Chapter 8
"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."
― Kurt Vonnegut
John was sitting in his office relaxing and talking to Mary, William, and Cat. Several demons stared in the windows with unhappy looks on their faces.
"What wouldst thee do with them?" Mary asked.
John grimaced. The thought of working with demons that he couldn’t trust frightened him. He had met enough backstabbers in politics to know the harm they could do.
Actually, what was he actually going to do with any of them? Yes, here they were in a much nicer place than Hell, but there were only a few people here, many demons, and nothing really to do. He supposed he could just relax, stay away from the demons, and let nature take its course. But what would Vagabones think of that? Would that get him kicked out?
"There are hardly enough people to do anything," John replied. "Basically this is an empty town. Maybe I should assign apartments and houses to the demons."
"Those gents won’t stayeth anywhere. They wander, unhappy with everything, distraught ov'r their life. They hate everyone. They curse, thieve, and hurt others and themselves," Mary replied.
"Then why did Vagabones saddle me with them?"
"They art a great puzzle. Maybe it’s a test."
William raised his sword toward the window. The demons shrank back. "Can’t trust ‘em. A ship of demons is bound to navigate to Davy Jones’ locker."
"Are we not already thither?" Cat asked.
"What if it is a test? But of what?" John wondered aloud. He certainly wasn’t about to be in league with demons. And he couldn’t trust them to do anything if he gave them something to do.
"What if they're just bored? There's nothing to do in Hell," John mused.
"Cans't thou find William Shakespeare and have him do plays?" William asked.
John gave him a puzzled look. "You're a fan of Shakespeare?!"
"Of course! Shakespeare speaks everyone's language. He spoke, 'Whether 'tis better to improve my behavior or enjoy the swell of mediocrity present, that is the eternal question.' So happens, I agree with him. Difficult question."
"And he is here?"
"Who isn't? And he has new plays!"
"They named him Shakespeare for a reason. He dost shake his spear, if you know what I mean. He cannot use women on stage, but he dost surely know how to use them off stage. Shake thy spear, William!" Everyone laughed.
"I will look for him. If we’re going to have a real, functioning town here, we need more people, not demons. Communities are - ." John stopped. He had no idea what makes a community. "What are communities?"
"Communities are just a bunch of people," Mary contributed.
"Defense!" William shouted. "Communities are about defense, and finding enough food and water to survive! Things demons don’t care about. They would sell you as slaves if they thought they could get something for your worthless carcass."
"Defense and food – yeah, preserving the common good," John agreed. "But what are we about as a community? We need people who share our interests… and... and… they can interact with each other without fear."
Cat laughed. "I wast ne’er in a community where everyone hath worked together to maketh the community better. Twas every man for hisself. Except maybe for trade. And everyone livin' in fear."
"OK, maybe I’m idealizing, but," John pointedly looked at the demons, "are we a den of thieves? People haters? Thugs? Like the demons out there?"
"No," Mary replied. "They dost want only to be miserable, and they dost make everyone miserable."
"Get rid of them!" William shouted. Everyone looked at him like he had just set himself on fire. Mary motioned for him to keep it down.
"Then as my second official action as Mayor, we’re cleaning up the town. We need the Angel, Orpheus, to get rid of the demons." John looked out the door and down the street. The angel bus was no longer there. Where had the angels gone? He opened the door and yelled, "Orpheus!" The demons surged toward the door. He quickly closed the door and watched. He saw no angels anywhere on the streets. After a moment he turned around and stumbled over Orpheus, who was standing behind him.
"Orpheus, I want to get rid of all of the demons. This is no place for them."
Orpheus didn’t move or make a sound. He stood still as a statue. A moment later Peira appeared. "John, every town has good people and bad people. You are Mayor of all people," she said.
"But they have no respect for anyone. They don't care about anyone but themselves," John countered.
Orpheus, angel of few words, smiled and said, "You worked with politicians among the living. What’s the difference?"
John’s hopes sank, and his head slumped. "Well, right now, the demons far outnumber us, and I can’t build a community with demons who don’t share our values. I really want them gone."
Peira gave that subtle smile. John knew she was pleased. "Very wise, John. Already you are showing signs of better character. Respect. Caring. But all God’s creatures deserve a last chance, wouldn’t you say?"
John thought about what Peira said. Yes, even the worst of the worst deserve some chance to find a useful place in society – even if they had been executed as criminals. But he didn’t want to deal with the slime now. "I… I… uh… I can’t," he stammered.
"Then what would you suggest?" Peira asked.
"Maybe we could sort out the demons who are more likely to succeed, and be the least troublesome?" John suggested.
Peira nodded. "Orpheus can help with that. But can you see their hearts, John? How will you know who might succeed?"
John shrugged. "OK, let’s just divide them, and keep a few and see how it goes. And then I need to get way more people in here who deserve a second chance – not people who are decaying, but people who seem like they may have good hearts."
Peira nodded again, then said flatly. "You’re the Mayor." She disappeared.
"Why does she disappear like that?" John asked. He looked at Orpheus, who didn't respond. "Let’s get started."
Liars Truth Page 8