Stolen Innocence - Lisa Pulitzer [124]
This was my first solid look at life beyond the high walls of Short Creek, and it impacted my entire view of the world. In a bold move, I cut some of my hair in the front, making chic bangs. I also started wearing capris and some of the other modern styles Kassandra was into. One day, I joined Kassandra on a trip to the supermarket, donning my new pants, a pair of flip-flops, and a stylish short-sleeved top. As we walked from aisle to aisle, no one stared at me. It was the first time I’d been outside Short Creek without people noticing me. I felt unbelievably free. No one raised an eyebrow or tried to stifle laughter when I walked by. I looked just like everybody else.
The outing to the market was electrifying, but it couldn’t compare with the pure joy I experienced when I spent Halloween with my siblings. Caleb and Justin both came over to Kassandra’s to celebrate with us, and we had a blast carving pumpkins and decorating the house. In homage to my newfound adoration for Pirates of the Caribbean, I wore a white ruffled shirt, a pirate’s hat, and britches in the form of cropped denim pants. I loved waiting for the doorbell to ring and jumped off the couch each time it did to see the cute neighborhood children in their wild costumes. Handing out packaged candy to little kids dressed as witches, princesses, and superheroes served as one more cherished taste of what life in the rest of the world could be like.
In retrospect I understand that my siblings—Kassandra and Craig especially—were laying the groundwork for what they knew I needed to do. They were not only exposing me to the simple joys of the real world but also zeroing in on me with thought-provoking questions and remarks about my life at home. I ate sushi for the first time and went out late-night bowling. Everything I did reminded me of my time with Meg, and I did things that I never could have dreamed of back in Short Creek. I was hungry for life, and everywhere I looked things were glossy and new.
At one point, I had a chance to sit down with Kassandra and learn what had really happened in the wake of Rulon’s death that prompted her to leave the FLDS. The day Uncle Rulon died, his wives were in mourning, but they took heart in Warren’s declaration that none of them would be married. This was followed by his similar statement to the whole congregation. But just one month later, he’d gathered all of his father’s “ladies” together to announce his secret marriages to seven of them. Among them was Naomi, who would later stand before the community to deliver the message to the people that Warren was the next prophet and admit her union with him. These seven women were the first of Rulon’s many young wives who would be reassigned.
I was shocked to hear about what had been going on inside the prophet’s home. In the days after Warren married those first seven women, he’d begun to arrange for the marriages of some of Rulon’s other young wives. He declared it their new mission in life to be married, explaining that this was the “next step” that Father wanted them to take. Kassandra told me of her panic as she watched her sister wives being given to the men that Warren deemed worthy, among them his brothers Isaac, Nephi, and Seth. Warren had even gone so far as to present her with a list of “worthy” men that she could marry. Suddenly, her escape made a lot more sense, and I felt bad about carrying around my anger over her unexplained departure.
The joy of my trip was momentarily halted when I received a call from my boss accusing me of having stolen merchandise. In the weeks before I left, a sales rep from California had come to Utah and was pushing to have me removed from the company. I was hurt to be shunned by my employer after a productive relationship with her. After hearing what was going on, Kassandra no longer wanted to represent Saladmaster. Her decision created even more trouble for me when my employer insisted that Kassandra pay for all the pots and pans I’d lugged to Oregon. It took a few days to resolve, but in the end I