… solipsubmissive …

This is a continuation.  You might want to begin here:  one

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

***

The thing about being dead was that there was really nothing to do.

Oliva paced around the small room, her mind spinning furiously back over the “trial.”  It all seemed so bizarre.  Somehow, when she’d attended church and Sunday School while growing up, she’d managed to miss this aspect of Eternal Life.  She always naively assumed that the body of work which comprised one’s life was weighed, and you either went up or you went down.  Given the depths of depravity to which she’d sunk since meeting Jason, she’d thought she might very well be best served by packing light.

Jason.

She remembered nothing after kicking him in the head, which meant that her death had likely come quickly.  Given her postion, half in and half out of the backseat, when the car lost control, that wasn’t so difficult to believe.  Adam and Jason, however, had been securely buckled into their seats.  Olivia bit her lip, wondered if they had suffered.

“Adam didn’t die.”

Olivia whirled around to see Sera standing in the doorway, poking the last bite of a hot dog into her mouth.  There was a stain from a dollop of mustard on the front of her gown.  Olivia tried not to stare, then realized what the Life Defense Counselor had said.  “You can read my thoughts?”

Sera gave her a wry look and glanced down at her garment.  “Well … yes.  I can.”  At Olivia’s worried look, she added, “Only when I’m with you.  It’s not like I can reach out from whereever i am at any given time and rape your brain.”

The dead girl gave her a stricken look.

“Okay, bad choice of words.”  Sera shrugged.  “Especially given the way that bastard you loved treated you.  What’d you do to piss him off that night?”

Olivia raised her brows.  “You don’t already know?”   Her voice was flat.

“Nope.  I know what happened to get you here.  For everything I need to build your defense, I have to research specific activities that will support your case.   In the course of that research, I also try to find ways to spin events that show you in a bad light.  Because, trust me, the Fab Four have instant access to every single moment you lived.”

Sera’s complete irreverence for anything angelic struck Olivia as odd.  She stored her curiosity for the moment, choosing instead to answer her question.  “We’d been to a formal dinner party.  Jason attends several a year, mostly work related, often events held to raise money for some charity or another.  In this case, they were auctioning “dates” with some of the bachelors in attendance, and Jason was one of the items.

“When he was called to the stage, he nodded at me, reminding me that i was under strict orders to outbid anyone … no matter the cost.  The bidding began, and it quickly became apparent that one of the older ladies there was determined to purchase him.  For some reason, picturing him out with this outrageously flamboyant older woman struck me as funny.  It was all i could do to continue outbidding her — one dollar at a time, mind you – without laughing.  About that time, i caught a warning look from Jason, who obviously wanted me to wrap it up, bid something impossible to top, and get him off the stage.”

While Olivia was recounting the story, Sera walked to one of the walls and touched it.  A door appeared.  “Keep talking.  I just need to change this gown.”  She stripped off the stained garment, under which she wore nothing, causing Olivia to blush and avert her eyes. 

“So, anyway, when he looked at me like that, i just felt suddenly rebellious.  And, though i knew i’d pay a price later, something made me look back at him, then deliberately sit down, giving the date to the old lady.”

Sera emerged from the closet, fully dressed.  “I can’t imagine that went over well.”

Olivia grimaced.  “Jason was unbelievably charming for the rest of the evening.  He graciously danced with the lady who had won him, then circulated with me at his side.  When it was time to leave, he said his goodbyes, then escorted me out.  The valet brought the car around, and we left.  We hadn’t driven a mile from the Country Club before he turned off the road and pulled into the parking lot of a motel.  He told me to get undressed and to get down on the floorboard of the passenger side of the car.

“I didn’t question him.  No.  i knew i’d gone way too far with the little stunt i pulled at the auction, and all i could hope was that my unquestioning compliance might go toward eventual mercy.  Five minutes later, Adam opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.  ‘Let’s see how you feel about being given away,’ Jason said.  Adam just leered at me.”  Olivia paused, her voice catching.  “And i think you know the rest.”

Sera drew her brows together.  “Why did you not refuse?”

“Because i belong to him.”  The words, spoken quietly, held a depth of meaning in their simplicity.

“Belonged,” corrected Sera.

Olivia shook her head.  “No.  i’ll always be his.”

The younger girl sighed.  “Well, you inadvertantly made my case harder for the second Commandment when you admitted to worshipping Jason at your last trial.  I’ve been contemplating how to spin that, but i doubt there will be anything i can do if you go in there looking all doe-eyed and submissive, claiming you’ll always belong to him.”  She paced, tapping a finger on her lips while she thought.

“i won’t lie.”

Sera snorted.  “Of course you won’t.  We’d only have to deal with that later.”  She stopped suddenly and grinned.  “Oh!  You’re pretty smart for a dead person.  Come on.”

Olivia tilted her head and stared at the back of the retreating girl.  “Wait!  What do you mean?”

“No time.  Just trust me.”

They hastened down the same corridor as before and entered the courtroom.  This time, there were a few observers in the stands, and the four angels were already in place on the dias.  “You’re late, Sera,” one of them said.

“Mustard,” she replied cheerfully as they took their seats.  The angel raised a brow.  “Oh!  Right.”  Sera stood again.  “I bring the case of Olivia, a human soul requesting entry into Heaven.  The commandment in question today is two, which is far too long to say, so I’m sure you’ll indulge my paraphrase, which is “Thou shalt not worship an idol.”  Two of the angels looked irritated.  A wave of stifled laughter came from the gallery, and Olivia looked around to see nearly half the seats had filled.

“Go on,” one of the angels finally said.

Sera sat down and waved a hand, and the same images from the previous trial appeared, featuring Olivia in poses that suggested abject worship of Jason. 

The dead girl’s eyes filled with tears. 

“Olivia?”  Sera’s voice was gentle.  “Do you love this man?”

Olivia nodded.  “Yes,” she said softly.   “Yes i do.”

The angel on the far left spoke.  “Loved,” he said.  “Both humans are now dead.”

“No, she loves him.  In fact, she feels as though she belongs to him.  Still.”

“What has this to do with the case at hand?”

“Inasmuch as Olivia admitted, in her last trial, to worshipping the human Jason, the question here is no longer whether she did or did not worship him.”  She pointed to the image of Olivia staring with obvious adoration into Jason’s eyes.  “The question is whether she created him in the likeness or image of anything in Heaven or on Earth, and then subsequently bowed down in service.”

One of the angels narrowed his eyes.  “You’re not making your case here, counselor.”  He pointed to the image of Olivia on her knees, bowing down to kiss Jason’s feet.  “There’s ‘bowing down to serve’ if ever I’ve seen it.”

Sera leaned back in her chair and smiled.  “Yes.  Well.  She did not create him.  I think we all know who we can blame for that particular lapse in judgment.”

Olivia coughed at Sera’s audacity.  The gallery collectively gasped, and the angels all leaned in toward each other, discussing the situation.  After a moment, they stood.  “We find in favor of the human again.  As for you, Sera, you might want to mind your words.  You’re skirting dangerously close to blasphemy.”

With that, the angels disappeared.  The gallery emptied quickly and Sera stood.  “I don’t know what you see in that jerk, but you did well.”  She walked toward the exit.  “You know the way back.  Get some rest.  You’ve a while until your next trial.”

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