THE HOLY MAN - Story

One:

  Francis held her hands tightly. He wasn't prepared to let her go. The church bells were ringing and he knew they told him it was time for evening prayer yet Francis wished he could never leave her. 
   She was all he wanted. She was the most beautiful girl in his world. From the first moment he had set his eyes on her, he knew she was special. He knew she was something more than just the Church's cleaner. She was his Janetta, the girl he would forever love. 

"Francis, it's time for prayers. You don't want your uncle to notice your absence!!"Janetta said.
She talked warningly but her voice sounded so soft and sweet to his ears.
Janetta was his age mate, eighteen but she looked so grown and really ripe for marriage. Her beauty shook Francis. She was extremely fair in complexion, had the facial features of an actress, those actresses in popular movies his Uncle had always called "baits from the deepest part of hell". Over the few years, Janetta had grown to have amazing hips and feminine curves. She was every boy's dream but Francis, the Priest's nephew, had caught her heart.
"I'll be back, Janetta. I'll be back for you. This night, we will talk behind the farmer's barn" Francis said, still squeezing her hands.
Janetta laughed, softly.
"Bless me, Francis, I have to sneak out of the house again"
"Please, I need to see you again. Believe me, if I don't, I won't be myself"
"Ooh, now it has got to that. Alright, I'll be at the barn before you"
Francis heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank you" He whispered.
"Hurry up, Francis!!"
"Bye, Janetta!! I love you!!"
Francis said and ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the Church.
"The deepest part of Hell is prepared for those who know sin but love it... The greatest punishment in Hell is for those who know the Truth but turned blind eyes to it..... "
Francis knew this was sin, his Uncle never let a day pass without reminding him. From a tiny age, he and his twin sister, Joyce had been sent to leave with their father's brother. They never loved him but Francis's father's marriage to his mother was already crumbling. Only their Uncle was prepared to take them in since he had no wife, no child and to Francis, no life.
Uncle Paul, they always called him, headed the Catholic Church in the town of Umuda, his home town, the same town he vowed he would never return to but God had shown him the way and told him Umuda needed saving.
"Everytime I see the people here, I see people on their way to eternal damnation" He would always say to Francis and Joyce.
Uncle Paul's family had a large house in Umuda, a house his grandparents had fled during the civil war but his Parents had returned to occupy it. The house spoke of bitter memories he could not tell, not even to his niece or nephew. Paul had turned it into a monastery and forced Francis to join.
"You need to be closer to God, Francis, just like the way I got closer to him. There is this calming peace you have when you know him and the busy street of Umuda will never give you that"
Not that Francis didn't love God or didn't believe he existed but there were times he wondered why God had chose Uncle Paul to be his priest. There were things Uncle Paul did in private to him and even to Joyce.
"I can't profess my love if I don't show my wrath" Paul had said one night he had flogged Francis twenty times with a whip because the boy had been caught stealing a loaf of bread, "If you must serve God, then you need to say no to sin"
Another time, he had told Joyce to scratch her hands with stones until they bled because she had painted her fingernails.
But he was far different from that to others. Everyone saw him as "the man of no sin". Because Paul was handsome and good-looking, most of the Umuda girls tried seducing him but Paul was infallible.
The monastery caged Francis. He couldn't know what the outside world felt like and Uncle Paul wasn't ready to let him know.
Now if Uncle Paul happened to find out he was dating Janetta, Francis knew he was in deep trouble. Paul would loose it, he was so sure of it.
When Francis got to the Church, Mr. Chidi David, Paul's assistant, was already half way through the prayer. Francis was about to join in the prayer when Joyce signalled to him from the back of the podium where his Uncle's office was.
Francis hurried to meet her. He and Joyce were in no way alike. Their faces couldn't tell if they were twins. Francis was taller than she was. He was dark in complexion while she was fair. People said he was handsome and he knew it while his sister found it hard to believe anyone who said she was beautiful. Joyce was talkative, he was as gentle as a dove.
But when it came to defending and standing for each other, they were the same. If Joyce caused trouble, Francis was ready to support her. If Francis sneaked out to see Janetta, Joyce lied for him.
Today, however, Joyce's not so beautiful face spelt panic.
"What's wrong, Joyce?"
"Well, your sane uncle, which is ironic, is seriously on the edge of a heart attack"
"What happened?"
"You happened!! How could you be so careless?!!"
"But I don't..... "
"Is that Francis, Joyce?!!" His Uncle barked in anger from inside his office,"Tell him to come here this minute!!!"
"Go in!!" Joyce warned.
"What have I done?!"
But Joyce would hear nothing and pushed him inside.
His Uncle was tall but in his anger, he was much taller. His formidable body cowered over Francis. His handsome face was not handsome today and for once, Francis thought he could see the Devil in his eyes.
"You!!! You have sold your soul to the Devil!!" Uncle Paul stammered when he was angry.
"Father Paul, I really do not know what you're talking about" Francis backed away from him and was happy to find Joyce behind him.
"You little Devil, defiling yourself, when you should be pure and ready for the Kingdom! "
"I still don't understand, sir....."
Before he could finish speaking, Paul smacked him hard across the face. Joyce gasped. Francis saw stars and spat blood. He managed to find his landing.
But this was certainly getting too much. He was eighteen and his Uncle had no right to raise his hand on him, again. Without meaning to, Francis found himself itching to attack his Uncle but Joyce pulled him back.
"Stop it, Francis, he is our Uncle!!!"
"You're the Devil himself!!" Francis shouted back, wringled himself out of Joyce's grip and made for the door.
"Whatever is between you and Janetta ends now!!!"
Francis took one last look at him and stormed out of the office.

To be continued....