Chapter 1
"We are gathered here in the sight of God, and in the presence of friends to celebrate one of life's greatest relationships…"
I shut out the drone of the Pastor's voice and stare morosely down the length of the aisle at Mel's slender form. Oh Man! She looks so beautiful in that simple, long white wedding dress. And so innocently virginal too!
"Well, this is it Joel! I never thought she'd really go through with it!" Daniel Connor Delaney, my partner in crime whispered breathlessly in my ear, "Jesus H, Joel! Mel's really gonna do it!"
Danny and I are sat in the back row of pews, well away from all the other guests, but the acoustics in this place are incredible. "Bit late to pull out now, Dickhead!" I hiss back. "Now shut up, or my Mom will come back here and kill us both!" I feel transiently guilty at blaspheming in church, but if they knew the truth about me, I'd be kicked out anyway.
I am as miserable as hell. I don't want my sister to marry. I don't want to watch it happen. I didn't want to be an usher, but Mom and Dad threatened to boil me in oil and then flay me alive if I didn't do it. I must get to Danny's computer and look up what 'flay' is in Encarta. It must be something really, extra-painful the way they said it, and they sounded as though they really meant every word.
I…want… out… of… here!
"As we join together Norman and Melissa in this marriage, let us search our hearts for the wisdom of this covenant, which has from ancient times…"
"But getting married to a dip-shit like Norm Franklin. Hell! He must be at least ten years older than you are! An' I swear he must shit religion and well as eat and drink it!"
"Aw, give it a rest, Danny. It's happening! And we can't do diddly-squat about it!"
Damn! I thought there is no such thing as arranged marriages in this country, but this one has that fishy smell about it. Norm Franklin is in the same bible study group as Mom and Dad. Our family has sat with him and his parents and brothers every Saturday for the hour of worship for the last eighteen months. And Norm's dad is one of the richest farmers in the area. Surprise! Surprise!
My parents are so straight-laced it isn't funny; it is part-and-parcel of being Seventh Day Adventists. Plus, my mother and father do it in spades. Our family is Vegan, not just ordinary vegetarian; Dad will not even have animals on the smallholding where he grows organic vegetables to send to the market in town. No TV or computers in the house, rock and roll is the devil's music and the radio only goes on for the news and the weather forecast, and then only when Mom or Dad is in the room. Definitely no going to movies! Fasting and only doing religious works on the Sabbath…the whole nine yards! Dad is an elder in the church and Mom is a big organiser among the women. We don't even own a proper car! All we have a battered old pickup for working around the property and going to the store.
"Yeah, but I'll never come to terms with Mel getting hitched to a prick like him."
"Money, money, money? Maybe he's got a big dick, or something like that, that she finds irresistible…"
"She's never even seen his dick, remember? He wants to save himself for his wedding night…a twenty-nine-year-old virgin for crissakes!
"Into this holy estate these two people come now to be joined together. If any of you can show just cause why they may not be lawfully married, speak now or forever hold your peace!"
Danny digs me in the ribs again, "Now's our chance, Joel! Are we going to blow this thing apart?"
We definitely could…
It was early summer and the water in the swimming hole was still icy cold. Danny and I were not as tough as my sister was. My equipment was so shrivelled; I was worried I would need a magnifying glass to find it again. We got out in a hurry and were sitting shivering on the grass drying off when Mel climbed out onto the bank. Jesus H Christ on a bicycle! (Sorry God!) Her nipples stuck out through the bra of her black, one-piece bathing suit so hard, I thought they were going to pop right through!
"What're you staring at, pervert?" she demanded.
Staring goggle-eyed at Mel's chest, I think I blurted out something like, "Aaarghumelhumph!" and looked across at Danny for guidance. But Danny was staring at Mel's chest as well, and his jaw was hanging open so wide he was in danger of catching flies.
Danny is my lifeline to the real world. I guess I am allowed to associate with him socially on the basis that I am to try and convert him to the Faith. I have even got over him continually calling us Seventh Day Adventurers. But Mel is a different matter. She is not allowed to associate with boys, not even good clean Adventists, just like I'm not allowed girlfriends. She and I are supposed to swim together with nobody else tagging along. I am deemed 'safe' because I am her brother. So, my parents would have had a dickey-fit if they had known Danny was often there with us!
Danny's father owns the local general store, and their family is the only non-Adventist family for miles around in our, 'island of true faith in a sea of heresy'. Of necessity, Danny and his two younger sisters go to our local Adventist school, which caters for all ages from Primary right through to University Entrance. The alternative for them is a two-hour bus trip to the nearest town. The same constraint applies to worship. Their family comes to our church on the Sabbath, but they just sit at the back and join in the hymns and prayers without participating any further. Danny says that his parents have the personal and somewhat un-Catholic view that the community of God is just as important as where you worship. One Sunday a month, they make the long trip into town to go to their own church. I asked my parents if I could go with them once and got gated for a week.
Even when we were little tots, Mel and I were officially not allowed to 'see' each other…no sharing a bath for us two like normal kids! But, the same as all children are, we were curious and we used to sneak quick peeks at each other's 'interesting bits' from time to time. Mel thought it hellava funny whenever I got a stiffie, but I thought her flat chest and hairless little slit kind of dumb. And uninteresting!
For reasons that became obvious later, but were totally inexplicable to me at the time, Mel suddenly shied away from these secretive 'I'll show you mine, if you'll show me yours' meetings. Then one evening, while our parents were downstairs, reading the Bible as usual, Mel called me into her room and showed me her just-forming titties.
I will never forget how enthralled I was by their rounded curves, their soft-pink tips, the tiny, fine hairs around her aureoles, and the faint tracery of veins just beneath the surface of her skin. She stuck her chest out so proudly, and let me closely examine every inch, but slapped my hand away when I tried to touch. I went back to my room and jacked off furiously until my dick got sore, while I pictured myself touching those magical mounds and doing all sorts of other un-brotherly, un-Adventist things to her gorgeously developing little body.
Then a couple of weeks later I surprised her naked in the bathroom, drying off after taking a shower. I withdrew, red-faced and stuttering my apologies for the intrusion, while Mel just stood and watched me go. The new patch of dark hair at the fork of her thighs suddenly made her 'uninteresting' lower female equipment very interesting indeed!
In keeping with Adventist teachings, Mel dressed modestly. Even her swimming costume had a skirt on it so that men would get over-excited by seeing the vee of black material at the fork of her thighs! Despite this, maybe because of it, Mel became a sex fantasy of mine. Every glimpse of cleavage or leg above the knee, or hint of Mel's nubile form through the material of her clothing, became an excuse to head to my room and 'beat the meat'. Until Mom caught me out one day and then there was all hell to pay. Masturbating is, of course, a sin.
"I can't help it if they're sticking out!" Mel grumbled defensively. "The water's very cold!"
But she made no effort to hide the objects of our astonishment.
