Chapter 21
"Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don't tell me how much you love your God; show me in how much you love all His children.
― Cory Booker
Meanwhile, back at the farm, Jerry was again cultivating the wheat. It really didn't need it because there were no weeds to get rid of, and the ground was sufficiently soft and moist. But he liked cultivating with the tractor.
The man appeared again as if out of thin air, but that was normal in Asphedolus. Jerry turned off his tractor, picked up a doll, and threw it to him. The man caught it and continued approaching.
"Thanks. The girl will love this." The man looked at the doll and held it as if it was his own.
The agreement was, he would bring the woman. "Why didn't you bring the woman?"
"She didn't want to come. You know how it is here."
Jerry didn't respond. He just kept a suspicious eye on the man and scowled.
"There's another man who wants cigarettes. He says he can't live without them."
"He's breathing smoke and sulfur fumes. He doesn't need cigarettes."
"It's just for the habit."
"Maybe he should think about quitting. They're bad for you."
"He said cigarettes calm him. He bothers other people."
"He's in Hell!" Jerry shouted. "They are all in Hell. It's supposed to be bothersome!"
"Have a little compassion, man. You can make Hell easier."
"It's a place of suffering. You're confused. If they think they've had enough, they can come here."
The man hesitated, then looked down. He shook his head. Then he looked up and said, "Then why did you get the doll for the girl?"
"To get her to come here."
"So maybe some more gifts would get people to come here."
Jerry sighed. This man must have been a sales person. He had an answer for every objection. Jerry could see nothing but trouble ahead, but he was tired of arguing with him. This was torture.
"Alright. A pack of cigarettes, and then you leave me alone. If I get caught going among the living, there will be big trouble. I could get cast into Hell permanently, just for lifting a pack of cigarettes."
The man said, "Tomorrow," and left him. Jerry jumped off his tractor and sullenly walked toward the barn. He wasn't used to dealing with moral quandaries. He could justify taking the things he took, but just taking things to give to others in Hell? This would jeopardize his place in Asphedolus. This had to stop.
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John left his office for coffee. Perhaps Cat and Mary could add some sanity to his day, even if it was 1980s disco. At least someone holding a knife in her hand would seem normal. He entered the cafe to find Cat sitting in a lotus position on the counter. He sat down next to her on a stool. She seemed not to notice.
"Et tu, Cat?"
"I despise Latin. Beslubberin' language of perverts and hypocrites. Just talk."
"You aren't going to threaten me?"
"Can't thee see: beest meditatin'. Tryin' to changeth mine ways."
"Let me guess. You're on the Heaven in two weeks train."
"Heaven doth not wanteth me. Hell cannot standeth me. No, Asphedolus is mine home. I'm just trying to mellow out. 'Tis fine with thee? Because I can maketh tis fine." She picked up her knife and pointed it threateningly at John.
John smiled. He secretly hoped Cat did not change. Oddly, she was an established part of his life, one he looked forward to encountering every day. "So, what are you meditating on, if I might be so bold to ask?"
"What to doeth with people I cannot standeth. 'Tis not right carvin' those folk all."
John laughed to himself, but didn't let it show. "Some days you talk like Yoda. Did-"
The sound of a huge motor came from outside and a huge implement stormed by, throwing dust up from the road. John and Cat rushed to the window. The giant red beast did a spin, throwing brick up from the road surface, and roared back down the road toward them. It was red, with 4 huge tires on each side, 13 feet tall, and Victor pushed up another 12 feet through the roof. He was swinging his arm like a cowboy on a bull, and whooping in delight at the top of his lungs. The two joined beasts passed by the cafe, both roaring at the top of their lungs. Everyone was on the street looking.
Persiphus, as he saw the huge tractor bearing down on him, scrambled to the side of the road. William came into the street and stood in the middle of it, his sword raised in front of him. The huge yellow tractor did another spin, throwing bricks. William yelled at him and swung his sword angrily, but Victor couldn't hear. Nor did he care. He was having too much fun.
The tractor raced back toward William. At the last minute, William went to his right, and Victor veered to his right, bringing the tractor head long into the cafe. If it had brakes, Victor didn't bother using them. Cat and John headed straight to the back and out the side door, just in time to see the giant tractor reduce most of the disco cafe to rubble. The tractor lodged at the rear, inclined 45 degrees against the back wall, rear wheels churning to climb it. Any moment it would flip over backward. Victor finally cut the power, then the tractor rolled backed down to its normal horizontal position on the floor, and Victor stepped off.
Victor ran into the street shouting, "How do you like my tractor, ladies?! Look at it, it's as tall as me! Come look at it!" Most of the women shrank into the background.
Victor stood in the middle of the street. "You gotta' see this. It's a Case 620. Turbocharged! 682 horse power. It looks like a sports car, whatever that is, and this thing is stronger than me! Anyone want to go for a ride on it with me?"
The women shrank even farther into the background. Many went inside or ran down the street.
Discouraged at the sight of the women fleeing, as well as most of the men, he said in a more subdued voice, "It's 25 feet long, and has 8 wheels. It's kinda special, like me."
No one came forward. "Look, I'll be real careful if you ride it with me. It's really sexy, don't you think?" Several of the men laughed. The crowd quickly evaporated, leaving Victor standing in the street alone. He stood there for a full minute, and then began walking down the street, and after a moment he was running wildly. John stood in front of the ruined cafe, feeling badly for Victor. He tried hard, but he just didn't know how. Everyone has to learn.
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John walked out to Jerry's farm. He would have to talk to him about things getting out of hand. He could bring some really dangerous things from the world of the living and create a lot of chaos. It was probably already creating chaos among those he took those things from. As it happened, Jerry was walking toward him.
As Jerry caught up, they greeted each other and headed for town.
"Where are you going?"
"Shakespeare has a play going on. Hamlet, I think. I'm going to see it."
"I didn't figure you for a Shakespeare kind of person."
"I don't know what kind of person I am. I'm still trying to figure that out."
"Aren't we all." They walked on in silence for a moment. John was beginning to realize how much he didn't know. In his world, there was the law, in which right and wrong were well defined. People really didn't have to think much about it. Even commerce was well regulated with laws. If it was legal, you did it. If it wasn't, you either found a way around the law, or you obeyed it. That's what kind of a person he was. Now he was like Jerry. He was trying to figure out what kind of person he is.
"We're you coming to see me?"
"Yeah, uh, Victor wrecked that tractor you must have gotten him. He wiped out Cat's disco cafe."
"Sorry to hear that. I got him the sexiest tractor I could find."
"Uh, I don't know what to say."
"You're not blaming me are you? Victor did it."
"No, you're right. Victor did it. But here's the thing. If you bring that kind of stuff here, all kinds of things can go wrong and cause chaos. I have enough chaos going on right now. Can you kin
d of cool it?"
"Yeah. I thought I was helping Victor get women. That's what he wanted."
"Yeah. No. Not the right kind of help for Victor. That's going to take time. He needs to work on relationships, not impressing women. Believe me, the tractor fiasco made the wrong kind of impression. The women fled like there was a bull loose at a rodeo." Jerry laughed. It made John laugh despite his feelings for the big fellow.
"OK."
They were passing one of Cat's pie shops. Jerry went in, stepped in front of a customer, and took the last pie, the entire thing.
John gave him a strange look. "That wasn't very nice, Jerry. That customer was there first, and you left him no pie."
"Well, I'm just beginning to understand this. It's the law of convenience. See, the Shakespeare play starts really soon, and I didn't have time, so I just took it."
"But the entire thing?!"
"I was there first. I'm going to eat it all during the play."
"But that was inconsiderate."
"Law of convenience. I do what is convenient to achieve my objectives. Sometimes you just have to do things because you don't have time or something. See. Convenience makes it right."
John sighed. Jerry had made a lot of progress. He wasn't going to smack him down for this. "Just think about this later, OK? Remember the 'Do to others thing.' Jerry nodded and went into the theater, carrying a full pie before him.
John returned to his office. William was waiting for him. "I talked to Jerry about bringing things like humongous tractors and other dangerous things here. We have enough chaos going on."
William laughed. "Best show I've seen in a long time. And I didn't even have t' skewer anybody."
John laughed. "It was exciting, wasn't it?" He sighed. "Jerry cut in line and grabbed the last pie. He excused it as, 'The law of convenience.' You need something, you just take it. It just doesn't jive with 'Do to others what you would have them do to you."
"Ne'er heard of it. I would be bashin' his crispy head in."
"Isn't that what pirates do? They take from those who have because they need it."
"I reckon."
"Isn't that what bankers in my world do? They want more money, so they just take it from their customers."
"I would be makin' their heads a little looser."
"If you were in a hurry, would you want to cut in front of someone?"
"Well, you see, I'm carryin' a cutlass. All I have t' do be ask nicely and show me cutlass. Suddenly t' world gets really kind."
John laughed heartily, then replied mimicking their language. "William, thou art a puzzle with no solution."
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Cat stormed into Mary's house without knocking. "Didst thee see what Victor didst to mine cafe? that arse wrecked t entirely. And then ranneth hence. Mine knife wast on the floor or I would surely has't carved that lad into pieces and baked that gent in a pie." Cat angrily threw her knife and sank it into a wall.
Mary disregarded the new knife puncture and gave her a hug. "T'will beest rebuilt, and beest better than ever."
"That's not all. Jerry stepped in front of a customer and tooketh all the pie. Sweet pie. That lad tinkest he's a luxurious mountain goat, deserving t' best and all."
That raised Mary's ire. "Men!" She yelled. "Those gents breaketh all the rules and the rest of us suffer for t. 'Tis mightily twisted."
"'Tis the 'benefit of clergy.' All lads and all believing those lads art not subject to any law madeth by man. And conveniently applying to all who can readeth! Women has't no chance."
"What a wretch of an idea! Tis an evil world we liveth in, bountiful in evil men." Mary considered her husband who had desired to get rid of her, so he claimed she was a witch. The Grand Inquisitor had tortured her into a confession, and then hung her. Her husband had nearly completely rotted away in Hell. He deserved far worse. If she ever found the Grand Inquisitor, there would be no end to his punishment. It was only thanks to John that she and Cat could even stand to see a man.
Cat removed her knife from the wall and stuck it forcefully back in her belt. "Needeth we continueth to suffer endlessly these brutes?" Cat studied Mary for a moment. "We has't the answer at handeth. Thou canst turn those folk into mice, and I wilt dance upon them most heartily."
"Alas, dost not last."
"I doth not wanteth to teachest those folk a lesson. Those gents ne'er learneth. I wanteth those folk gone. Putteth those oafs in the Lake Of Fire."
Mary sighed. "I wouldst feed those beasts to Jerry's pigs! Fire would beest too pleasant for those folk."
Cat lit up. "Ah! I knoweth what to doeth. Thou turnest those lads into mice. I wilt chop those mice into pieces and feed to Jerry's swine. Then we collecteth the muck and putteth t in the Lake Of Fire. Gone." She and Mary smiled, joined hands, and began to dance merrily in circles.
"Shall we maketh a list, with Victor at the top."
Cat began to shake in fury. "Aye, and all clergy swine, hypocrites who dance on our bodies, taketh our wage, and then hang us for obeying."
Mary was puzzled. "What clergy doth we knoweth?"
"Bryan and Persiphus. if 't be true perchance those lads art not gone in two weeks, those lads wilt prey on us like wolves on a dead calf. 'Benefit of clergy!' We must taketh those folk now 'ere those gents cause us to suffer."
"Then taketh those folk we wilt. Tis justice we beest the handeth of God since twas men who smote us."
Cat's poetic voice returned, and she recited with grim determination:
"Dance on our bodies,
eye for eye,
We maketh you mice,
a hex upon thee, die.
"Hang our bodies,
eye for eye,
we maketh you dung,
a hex upon thy lie.
"You maketh lives hell,
eye for eye,
the Lake Of Fire,
hye maketh thee die."
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Victor sat alone behind a small hill of dirt and stone, just as he had hidden himself from others in Hell. He was still a freak. People feared him. No one wanted him. Everyone hated him. No girl would ever want him. Round and round these thoughts swirled in his head, the voices growing louder and louder. He picked up a stone to beat his head in.
Richard stepped near him and put his hand on his shoulder. In his depressed state, Victor didn't think to ask how he got back into Asphedolus.
"How have you been, Victor?" Victor shrugged and looked away.
"Not so well? Maybe I can help."
"It's no use! I want a woman, and all of Hell will be gone before I can ever get one."
"I think there are plenty of women who would want you. You can make them want you."
"I tried that. They didn't think my tractor was sexy. They all just ran in fear. I make them sick."
"Well, there are other kinds of attraction, you know. I can make you very powerful. Power gets women, one way or another." Victor looked at him hopefully. "I could use someone like you to help build my empire. I have a place like this, you know."
"What would I do? I can lift heavy things."
"Yes, of course. And you can make men do things. This is very important because we are starting our village from scratch."
Victor was very tempted. "But I like it here. This is my home. I want to think about it."
"Sure, sure. I'll come back in a day or so. But this is your opportunity to do great things."
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Shakespeare met John on the street in front of what was to become a newspaper office. He had followed him from the playhouse. "John, a word, if you please."
"Of course. Anytime."
"I must warn you, your world is becoming precarious. Anger is growing, driven by injustice and clever ideas that motivate. Enmity is rapidly growing, and men will be dividing and attacking. Soon there will be serious attacks that split your community and it may not survive the strain, as people try to undo each other."
"How do you know this?"
&
nbsp; "Actors are trained to see the signs, to hear the slight cues in communications and read the body language that telegraphs everything hidden. This will be a huge test of you and your community's resolve."
"Just what I need. I have enough chaos going on."
"Life is chaotic, John. Chaos is the fertile ground of a new order. Progress is better than stasis and boredom." He paused, letting that sink in, then continued, "I must needs get back to my play." Shakespeare turned and quickly walked toward the playhouse.
John considered Shakespeare's words for a moment. How could he handle this? Would there be crime? Violence? He had no police. No National Guard troops. He could declare a lockdown, but how would he enforce it? He could call the Angel Orpheus to throw the offenders out. But that wouldn't make them better people. It would punish them in the wrong way for this mistake. Overkill.
John entered his office. "Peira!" he shouted. She appeared.
"What is it, John?"
"Shakespeare tells me the world of Johnstown is about to fall apart. I don't even know what I'm looking for. How do I get this stopped?"
"Do you control everyone, John?"
"No, of course not. But I could influence them."
"Maybe. Maybe not. People must go their own way for a while, and make their own decisions. Don't you think so?"
"Yes, of course. But I'm worried about my town."
"That's a sign of a good leader. Be vigilant, John. You will find your way forward." She faded away.
John sighed. He felt totally unprepared, as usual. This was not going to be easy.
Liars Truth Page 21