Armageddon's Prisoners 5

After spending three days thinking about it, Jack stopped by the public library on his way home.  Summer was the busy time for his roofing business, Sally would not notice if he was a few minutes late.  He pulled into the new parking structure and found a place quickly.  After pulling the key out of the ignition, a sudden thought struck him.  He had entered a library since leaving high school.  He didn’t even know how to get a library card.

He walked into the large building.  The Bellevue branch was the largest in the King County system.  He walked down a hallway, past conference rooms, computer services, the rest rooms, and even a small store.  Large double doors led into the main section.  Rows of shelves loaded with books, music, movies and who knew what else confronted him.  He glanced up and realized the stairs led up a mezzanine to another floor also loaded with books.

He stepped over to a help desk and explained that he needed a library card.  After a few minutes with a very helpful woman, he left the desk armed with a brand-new library card, a map of the building and a sense of awe that such a collection of information lay at his fingertips.  He climbed the stairs to get to the history section.  At the top of the stairs, he discovered a third floor of book racks. 

How many books did this place contain?  After a few minutes of walking around in this wonderland, he found the section he wanted. The American history section occupied two lengthy aisles.  The Civil War shelves held dozens, perhaps hundreds of books.  After some searching he selected two, what looked like a lengthy history of the whole battle of Gettysburg, and a shorter work on Pickett’s Charge. 

He started to head back down the stairs to check out his finds, but stopped.  Consulting his diagram of the building, he walked toward a flight of stairs leading to the third floor and the religion section. He walked between rows of books, looking at titles, not knowing what he sought or why.

He saw many different Bible translations, and even more commentaries.  The Word taught that all these works were vain, the ramblings of uninspired men.  Only the Apostles conveyed the true thoughts of The Lord. Many other volumes discussed large religions such as Roman Catholicism, and the many Protestant sects.  Could all these scholars be wrong?

He shied from the thought.  A woman a few feet away looked at him sharply, he realized he’d physically flinched at the thought of doubting the Apostles.  He turned and another book caught his eye, “The Crumbling Foundation.”  Fear flashed through his belly.  Every Disciple in the world knew the warnings about that book.  Filled with lies about the Foundation propagated by an unholy alliance of a professor of theology and disgruntled Forsakers – exDisicples – it provided a ready avenue for demonic attack.

He strode quickly toward the stairs and the checkout computers.  He still wanted to read about the battle fought by his ancestor, but did not want to open himself to the influence of Satan.  The Apostles were right, good Disciples did not read the works of demons.  He checked out his two books, returned to his car and headed for home. 

He still felt unsettled when he arrived home, a feeling that grew worse when he spotted the car parked in front of the house.  The last thing he wanted to do was spend an evening with Shari and Hal Covington.  After pulling into the garage, he entered the house, too late realizing he had his library books in his hand.

He found Hal helping himself to a glass of scotch in the dining room, while Shari told Sally what she was doing wrong in the kitchen.  Why his wife put up with this nonsense from her cousin was one of life’s mysteries.  He set the books down, where he hoped no one would see them, and joined Hal.  

At least he could have a drink. 

“Good to see you Jack,” Hal said, “I hope you’re doing well.”

“I…”

“Things have been good to us lately, our Area Servant commended me the other day, because our Gathering’s full-time Discple-Makers met their quotas every month for the last six…”

Fifteen minutes later, Jack was halfway through his second drink and Hal was still talking about himself.  In the kitchen, he could hear Shari and Sally exchanging gossip at full speed. He wondered if either one heard the other.  He excused himself and walked to the upstairs bathroom.  He did not realize until he reached the top of the stairs that he’d left his library books downstairs.

His hope that nobody would notice them was dashed when he came back down.  Hal, sat at the table, the books in front of him.

“What are you doing with this stuff?”

“Just a little research, after that family research Shari did…”

“My wife should not have done that.  You know The Word frowns on compiling genealogies.  It’s a waste of time better spent pursuing The Lord’s works.”

Jack explained that he understood all that, he only wanted to find out more about his family.  Hal replied that war was evil and studying it inappropriate for a Disciple. The conversation ended as the women starting bringing food out of the kitchen.  Jack thought he heard Hal say something about looking into it further, but he could not be sure.

As always, Shari dominated the dinner table conversation. Jack focused on his food, trying to ignore Shari’s inane babbling.  But he could not ignore her when she started discussing disciplinary matters in the Gathering back in Spokane.  Clearly, Hal had been talking to her about Review Committee matters.  It hit a sore spot, too many Servants ignored the Foundations instructions not to discuss confidential matters with their wives.

“So,” Shari was saying, “the Servants had to Cast-out the Johnson’s, that kind of impropriety just can’t be allowed.”

“I don’t see,” Jack said after taking a large gulp of wine, “why the Servants should be monitoring the bedroom behavior of married couples.”

“We don’t,” Hal snapped, “it became common knowledge in the Gathering and we had to do something?” 

“Why not,” Jack said, ignoring the look on his wife’s face, “tell the gossipers to mind their own business?”

“Because every Disciple has an obligation to help keep the Gathering free of sin.  If a couple is engaged in improper conduct, even in their own home, and another Disciple knows about it, they must report it.”

A cloud of silence hung over the table for a minute, before Jack spoke again.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to start a fight at dinner, I’m still out of sorts.” 

Polite, and forced, small talk carried them through the rest of the meal.  Later, after Hal and Shari left to go to their motel, Sally brought a blanket and pillow into the living room.  She threw them down, and told Jack she had a headache, he was sleeping on the couch.  Without another word, she turned and stomped off to the bedroom.

  Jack poured another drink and sat in his favorite chair.  He stared into the glass, thinking.  Religion and family, the twin anchors of his life, no longer provided comfort.  He and Sally fought constantly, JJ was ready to leave parents and religion behind.  Since the debacle of 2011 The Word held out uncertain hope, a source of conflict not inner peace. 

What was he to do?


This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, and events are the product of the author's imagination; any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.  To the best of my knowledge no organization called "The Word of God Foundation" exists.

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© Jeffrey A. Thomas