Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
SILAS
“I’ll come back as a golden bunny bitch and haunt you like a hot haint.”
O nly Charlie will get this. Only she’ll understand.
Yeah, she’ll definitely give me shit for it.
But still.
She believes in me. She always has. Sometimes, she was the only one.
Silently, I lead her down the sandy path between my home and the glamping village. It’s a long walk lit by the full moon.
I glance up at it.
I’ve always heard the moon’s voice. She has power and pull. Live by the water, and you respect her.
But now, another voice calls. It resonates with her in an evocative chant. It sounds deep, thrumming in my veins and drawing me near.
On the edge of the camp, between our home and the tents we’ve erected, soars the ancient live oak.
Yes, there are others on this island—these magnificent trees, famous for their size and history. There’s one so large in Florida, it can be seen from space.
But this is the oldest, the largest one here, and no photo can capture its power.
The base of the tree is so wide that the eleven men here would have to link our arms to circle it. Its thick branches reach so high they tower toward the sky, then swoop back down, grabbing the ground, before rising again.
Charlie stares up at the tree, admiring the moonlight dancing through its autumn leaves, drifting on the breeze to the ground.
She whispers, “What are we doing here?”
“Something found me here.”
“Quit talking cryptic and creepy.”
“I’m not. Something told me to come here.” I point. “To dig here.”
She flicks her stare to where my finger aims. “There better not be a skull buried there.”
“Not a skull.” I kneel, my fingers raking through the rich, decaying soil. “I found something else.”
She kneels beside me. “You found a dildo ?”
I chuckle. “What the fuck? Why would I find a dildo buried at the bottom of an ancient live oak tree?”
“Well, I don’t know.” She shrugs. “You made me load a basket with them. You made me trek across the island with them. And you said my ancestor did sex rituals here.”
“No, you said that. You said you saw them … sorta.”
“I did.”
“And I believe you. I know they did rituals here because I found this…”
Dusting away the dirt, the moonlight catches its golden sheen.
Charlie marvels, “Oh my god. Is it gold bullion? Buried by pirates? I mean. It’s almost not fair. You already have billions. You don’t need more fucking gold or mon?—”
“It’s not money or gold. It’s this.”
I lift the relic, holding it up for her to admire. It takes her a moment to recognize its form.
“Is that a gold rabbit? With a man’s dick?”
“It’s a rabbit dick.”
“Rabbits don’t have dicks like that.”
“How do you know?”
“Are we really debating this?”
“No.” I hand it to her. “Whatever it is, it’s a sign. I found it buried here months ago and looked it up. Pagans used rabbits in fertility rituals.”
“I know,” she says. “Lots of our holidays and rituals are actually pagan ones, like Halloween. The pagans called it ‘Samhain,’ the night when the veil between the living and the dead is so thin that the dead can visit the living and?—”
“Jeez, is this Religion 101?”
“Fuck off. I paid attention in college.”
“Well, then, tell me what this means. Why did I find this the day Eily and I started to try to get pregnant?”
“ Noooo .” Her eyes get as wide as saucers. “The fuck you say?”
“Yeah, the fuck I did . It was my first morning with Eily with no birth control, with her ovulating. Twice, we made love, and then I came out here. I started to clear the land for the tents, but something told me to come to this tree. To this spot. To dig. And I found this rabbit.”
“What does Eily think?”
“I didn’t tell her.”
She backslaps my arm. “Don’t lie to your wife.”
“I’m not lying to her. I just didn’t tell her. I mean. What if it’s a bad omen? It would freak her out. ”
With a deep sigh, Charlie studies the figurine, spinning it in the moonlight. “This thing is old.”
“It had to be from Lois Ravenel. After the wars, his family lost this island, and it fell into ruins. It’s been abandoned since.”
“A Ravenel Fuck Rabbit.” She shakes her head, so proud. “Finally, the proof. Hot sex is in my DNA.”
“No, it was in the dirt. And now I think it’s telling me to do something. Like, if I want to get Eily pregnant, we need to do a ritual.”
“Oh, my pagan gods,” she sighs. “Eily would love it.”
“So, you don’t think it’ll weird her out? Or make her think it’s bad luck?”
“I think if you want a blessing, you have to offer up a prayer.”
“What about a sacrifice?”
She whips her stare at me. “Touch Eily and die.”
I lower my brows. “Cut back on the dark romances.”
“But you just said sacrifice . Like, someone has to bleed or die.”
“No one’s bleeding or dying. Jeez, gimme credit.”
“Then what are you sacrificing?”
“Just trust me. Just tell me if you’ll help me.”
Tenderly. Aggravatingly. Lovingly. Annoyingly. Charlie rolls her eyes at me.
“I’ll always help you, you little shit. Till the day I die, and then I’ll come back as a golden bunny bitch and haunt you like a hot haint, making sure you love your wife right.”
I flick dirt at her. “See? That’s not such a sacrifice.”