steps we take to insure our survival with a fucking relationship model for squares. This isn’t the goddamn Brady Bunch and we are not normal people. I strongly suggest you make sure that all members of your house are completely clear about this in the future.”

“I got it Lavinia. Squares are off limits.”

“Good, because we can’t murder an entire subculture just because a few women can’t keep their fingers out of it. By tomorrow you‘ll have a dozen people pounding on your door looking for their friends, the cops will come shortly thereafter.”

“All the cops will find when they get there is ash and embers. I’m burning the house tonight.”

“Good. Are you set to meet Medea tonight?”

“I am. All we need is her house on our side and we can go confront the Old Ladies. I look forward to fucking up their tea party.”

“The days of drinking tea, formalities and mutual masturbation are over. The Old Ladies belong in a museum. This is a different era and the old ways are no longer relevant. Once they’re out of the way, we’ll unite the houses we favor and destroy the ones we don’t. We’ll rule over all the other Matriarchs.”

The Duchess smiled, “I like the way you think.”

Lavinia replied, “I know that you’re on your way to hit The Great Sathanas again. I’ll raise the woman, Chris and the live one right there.” Lavinia pointed at the man who had been tied to the cross. He no longer spoke or looked around. He just stared at the floor. After seeing his friend tortured and killed in front of him; after having his friends severed genitals shoved in his mouth as The Duchess had orgasm from witnessing his suffering, the man had lost his mind.

The Duchess asked, “Do you want us to take care of him before we go.”

Lavinia answered, “No. You’re people are too brutal and lack finesse.” The man immediately fell to floor and began having seizure. His eyes rolled back in his head and he foamed at the mouth. Lavinia continued, “Everyone needs to go downstairs. I’ll send them down as I raise them.”