Little Cherine Book 07 - BPost070
When they found that the robberies and deaths in the P.I.G column far outweighed the other column they tried to explain it away by saying it was probably because they are the majority of shop owners. Just by driving around they soon saw the reverse is the truth.
4891
“This is the strangest logic! They are persecuting the people who are not their enemies so as to fight their enemies! Robert, I do not understand, it is the Afrikaners who are handing over the country to a racially African government, why do they want to kill them?”
“You would have to study their history Chantel to understand the hate and fear that exists on both sides. The problem is, which history do you study? The one written by the whites? Books are starting to appear that re-write history so as to show it from the side of the black population. Even reading both versions is bound to leave us with many untruths lodged in our minds as facts, and our opinion will still not be based on truth. Shall I tell you a secret my loves? Even if the three of us went back in time and watched it all happen, we would still return with three sets of truth.”
“You think I am prejudiced Robert?”
“Even you, my sweet love. As you watch you are bound to become emotionally involved with individuals and your emotions will colour the truth you see. What if we asked Kinytians to be our historians?” He smiled at her eager acceptance. “They would be just as wrong as us my love. History is created by men and women who act out of fear, ambition, hate and love. You cannot divorce emotions from history - that is why history does not have one face and is so open to interpretation.”
“But then you are saying nobody is ever right or wrong!”
“You must be asking that question as a human and not a Kinytian. Think back to the history of your own kind my love. Was there only one truth?” His employee, a waiter brought some invoices for him to sign and he ordered another coffee. He smiled. “I’m drinking too many cappuccinos, just as well I’m a Cherinian. Roula baby, am I confusing you? I bet you are secretly thinking that I must be wrong, that sometimes one group or another must be in the wrong? I would agree and disagree with you.”
“You are not helping me understand Robert.” He laughed.
“We have already established that both parties in any conflict are right and wrong. Right from the point of view that they are acting out of a need to preserve their own race, customs, religions or wealth and wrong from the point of view of the other party who are acting out of the same motives.
What if they could sit together and examine the fears of the other side and come to some understanding that helped reduced the fear? If that was possible, many conflicts would have been avoided, but not all. Sometimes my love the needs of each side are so opposite to each other that only force can solve the problem - giving the right of the argument to the stronger and victorious side. Still, we could have avoided at least ninety percent of the injustice and wars that our history is plagued with.”
Chantel asked, “You think there will be Cherinian wars?”
“I’m afraid so. What do I do then my loves? How do I stand by and watch them kill each other?”
“But you can stop them!” Roula exclaimed, her innocent trust in him still intact.
He stared into her eyes for a moment, drawing courage from what he saw there. “I’ll try my love.” He sat back with a smile. “Well, it is not all doom and gloom. At least we know that things did not happen as our friend prophesied. Mandela managed to promote his concept of reconciliation.”
Being Cherinian does make it easier to meet people and make friends. Most of our new local friends thought that those of us they knew are a strange lot of people, but the world is full of strange people so they only joked about it. The only ones, of us, who had a problem were Cherine and Dommi. Whoever met little Vincent reacted strongly to him, in excess of what is normal for an adult to a child. They spoke about his beautiful eyes when what they really meant was that they are like two dark deep pools you want to drown yourself in. If a man or woman has paedophile tendencies, whether they know it or not, and are attracted to little boys, he brings their desires to the surface like bubbling lava. One woman who was into metaphysical studies declared him to be a very old soul, even proclaiming it is possible his soul has come from the ancient times of Atlantis. Vincent derived a bittersweet enjoyment of the irony which was compounded by Cherine sweetly, but very earnestly, confiding to the woman that she thought so too and that she had noticed how special he is from the day he was born.
A neighbour of theirs keeps their pit bull terrier on a chain and anyone walking past their house has to endure the frightening snarling and barking. One day, friends came over with their children for what the South Africans call a ‘braai’ (short for braaivleis) or, as is known everywhere else, a barbecue. The chain of the dog ended in a metal ring that slid along a wire so that it could run from one end of the garden to the other. The sound of people laughing and talking next door, perhaps also the smell of the meat, enraged the animal and it continually snarled as it strained at the wire. The ring snapped.
4892
Before the adults realised what was happening, the dog had found an opening where the metal mesh fence separating the properties did not touch the ground and it was racing across the lawn towards the children. The children screamed with terror and the adults froze. Only one little boy acted instantly. Vincent ran to stand before the others so that the dog could not attack them without going past him. Vincent did not forget that he was meant to be an ordinary little boy, so he had to find a way to handle the dog without showing he has supernatural powers. Quickly he entered the mind of the dog as he shouted forcibly ‘sit!’ and pointed at the ground in front of him. The snarling ceased instantly and the dog obeyed. Vincent leant over and petted it, scratching its ears. “Are you hungry, do you want some meat?” The dog wagged its tail and followed him. He fed it and then told it to sit while he plays. The adults were afraid to move and could not believe what they had seen. As Vincent ran around with the kids, every time a kid ran towards Vincent or Vincent screamed, the dog would sit up and snarl threateningly. The kids lost their appetite for playing very fast. Luckily the owner came over and taking hold of the chain led the dog away, apologising profusely. Everyone could see that he was afraid of his own dog and was also puzzled by the way it was acting.
From that day Vincent became known as the brave boy who does not fear pit bulls - the most feared dog of all.
At night when we were supposed to be asleep, we would jump over to Robbie in groups of three to five and make love. He would joke about it and insist that Chantel be part of the loving every time because she is his ‘wife’. Roula however he only made oral love to, still refusing to take her virginity. We could tell that he was waiting for something, a change in Roula. Roula moaned a bit, as a child will, but she did not kick up a fuss, happy with her orgasms and having Robbie mostly to herself during the day.
The suburb we were living in had some nice houses, but there were also a number of smaller or older houses that ‘working class’ families lived in. I’m going to digress for a moment. I’ve always found it puzzling that the term ‘working class’ is derogatory or said with a sneer, as if that class of people are of a ‘lower’ strata. How can any society consider anyone who does not belong to the ‘working’ class elevated above them? Look at the men who have created vast empires, did they not consider themselves to be of the ‘working’ class? They may have controlled millions or billions of dollars, may have played hard so that they were also called playboys, but they were not ashamed of working. Only the following generations, those who have no appreciation of the value of money, consider work to be humiliating. Wouldn’t a healthy society consider them a lower class since they belong to the class of parasites? I am not against children inheriting vast fortunes. I am against those parents who do not instil a proper value system in their children. If the child of a wealthy family has the talent and inclination and wishes to be a philosopher or artist, that too is productive. To take pride in not being productive is like being crippled I think.
As I said, many of the neighbours are of the working class, mechanics, electricians, plumbers and so on. They are the people we are interested in, for they form the spine of their society and the way they think or have been influenced by government propaganda is important. They also tend to be nice people, hard but fair and always willing to lend a helping hand if they like or respect you.
We decided to hold a jumbo braai (a big braai) with lots of beer and meat. All the ladies made salads and puddings while the men took care of the fires and the grilling of the meat. We invited about thirty non family members. As is usual with them, they all brought food or drink with them and pitched in to help.
One of the neighbours we invited was an employee of the local telephone company. He is a technician and often has to leave his family for a day or two. By this time he and his wife had six daughters and he moaned about not having any sons. He tends to drink too much and if he goes over his limit he becomes aggressive. Before he reaches that stage he is great fun. Without asking us first, he brought a couple as his guests. One of them was what are locally called coloureds; of mixed racial heritage.
Those of us who assumed a male personae found ourselves in an awkward position. At parties and braais the men congregate together and the women do the same while watching the kids and running the kitchen. Men stand over the fires drinking beer and talking - more often than not, telling jokes while they occasionally turn over the meat.
4893
Dirkie introduced the coloured man to us as Jacob (pronounced in the Dutch style as ‘yacob’) and told us he is a traffic cop. (By the bye, since Dirkie had a plethora of racial jokes and talked of the blacks as kaffirs, it surprised us to see him with a coloured). Of course that led to a couple of men telling traffic cop jokes and then he was asked some questions. He had shared a few beers with Dirkie before arriving and was in a talkative mood. He confided that it is likely he will be resigning soon. He was asked why.
“Being coloured, for years I was ordered to concentrate on fining black taxi drivers for speeding, overtaking over double lines, or if their tyre threads were worn or their lights didn’t work. You know, the usual stuff we make money from. Even if their driving and vehicles had no problems we could usually give them a ticket for carrying too many passengers.
Over the last eighteen months a lot of traffic cops have been shot by taxi drivers, so our officer ordered us to only stop white drivers from now on. I have spent my life under apartheid, hating it. With Mandela freed and the elections coming in a few months I thought my dream had come true and we would be living in a country without racial discrimination. Under the white government I was never ordered to only stop black drivers, I was just sent to areas where they drive, while my white colleagues patrolled areas with white drivers. Now though none of us are allowed to stop black drivers! I did not join the police force so as to enforce the law against one race while not against another.”
We could feel the emoting of the white men. One of them (another guest of a guest), a burly man with a sizeable belly, said, “Would you be willing to work for the Modderfontein Prison? I am the warden there. If you need a job, just let me know.” The two of them drew slightly apart and discussed it for a while.
This was no longer interesting just for Roula. We were all caught up in this strange world of racial prejudices, tensions and hatred, touched most deeply when we saw a gesture of caring across the racial divide. Those who did so, we felt, were showing or admitting that the man opposite them, of whatever skin colour, is a human. We also saw for ourselves how deeply Mandela has affected people of all races in our time and began to truly appreciate what a great man he is.
Though we never wavered in our beliefs, how could we as Cherinians(?), we did slowly begin to understand how insidiously fear transforms normal people who come from a liberal society so that they end up years later even more fanatical than people who grew up under apartheid. For instance, as ‘whites’ we were targets and had to be wary of blacks jostling against us if we walked outside of shopping centres. We also had to stay aware of groups gradually enfolding us so that one of them can steal our mobile phone, money etc., and then run away while we stand trapped by the men around us. If we drove anywhere we had to be careful as we approached traffic lights turning red, especially in the evening or if in areas with low traffic, as we would often sense men in hiding, waiting to run to us with guns so as to steal our car. Often we could sense them also intending to rape the females and kill us. If children were in the car, they were also in danger, for the black who hates whites is not sentimental about children.
We had come to understand some of what we learnt or experienced about racial hatreds when Robbie had been sent to the alternate Earth, but at that time we had been concentrating on Robbie, our anxiety for him to a certain degree blinding us. Now we had no excuse. We could not just react to the threats and hatred, we had to balance that by recalling the victimisation the blacks had endured for a century or more. We have to learn of their pain and hatred, share it where we can, and educate them to change the future so that it does not become just a reflection of the past. I argued that the only chance of succeeding is by concentrating on the new generation as it is almost impossible to change the people en masse. We can do it on an individual basis, but there are not enough of us to handle such large numbers of people. I sensed that Robbie and my loves did not agree with me, but because Alki did, they did not argue. I don’t think Roula understood my arguments and therefore thought I was copping out.
Robbie with both Chantel and Roula were sitting in the smoking section of the Mug and Bean coffee shop in the Killarney Mall, when Allan walked in. They sensed he was the old Allan and did not recognise them. He sat at a table close to Robbie, so he listened in, using his gifts. Robbie was horrified to hear Allan speaking about paedophiles and their persecution (as he put it) by the law enforcement agencies worldwide. He was angry that the real perpetrators are not being hunted, just those who trade pictures and videos. Without realising it, thinking he was giving the impression of only being a liberal minded man who wanted to protect children, Allan actually sounded like a paedophile. Robbie could feel the distaste for what Allan seemed to be in the other man, but he could also sense that the man truly believes Allan is a good man and would never harm a child, so he has no intention of betraying him.
Allan had a feeling he had dwelt on the subject long enough, worried about showing too much interest in the subject, and was also excited by something else that had been in the news so, without warning, he began to talk about the news that astronomers have found a receding galaxy at a new distance, equal in lightyears to the age of the big bang, proving again the big bang theory.
4894
“I’m not certain I understand it. You say the galaxy is about fourteen billion light years away from us? That means the image of the galaxy has taken fourteen billion years to arrive here and yet, even that long ago it was so distant and moving away at a great speed. Surely if there was a big bang and all matter came into existence from the same spot that galaxy should have been closer to us that far back in time?”
Allan was taken aback by the concept. It made sense to him and he wondered if it was possible to calculate how long it has taken the galaxies to drift so far apart. He decided it is not possible because the exact place of the big bang is not known. He decided to ask on a chat site, but for the sake of their conversation and the pleasure of spinning out theories, he decided to continue. “I suppose it depends on how fast it is moving, add our speed in the opposite direction and it may be possible. That is not what troubles me. I’m excited about our ability to see galaxies that far away, but I do not believe in the big bang theory.”
“You don’t!? I thought it has been proven.”
“How, by mathematics? How can mathematics prove anything when we are told that even two plus two does not always equal four. I think that mathematics can only prove a model is possible, not that it is inevitable.”
The other guy chuckled. “If you are right, then it is also possible that the speed of light is not constant throughout the universe and the distance is wrong. Don’t they say that black holes change the rate of time? If there are black holes between the far galaxies and us, that means the time for light to reach us could have been slowed down.” Allan also found that idea amusing. “Allan, how do you think the universe came into existence? I know about the Big Bang theory, but nobody has explained how the compressed matter came into existence - what could have the power to compress it so strongly? I’ve also read that time only started with the big bang. If that is so, how did the matter come together to be compressed for it to explode?”
“I haven’t got a clue. Why does there have to be a how and a when? Why couldn’t the universe and the galaxies within it have always existed - as they used to believe a hundred years ago, with new galaxies replacing the old ones as they die out or drift away, leaving space for the new ones? A thought has occurred to me, so let me go off on a tangent for a moment.
The Bible says that God has always existed and always will. What if it had also said that the galaxies had also always existed? Would our scientists have been influenced and developed different mathematical models? After all, the idea of a big bang ties in with the Bible; God said, ‘Let there be light’ and bang(!) there was!” He was grinning from ear to ear and his friend was also smiling, enjoying Allan’s wild imagination. We could sense that Allan was in love with his ideas, something that happens to him all the time. Now that I know him, what I find amazing is that he does not sit and consider facts he has learnt and extrapolate from that, he gathers snippets of information without really thinking about them and then suddenly he comes out with a potty theory that he treats as fact - even if it is usually sort of tongue-in-cheek. I’ve been accused of doing the same and I know how much fun it is doing so, so I enjoy watching him.
“We are told that the galaxies are spreading out. That means there will come a day when all the suns are dead and there are no galaxies, only bits and pieces of dead matter flying on and on forever on their lonely journey. Some see that as the ultimate end and others believe there is enough mass, made up of invisible to us matter, for gravity to slow the galaxies so that they stop flying apart and begin to fall back in towards the centre, the point of the original big bang. I just had an idea! Whichever of the two theories is correct, surely the scientists should be able to plot their path back in time and find the exact centre of our universe where the big bang happened? Another giveaway would be the lack of matter at that area, since everything went flying away. Why haven’t we found such a huge area of nothing with galaxies on the other side fleeing away from us?
By the way, have you heard the new theory about space, that it does not continue forever, that it curves in upon itself? Yeah, that is what they say, there is no space after wherever it is space curves back in on itself. If that is true it gives me another idea. If all our galaxies are flying apart, surely they will someday reach the point where space curves back in and they will find themselves travelling back to the centre of our universe, where they will fall in upon each other until space cannot carry them and now the size of an atom they will explode again, recreating the big bang.”
Because Robbie sensed some of us were taking Allan’s theories seriously, trying to work out whether there is some truth in them, Robbie pretended frustration. “That man extrapolates the weirdest theories from an incomplete set of facts!”
4895
“A slight case of the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” Alki teased.
“Well, black is beautiful.” Alki did not catch the reference to a period when it was a slogan in America. Robbie enjoyed using it because of us being in South Africa. “Alki, you are showing your age. The girls are going to think you are prehistoric; if a kettle is black nowadays, it is because the plastic is a black colour. They will not understand that your saying refers to the days of your primitive youth in the village when you cooked over a real fire.”
We all took part in the teasing and as a group we were emoting our joy and sense of fun. When all of us feel one way like that, we do tend to go off the deep end a little bit and get rather silly because we don’t want the way we feel to end. Having Alki as part of the teasing was real special for all of us.
The two girls had brought breakfast to bed for Robbie, those of us who’d joined them for the night already back at our own homes. As soon as he finished his coffee, Robbie wrapped his arms around Roula and pulled her to him.
“Is it time for us to get rid of the baggage and go off by ourselves for a while?”
One of us (Cherine?) prompted Chantel and she replied in a cheeky tone, “We are expensive baggage and if you leave us alone, someone might steal us.” She hasn’t learnt how to carry on with the tease long enough for it to be effective. “Are you going to make my Roula happy?”
“You know I won’t Chantel. To make her happy I’d have to find her a tall handsome man with green eyes. I’m afraid she will have to make do with me.”
“Would you like me to help you Roula?” Chantel asked as she caressed her leg.
Roula had a mischievous smile on her face as she replied, “Okay. That would be cool.”
Chantel grinned, “Get ready then, I’ll take you to Sandton City, I’m certain we’ll find someone nice for you there.”
Robbie laughed as he tightened his arms about Roula as she made to get up. “Not so fast! First you owe me a week or two on our own.” He pulled her face up. “Am I going to get my Roula back or are you coming as you are?”
“I want to stay as I am forever.” He must have grown a little wiser, for he did not comment. He realised that she has found her return to South Africa traumatic and will need time to adjust. She had seen the blacks as victims only and had identified with them. Having to see that the whites are not quite the monsters she had imagined, has caused her to lose her convictions. We will see to it that over time she swings back to a balanced outlook.
We have now been here close to three months. Looking back I can see that my own attitudes have changed. I’d also seen the African population as victims only and had idealised them, thinking of them as only being good. I did not think so, if I used my logic, but the way we see people is heavily influenced by how we perceive them subconsciously. I used my Cherinian gifts to watch the staff of the store and saw how most of them stole from us. Some only in small ways, stealing something to eat secretly in the back rooms. Those I did not feel bad about. Some though were stealing to take back home and sell. That annoyed me. I think that what annoyed me most of all was their attitude, the feelings I sensed in them. It seemed that the closer we got to the elections the more they stole. Instead of the elections bringing the races together, all I saw was our employees felt they had even more rights to our stock and if they bothered to think about it at all, they enjoyed the thought of causing me to lose my business. They also thought they had ‘rights’ to my stock - my promise that they would be made shareholders working against me in their own minds.
It is important that when we are disillusioned we extend our empathic gifts to their maximum. Not so as to forgive them for stealing our innocence, but so as to gain a more balanced perspective by understanding and accepting them as they are. In that way it may be possible to slowly influence them and rid them of their own bitterness and prejudice. Turning away blindly from empathy towards anger only leads to further bitterness and hardness on both sides. I can sense I have not come anywhere close to becoming a Cherinian angel of sweetness and forgiveness.
4896
Robbie postponed leaving with Roula as we were now at the last week before elections. Everywhere we went we could sense the stress and anxiety among most of the white and some of the coloured people and the excitement among the blacks. Many of the whites have decided it is not worth going to vote as the blacks heavily outvote them. We did not feel we were there to impose our views on our neighbours, so stayed long enough to get a feel for the reactions around us and then jumped to London to celebrate at our favourite restaurant the announcement that Mandela has won. We walked over to watch the crowds at Trafalgar Square, shared in the general emoting and then returned to our South African homes.
The mood among the whites swung! Suddenly there was great excitement among a growing number of them. It was as if a load had been taken off their shoulders. Over the next few weeks we saw many secretly look back and admit that what they (their government) had done had been wrong. They feared for their own future and that of their children, but it was a relief that they no longer had to feel guilty. Many whites pretended to celebrate so that the blacks who knew them would think they have always been anti apartheid. Others became belligerent and looked for trouble, but luckily they were few and ostracised by most of those of their own race.
We avidly read the newspapers and watched television, listening to all the speeches, and we could see that democracy is off to a good start. Our only regret was that Mandela is not younger so that he could have served his people for at least two terms. We know there will be no future leaders with his vision - at least for a long time. Perhaps it is necessary for a dreamer to be replaced by someone with a more practical turn of mind for a country to survive, as happened with Nyerere, but it is also sad. We should have left then, but we had to stay until Roula is ready - and has her honeymoon nights.
Dirkie invited Robbie and his ‘family’ for a braai. When the three of them arrived, Dirkie had already been drinking for a while and had moved from beer to brandy. He was telling off-colour jokes that were crude and Robbie soon regretted going. He could not even tell the girls to go to the women as they were also drunk and listening. For that matter, so were Dirkie’s kids and they thought the jokes were funny (I’m really making us sound like prudes, aren’t I?). Robbie stayed close to Chantel and Roula and they sipped at their soft drinks, waiting for the meat to be done and hoping they can leave early.
One of the guests said, “They should have killed that fucking kaffir while they still had him in prison.”
Robbie decided he better keep quiet, there is no way you can reason with people who are drunk. He walked past them to the tub for some more coke for Roula. As he returned, Dirkie put out his arm, stopping Robbie.
“You fucking Greeks! You’ve come here to help the kaffirs take everything we have.”
“I only came here to earn a living for my family and me, same as you.” Robbie could have ducked; as fast as Dirkie was, Robbie the Cherinian is much faster. He took the blow on his jaw, riding with it to lessen the strength of the impact.
“I think we better leave. I did not come here to fight with you Dirkie.”
Dirkie struck him again. “You fucking wait until they take your fucking business from you and rape your wife and daughter.” Again he hit Robbie.
Robbie had not even raised his arms to protect himself. “I’m not going to fight with you. I will not even try to defend myself, I am not a fighter. You are bigger and stronger and you know how to fight, I don’t. What is the fun in hitting someone who cannot fight?”
“Who said I want to fight. I enjoy hitting you.” This time he hit Robbie three punches in a row. Robbie took the punches and continued walking away. The girls followed him, Roula with a white face and huge eyes. Chantel was mostly curious as to why Robbie was acting this way. Dirkie’s brother pulled at him, telling him to let the fucking foreigner go and have another drink. As the three walked away he kept on shouting abuse at Robbie.
As soon as they were on the street and out of sight, they jumped home and found us waiting there. Haven climbed into him and Robbie waited for her to finish. “He was hurting my love.”
“What!!” That upset everyone. We all were angry and though we did not all speak, he could feel our emoting. Roula climbed up onto his lap and buried her face against him, so we all shut up.
“The man was drunk, what would I have gained by flooring him?”
“They’ll all be laughing at you!” Theresa said.
4897
“Let them laugh. We know better. Which one of you would suggest I hurt anyone for the sake of my pride?”
Cherine had already calmed down. “Robert is right. He would not fight Sharipya when he was trying to kill us and now we expect him to fight someone who cannot even hurt him?” Still, it left a bitter taste and Alki did not help by emoting his disappointment of Robbie when he heard.
Early next morning Dirkie was knocking on Robbie’s door. Robbie slipped on a bathrobe and opened the door. “Good morning.”
“Jesus man! How do I apologise for last night?”
Robbie stood for a moment thinking. “Come in for a coffee and when you feel ready, just a simple I’m sorry will do. You might also have to sit and listen to me lecture you a little.”
“Whatever man, anything you say will be okay by me. I feel like a real shit!”
Robbie tried a grin so as to set him at ease. “I hope you’ve got some cigarettes, I’ve run out. I hate having my morning coffee without a cigarette.”
Dirkie wanted to apologise to Chantel (funny how Normals don’t think it is necessary to apologise to children in this sort of situation, when it is they who are traumatised - I guess they find the idea of apologising to a child, belittling). Chantel brought their coffee and then left them alone.
“I didn’t mean those things I said Robert, I was drunk.”
“I know.” Try as he did, Robbie could not help Dirkie get over what he’d done. By Robbie being understanding, Dirkie was just feeling worse. Finally Robbie lost his patience (and good sense) and stood up.
“I told you last night that I cannot fight. Maybe it is time I show you something. Dirkie, stand up and try to hit me with your fist on my chin.” It took a while for him to be convinced he must do it.
Before his fist could connect Robbie jumped and tapped him on the shoulder from behind. “Why are you trying to hit the air? Try hitting me.” After the third try he refused to try again and stood staring at Robbie with fear in his eyes.
“Nobody can move that fast! You keep on disappearing! What are you?”
“Let’s just say that I’m trained in arts you’ve never heard of. Relax man, I’m not going to bite you.”
As they had another cigarette Dirkie asked, “Why did you let me hit you last night?”
“Do you see any bruises? I was riding with your punches so that you would not hurt me. Dirkie, I have one favour to ask of you. Please do not mention any of this to your friends or family.”
Now that Robbie had taken care of his pride we saw that he had been right and now felt he should not have done this. He had dealt Dirkie’s pride a blow which he is ill equipped to handle. Robbie talked to him about his drinking and why he becomes aggressive when he is drunk. We could sense that Dirkie had heard much of it before and that he will learn nothing from it, he loves his booze too much.
Dirkie was not the only one to gasp with shock. Within the second all of us jumped to Robbie. Jesus had appeared, staggered as Robbie quickly grabbed hold of him and he let Robbie seat him. Robbie called for a glass of water and Chantel brought it at a run.
“What has happened! Is it Alexander?”
“No. I’m sorry,” he looked at Dirkie, “I have caused you a problem.”
“Forget it. Are we likely to be attacked? Will they use magic?”
“I’m afraid so. I do not think they will find me here at this time, but they will look for me in Freddie and in your home at your normal time.”
4898
“Give us a minute please.” Robbie went to Dirkie and pulled him to his feet. He led him to the guest toilet so as to prevent him from humiliating himself by peeing in his pants. He called to Vincent who came as an adult. “Go to Freddie and tell him to move to another reality and return to show us where and when he is.” For once Vincent did not argue and disappeared.
Irene and Goldi had immediately seated themselves on his lap and were doing their best to calm Jesus. Cherine, the only one who would dare, went into his mind to dance with his soul and give him strength. We waited until Cherine returned to her own mind and Robbie returned with Dirkie. Dirkie wanted to leave, but Robbie curtly told him to stay and he was too frightened now of Robbie to disobey.
We could hardly believe our eyes! He had dark rings around his eyes and his face was worn and drawn. We could sense that he is on the verge of collapse. While Dommi quickly prepared some eggs and bacon (yup, she forgot he is Jewish and maybe he did too, for he ate it), toast was brought and we covered it with honey. He drank some milk as he ate. We refused to allow him to talk and even he found it impossible to refuse Goldi when she pleaded with him to first eat and rest. Both Irene and Noelle sat beside his bed as he slept, calming him and soothing his nightmares away. We’d promised to wake him after two hours and those were really anxious hours for us. Robbie used the time to deal with Dirkie.
“You were not supposed to see this. The world knows about us in your future, but it would damage us if everyone learnt about us from now. As you must have realised, we are facing a crisis, so I don’t have much time to decide what to do. Dirkie, would you agree to us taking you and your family into the future? Then you won’t have to keep it a secret. Whatever losses of money or home we cause, we will make good.”
“What is happening, who are you people?”
“As I’ve said, we come from your future, but our younger selves also exist at this time. We call ourselves Cherinians after Cherine. She was born with certain paranormal gifts which have helped billions of people to develop gifts of their own. Do not fear her or us; her primary gift is of empathy, the ability to feel your pain as if it is hers. We cannot hurt anyone.”
He was now seeing us as we normally are and it confused him. He could not understand why all of us (apart from Robbie, Alki and Marian) are little girls. This was not exactly the best time to go into that, but we explained in more detail and though he continued being afraid, we could sense he was also filled with wonder. The moment we had been sort of dreading arrived. He asked who our visitor is. We did not want to lie, but we knew it would blow his mind. Maybe that is exactly why Robbie decided to tell him.
“He is Jesus. Not ours, from our world, he comes from an alternate reality.” I doubt he heard or understood the second half of the answer. He stood up, back pedalling as he stammered, “Jesus! Jesus Christ? It can’t be!” Being in a panic we could almost hear his thoughts, he thought the predicted time of the Second Coming has arrived and the dead will return to life to be judged.
While us girls tried to help Dirkie, Robbie picked up Roula and whispered to her, “If you want we can go right now. We can get back before he wakes up.” She shook her head, refusing him. He hugged her. “I understand. Neither of us could relax knowing what is waiting for us back here. Later then my love? I promise I’m going to make those weeks your happiest ever.”
Dirkie wanted to know why Jesus had come, was this the Second Coming? Would he get to see his family again? Was he going to be sent to Hell for hitting Robbie? If we had not seated him he probably would have been on his knees, for terror had ripped his mind apart. There is little point in going into lengthy explanations at such a time.
“Dirkie, we don’t have time to explain everything in detail, you will have to take it on faith. I promise to explain once this crisis is over. For now we need to make decisions quickly. Do we take you and your family for a holiday to the future or do I try to make you forget what you have learnt?”
“What is the crisis? How could Jesus be in trouble?”
“We don’t know. We’ll find out once he is awake. All we know is that he is under attack and needs our help, so please make up your mind quickly.”
“He is under attack!? You mean Satan and his minions are attacking Jesus!? How can you help him? Are you angels?” For all we knew that could have been the problem, but we doubted it.
“Can I come with you? Maybe I could help? Let me go home quickly to arrange with my brothers for them to watch over my family and to get my guns.”
4899
Before Robbie could refuse him, Cherine agreed he can come with. “We will leave your brothers enough money for them to take care of your family. It is time for Jesus to wake up, we’ll arrange it afterwards.”
Vincent arrived and confirmed that our Earth of the future is still unharmed and Freddie has not been attacked in any way. He showed us in which reality Freddie is and that he’s taken the precaution of stocking Freddie with everything we’ve run low of.
We woke Jesus up with a good strong cup of coffee and then he had a shower. His own healer had used the food and sleep to rejuvenate him and he now looked just like he had the last time we saw him. It was still chilly outside, but Robbie wanted to smoke, so he created a shield over us as we sat in the garden. Dirkie followed us out.
“Perhaps you will make more sense now. Can you tell us what is going on and what the danger is?”
“I am being attacked by an alternate of myself.”
“Why? Is he so different from you?”
“As I am the right hand, he is the left. As I try to be good, so he is evil. I do not know what made his reality so different from mine, for he is not exactly the type of person to open up to confidences. All I know is that he has used his gifts for the opposite reasons from myself and for some reason resents the way I’ve lived. Robert, I had no intention of embroiling you in my problems, but if I lose the battle he will come after you. He wishes to use the gifts of Cherine to strengthen himself even further. There is no point in you explaining to me that her gift is that of empathy. Her gifts, or, to put it bluntly, her powers are many and she could be used to open doors in his mind.”
“He is as powerful and as knowledgeable as you?”
“He is more powerful. I have spent too much time within myself, trying to make myself see more clearly how I should use my gifts wisely. He has spent centuries fighting battles, honing his powers. From what I have learnt from my own people who joined him, he first attacks realities with weaker alternates. I had no interest in other realities, feeling each alternate should be free to grow in his own way, though I never considered the possibility of an alternate like him!”
“I must be honest, I had not considered the possibility of there being an evil alternate of either of us. It was stupid of me! It is obvious, that is what alternate realities are; people who have made different choices from us.” Robbie considered his next words, not wanting to frighten us, but he saw no alternative. “Jesus, our powers are like those of a child compared to yours. If he is more powerful than you, how can we help? How do we protect Cherine from him?”
“Dad, what if you put Cherine in stasis, in some other reality and time so that he cannot sense her.”
Before Cherine could protest he shook his head. “No, this battle belongs to all of us. Without Cherine we will be even weaker than we are.” Vincent frowned, but Cherine positively glowed with pleasure and pride at his words. We could feel her love for him reach out and warm that part of his heart that fears for all of us. Much later on she climbed into me for daring to make the suggestion.
I felt proud for a moment and then remembered all the mistakes I’ve made and blushed. Jesus had said, “I’m glad Sam will be with, we need a strategist.” His words did help get me out of my blue funk and my mind began to work again. Robbie was right. We have no way of fighting magic. I decided that a first priority will be to get John and the old woman. They will have to come with to help convince their alternates to join us. I recalled her saying there are other ‘great ones’. I wondered if she can convince any of them to help us.
Alki handed over to Dirkie enough money to keep his family financially independent for life and he rushed off to make his arrangements. I had to jump to the store and arrange for my managers to run the shop until we return. I told them I have to rush back to Europe and might be gone for a long time. I could sense their thoughts and knew they are already anticipating the extra profits that will flow into their pockets. I did not have time to worry about that - nor did I care, I must admit. Chantel with Alki went to Robbie’s coffee shop and made similar arrangements, though she told me that the manager is worried about not making enough profits to keep Robbie happy. Again he has turned out to be a better judge of human character than I.
4900
Robbie insisted we all go to Sandton City for a good lunch at The Butchery. He managed to look at ease and drank a glass of wine and chatted with us as if he has no worries. The restaurant does not allow children of under twelve, so we had never been there before. As they make the best steaks, we aged ourselves so that Robbie can have the meal he wants. When we got back home Dirkie was waiting for us with a small bag. He also had a pistol and rifle with him. That reminded us of the guns Tasso had made us take to Freddie. They have been sitting for decades in storage and I wondered whether they still work. Not that I can see how guns can help win a battle against magic.
“Robert, what about the Unation? Shouldn’t we ask them to join us?”
“And the Sparklers.” Sol called out.
Robbie said, “Sam, we dare not return to our time, he could be watching for us. We must not have our battles in our own reality. Either we take it to his reality or else we go to a dead reality.”
I guess I’m still a little girl. My lips trembled at his words and I complained, “But we have to go. We must get John and the old woman to join us. Maybe they can persuade their alternates to also join us.”
“He will sense us if we go there Sam.” Jesus said. “The old woman could add her powers to mine, but I don’t think it is worth the risk.”
“Let me go alone then.”
“If he senses you, he will follow you back to us.” I was stumped and sat glumly listening to them making their plans when an idea crossed my mind and I jumped up with joy.
“Dad, I can go as Le’sase! I will not be in disguise, I really will be Le’sase, but with the knowledge of what must be done.”
Robbie agreed to let me go. Jesus took my face in his hands. “Sam, I meant it, we will need you with us. Be careful. You have the strongest weapon already, don’t waste the one chance we still have.” I stared at him, at a loss. What weapon!? He answered my unasked question. “Sam, we will have to do as you did the first time. You must ask Arthur to help us. Only he is more powerful than our enemy. He loves you, he will do it for you.”
“He loves all of us.” I was kicking myself, I should have thought of it. I don’t know why I keep getting a mental block about asking Arthur for help.
I did return as Le’sase; I got the help I wanted and Hettie and Eddie insisted on coming with. So did all our alien friends. I will leave all of that for the next book.
Arthur, I am going to end off this book now. I’ll leave it to you to write the first part of the Eighth book as you wish. We place ourselves in your hands.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)20th January, 2020
- posted: 20th January, 2020
If you wish to read from an earlier book, from Book 01 to Book 06, use this link button to open the LC Book Index:
If you are not using it, try it, this is the best Steemit tool:
https://steemworld.org/