Twisted Linen by C.W. Cook

attention; she glances at the TV and then
toward Baculo. Her eyes meet Baculo’s intimidating eyes, and she
gulps a deep breath of air in response. Baculo notices Grace’s
distress, but he assumes its cause is the violent news coverage on
TV.
    “Not to be worried,” Baculo insists. “It will
all end soon,” he assures her as he turns off the TV with his
remote.
    “Please sit,” Baculo coaxes as he motions to
the table setting in front of her.
    Grace fakes a tight smile and complies.
    “It's a pleasure to dine with you,” Baculo
continues in his most gentle manner. “Are you hungry?”
    Grace denies him with a look of disgust.
    “Then please have something to drink,” offers
Baculo as he holds up his wine glass. “May we make a toast to your
son?”
    Grace is perplexed by his offer, but she’s
sure it’s not something she wants to partake in.
    Baculo clarifies his intentions, “A toast to
his birth …death…and resurrection.”
    “You're a lunatic,” Grace asserts.
    Baculo huffs and pours himself a deep glass
of Cabernet Sauvignon. After a portioned sip from the wine glass,
he places it back on the table, then gently clasps his hands in his
lap, and leans back into his chair.
    “Grace, share your thoughts with me. You must
find this all very overwhelming.”
    Grace doesn’t think. She just speaks, as if
somebody inside her is crafting her words.
    “I think you’re blinded with science. Flesh
and blood won't make you a ‘Jesus Christ’. It’s God and the Holy
Ghost that makes Jesus the Christ.”
    Baculo immediately senses the spiritual
attack. It’s an inconvenient truth that he scoffs at. He raises a
chastising finger in reproach before cautioning, “You know so
little. Now please allow me to explain some things.”
    Baculo snatches a heavy knife from the table
and points it upward. “Did you know…at Jesus's birth there were
specific signs in the heavens?”
    After a pause, Baculo answers his own
question: “There were! The king planet, Jupiter, moved around the
king star, Regulus. It circled it two times – crowning it.”
    Baculo rotates his knife in a circular motion
in the air before speaking again, this time with greater intensity:
“Regulus is the primary star in the king constellation of Leo. And
Leo represents the tribe of Judah. You know this, right?”
    Grace cocks her head and glares back at him
out of the corner of her eye.
    Baculo stands and opens his arms wide before
announcing, “He gave this glorious wonder in the sky to us!”
    Baculo now begins to stroll around the dining
room, talking faster as he carves the air with his knife, excited
to expound on the arcane facts surrounding Jesus’ birth.
    “This ‘crowning’ of the King Star in the King
constellation, by the King planet was a sign. A great sign! And it
led the Magi out on their journey.”
    Baculo pauses to look closely at Grace,
hoping she’ll express admiration in response to his secret
knowledge. Grace remains motionless, expressionless.
    So he tries to simplify the esoteric term:
Magi.
    “I should say this led the three wise
men on their journey. The wise men were religious priests,
trained by the descendants of the Prophet Daniel, trained to watch
for the Messiah's arrival, trained to recognize the signs in the
heavens, the appointed times.”
    Baculo recounts the conclusion of the story
like he was there and part of the divine story.
    “It's now history. The Magi saw this sign and
set off for Bethlehem, following the bright star. And they found
their prophesied king, still a toddler with his mother, Mary.”
    Grace stirs in her large wooden chair, and
then sarcastically replies, “Fascinating.”
    Baculo turns to glare at her from the far
side of the dining table. “It’s more than fascinating, Grace. It’s
actually very relevant to you.”
    Baculo places both hands on the table and
leans forward as if he might crawl the table if Grace refuses to
offer her undivided attention.
    “You see…you are