Read Online Sarah by J.T. LeRoy - Free Book Online Page A

protect against black snakes!’ Stella says.
    ‘Might could slip through, if she took on the body of a rattler first,’ says the ramp cutter.
    Everyone ignores him.
    ‘I heard this wind blow before and y’all gone fuckin’ nuts! And you’—she points to me—‘you’ll pay for this. You’ll pay.’ Pooh turns around and stomps out.
     
     
    ‘Think like you’re carrying tomato dumplings, y’all.’ Stella directs the crowd from Three Crutches Diner as they gently hoist me up onto the soft pads of their fingertips to carry me back for some rest before the coming media onslaught.
    ‘She’s lighter than a fart,’ the ramp cutter says.
    ‘You would be too if you were a saint missing organs,’ the dishwasher hisses.
    Everyone shushes them and they carry me outside, down the aluminum stairs, and begin to sing ‘Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?’ in the key of A.
    ‘ “Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free?” ’ they sing.
    I stare up at the gray clouds tumbling over one another like a circus act.
    ‘ “No, there’s a cross for ev’ry one, And there’s a cross for me…” ’
    It feels as if I’m floating on hundreds of Q-tip heads.
    ‘ “The consecrated cross I’ll bear, Till death shall set me free…” ’
    The sweet ozone smell of rain and the low sky above me fill me with a gracious tenderness.
    ‘ “And then go home my crown to wear, for there’s a crown for me.” ’
    I let my arms fall to the side, outstretched like a T, the symbolism of which is not lost on the crowd carrying me, and they let out a loud moan of delectation.
    ‘ “O precious cross! O glorious crown! O resurrection day!” ’ they sing louder and I hum along.
    ‘ “Ye angels from the stars come down…” ’ Somebody stops holding my ass with their fingertips and instead cups it with their hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘ “And bear my soul away…” ’
    ‘Lymon!’ someone shout-whispers, and I feel the hands slapped away from my bottom.
    I close my eyes and just float. I imagine Sarah next to me. I reach out my hand to her and she lets me hold her hand.
    ‘ “One did give his life up for an unworthy soul such as I…” ’ they sing, and I hum along to ‘Nailed to the Cross’ in the key of F.
    I smile at my mom. She hates the romantic spirituals, but tends to enjoy the ones that contain great bodily harm to Jesus.
    ‘Jesus is just like a trucker—takes a whore off her back,’ she’d rave after some lizard would find Jesus. ‘Convinces her he’s the fuckin’ Son of God and always fuckin’ leaves her. How the fuck is she supposed to make her money after she’s gotten used to sleeping on her side?!’ she’d spit. ‘Fucking Christ! Yeah, he’ll never fill me more than trucker dollars. Give me the first fuckin’ nail!’
    ‘ “…All my sinning is purged. They are hammered to the cross, nailed to the crucifix…” ’ everyone sings.
    ‘You’re gonna pay,’ Sarah says to me with her clouded smile, eyes glimmering like flakes of blue glaze.
    ‘It’s different this time,’ I whisper.
    ‘ “He bore so much willingly, the anguish, the loss, He suffered with glee…” ’ they sing.
    She pulls her hand from mine. ‘You’re still stealing what’s mine,’ she says, her mouth taking a sarcastic downturn. ‘Like you always do and you always, always pay.’ She winks at me and points up to the sky.
    ‘ “Jesus died on the cross. My sins He took with him there.” ’
    I jerk open my eyes to see a turkey vulture circling unsteadily above us, its two-toned wings spread into a wobbly V. A fat raindrop splatters against my forehead.
    ‘It’s fixin’ to come up a bad cloud,’ Lymon says and gives my ass a courteous fondle.
    ‘It is way too early for spirituals!’ Le Loup’s deep resinous voice booms over us, interrupting ‘Beneath the Crucifix of Jesus’ in the key of D flat. ‘And why are you carrying my new baby like you’re putting on a Sunday school