by Eben Le Roux
Chapter 27
It was his final night and the last time he would be involved with Bruce, James, and Channel 91. There were times that he had wished he had never involved himself in this whole event with Bruce Ashton. Sometimes when he was alone at home, he had a desire for this to be all over. Then again, he thought of all the rewards it had brought him. He knew that if this had not happened, he surely would still have been out on the streets. As he prepared himself to go onto the stage, he felt slightly nervous. He had thoughts about his privacy as many radio stations had talk shows about his speeches. Newspapers had been running stories nearly on a daily basis, and some had even tried to run an exclusive on him. So far, he had been successful in avoiding journalists, and he wondered if it was going to be possible tonight. When they drove onto the premises, he had noticed a good number of people with press cards. Not that he was scared of the press, but sometimes they would ask questions just to jack up stories. He wished for a quiet life, and he knew that after tonight his life might return to normal. Sometimes, it was with pain that he realised that he did not own a house any more. At least there, he would have had full control over his own privacy. The band ended the song, and the speaker was already announcing his appearance on stage. He took a last swipe with the handkerchief over his face and, without further hesitation, walked onto the stage. As usual, the stadium was full. Everybody rose to their feet the moment he appeared from behind the curtain, applauding him once more. This time, he did not bother to make a move to silence them but waited until they were all seated before he started.
Just as he wanted to start, he noticed a group of people slowly rising in the middle row. He had to pause, for he knew it was not part of the event, not according to his knowledge, he thought. The next moment they opened a banner that read: ‘Welcome back, Mr Johnson. Your class of 2001’. It was written on both sides for everybody to see. An ecstatic smile formed on his face, for he could identify some of the students that were in his last class before he became principal. The exhilaration that came with the surprise had him speechless as he turned to look at Bruce and James. The smiles on their faces were even bigger and he turned back to the group to thank them. That moment was so glorious to him that the smile refused to leave him. Every time he wanted to speak, the emotion interfered with his speech. Somebody in the audience thought it wise to start an applause to which everybody joined in. That seemed to help him overcome most of the emotion, as the attempt that followed was a faultless one. ‘Thank you very much and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I will start with a very special announcement that I hope will make all of you happy. Knowing that tonight is the last of the events, the organisers have decided to entertain you with three of the best gospel artists in the country. Tonight, I am going to be as brief as possible so that you do not miss too much of that entertainment.’
Surprisingly, his announcement caused mumbles from the crowd, which became louder within seconds. That had Peter very much confused and a man in the front row stood up, trying to say something to him. As he could not hear him above the noise, Peter had to move forward, and the man repeated himself,
‘We came to hear you speak.’ He said not taking his eyes of Peter.
Peter moved back with a flattered smile and started comforting them. ‘This man had just told me your problem, and I feel honoured to oblige . . .’ His words were followed with a noisy round of applause while almost everyone had a broad smile on their faces. Slowly, the noise quieted down, and finally he had the silence to begin. This time he spoke in a voice that was nearly overcame by sorrow.
‘For five years I was on the streets, three of which I lived as a beggar, and I had this impossible dream. I prayed to God to put me in a classroom just one more time, the only place where I knew I truly belonged. I asked Him to rid me of the streets and the foul conditions that I had to live with. Out of the streets and away from all the dirt was not going to be enough for me. I desperately wanted to be in front of a classroom again. If I had to tell any one of you about this dream while still being that beggar, you would have most definitely laughed at me. Now tonight, I have heard words that will travel with me for the rest of my life, “We came . . . to hear . . . you . . . speak”.’
He dragged the words into one long sentence while the emotion of the moment was overpowering him. He felt his own tears starting to run down his cheeks. In between his words, he wiped them from his face. Within the audience, those same emotional tears were flowing down many faces. ‘Tonight, I am standing in front of you as a teacher and as a person sharing wisdom with you. I hope that for all the blessings poured on me tonight, I will not disappoint my God.’
He took another swipe with the cloth over his face.
‘Yes, sir, I am going to speak again tonight . . .’ he said, suddenly lifting his voice. ‘...but what will happen after I have spoken? Are you going to help me pass on the spoken words so that society can benefit from them? Will we, from tonight, refuse to live in fear of the arrogant fool? Most of all, sir, are we willing to break that silence that has been following us since Jesus stood in front of Pilate. You curse when you are surrounded by rude people. You are stressed out when people use vulgar language in your presence. Let be said; these people are not your problem, sir. No, they are just actors in the play that causes your trauma. The arrogant one is you, for you have failed to befriend those around you. You have failed to let them know about your principles and you for knowing theirs. Your arrogance in this matter has failed to bring you the respect that is due to you. Sir, madam, we can never change this world with wishful thinking. We cannot sit and hope that somebody special will come to our rescue and make this world a better place for us. No texts in the Bible were written for another special person to come. It is for me and for you and for all of us to establish and maintain a moral standard for which God can give us blessings and reward us with peace. Unfortunately, we have become so selfish that we have failed to see the importance of our own existence in the lives of others. By living so selfishly, we have no real dreams, no real hope, and no real wishes. We have turned all of our happiness into greedy ambitions. We are basking in our freedom so blindly that we have failed to notice that the birth of every fear has arrived. We have become so ungodly that we foolishly argue in the defence of our immoral idols. We have become so ignorant that most gruesome murders and rapes will be forgotten within weeks. We cannot even realise that our children’s bad behaviours are products of a sick society that we had created. How can we proudly celebrate the fact that we were created in the same image as God? I have spoken so many times about the fear of the Lord. Let us put it in easier terms so that we understand what it really means. Look at all the fears that humans are currently subjected to, fears that we encounter every day and night in this modern world. Some of us fear being insulted. Others fear being embarrassed, raped, kidnapped, hijacked, robbed, assaulted, and even being murdered. Ask yourself if we could all walk around with just that one fear, the fear of the Lord. This fear, my dear Christians, is the ultimate form of respect. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. With that fear within us, we think with wisdom, speak with wisdom, and act with wisdom, while, on the other hand, a fool despises wisdom and ignores instruction. You tell me, with all the fears within us, are we still in God’s presence, or are we already subjected to the rule of the fool? I did not inherit an ungodly world from my parents, and you did not inherit one from yours. All this social decay, my dear Christian friends, was shaped in our presence. I will say again, all the political freedom that you and I were served with and so gladly received has deleted the choice to live without fear. The tears that we are shedding are because we have silently accepted the banning of biblical morality in exchange for sinful pleasures. We have adopted a structure that has complete disregard for the fool within us. Idols are abusing these structures, and they shoot to fame within seconds. Disapproving God’s rules and deleting our Christian values are the only requirements for their success. These types of i
dols have grown in numbers because they see us as the silent crowd too shy to shout in favour of Jesus Christ, a crowd that would rather mourn the death of their religion than trying to save it. By allowing these numbers to grow amongst us, we will surely end up having a fool as a master. Blessings and happiness do not come to you as a present, and peace cannot be delivered to your doorstep in a package. No, God put in us the capabilities to create it. This is what God said to us in Isaiah 59: “I make a covenant with you; I have given you My power and My teachings to be yours forever. From now on, you are to obey Me and teach your children and descendants to obey Me for all the time to come. Let us admit that we had failed God in this regard, hence the abundance of fools that we have to deal with in our societies.”
He left a short silence before repeating the text again, ‘Teach your children and descendants to obey Me for all time to come.’ Christians, you are still silent, and you now fail the children to arrive by Jesus. The bridge between God and us is collapsing, yet we make no effort to restore it. ‘I cannot help you,’ said God, ‘because you had built too many barriers between you and me.
I say again that we as humans are the world’s most powerful creatures. So powerful are we that God had told us we could move mountains if we want to. Just because we are capable to think alongside God’s powers, we came under the impression that we do not need him any longer. We have become so consumed with our own capabilities that we are trying to prove that He does not exist. We have the talent to do research of what happened millions of years ago by digging up fossils. We can study the formation of our continents of hundreds of thousands years ago, but we are too ignorant to go back only a couple of years to see how and why we are losing morality within our societies. I say it is time to use our talent to start digging into the Bible as much as we dig the soil of this Earth for clues. We might find logistical advice from God printed for us in there, advice that we have discarded for reasons none other than to sin in foolish self-confidence.’
He turned to the man in the audience, who had spoken to him, and said, ‘Mister, you made me such a proud man when you said, “We came to hear you speak”. Your words are confirmation that God has answered my prayer. Allow me to pass those words on to the whole world so that God and his Son can be even more proud than I am tonight. Let us tell the world to break that barrier. Let us tell the world to speak because by staying quiet in front of Pontius Pilate, we had the Lord Jesus Christ nailed to a cross. God is calling on our voices again. This time, our silence will be even more destructive as every silent voice will be as good as a bullet aimed at God.’
He looked at them as if they were his own children and said; There is a warning for us in Matthew 10: 21, Brother will betray brother; a father will betray his child and children will rise up against parents. Yet, this warning will be ignored until it is too late. Do not call out for God during such times because we had chosen to shoot Him down when He offered us His help.’
He allowed for a short pause, then said; “I thank everybody for giving me the chance to be a teacher again. I thank everybody who was part of my miracle. May God’s blessings and His peace find a place in your homes, your hearts, and your lives. Goodnight everybody and goodbye.’
This time, Peter Johnson stood for the full standing ovation while many in the audience were wiping tears from their eyes. Bruce, who carried a broad smile, took a slow walk to him. Shaking Peter’s hand, he said, ‘The saddest thing ever to happen in my career is to see you leave.’ These words put a tremble of excitement in Peter, and he replied, ‘The best thing that could ever happen in my life was for you to believe in me. Thank you, Bruce, and before we start crying, I have to go. The family are having supper at Ray’s house. James I will catch up with you in Bolton’
“You better be there Mr Johnson or else I’ll come looking for you myself.
Ross was inspired listening to the man who played the role of father for the best part of his life. All that was left was for him to start working on his own personal life. As he got in behind the steering wheel, he felt nervous. He had planned to ask Gina to marry him but he wanted to fill in the empty spaces first. Seven years is a long time, and he was curious to know what happened in her life during that time. He was not a coward, and he would never back down from a fight should he be forced into one, but when it came to a woman, he always found it difficult to find the right ways of approaching them. With Gina, it would have been much easier, but this time, the questions were going to be much more personal, more like investigating her recent past. The stillness in the car became too unbearable, and he decided that it was now or never.
‘Gina, how long have you been staying in Lochville?’
She gave him a very inquisitive look before she answered, ‘Since I started teaching . . . that would be three years . . . why?’
‘I was wondering how a nice girl like you could still be single.’ It was more a question than a statement, and he knew he was entering a very delicate area.
‘Am I detecting investigative questioning?’
‘Yes, and I want you to be honest with me,’ he said, not looking at her.
‘What exactly do you want to know, Ross?’ she asked tensely.
‘Whatever you think I should know.’
‘Get to the point, Ross. Is it about my love life?’
‘Gina . . .’
‘No, I also want for us to talk about this, Ross. I need some answers before I go back.’
Ross wished he never started the conversation as he felt trapped in it. ‘Is it about me?’ he asked carefully.
‘No, it is about me. I found it hard to stay in relationships. To be honest, I have been through two failed ones already. I have been carrying your photo around in my purse since that holiday, and every time I look at it, I realised I could not really commit myself to something serious without knowing what happened to you. My friends called me stupid, and I was starting to consider that to be true. When I met Ray in that chemist, I demanded he take me to you. The minute I saw you, there was no doubt in my mind that I still loved you through all those years. Ross, I am twenty-six years old and should have been married with children by now. Call me stupid, like my friends do, but I want to love the father of my children as much as they would love him.’
Ross could feel butterflies in his stomach, but there was no time for him to answer. They were already entering the gates of Ray’s house, with them waiting at the door. He looked at her, as she appeared somewhat sombre for not getting an answer from him. This was something that bothered him as they sat down to eat.
It was getting too much and halfway through supper, he rose from his chair while calling on Peter.
‘Dad?’
‘Yes, son?’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Yes, of course,’ he said, surprised that Ross had to stand up before asking him.
‘Would you walk me into church if Gina agrees to marry me?’
Everybody froze and stared at him. Even Peter was too stunned to answer. Gina, who had never expected that, dropped her knife and fork into her plate while staring at him with big round eyes. Ross, now with the ring in his hands, leant over to her.
‘Gina Flanagan, with this ring, I ask to be the father of your children. Will you marry me?’
The answer was already in her eyes before she shouted out loud, ‘Yes, I will, yes . . . yes . . . yes,’ she said as she held on to him with a kiss.
Everybody rose from their chairs and surrounded the two with Peter staring at the scene of madness in front of him.
‘Yes, my son. I most definitely would love to,’ Peter tried to say through the noises and shouts.
‘I am getting the champagne!’ Ray shouted above the laughter.
Ross would rather have stayed in bed the next morning. He could feel his body was in a real impeded mode. Too much champagne and too little sleep were the cause of his condition. He was behind the steering wheel for a reason he could not ignore; the phone call from Tony sound
ed too urgent.
As he rounded the corner of the main house, he saw Tony smoking under the tree. ‘Sorry for being so late. I hope you did not wait too long?’
‘No, it’s fine. I also arrived only about five minutes ago. You know once you report for work, it is not easy to break away.’
‘So what is the good news?’
‘Come, let’s go inside. Better they tell you.’
‘They . . . Who are they?’
‘Scott Healy is with Mom. She went to him for advice after our last discussion.’
‘You mean Scotty . . . the same Scott who managed Diamond Steel?’
‘Yes, that Scotty. Looks like things are moving in the right direction.’
Ross was then even more in a hurry to get inside the house and was satisfyingly surprised when he noticed Catherina’s hair was as he had known it over all the years. She was dressed like the person he had known all his life. Scott immediately rose to his feet when Ross walked into the house. ‘Ross, I am so happy to see you. Sit. I have something good to tell you.’
Ross took a seat opposite him while Tony remained standing.
‘Catherina wants me to open the business again.’
‘What? Seems like the watch worked for you, Mrs Carrello?’
‘Yes, thank you Ray, she just gave it to me and told me to do whatever is best for my future. The money my husband borrowed them was to save their company from going down, and she is now giving me a chance to save ours. That is why we are here,’ Catherina said with a very broad smile.
‘This is good news. I’m so happy for you, Mrs Carrello. Really, I am very happy for you.’
‘Well, Ross, it seems she is not happy enough,’ Scott Healy interrupted them. ‘Tony told me about your wish to bring the company back on its feet, and we all agreed with that. ‘However . . . ,’ Healy continued, ‘we will have to start at the bottom. It is going to be tough for the first year. There is just not enough money for operational costs, and we will have to sell some of the assets. Catherina gave permission to proceed to sell the three cars, the boat, and one truck. Still, we will need people who would be willing to give everything for whatever little is available. I am thinking of bonuses after every successfully completed contract and I will only start the business if I can have five experienced workers on a site. Having you already is a bonus but employing qualified people under these conditions is going to be tough.’
Ross got overexcited, as he did not expect such good news so soon.
‘Scott, this news is blowing me away, and I don’t know what to say.’ He looked at all three of them as if making sure they were not joking.
‘Well, Ross, the sooner we can get the men, the sooner I can start to tender for new jobs.’
It was hard for Ross to hide his excitement. ‘Scott, the timing could not be better. Last week, I was working with three of our men to build stages for Channel 91. If they were desperate enough to work for me, they will most definitely jump at this opportunity, and you know what? Their numbers are all on my phone.’
He could see the smiles growing on their faces as Scott said to him, ‘On Monday, I will have people cleaning up the offices, so Tuesday you will bring whoever is available for a meeting at ten o’clock. In this book . . .’ he lifted an industrial magazine from the table ‘. . . are fifteen current tenders, of which nine are for sizes we are capable of. Let us hope that at least one will fall our way. When we are done here, I will go to restore the company’s name with the registration office and inform our lawyers about our plans. Diamond Steel Corporation should be back in business by the end of this week. Tony, do not forget to place new locks on the premises today. I think by now the sheriff has removed theirs. You and Ross should start with that first.’
There were smiles on all their faces when Scott Healy stood up from his chair. ‘Well, better I start doing what I was hired for,’ he said as he started to leave.
As Healy drove away, the three of them could not hide their joy and started hugging one another.
‘Don’t worry, Ross, my deal with you is still on,’ Tony said.
Ross’s smile was coming from deep inside his heart, and he could not wait to tell Gina about their future from here.
Tim Zimmer did not know what to think. At first, he wanted to switch the radio off. What he was listening to made him furious and boiled with anger. The John Gleeson talk show was on fire with the topic of the godfathers. People were phoning in and applauding the idea of millionaires contesting one another in a TV reality show. He did not give much attention to it until Gleeson started mentioning Bruce Ashton’s name. He even turned the speakers up a little. It was when he heard Larry Dixon’s name being mentioned as a contestant that he knew this was not going to be just another cheap show. He was not angry anymore; he was furious. He took out his phone and dialled a number.
‘Morning, Bryan, are you already at the office?’
When Bryan told him ‘yes’, he said in a very fuming voice, ‘Take Robert with you up to Shannon’s office and tune the radio onto John Gleeson’s talk show. Make it quick. I don’t want you guys to miss too much. I will see you in twenty minutes.’
He did not wait for any response as he switched the phone off abruptly. The annoyed look was still on his face when he walked into the reception area. He picked up a newspaper, and without the usual ‘good morning’, he gave instructions to the receptionist.
‘Get Bryan, Robert, and Shannon to come to my office in ten minutes, please.’
Fifteen minutes later, Tim addressed them without the least sympathy. ‘I think you all know why you are here. Did you see the front page of The Times? Even The Mercury is covering this story. With millionaires challenging one another, this show is going to be big. We let this man slip through our fingers and, within a matter of days, he is running the most watched show in the world. Now, he is coming up with something that might be much bigger. Shannon, for twenty-three years, we had a man that could find you a needle in a haystack, and you failed to notice him. Instead, we fired him, and now that action is haunting us. With the success this man is enjoying now, we can forget about him ever returning to this company. You and Bryan have two weeks to find me somebody that is either better or, that can at least equal that man’s abilities. Robert, I want the stats for last month on my desk by two this afternoon. Please do not let me have this kind of meeting again. I will not be shy to order a reshuffle at the top. So unless somebody has anything to add, we are done here.’
Without a single word, they looked at one another. All of them just wanted to get out of Tim Zimmer’s office.
Outside the office, Shannon did not like the looks she got from both Bryan and Robert. Robert told her very sarcastically, ‘I saw this coming a long time ago.’
They left her standing in the passage as they both walked into Bryan’s office. She instinctively knew they would be discussing her, and she prepared herself for a very bad day. Once inside her office, she closed the door and dialled a number. She could feel more disappointment as the phone went straight to voicemail. All she could do was to leave a message.
‘Hi, Peter, it’s me, Shannon. I won’t make it for Saturday. Something came up, and I will explain later. Sorry.’
For that moment, Shannon Buoys hated her father so much that she was thinking of committing suicide. After what she went through as a child, she promised herself not to be insulted by any man ever again. Every small insult was enough to bring forward her past. Her objective was to see every man as a secondary object and to use them for whatever reason she saw fit. With Bryan now also turning his back on her, was adding more insult to her injury. As her past started to play havoc in her mind, she sincerely wished for the company of Peter Johnson.