Chapter 52 The Knox
The Knox
My builder, William Knox, once declared, “A small idea can only become a great tradition if it is seen forth.” His visionary seeds bloomed over the smoke of opium pipes and eventually formed the Knox’s cornerstone. Year after year, we perform the same ceremonial initiation rituals.
I relish in routine.
Speaking of tradition, this year we will finally return to the usage of opium for all members to partake, as so desired throughout the initiation process.
In my not-so-humble opinion, it’s long overdue.
I can still recall the golden days when Graham held opium in high regard.
He went so far as to dedicate an entire room to its paraphernalia: opium pipes, containers, and pillows; opium bronze weights exquisitely cast in the shape of every animal known to man.
Then one fateful day, a door was carelessly left ajar, and in wandered a curious seven-year-old Oliver.
He mistook the items for toys: He played the pipes like flutes, tasted the “magical dust” residue in the containers…
Rose rescued him in the nick of time. It was hardly the first overdose here by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the first involving a child.
Graham was consumed with guilt (such a perplexing human emotion, really), and he subsequently banned opium from the Knox, except as required for geomantic divination readings.
But Oliver is of age now, and he is reintroducing opium to be freely consumed, as our founders intended. I do not concur with everything that boy believes, but on this point I am entirely in agreement.
At long last, we will be fully honoring the society’s founding roots and practices.
The help is taking great pains to properly prepare for initiation ceremonies: closing drapes to protect privacy, running reliable electricity to the freezer, sealing windows shut. Even the most minor temperature alterations can change the pH balance of such fine delicacies.
And even the slightest peek from prying eyes could jeopardize the sanctity of our traditions. I do worry about that little problem we currently have on our hands, but I trust those involved know what they are doing.