CACTUS VALLEY

Elijah and Ruth were so excited that the electricity of their mood seemed to crackle and pop along the fences in the small Northern Arizona hamlet where they lived. Their second child was about to be born and the town priest had just predicted a boy. Boys are always an event, but in Cactus Valley, the first-born son was a religious milestone. For each family in this isolated outpost dedicated their first son to the service of the gods of the Navajos, who had allowed Elijah's great grandfather to establish the settlement many years before.

The parents' excitement was not in vain, for their son came as predicted. And a beautiful child he was - fair skinned, blue eyed, with the perfect features required of a future priest. When he was 18, he would be transformed into a practitioner of Navajo religious ritual, but for now there was time only for joy as little Jacob began his life.

Jacob and his older sister, Mary, were inseparable as they grew up together. Mary tended the small child, told him stories about Indian gods and helped him look forward to the day when he would be 18 and could go into the Kiva for the first time to begin his training and, hopefully, even go to Window Rock some day to serve in the tribal capitol as the Chief Priest.

Jacob's activities were reasonably normal for a small boy, lacking nothing but some of the evils of the wicked city to the south that could be reached only by foot or horseback. He was frequently warned that to venture into Flagstaff and partake of its sins would forever banish him to the outside world and destroy his destiny as a Navajo priest. Still, he was happy and grew taller, stronger and more perfect every year. Jacob's parents were the envy of the town, for never had one of their own shown so much promise as this youngster. Mary was also happy for she was known around the hamlet as the sister of the most promising of all the future priests of the Navajo.

When Jacob was 14, the village priest came to him. "Jacob, it is time that you were exposed to the outside world, for in only 4 years you must begin your training. And even though you must keep yourself from the ways of the world, you must understand them so that those who come after you may be counseled in wisdom. I must go into Flagstaff for supplies, and you will come along. But remember, you must do as I say, and refrain from partaking of those things you witness."

The sights and sounds that greeted Jacob in Flagstaff were overwhelming- cars, sidewalks, motels, super markets. And fantastic odors wafted into the evening breeze. “What is that overpowering aroma, Oh, great one?", asked Jacob of the priest.

"That is the most sinful of all the foods in Flagstaff," warned the priest. "It is called PIZZA. Only a small amount will ruin you, for it will cause your perfect skin to develop grievous eruptions called ZITS. No one can ever become a Navajo priest with flawed skin."

"And what is POP?", asked Jacob as he pointed to a nearby sign.

"Pop is an infidel drink that you must NEVER taste. For it will turn your face in to a mass of ZITS - perhaps even more rapidly then PIZZA”, replied the priest. "Do not eat or drink anything offered to you by these people. I have dried venison, cactus apples and goat's milk in you are hungry."

Alas, Jacob was doomed to sin. The odors and his own curiosity overcame him and he slipped quietly away from his mentor while the old man was negotiating for a supply of barbed wire. He followed his nose straight to Shakey's, where he proceeded to trade his silver bracelet for PIZZA and POP. Then he returned to the side of the priest, explaining his extended absence as a search for his bracelet which had slipped from his arm into an irrigation ditch, never to be recovered.

"Mom", called Jacob from his room the next morning. "I must go into the hills today for a week of purification. It is time I began preparing in earnest for my training as a priest." Jacob almost choked over the lie he had told, but the ugly zit that glared at him from the mirror was of infinitely greater concern. He had to hide it from the village, or suffer disgrace and lose his heritage as a Navajo priest. So he left quietly, unseen in the dawn stillness, and made his way to a hidden cave overlooking a dormant volcano. For a week he prayed and meditated until the zit disappeared and his face once again glowed with perfect health.

"Mom, I am going into the hills for another week of purification", became a frequent proclamation over the next four years. For Jacob had become inextricably mired in the sin of POP and PIZZA. His "purification weeks" amounted to a one day clandestine raid on the sin pots of Flagstaff and six days in the wilderness "drying out" and waiting for his tortured skin to return to its normal pristine state.

Finally the big day approached. In one week, Jacob would be initiated into the brotherhood of Navajo priests. The people were beside themselves with anticipation. For Jacob was special, and great things were predicted for him. And Cactus Valley, would forever bask it the glow of his success. Everyone was happy - except Jacob. For he knew that once he stepped in to the sacred kiva he was doomed to a life completely devoid of PIZZA and POP. But what to do? In seven days he was to be transformed in to a Navajo priest. He would stand at the altar and dye his hair black, apply permanent tanning solution to his fair skin and have the mark of the Kachina tattooed on his forehead. "I do not think I can bear the thought of a life without pizza and pop", lamented Jacob to himself. "I must find a way to escape. But how? I will be watched constantly until after the ceremony. And can you just imagine Big Al serving Pizza and Pop to a Navajo priest?"

For six long days Jacob suffered the pain of the approaching ceremony, and looked for a way out. He looked and looked and looked and- -----.

"Ruth, Ruth." The dismay in Elijah's voice was so intense that his wife literally ran to his side in Jacob's bedroom. "Oh, Ruth, what are we to do?" he cried. "The big day is here and our son is not. There is nothing but this note....”

'Folks, I cannot become a Navajo priest. For a greater love has entered my life. I am sorry'.

"This is impossible", wailed the priest when he heard the dreadful news. "This is the biggest day in the history of Cactus Valley, and in the life of your son. He must be found. The gods will plague us with above normal rainfall for seven years and we will be tortured with the presence of eastern azaleas, spontaneous lawn grass and sinful tomatoes unless Jacob is found and brought unblemished to the altar. Search your house, Elijah, for your son must be there. We have kept watch and no one has left in two days except your daughter, Mary, as she went to worship this morning."

They found him at Shakey's, sitting in the corner booth. The Sunday dress he had stolen from his sister as a disguise was stained with pizza sauce and the table was littered with empty pop bottles. His face was a mass of zits, and his beautiful blue eyes were clouded by the effect of countless trips to the pickup counter.

"Why? Jacob", demanded the priest. "Why? Your future was before you. You have lost it all for the sins of Flagstaff. You have defied the gods and disgraced your family by donning the forbidden attire of the female, and have desecrated the body that was destined to become Chief Priest of the entire Navajo nation. Those zits make it impossible for you to return, even if we could forgive the dress."

Jacob burped quietly, wiped the cheese from his chin and spoke, "I am sorry, but this way of life has captured me for all time. I have secretly been committing the sweetest of all sins for four years, and I love it. Big Al has offered me a home and a job. I thought about my future for a long-time and finally decided that I must take this step. Escape seemed impossible for me until last night. Then I remembered the advice of the great philosopher, Wee Willie of Virginia. 'eat, drink and be Mary, or tomorrow you dye'."


end