Goodbye Mama Elena

 In "Fruit of the Womb", there was a little section that immediately inspired a new idea. It was in speaking about Mama Elena, one of Millie's mothers. Now let's just say real quickly that this is a polygamous community in the very worst sense. Take your expectation of a harsh patriarchy and extreme chauvinism to a point somewhere beyond Warren Jeff's compounds in southern Utah and northern Arizona, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints. For those of you who do not know about this cult, one that isn't overly flashy, it is a breakaway from the Mormon Church founded in 1929 and is primarily located in the areas mentioned though they have a large compound as well in Texas. Their Prophet, Warren Jeffs, is currently serving a life sentence plus 20 years for child molestation. He's getting off easy.

Here in Arizona, we hear about this cult and have always had them in the back of our consciousness as every now and then some horrid news would creep down, usually in the form of the "lost boys", young men who are pushed from the community due to whatever reasons or young women who have escaped that hellhole. While this perversion still sits in the northern realms of this state, it is a shame, one that there is very little recourse for as this cult hides their practices from the outside world and people not in their cult do not live in their communities. Being that we have them here, I figure I might as well use them as a template for the psychotic religious community which has formed in the Bajazid valley region.

Millicent had two mothers at first... Deidre and Elena. Millie had fair, yellow hair like Deidre and Esmy, darker skin and hair like Elena. Still, the children are encouraged to consider the mothers as equal and vice-versa... which is something that does not occur because, well, human emotions. For example, Deidre was extremely harsh toward Esmy before Esmy went away because, well, Deidre knew whose child that was and she was not a very stable individual from what I've gathered. I only have the information from "The Fairies of Esmy", "Fruit of the Womb" and now "Goodbye Mama Elena", but I know she devolved heavily and her passing was not mourned by Millie. Indeed, it was Mama Elena who, over years (and with the loss of her precious Esmy) developed a relationship with Millie leading to a strong and deep connection to the mother who didn't look like her. (the third mother, well, she was a short addition to the family that did not work out so well apparently... must have to figure that one out)

In "Fruit of the Womb", there is a little mention about how Mama Elena is not doing well, that she's no longer there in her head and that it has become too much of a burden on the community to care for her. In such cases, as are the community standards, such individuals deemed a drain on the community or those who have been accused of crimes against the Prophet (Jonathon Kearns) or the community are set outside the gates of the community until they are gone. By this, well, Bezer has been haunted since its inception through its original sin... or the folly of the Prophet. These are the events detailed in "The Witch of Pitt's Junction" and the removal of the elderly colored lady from the community under accusations of witchcraft... after this lady, known in the community as Mama D (because her heavily French name is a tongue twister) had saved one of Jonathon Kearns' boys' life. This betrayal has become the haunt, the curse of this community, and thus the punishment for those who disobey and the cleansing of those no longer productive.

While the feast being prepared in "Fruit of the Womb" is for a celebration... um, weird culture here and yes, it is horrid but that what makes this such a fun gang to write about... Millie is aware that during the next full moon, the Prophet has decreed that Mama Elena will be set outside the walls if she does not pass on her own before then. "Goodbye Mama Elena" is the story of what happens that month later as Millie prepares a bed of straw outside the compound walls for her beloved Mama Elena to be comfortable on as she waits her end. Being that Mama Elena is pretty much no longer there in her head, the tragedy is more sad for Millie than terrifying and Millie does her best to decorate Mama Elena's bower with flowers and to make her comfortable.

It is while these preparations are going on with the whole of the community lining the palisade walls of Bezer to watch that lucidity returns to Mama Elena long enough to tell a terrible truth, one which leaves Millie with an horrible choice. This story gets just a little more sadistic and a little more sad with each word. It is a farewell and Millie is given the honor of holding watch that night so she could keep an eye on her mother... and have the first shot at either Mama Death or the Strawman should either come to collect their offering. It isn't either of these two though that appear, that walk through the moonlight in a stained nightgown to claim Mama Elena. Instead, it is an old hatred long forgotten and a final act of cruelty.

"Goodbye Mama Elena" was finished on the 8th of August, 2019, my 49th Tale completed coming in at 4,790 words. I found a publication that was looking for stories under the them "close the gate" and being that the gate in the palisade wall is extremely important for the safety of Bezer and it is that closed gate that plays prominence here, I submitted and was delighted to be accepted. This story opens the anthology "Thuggish Itch : Close the Gate" by Gypsum Sound Tales. It is an Australian publication which is kinda cool 'cause now I'm international :) Being that a South African publication recently picked up one of my Tales, well, my stories have traveled further than me.

By the way, the contributor copy was upside down when I opened the package but I learned that all you need to do when you do get a package from the upside down part of the world is turn it right side up. Glad to have cleared that up for ya'll.