Page 28 of Mr. Calloway

“Get me out of here,” I told them.

They stood there as if I spoke another language.

“Hello!” I shouted.

The girl stooped in front of me. “They won’t let you out if you keep yelling. Here, drink some water,” she said, holding the cup near my mouth.

My lips landed on the cup and guzzled down every bit of what I didn’t spill of the water. When she pulled the cup away, she stood back up.

“What’s your name?” the boy asked.

“It’sGet Me the Fuck Out of Here.”

They both looked at each other, then back at me. “You shouldn’t talk like that. You won’t get to heaven speaking in such language,” the girl said.

I scoffed. “Girl, the way I talk is the least of your worries. I’m going to warn y’all now: if you don’t let me go, my family is going to burn this place down.”

“We are your family. We overheard Light of Jess-a-belle, and?—”

“The light of what?”

The boy squatted in front of me. “Your mother. She’s your mother, right?”

It was one thing to see and read about cults, but to be a witness to it was different. I wanted to insult both of them, but I could tell by how they were dressed and spoke that they grew up in this shit. Oftentimes, we were so quick to say what another race did, but what was I to say while sitting in front of a cult with people who looked like me?

They were both good-looking with brown skin, perfect, coarse, coily hair, and both seemed to be in their right mind. “What are y’all’s names and how old are you?” I asked.

The girl smiled. “I’m Bronze, and I’m twenty years around the sun.”

He smirked. “I’m Russet, and I’m twenty-three years around the sun.”

“Bronze and Russet, huh? So, you guys are named after shades of brown?”

He started to untie me. “Yes. Brown is the color of royalty, a melanin that can’t be mimicked.”

Once my hands were free, I quickly stood. “Okay, Bronze and Russet, show me how to get out of here.”

“The only way out is through obedience, loyalty, and sacrifice,” Russet said.

I shook my head. “Look, I don’t want any part of what you guys have here. I have an entire life outside of this. I have a family, a fiancé—” I pointed, noticing my ring was missing. “—Where is my ring?” I panicked as I felt my neck and realized my necklace was missing, too.

Bronze swung side to side giddily. “All worldly things are of the Mighty One.”

“Take me to him now!” I shouted.

Russet came closer to me, staring at me curiously. “Why are you so eager to go back to a place that serves you no purpose? Look at how angry you are. You know nothing about Shine Your Light; yet, you are judging us.”

The more he talked, the more I began to realize he wasn’t born in this place, and if I knew nothing else, I knew with a little convincing he would be my easiest target.

Dionysus

“Give her a minute. Why are you on her ass like that?” Scooter asked.

I pulled on the blunt before handing it to him. “Nigga, I know my girl. Something ain’t right. None of her friends heard from her. I’m about to drive back up to Covana. I hit Chevy to let him know, but Zeus told me something was wrong with one of the twins. On gang, I swear the moon and cancer shit got to be in retrograde because what the fuck!”

Scooter laughed. “Dawg, I don’t think that’s how you say it. On a serious note, what if this was just her way of being away from you? Have you ever thought about that?”

The idea played in my head a couple of times, but Samara knew if she didn’t want this shit, that was all she had to say.Is it possible she’s ignoring me on purpose, or maybe she realized there’s a tracker in her necklace?So many thoughts clouded my mind, I didn’t know what to believe. However, the deeper part of me felt like something was off.