Lena Jones 02 - Desert Wives

Naval uniform.
    “The women are your daughters, right?”
    “And the sailor’s my son. Sarabeth’s a nurse, Alexandra’s an engineer, Toni teaches American Lit at BYU, and Gordon is chief petty officer on the
U.S.S. Enterprise
. Gordon’s out in the Persian Gulf right now, but we still manage to keep in touch.” He motioned to a small tape recorder that sat on a side table. “We make recordings and send them back and forth to each other. I never got the hang of email, but the tape recorder still beats letters. Uh, before you ask, my kids only have one spouse apiece, but I’m happy to report that between them, they’ve given me fifteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren!” His elation vanished as quickly as it had arrived. “Sure wish they lived closer.”
    Besides the modern tape recorder, I noticed several other items that conflicted with Virginia’s description of Purity’s homes.
    “Saul, you have a telephone, a big-screen TV, and a stereo! Right out here in the living room! I thought those accouterments of Satan were supposed to be locked away from us dumb, impressionable women.”
    He patted the TV, obviously his pride and joy. “Even in my beginning days out here, before it all went sour, I never paid much attention to that kind of stuff. I leave the telephone out so Ruby can call her family any time she wants, not that the girls are always allowed to talk to her.” His voice lowered for a moment. “I’d be careful about using it, if I were you. The Circle of Elders knows too many details about my own phone conversations, and I don’t think it’s because Ruby’s spreading the word. She likes to eavesdrop, but she’s pretty loyal.”
    I lowered my voice to match his. “Are you warning me the telephone’s tapped?”
    “I wouldn’t be surprised, and don’t look so shocked. Do you really think the people around here care about legalities? So, ah, if you need to contact that partner of yours, you’d better ride into town with me when I go for supplies.”
    He began to speak normally. “Most of the men here tell their wives and kids that television is dangerous if not managed properly, but I don’t mind if you and Ruby watch it every now and then. Just don’t go tuning into Oprah or CNN and getting any dangerous ideas about a woman’s proper place.”
    The thought of Oprah and CNN being dangerous not only took my mind off my anxiety, it made me smile. I bore little love for the boob tube, but knew the polygamists feared that too much exposure to what they termed the Outside would tarnish the blissful ignorance of their plural wives. Especially the younger ones. Speaking of plural wives…
    I stopped smiling. “Where’s Ruby? I’d like to meet her.”
    Saul and I had agreed earlier that Ruby should be kept in the dark about my true purpose in Purity, so meeting my ‘sister wife,’ as the polygamists’ wives called each other, promised to be an interesting experience.
    Just as Saul prepared to answer, I heard the squeak of a door down the hall, then soft footsteps advancing toward us.
    “Sister Ruby? You come on out here, hon. I’ve got someone I want you to meet!”
    I tensed, remembering that I was supposed to play the part of a fairly uneducated woman. I didn’t see any problem with fooling the compound’s men, but fooling a woman might prove more difficult. Even when a woman had little formal education, she could easily spot insincerity in another. I braced myself for a dangerous encounter, but when Ruby finally shuffled into view, pity washed away all my apprehension.
    If a human being could truly be said to look like a whipped dog, Ruby did. Her coarsely featured face appeared oddly distorted, as if it had been taken apart and then put together again by inexpert hands. Her brown-and-gray hair was twisted into a tight bun as dull and lifeless as broom straw. We did have one thing in common though, our dresses. Both were long, poorly sewn, and unflattering.
    She raised her eyes from a long perusal of my garbage bag luggage, and in a barely audible whisper said, “Brother Saul, it is good to have you home.”
    “Sister Ruby, I have wonderful news.”
    When Ruby looked at me, I thought I saw one brief flash of recognition when she saw the scar on my forehead. But she might merely have pegged me as another beaten spirit. “Yes, Brother Saul?”
    “I’ve brought you a new sister wife to help around the house. Her name is Lena.”
    “Sister wife?” She lowered her