Split Image

11

THE PATRIARCH of the Bond of the Renewal dyed his hair. It was the first thing Sunny knew for sure as she sat in the kitchen of the Renewal House and drank some tea with him. Without sugar.

"We don't allow sugar in the Renewal," the Patriarch said. "It's a stimulant."

"And the tea is not?" Sunny said.

"The tea is soothing," the Patriarch said. "It quiets the soul."

"I didn't know that," Sunny said.

The Patriarch smiled.

He was wearing a white linen shirt and white linen pants with reverse pleats. There were tan leather sandals on his feet. He appeared to have had a recent pedicure.

"You will probably find several of our practices amusing. But they all conspire to make us what we are."

"I'm hoping to chat with Cheryl DeMarco," Sunny said.

The Patriarch nodded. He was a smallish man with a smooth, pleasant face and some shoulder-length silver hair that must have taken some frequent color work to maintain.

"Why?" he said.

"Her parents want her to come home."

"You are a private detective?" the Patriarch said.

"Yes."

"May I see something that says so?"

"Sure," Sunny said, and gave him something.

He read and nodded.

"You are not, I hope"-he wrinkled his nose and pursed his lips as if he'd encountered a bad smell-"a deprogrammer."

"No," Sunny said. "Probably don't believe in it, and if I did I wouldn't know how to go about it."

"That's a relief," the Patriarch said. "I can understand why her parents would want her home. Most parents want their children home. But why not simply ask her. Why hire you?"

"They think you are a bunch of whackdoodles," Sunny said.

"Whackdoodles," the Patriarch said.

"Whackdoodles," Sunny said.

The Patriarch smiled.

"I must say, you are direct."

"Surely you must be used to it. A lot of people must think you're odd."

He nodded.

"They do," he said. "And I find it puzzling. There's nothing particularly odd in our teachings."

"What are your teachings," Sunny said.

"We believe in a pervasive benign spiritual presence in the universe. We feel no need to define it more exactly. We believe it is manifest in every aspect of daily life, if one will but pay attention. We oppose anything that clouds our perception of that spirit. We oppose anything that clouds our ability to connect to this spirit. We don't drink alcohol or coffee. We don't permit drug use, including nicotine. We don't believe living creatures should suffer for us, so we are vegetarians."

"No sympathy for the poor turnip?" Sunny said.

"You're teasing, I know. But we are aware that without death, there can be no life. It is a central myth of most religions."

"Death and rebirth," Sunny said.

"Of course," the Patriarch said. "Are you an educated person?"

"I don't know," Sunny said. "I went to college."

"So, yes," the Patriarch said. "We have to consume other living things, or we die. But we try to keep the consumption at the lower end of the chain of being."

He shrugged.

"It's the best we can do," he said.

"You haven't mentioned your teachings on sex," Sunny said. "It's a hot subject with parents."

"Ah, yes," the Patriarch said. "Sex."

"That one," Sunny said.

"Let me ask you what you believe."

"About sex?"

"Yes."

Sunny smiled.

"I like it," she said.

"Yes, most of us do as well. We believe in consenting adults. We believe in sex as an expression of affection, and we disapprove of sex as an expression of pathology."

"Well," Sunny said. "I can certainly see why her parents are horrified."

The Patriarch looked genuinely startled.

"You can?"

"Sarcasm," Sunny said.

"Oh, excuse me," the Patriarch said. "I am often too earnest."

"Better than the reverse," Sunny said. "Where do you get your funding?"

"I am quite wealthy," the Patriarch said.

"Is this your house?"

"It is."

"How'd you get wealthy," Sunny said.

"I inherited my parents' wealth," he said.

"No heavy lifting," Sunny said.

"My parents were a pretty heavy burden when they were alive," the Patriarch said. "But no, I've never had to scramble for money."

"Parents can be a heavy burden even when they are no longer alive," Sunny said.

"So the psychiatrists would have you believe," the Patriarch said.

"But you don't believe them?"

"Psychiatry is superfluous," the Patriarch said. "If we open our soul and simplify our life, the benevolence of the universe will flow into us."

Sunny nodded.

"Would it be possible to speak with Cheryl DeMarco?"

"Of course," the Patriarch said.