Where The Thistles Meet The Thicket

Joseph

My eyes followed Mary Beth's perfect body as she worked in the kitchen with my mom. They were cooking dinner and she was laughing at a story Katie was telling her. She was wearing a light blue dress that flowed to just below her knees. It was loose on her body but the material clung to her waist and butt. Her waist length hair was pulled up in a clip on top of her head, some tendrils hanging loosely and brushing against the bare skin of her neck. She was etherial, the most beautiful woman I would ever see. I could no longer blame the head injury, I was just hopelessly in love and borderline obsessed with everything that she did. Ever since she pulled me in for that mind numbing kiss a few days ago, I was having a hard time doing anything but thinking of my hands on her body and my mouth on hers. This was not great because I didn't exactly have the best filter right now and that became evident when we attended church this morning.

I had watched this morning as the townsfolk touched MB and pulled her in for hugs without consent. She flinched each time someone didn't broadcast their intentions, curling in on herself bit by bit. I wanted to stop them and pull her to my side. I would have if I wasn't so unsteady on my own feet. The news had spread that Brian Ingrels was an abusive sack of shit and everyone couldn't wait to get their hands on Mary Beth so they could hopefully rid themselves of the guilt of thinking the marriage was a good idea. Mary Beth stayed far from her mom and sisters and instead sat with us. She hardly ever flinched away from us. In fact, she sought out physical contact when near me or my sisters.

I was also the talk of the town. It was my first time coming to church since the injury and, despite half the town coming to bring flowers and gifts in support, only a few had actually seen me or knew what happened. I wasn't much to look at, with my hair now buzzed and a large scar protruding from the base of my skull to the top of my head. The scar was puffy and red and still stuck out farther than my shaved hair. I also embarrassingly needed a walker to get to the pew so that I didn't fall and bust my head again. Mary Beth walked beside me, helped me to sit down, and sat beside me, pointedly ignoring the pitying looks.

Mary Beth's mother had the gall to walk to our pew, now in the back of the church so I could leave if I needed to. She hardly looked at anyone, especially not me. "You need to come home, Mary Beth. This is not becoming of you."

Mary Beth sat up straight and took a deep breath to keep her voice steady. "Mama, my bedroom is full of storage at the moment. There was never any intention of me coming home. Now I'm here and Ms. Johnson has made me feel infinitely more welcome than you have. I don't want to go anywhere else." I grabbed her hand and squeezed. Her mom noticed the gesture and sneered.

"You spending your days with a boy when you are married is not okay. The townsfolk are talking."

"The townsfolk are talking about you, Mama. I've clearly been abused by the man I am married to. Everyone knows that Joseph is my best friend and he's been severely injured. No one has even bat an eye at me needing to help him. You're the deranged woman that sold her daughter to keep the ranch afloat. That's not even a secret. You're deluded if you think that any one is worried about what I'm doing when Joseph could have died."

"This isn't about Joseph," Mary Beth's mama said, raising her voice enough for others to hear. Dad heard and bristled. My own anger was palpable. How dare she treat her daughter this way? "This is about you leaving that man that has so kindly and faithfully sent us checks for an entire year. You need to go back." I tried to stand up. Dad held me down but patted my leg to comfort me when I turned my glare on him.

"It's always about Joseph, if you haven't noticed, Mother." Mary lowered her voice so that only those in our pew could hear. "That man abused and raped me even before we were married. You knew and made me marry him anyway. Not that you care, but it got so much worse when we moved away. He may have been faithfully sending checks home but he was anything but faithful to me. I will not go back. End of discussion."