by Marion Hill
“I imagine you have a lot of questions and wonder if you are really the one to fulfill Oscar’s prophecy,” Diakono Copperwith said.
At least he got right to the point. “Yes, I do,” I replied.
“Before I attempt answer your questions, let me explain who am I and my role. Also, I will explain Second Esperah Carranza’s role as well. It’s important for you to understand how things work here.”
Diakono Malcolm Copperwith spent the next couple of hours explaining his and Second Esperah Carranza’s role here at the kahall. The role of diakono was a highly regarded one. Diakonos were the elder members of the kahall and ran its business and administrative functions. The morrim, head of the kahall, chose diakonos in a detailed and thorough manner. Each kahall had at least three diakonos but no more than seven. The kahall of Santa Sophia had four, and each one had his specific function in the building.
Diakono Copperwith’s role was that of teaching and education. He was second-in-command behind the morrim and filled in for him at various times, teaching the kahall service for the entire congregation.
Second Esperah Carranza’s role was considered the entry-level position in the kahall’s organizational structure. Second esperahs were basically there to assist the diakonos and provide whatever they needed. He was one of twelve second esperahs at the kahall of Santa Sophia and one of three second esperahs assigned to Diakono Copperwith.
After that explanation, I got a better understanding of each man’s role and had a sense of why Second Esperah Carranza was so formal. I realized I could never do his job. I knew I could not wait at beck and call for whatever the diakonos needed.
“Second Esperah Carranza, could you get lunch prepared for us?” Diakono Copperwith asked at that point.
Second Esperah Carranza bowed and replied, “Right away, Diakono Copperwith.” He left the office.
“He serves you well,” I said.
Diakono Copperwith stared at me briefly. I felt his eyes looking right through me. I hoped I hadn’t said something wrong.
“ A second esperah’s role is to be a servant. One can’t be a leader without being a servant. Kammbi is our greatest example of this.”
“Does Second Esperah Carranza ever get to voice his opinion?”
Diakono Copperwith smiled. “I see why you left your family’s home and got out from under Xavier’s rule.”
“How did you know about that?”
“Why do you think you are here, Diondray?”
“Aunt Maxina. You know her?”
Diakono Copperwith rose from his seat and continued. “Yes. I met your Aunt Maxina during the month of Carm. She was convinced you are the one to fulfill Oscar’s prophecy. She flew up here to Santa Sophia in advance of you coming to pave the way.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Aunt Maxina had set this up all along! How long had she believed in Kammbi and kept it a secret from the family?
“When I heard her story, by the guidance of the Eternal Comforter I knew it was true. You are indeed the one who fulfill the prophecy. She asked to me to take care of you. That’s why you are here in Santa Sophia.”
I spent the rest of the afternoon with Diakono Copperwith. We had lunch and talked about each other’s history. He knew that I wrote themilies and that it was my readings that convinced Aunt Maxina of my true role. Diakono Copperwith said that when Aunt Maxina came here, he didn’t want to believe her. However, when she started telling him the history of Oscar Ortega coming south of the Great Forest and that he had left a copy of the Book of Kammbi in Charlesville, Diakono Copperwith knew she was telling the truth. He began to prepare then for me coming to Santa Sophia.
I asked Diakono Copperwith if Aunt Maxina had told him how long she had believed in Kammbi. He answered by saying she became a convert after she arrived in Santa Sophia. Before then, Aunt Maxina believed our city’s official history was false, but she could never pursue that belief because of the repercussions she would have faced from Uncle Xavier. I wondered how someone could have changed their beliefs so quickly. Could we really believe in anything for a long time? Or would we all change when we were persuaded to do so?
I would return to his office tomorrow, and he would give me a tour of the city. He wanted me to bring the Book of Kammbi. Diakono Copperwith had to see it for himself. If I had the very book Oscar Ortega had left behind, like Aunt Maxina told him, then I would have the oldest copy of the Book of Kammbi in existence.
I RETURNED TO DIAKONO Copperwith’s office the next morning, the tenth day in the month of Lir. I wore my first pair of pants below my knees. Aunt Maxina had packed them in my suitcase. It felt like tape or some kind of gift-wrapping around my legs. The pants were uncomfortable when I started walking but got better when I arrived at the diakono’s office.
I held the Book of Kammbi in my left hand. Diakono Copperwith rose from his seat behind the desk to greet me. We embraced, and I rested the Book of Kammbi underneath his shoulder blade.
“Is that it?” he asked.
I nodded after we released one another and handed the Book of Kammbi to him.
His eyes opened wide, and a big smile came over his face. Diakono Copperwith looked like a child receiving a present for his birthday celebration.
“Oh Kammbi,” he said softly and caressed the cover. “All these years, and Oscar really had left this book south of the Great Forest. They have had it all this time.”
“Yes,” I replied.
He opened the book, and I heard the flipping of the brittle pages. I didn’t know how long the book would last now that it was out in the public.
“The morrim has to see this,” he said and handed the Book of Kammbi back to me.
“Does the morrim believe in Oscar’s prophecy?”
Diakono Copperwith’s childlike smile left his face immediately, and a distant look came across his face. “Yes, as a teacher of our beliefs. But in his own heart, I truly do not know.”
“Why is that?”
The diakono sighed and replied, “It’s much too involved to get into a detailed discussion about it. There are a lot of people here in Santa Sophia who believe Oscar should never have gone south of the Great Forest to try to reconcile with Charles. Since his dalliance with Charles’s mother was his greatest act of passha, he should have accepted his punishment from Kammbi and not tried to have a relationship with his out-of-wedlock son.”
“What’s wrong with a father wanting to have a relationship with his son?”
“I hear the anger in your voice, Diondray,” he said and sat down on the sofa. “And I agree with you. But the believers and followers of Kammbi take passha very seriously, and having a child with a woman you’re not wedded to is one of the greatest acts of passha a man can commit.”
“So does Kammbi allow for forgiveness?” I asked and joined him on the sofa.
“He does, Diondray. But Oscar Ortega is considered one of the greatest men who ever believed and followed Kammbi. And many of us still feel ashamed about the act of passha he committed. We do not want to believe he could do such a thing.”
“So then why would Kammbi create this prophecy for him? He could have stopped Oscar from coming south of the Great Forest at all.”
Diakono finally smiled and said, “Kammbi had to honor his word. I’ve been told you have read the Book of Kammbi. I don’t know if you have read the Ryianza yet. Book 6 is where Kammbi talks about when a person commits an act of pasha. They must ask for aphemmia in repayment for that transgression.”
“Aphemmia?”
“Forgiveness. Repentance, demonstrated through action,” he continued. “We will all commit acts of passha during our lives, Diondray. No one is perfect but Kammbi. And through him we can ask for aphemmia. If it is truly from the heart, it will be granted to us like it was for Oscar Ortega.”
Oscar Ortega had been granted aphemmia in order for him to try to reconcile with Charles. However, he did not mend the relationship between him and his son. So did Kammbi really give fo
rgiveness to Oscar Ortega? I thought when forgiveness was granted, the past had been wiped away. I wasn’t sure about this act of aphemmia concept.
“I GUESS THE PEOPLE of Santa Sophia must like big automobiles,” I said as we arrived at Diakono Copperwith’s car.
He smiled as he unlocked the doors. “It’s a Carranza 125 LC. One of the biggest cars we have still in production. However, this model is ten years old, and the newer versions are much smaller.”
“We don’t have automobiles this big in Charlesville. The RKV-418 is our largest automobile, and is about half the size of this one.”
“My wife has the best automobile in the family. This one gets me from one part of the city to the next part.”
“I assume you are telling me that when I get married, I should give my wife the best automobile.”
Diakono Copperwith laughed as he drove away from the kahall. “You are a perceptive young man, Diondray Azur.”
It was good to hear him laugh, especially after our conversation about the act of aphemmia. I was still troubled by their concept of forgiveness. I didn’t understand how a God could grant forgiveness but still allow the punishment from the mistake they made. I knew I would have to get a better understanding of this concept before Oscar’s prophecy could be fulfilled. If I couldn’t even understand or accept this basic part of their faith, I certainly couldn’t be the one to unite the lands around belief in Kammbi!
“We are traveling on Oscar Ortega Boulevard,” Diakono Copperwith announced. “The road starts at the kahall of Santa Sophia and travels north through the center of the city. Then it turns northwest, going into the Ortega Hills.”
“The Ortega Hills. Is that where Oscar first settled when he arrived in this land?”
“Correct, Diondray. Oscar settled amongst the Mayza tribe at that time. They lived in those hills and believed they were sacred. The tribe worshipped the hills like they were a god.”
“Oscar changed that with his belief in Kammbi.”
“Yes, he did. The elders of the tribe knew immediately that Oscar Ortega was a special man, and they embraced the teachings about Kammbi shortly after they met.”
“How could they just easily reject their own beliefs like that?” I asked as I looked out onto Oscar Ortega Boulevard. There was no one outside walking the streets.
“When the truth is presented to you, either you accept or reject it.”
“You accept or reject it? How do you know if it’s really the truth?”
The diakono smiled. “You are a questioner, and I know you have struggled with the beliefs you grew up with.”
“Yes,” I answered as he turned into a parking lot.
“You’re at the age where you are questioning everything you have been taught. Questions are good and should be asked. But acceptance and trust in something bigger than yourself is the next step for you, Diondray.”
Diakono Copperwith parked the car. He made it sound so easy—but I didn’t think it was. How could I trust and accept so easily when I had just found out a history that had been deliberately hidden from the people of Charlesville and myself for many years? That kind of deception would make you question everything you ever believed in. Hadn’t the believers and followers ever questioned Kammbi or even Oscar Ortega? Had Diakono Copperwith ever questioned his beliefs? It seemed the morrim had.
“THIS IS THE FIRST STOP on our tour of Santa Sophia,” Diakono Copperwith said as we walked across the street from the parking lot. We crossed a wide, triangular street and headed toward a statue that was some distance away. “On each side of us are the marketplaces of Sophia, I and II. The marketplaces are the main shopping areas for the center of the city. They have been around since the last years of Oscar Ortega’s life.”
On either side of us, the marketplaces were long, rectangular buildings of a sandy color that made them indistinguishable from everything else in this area. There was no one walking into them or out from them, so I would not have noticed them if Diakono Copperwith hadn’t told me about them. “We are in the marperia,” he continued. “There is the area where many people come from all over the city to relax from shopping at the marketplaces, eat their food, or people-watch. As you know, there is nobody out in the daytime during the period between the Festival of First Cherries and the upcoming Festival of Sinquinta.”
“The Festival of First Cherries was on the first day of Lir?” I asked. I could smell the yellow flowers that were in bloom as I walked through the marperia. This place had a serenity that held the busyness of the city at bay.
“Yes, it is. As you read in the Book of Kammbi, the Festival of First Cherries celebrates the sacrifice Kammbi made for humanity. The squeezing of the first harvested cherries represents the blood he sacrificed for our acts of passha. The cherry juice poured on the ground represents Kammbi’s blood covering those acts of passha and washing them away for good.”
We reached the statue. It towered over the marperia. The statue of Kammbi was cloud-white and stood straight up with arms extended wide. It appeared he was welcoming everyone to come to him. The face and beard were similar to the painting in my room back at the kahall.
I shifted my eyes to Diakono Copperwith as he bowed down in front of the statue. I heard mumbling from him but couldn’t make out what he was saying. It lasted several minutes before he returned to standing.
“Diondray, this is the statue of Kammbi. It is one of the most sacred artifacts of the city. Oscar Ortega had this built in the last year of his life. The elders of the Mayza tribe wanted to build a statue of Oscar for everything he had done. However, Oscar wouldn’t agree to that, and he asked that the statue be built in the image of Kammbi instead. It is the most visited attraction in all the cities north of the Great Forest.”
I heard the excitement in his voice. The statue was a beautiful piece of artwork, and I could imagine what it meant to him.
“Excuse me, young man. Where are you from?” a voice said behind me.
Surprised, I turned around and saw an elderly woman with a determined look on her face. She had long wrinkles underneath her eyes and squinted in order to look at me.
“Hello, Lady Patricia,” Diakono Copperwith interjected. He gently took her left hand to help her balance.
“Thank you for your assistance, Diakono Copperwith. However, this young man is not from here, and he has not answered my question.”
She released herself from the diakono’s grip and placed both her hands on my face. They were rough against my cheeks, and I wanted to pull my face away. But the elderly woman’s gaze kept me in place.
“I’m from Charlesville. South of the Great Forest.”
She nodded and smiled, revealing that a few of her teeth were missing on the bottom. “I knew you were from south of the Great Forest. I saw you and Diakono Copperwith crossing the street, and I had to find out who you were. You have a presence about you, and I know you are here in our city for a reason.”
Diakono Copperwith gave a surprised look at the elderly woman and said, “Diondray, Lady Patricia Carranza is one of our longtime parishioners in the kahall, and her family is one of the original families of the city. She comes to Kammbi’s statue often, even during this time between the festivals.”
“Diakono Copperwith, this young man will learn about me and my family soon enough. Can you stand next to me in front of the statue?”
Lady Patricia reached out her left hand for me to hold it. I grasped her hand and honored her request. Diakono Copperwith stood on the opposite side of her.
She released my grip and bent down in front of the statue. “Young man, please join me.”
I did.
Lady Patricia grabbed my hand and bowed her head.
“To the One who blesses us all, please hear my words. I saw this young man a short time ago and knew instantly there was something special about him. I believe you brought him to our city for a reason that is not known to me. However, I would ask you to guide him. To ease his mind and help him to understand tha
t what he thought of as the truth is no longer true. Please show him what the truth is and what you want him to do. Lastly, I ask that you teach him to learn to trust you. Because he will need your trust from this point forward.”
She opened her eyes and looked over at me. “May Kammbi bless you. Diakono Copperwith, give him your wisdom and guidance into trusting the One who deserves all of our trust.”
Diakono Copperwith nodded in agreement as he helped Lady Patricia to her feet. She walked away from the statue, and I stared after her, wondering what had just happened.
Chapter 9
I HAD NOW BEEN IN SANTA Sophia for fourteen days, and it dawned on me how fast time passes, waiting for no one. I spent two days thinking about Lady Patricia. I wanted to talk to Diakono Copperwith about her and that prayer. But he had been busy with teaching and fulfilling his role while the morrim was away. I could have asked Second Esperah Carranza about Lady Patricia—from their last names I suspected they were related—but I did not know if I could ask him personal questions yet.
I decided to pull out my pencil and paper to write a themily. I placed those items on the desk and gathered my thoughts on what to write. I hadn’t written a themily since being here. I needed to put words to paper.
People can sense a connection with you immediately. People can sense if you are genuine even if they don’t know you. But how can they sense if you are meant to do something special? Who can give people that ability?
A sense of relief came over me after getting those words down. My had mind raced until I wrote the questions out, and doing so brought me an ease I needed. Was the Eternal Comforter inside of Lady Patricia the same way he—or it—was inside Oscar Ortega? I had read in Books 3 through 6 of the Baramesa that the Eternal Comforter played a significant role in helping Oscar during his travels. I assumed from that reading that all believers and followers of Kammbi had the Eternal Comforter inside of them. If so, how could a spirit live inside of you?