Carolyn tensed at this. “I know that. We already have so many instruments and of course, you can’t afford another one for no reason.”
This made me consider Stephen’s financial situation. Even a well-paid OB/GYN would struggle to pay for four homes and twenty-one children, wouldn’t he?
“It’s not about the cost,” Stephen said. “It’s about teaching Jonathan that hard work means reward. I wouldn’t want him to have an instrument he hadn’t earned through practicing.”
“And of course, you’re the musical expert,” said Carolyn, her voice trembling a little now. She looked away from Stephen.
Something about her nervousness made me think that a physician would know how to hurt people without leaving visible signs. It was a cold thought, but I wondered more and more about whether Stephen Carter used violence to control his wives.
“And what about the other children?” Stephen encouraged.
“Noah is nine and he plays the oboe. Judith is seven and she plays the violin.” Carolyn seemed to struggle for a moment.
Stephen squeezed her shoulder. “Go on,” he said.
Eventually, she did, but her tone was more subdued. “Little Martha is three and she doesn’t play anything yet, but I think I’m going to try her on a flute when she’s ready. She seems like a flute player, I think.”
“A flute is a good instrument for a young girl,” Stephen replied, nodding in approval.
“Instruments aren’t for boys or girls,” said Carolyn, the first open disagreement I’d seen her show Stephen. “Music is for everyone. Isn’t that what the scriptures say? Make a joyful noise.”
Stephen’s eyes flickered, but he patted Carolyn’s hand and said, “The stress of your pregnancy is making you fractious today, I’m afraid. You must remember how much you are loved and cared for. Anything you need, you have only to ask for it.”
Carolyn took a breath and murmured, “Yes, Stephen.”
What was going on with her? She seemed weak-minded or possibly even brainwashed. So unlike Sarah, although their ages were close. What was the difference in their situations?
As Stephen led us down the steps and away from Carolyn’s house, he said, “Carolyn had a very difficult childhood and teenage years. She assumes that everyone is ready to hurt her. Even after fourteen years living safely here with us, surrounded by loving family, I think she flashes back sometimes to those bad old days.”
“She had a difficult childhood?” I repeated. Maybe her neuroses were the products of childhood trauma, and had nothing to do with Stephen at all.
“Yes,” said Stephen. “Terrible years.”
“Her parents were abusive?” Kurt asked.
“Abusive, yes. But worse was their neglect. She had to sell herself to stay alive. She was on the streets for many years until she found her way home to us here.”
I was shocked at the honest way Stephen simply stated that Carolyn had been a victim of sex trafficking. Did they talk about it openly in the family? I supposed that could be a good thing, considering how often I complained about Mormons never being open about their sex lives, but openness was one thing and re-opening trauma was another.
“You found her on the streets?” Kurt’s tone was mild and inoffensive, but I could hear the judgment underneath. He had to be wondering the same thing I was, which was what age Carolyn had been when she married Stephen. Had he taken advantage of a young woman in distress?
One of Stephen’s smiles again. “No, no. I skipped an important step in there. When I met Carolyn, she’d already made the decision she wasn’t going to sell herself anymore. She was working at a local piano store. They didn’t pay her much, but they let her practice after hours, and it was the beginning of a new life for her. I offered to pay her to give lessons to my children up here when it fit into her schedule.”
“And then you asked her to marry you?” Kurt’s tone was still critical.
“Not for several years, though she fell in love with me after only a few months.” He grinned in some kind of shared masculine pride at this.
I wanted to slap him. Had Carolyn fallen in love with him or with his money and the security she thought it might bring her?
“But it was the Spirit that spoke to Rebecca and told her Sarah was to join us. Jennifer agreed, and so I added a third wife with God’s grace in 2002,” he assured Kurt.
Kurt rolled his eyes toward me at this. I too was beginning to hate the way Stephen used that pseudo-scriptural language in everyday conversation.
We walked down to the rambler next and met Jennifer, who was in her forties and wore stylized cat-eye glasses with jewels on each point. She was enviably trim, perhaps a bit too thin, or so I told myself. I neither saw nor heard children in this house, and there were no signs of toys or other child-related objects. It was also pin-perfect, not a bit of dirt anywhere, no clutter, everything in its place.
Stephen introduced us as Naomi’s future in-laws.