Chapter 5

Mary stopped speaking to take a sip of the water that she held tightly in her hand. She looked at her fingernails, caked with dirt. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and gently exhaled as she retraced her past to the old woman.
“ I awoke the next morning to hushed voices and the smell of bread baking. I was lying on the small mat trying to decide if all that had happened to me yesterday had been a dream or if I was truly here, in the company of the one they call the teacher, Jesus. I got up, washed my face, pulled my hair back and headed toward the voices of the other women. The women greeted me and one commented on the color of my face. Mary Gali, as she came to be known because of her hometown Galilee, asked me if I was feeling alright. She touched my face and suggested that I sit for a while and eat something. I wanted to help out, but Idid feel a bit quesy, so I obeyed and listened to their conversation. It seemed that the men, disciples as the women called them, and Jesus had gone early to another village and wouldn’t be back for a day or two. By mid morning, my quesiness had progressed into sharp stomach pains and my head ached. Susanna took me aside and asked where I lived so she could have someone send a message concerning my condition. I begged her not to send me back home. I was so afraid of going home and becoming who I had been only a few days earlier. But thoughts began to enter my mind as to why I was in such pain. I asked Suzanna why I was feeling this way if Jesus had healed me. She was so gentle in the questions she asked, that I knew I could not lie about the things I had done and the drugs I had used. Suzanna said that Jesus had healed my broken spirit and it was whole, but my body was reacting to the consequences of my choices. She was soft in her words and comfort. I told her my family name and she sent word of where I was. She promised to let my household know I was safe but wouldn’t send me home.
My maidservant, Taphitha, showed up a few hours after word had been sent to my home. I told her I wasn’t going home and surprisingly she asked to stay with me. Taphitha had been my personal servant for the last three years. She was a gift from my father. He said that every woman of worth had a personal mandmaiden. After he and my mother died, I began to hate Taphitha. She was a constant reminder of my father and his hopes for me. Her sweet demeaner and humble way of serving me started out as a comfort and reminder of my father’s love, but when I was left an orphan, she became a reminder of the abandonment of my parents. The attributes that my father would speak of in Taphitha became a bitter taste in my mouth. She endured my ridicule and absurd demands. I would send her to the market searching for items that I knew didn’t exist in our region. Then I scream at her for not carrying out the simplist of tasks. I could not imagine why she wanted to stay with me, but for the next few days, she never left my side. As my stomach and head would go from ease to violent reactions Taphitha would speak softly to me. I thought I was hearing my mother’s voice and feeling her comfort as Taphitha would place a cool rag upon my head and face with such grace. In the periods of violent expulsion from my body, it was as if the past year or even years of my life were being cast out. All the demoms I had been carrying around for so long were finally coming to their bitter end. It was painful, both physically and emotionally, but also cleansing. I wanted to get up and help the other women, to be part of this new way of life, but my old life kept calling me back to the purging. For three days my body and soul battled against each other. Taphitha must have thought I was delierious at times as cries and laughter would erupt from my lips. I was paying the price from the abuse I had put upon my own body. I would cry at the pain that seemed to permiate throughout my entire frame one moment, then laugh at the sense of freedom I was experiencing in the next. My body would shake uncontrobably as the poison from the drugs made its way through my organs. Fever brought visions of strange beast chasing me through the dark and cold sweats left me lying in a pool of chemical waste. By the third day color returned to my face and my appetite and energy slowly made it’s way back into my body. Taphitha was also relieved to see the change in me.
“By this time Jesus and the disciples had returned and were in high spirits. The women welcomed them back and quickly began meal preparations for the hungry men. Taphitha was a bit uneasy with the jubilent men and the way they seemed to converse with the women. She remarked on them having too much wine. Jesus made His way to the women and greeted each of them with a warm smile and a gentle word. He came to where Taphitha and I were, me resting against a rock and Taphitha sitting next to me. He welcomed her by name, which surprised both of us and then asked how I was feeling. I can’t remember my answer to Him, but I felt my heart leap at the sound of His voice.