IX

“Seven,” Six said as he gently, yet firmly slapped his brother’s face and yanked him to a sitting position. Seven groaned and his eyes fluttered.

“Leave me alone,” Seven replied. Then he laid back down on the sofa and was fast asleep.

“Well, I guess we have supper without him,” Six said with a sigh. “I guess you’ll have to discuss your involvement with his death threat situation tomorrow, Brock. Sorry.”

“It’s just as well,” Brock shrugged. “We’re tired, and I didn’t really feel up to it tonight anyway.”

Seven had arrived at his brother’s gothic funeral home well on his way to intoxication. He completed inebriation with a couple healthy swigs from a flask, vomited and passed out. So the foursome had supper and the two ladies listened to the two cousins reminisce. Seven’s drunken behavior as he snored on the sofa was the elephant in the room. This, among other things, left the typically docile Destiny with growing irritation to go along with her increasing tiredness. Her emotions roiled as she and Brock retired to their room after dinner.

First she had seen a ghost like figure. Then she met the ghost like figure and discovered her to be Six Sallie’s wife Charlotte, aka Charley. This led to information that her husband and his cousin were trying to prank her. Then she meets Brock’s other cousin Seven Sallie for the first time and discovers he looks more like her husband’s twin than his own actual twin brother. Seven is also drunk and gives her an awkward, sloppy hug and tackily brings up her former life as an adult entertainer. Then Seven passes out instead of discussing his bodyguard needs over supper, which would seemingly only add more time to their stay in the Twin Cities.

But what had her the most frustrated was her husband. How could she and Brock have had such a close, intimate relationship and yet she knew so little about his family? The only picture she had seen from Brock’s past was his high school senior portrait. This youthful image of Brock had fascinated her. She had gotten to know Brock after his life of violence had marred his handsome face with three separate scars. In addition, a decade in the Florida sun made the lines of his features more pronounced. Then she meets Seven, and he currently looks more like the teenager in Brock’s senior picture than Brock himself.

“Can I punch you in the stomach?” Destiny asked her husband with an eerily calm.

“Huh?” Brock responded with bewilderment. Their spiritual daughter Amy is the only one who had ever asked to punch him when annoyed. But why would Destiny be annoyed with him? He wasn’t the one who was passed out drunk.

“Why do you want to punch me?” Brock asked now intrigued and ready to brace himself.

“Oh, never mind,” Destiny sighed and then sat down hard on the bed.

“Come on, Dee,” Brock said soothingly. “One of the reasons you and I have such a great relationship is we communicate.”

“Do we?” She asked with a defiant scowl. “Then how come I know so little about your family or your childhood?”

“You know I like to look forward rather than backwards.”

“Hmm…” Destiny groaned as she clutched her head in her hands.

“Listen, Dee, I’ve told you before that Six and I were best friends growing up, and Seven and I were, well, cousins. What more can I say, other than to tell you frivolous stories of youthful mischief?”

“Couldn’t you have at least told me that you and Seven look alike? I was expecting him to look like Six not you.”

“I guess we do look similar, don’t we?”

“Ya think?”

 “You see, Bent and Tito were identical twins,” Brock said. “Whereas Six and Seven are fraternal twins.  When we were kids though, some people thought Seven and I were the twins and Six was the cousin. Other people called Seven and me doppelgangers. But that’s not accurate. As far as I know, doppelgangers are people that look alike, but are not related. Obviously, being cousins, Seven and I have the same grandparents. By the way, I’m sorry.”

“Once again, I’m just tired,” Destiny said and then yawned.  “Besides, you’re used to knowing you look alike, so it’s not on your mind.”

“It is more than you realize.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Seven’s face has never been a punching bag, or worse yet, been slashed by knives. To be honest, I noticed that you couldn’t take your eyes off of him for a while.”

“Brock,” Destiny said as she stood and wrapped her arms around her husband. “Yes, I was intrigued at seeing a pretty boy version of you. But I’m in love with the soul behind your warm brown eyes. Because of your character, you are the most attractive man on the planet to me. You being handsome and having a killer body is only secondary to my desire for you.”

“Dido,” Brock said with an affectionate smile. “Behold, thou art fair my love; behold thou art fair. Thou hast dove eyes within thy locks: Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.”

Destiny giggled. This wasn’t the first time Brock quoted the Song of Solomon chapter 4 to her. “My teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn,” she responded.

“So true my love,” Brock said grinning. “Look at those pearly whites. And your lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely.”

“My neck is like the tower of David builded for an armory.”

“Now my favorite part,” Brock said with a low voice.

Destiny winked, smiled seductively, and made herself available to her husband.

“Thy breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.”

Destiny scowled. “For the first time, the twins part is spoiling the mood.”

“No, forget about that,” Brock said as he took her hand and eased his wife toward the bed. “Thou art fair my love; there is no spot in thee.”

“Okay, I’m back in the mood,” Destiny giggled. “You’ve ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.”

“How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is thy love than wine! And the smell of thy ointments than all spices!”

“Oh, you like the smell of Ben Gay on my sour elbow?”

“No, I like the smell of Grace upon thy neck,” he said and then sniffed and kissed her neck.

She giggled. “That’s perfume you said ointments.”

“Hush. Thy lips oh my spouse, drop as the honeycomb.”

Destiny gave him a sexy pout and he kissed her before he continued. “Honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.”

“That must be gross,” Destiny frowned. “I’ve been wearing these clothes for three fourths of a day now.”

“Okay, that’s enough wooing then. Let’s know each other.”

“We already know each other.”

“You know what I mean.”

A half hour later, Destiny snuggled against her husband. She was relaxed, content, and feeling a deep sleep coming on.

“Dee, I need to tell you something before we go to sleep,” Brock said with surprising energy.

“Hmm?” Destiny murmured as her eyes fluttered and then closed as sleep began to suck away the consciousness.

“I was really excited to tell you something important when we first came to our room. Then you became hostile and wanted to punch me,” Brock said in a low voice.

Now her eyes flew open. She hoped he wasn’t about to ruin her blissful post coital mood. “What?”

“Do you remember when Seven was taking a swallow from his flask and I grabbed him in a bear hug.”

“Yeah.”

“Well something miraculous happened. Do you know how Luke 12:12 says for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say?”

“Well, yeah I…”

“So when I grabbed Seven, my only thought was to stop him from getting more drunk than he already was and behaving like an idiot. Then I found myself talking into his ear. It’s like it wasn’t me, it was miraculous. I told him the real reason  I was there to help him, that it went beyond the death threats and being his bodyguard. Then I quoted Revelation 10:11 to him. Thou must prophecy again before many nations, and tongues and kings. Then he went slack in my arms. Then he mumbled something about that was more than a decade ago. Nobody knew but me, how did you know? Then he suddenly fled to the bathroom to throw up. Then, as you know, he passed out on the couch.”

Destiny rose to one elbow and with wide eyes looked at her husband. Then the glow of the table lamp made her squint. “How did you know to quote that verse in Revelation?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Brock said with a chuckle and an expression of awe on his face. “It was miraculous. It had to be, like I said about Luke 12:12, the Holy Spirit. And it must have a profound meaning to Seven personally. If you would have asked me what Revelation 10:11 said on our drive up, I couldn’t have told you. I’m mean obviously I’ve been over the book of Revelation numerous times. But Brock in and of himself wouldn’t have had a clue what that particular verse said without the Divine calling it to my memory.”

“Wow, it must be profound if you went third person on yourself. You hate it when people go third person on themselves.”

The couple talked for almost an hour until Destiny drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. Brock opened his Bible and read various scriptures he had underlined until sleep came to him also.

Destiny awoke to the smell of coffee. She looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. The red glowing numbers told her it was 5:53am. She sniffed again and couldn’t resist. She dressed in jeans, Brock’s Minnesota Vikings sweatshirt and slid her feet into a pair of Ugg’s. She made her way downstairs expecting to see Charley. Instead she saw Seven sitting at the kitchen table staring at a mug of coffee. She was turning to sneak back upstairs when his eye caught hers and he waved her over. She took a deep breathe and trudged over to him.