Liars Truth

by Dorian Scott Cole

  Chapter 13

  "Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man."

  ― Henry Adams

  William was in the employment office interviewing new people and angels, and sending them out to clean up ashes for ice cream. He looked outside and saw the angels were doing all the work, while Jerry and Persiphus watched and ate ice cream. William grabbed his sword and rushed out the door toward the demons.

  John was also looking out the window. He saw William steaming toward Jerry and Persiphus, sword preceding him. He hurried out to Jerry just in time.

  "Everyone does their own work. That’s the rule," John stated firmly. He wasn’t about to give them any wiggle room.

  William arrived, the point of his sword stopping just short of Jerry’s head. Jerry was unmoved. Mary also shot out into the street. Jerry looked more wary.

  "You know t' rules. What dost thou think you be doin'?" William demanded.

  "Subcontracting," Jerry replied flatly.

  "Give them an inch, they take a mile," Mary said.

  "Hey, can you blame someone for getting out of work?" Jerry asked. "Nobody said we can’t subcontract."

  "No subcontracting!" William yelled. "Now I’ve said it."

  Jerry shrugged. "Okay, okay! Save your ire for something important. It’s not like I was robbing someone."

  "You were – " Mary started, but John cut her off.

  John knew society wouldn’t function well without rules, and someone would always try to work the system. "We need to fix this," John said.

  "I did. I made a new rule," William replied.

  Jerry looked at William like he was crazy. "There isn’t any rule that I can’t find a way around," he bragged. William lunged at him with the sword, but Jerry ducked.

  "That’s my point, William," John said. "We can make endless rules, and Jerry and others will simply find ways around them. I should know, I was a lawyer and governor. Entire occupations are based on outsmarting the rules. And if you can’t find a way to break them, you bend them. That’s what I did. We have to stop this madness before it begins."

  "Good luck with that," Jerry said, and started to walk away.

  "Hey, back here," John said to Jerry. "You just became a consultant. You’re going to work with Richard and tell him how you would get around any rule we create."

  Jerry looked proud. "Consultant? You mean I don’t have to scoop ashes?"

  Richard was sauntered down the street with an angel carrying food for him.

  "Richard, we need you," John called to him.

  Richard moseyed over; time was irrelevant. He had all the time in the world, and plenty to eat.

  "Richard, the demons are not doing their own work. They are getting the angels to do it."

  Richard shrugged.

  "What do you think we should do about it? They will get around any rule we make," John queried.

  "Who cares?"

  Obviously Richard couldn't have cared less. John could see he was going to have to be more careful who he brought in. Attitude problems ruined it for everyone. It was enough dealing with Jerry. They could find ways to control Jerry, just like everyone else who bent the rules. But Richard was just openly defiant about not caring about anything important to anyone else.

  "Things will devolve into chaos," John explained. "The angels will leave, then the demons will simply blame them when the streets don’t get cleaned. The streets will fill with ash and no one will be able to move. And this town will close," John replied.

  "I can’t do anything! I don’t even care! This isn’t my cup of tea. I already told you that."

  "So chaos is fine with you?" William asked.

  "Absolutely. Let everyone do as they please. That’s the way I have always lived. No right, no wrong, no rules. If no one hurts anyone, then it’s not a problem."

  John studied him for a moment and perceived this was a lone spirit who would never work with others. Should he accept this as a challenge, or just let him go? He knew from experience that attitudes took years to change, especially those that were well ingrained. "Ok, have it your way, Richard. I’ll try to find you a solitary job. William, watch out for something solitary for Richard."

  "Don’t find me anything!" Richard yelled. He walked toward the restaurant. Persiphus stood beside the door. Richard opened the door, and stepped inside. Persiphus looked in as he passed.

  Richard stepped into Hell. He turned around and looked back, but there was only more Hell. He shrugged. "OK, I can make this work. Give me some time and I’ll take over."

  Persiphus shouted out to them, "He disappeared. He walked through the door and just disappeared!"

  Cat stepped out of the restaurant. "The door wast his gateway back to Hell. I hath caught a glimpse as that lad entered t, may t' Lake O' Fire lick t' lad's feet."

  "I know. He wasn't ready for this place. One less problem," muttered John.

  Cat strolled over. "Dost thou know anything about the spirit, John?"

  "I was never very religious, Cat."

  "Dost thou understand the spirit of the law? T'was preached to me day and night, and breached day and night by those same lads."

  "That, I do, I'm a lawyer." John replied. "The spirit of the law is the meaning and intent of the law. It’s like a summation without the list of rules."

  "Peradventure we should teachest the spirit of the law, and abandon the list of rules to gobshites."

  "I would have fun with that one," Jerry chided. He bowed.

  "Leader of t' gobshites, in t' flesh."

  John laughed at Jerry and Cat. "We’ll see, Jerry, we’ll see." He looked to the others. "We need a new legislature – more recruiting."