The Price of Admission

I shook her daddy’s hand

And the deal was done.

Her hand, a parcel of land

And I became his son.

The asking price seemed low

But the stakes were impossibly high,

For this is where we ended the show

And felt we could both die.

I met her right at home

My old one in the middle of nowhere, not the nearby commune

Her smile struck me like a baseball to the dome

And I stood there, grinning back like a loon.

She was going door to door

Spreading the word of the Lord

Or rather, what daddy had in store.

I just smiled and listened, she could never leave me bored.

Hannah chattered on about prophets and prayers

And how my soul could be saved, too.

I didn’t believe a word of it, just nodded along without a care

As I swam into those eyes so blue.

Hannah invited me to dinner the next day

To meet her family at the commune and talk about salvation.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and in a way

I almost saw this remote escape as a nice vacation.

It was easy at first, just getting to know each other

And escaping the woes of my desk job,

But life decided to give those happy embers a smother

Until all my heart could do was throb.

After a few weeks of what these folks call courting,

Her daddy called us all into the Big House.

He announced among the shuffle of pigs snorting

The consequence of women lacking a spouse.

He said God had come to him

And commanded him to produce a virgin sacrifice.

His words hung thickly around the faces left grim

And he smiled with that heart made of ice.

How proud he was to produce the gift

As he presented his youngest daughter, Hannah, and

Immediately, my thoughts began to drift

To thoughts of an escape I planned.

I knew he had a proper arsenal

And an army ready to defend him to the death.

All my movements had to be purposeful

Lest he take away my last breath.

First, I took courting seriously

And made sure he knew it.

I was going to make her my wife, save her life, you see

Or else I would see her burned in the pit.

Hannah and I were already in love,

So it was her father's heart I had to win.

I'm not religious, but I prayed to the stars above

That I'd convince him I was fit for his kin.

I quit my job, sold all my worldly possessions,

And stashed that money away in a secret bank account.

Father insisted at every introductory session

That every dollar coming in was his, and he would count.

Hannah was born and raised on these grounds,

So she didn't even have an ID card to her name.

One day when spreading the word, I walked deeper into town

And bought an instant camera for my dame.

Father banned cameras for their vanity

So I had to keep it hidden away.

I snapped some pictures despite his insanity

To take to the passport office the next day.

I committed myself to getting in her daddy's good graces,

Mended his clothes alongside the women

And went hunting with him with mud on our faces.

I even took care of the Big House's linens.

Eventually he held out his hand for a shake

With a stern look on his face,

Offering me his youngest daughter

And the fear within me was gone without a trace.

This was the moment I had worked for,

Looked forward to,

Though I dreaded opening the gates to an unholy war.

That night, we celebrated with dancing and a pot of stew.

A year after she first knocked on my door,

Our wedding day finally arrived.

I couldn't help but feel my anxiety soar

As our borrowed suit and gown were resized.

Her daddy wasn't well that beautiful day,

That day much worse than most.

His eyes were wild as he violently prayed

And preached about the wrath of the holy ghost.

He realized that with his last daughter leaving the nest,

He would start to lose control,

And heaven forbid he also lose all the rest.

We packed our bags early and swallowed our fear whole.

He needed to take back the reins,

And do so by any means necessary.

So he proclaimed that, with great pain,

God had returned with a heavenly decree.

Father insisted that the message was clear,

The marriage could not go on.

He still demanded a virgin sacrifice,

And Hannah, as the unmarried lady, must be the one.

We kept the joy plastered on our faces

And showered him with empty gratitude for his words.

I almost couldn't bring myself to look up from my laces

As I gripped the passports and heard the happily chirping birds.

We had no time. We had no choice.

We had to run.

We were left without a voice,

While her father held all the guns.

When her daddy's back was turned,

We made a beeline toward town,

This dangerous cult's offer finally spurned

Before they left her burned or drowned.

I had figured out the bus routes when we went out preaching

And knew which one would get us to the city center.

The bus left us at city hall with wheels screeching

And we held hands tightly as we entered.

We were free, but hadn't yet tasted freedom

For long enough to truly feel it.

We kept our heads on a swivel in case we saw someone

And were punished for the apple we both bit.

When we held the marriage certificate in our hands,

We laughed at our own anxiety

And went to celebrate in this new, safe land.

Then we sat down at the diner and heard the TV.

The cult led by her daddy had all sacrificed themselves, and

As one survivor cried, drank the poison up

Eagerly at his command.

The bodies were scattered among the empty cups.

What's more, Father's body wasn't found among the chaos

And the Big House had been ransacked.

Despite our relief at escaping, we wept together over this loss.

We still kept our heads low, God forbid attention we attract.

She shook her head, poked around at her fries,

And sobbed, "It should've been me."

Then a familiar voice appeared in the booth next to us.

"Now it will be both of you. Did you think you were free?"