Desperado Dale (Scenic Route to Paradise) (6 page)

Gwennie had no expectations but the others were
glad to see the updated and bright night lodgings. It took several minutes to
drive the hill and unload their belongings before the front door shut out the
night. The proprietor greeted them with the promise of homemade soup and local
bread.

Guppo, the little boy who had run the errand to
the bed ‘n breakfast was returning to his uncle’s grocery thinking about Anna’s
disclosure that she and her family were heading to the north extremity of the
island before they had inadvertently drove into this village. Anna’s family was
from Evangelos; a town not far from his own doorstep. Guppo had come south with
his sister and her husband on a holiday the previous month but now Guppo was
ready to go home. He missed his mother. His thoughts pivoted when he heard the
well known hum of a motorbike coming slowly through the village.

This was a poor village. Electricity was used
sparingly to keep the refrigerator cold or the soccer game before the townspeople
but needlessly using petrol for a motorbike or car was not ever done... not during
the two months of Guppo’s recent stay. Sometimes, a car or bike could be heard
coming in from the city but it was either a known person from town due back or
he supposed as in Anna’s case, someone lost.

Guppo stepped back into the shadows. The
motorcycle came on without headlights. Yellow parking lights gave barely any
light and so the boy assumed the headlights had been shut-off just before
entering the village. Even Guppo at his tender age knew that the road entering
this out of the way spot would be untenable at night unless traveling on foot.

Glancing up the street, he saw the houses and
trees were silhouetted against a hazy star studded night sky. The grocer light
had been taken in and the shutters closed. The curtains were drawn for the
night. There was not a light to be seen. Although trembling for himself, the
boy was glad that this peculiar night traveler met no welcoming lantern as
invitation to stay on.

As the bike came abreast of Guppo, the boy stood
still calling upon the church Saints to make him invisible. As typical, the
icons of old were nowhere to be found when their faithful called in a time of
distress. Guppo not understanding that there was only One Name under heaven in
which protection could be assured. As the vehicle came to an abrupt stop, the
rider pulled a cigarette from his sleeve pocket. He lit it and in the glow,
Guppo saw that the goggles the man wore were not like any he had seen before in
his nine years of existence. Had Guppo been familiar with military gear, he
would have known the goggles were made specifically for motorcycle night
driving.

Before extinguishing his lighter flame, the
rider looking otherworldly turned and addressed Guppo in the night.

“It’s late. You are out late and therefore you
have seen things... You have seen me but no one else knows that I sit here and
talk with you. Perhaps if you run, I shoot you and leave you to die slowly
bleeding like a Christmas pig. And me? I will be gone... a ghost in the night.
But if you stay and tell me what you have seen, I will give you some drachma...
the new drachma and you can buy some confection or perhaps an entire bag of
potatoes for your Mama,” he finished his speech in the dark as he put his
lighter away. Guppo, like any true Greek wanted to work a deal but his
bargaining power was restrained by fear. Still, in the child’s mind he pondered
Greek style.

Finally after working his mouth to speak, words
came forth in a squeak. “Yes. I always see things. What is it that you want to
know?” Guppo already decided what information the phantom rider sought, as
nothing unique had occurred for days in the small town
except
the coming
of Anna in the rental car. After turning off the engine, the rider leaned
forward. Instantly, the night was noiseless.

“There are strangers... Americans in a rental
car; a tall man traveling with an old lady. Did they come through here?” The
biker seemed to hiss.

A tall man?
This description stumped Guppo for several
seconds and then he decided that the motorcyclist must be uncertain of the
facts. The boy would need to give this man something for the drachma to come
forth.

Guppo stated encouragingly, “A white rental
car?” Everyone knew that the airport rental cars were white. The man said yes
and so Guppo said, “I did see it, today.”

The bargaining began. Guppo who decided he
needed Anna and her rental car to make his way back to his mother, gave the
pursuer a story that would keep his ride safe and his pocket prosperous. In
short order, twenty drachmas were handed over for the information and the roar
of the departing motorbike awoke half the village.

It wasn’t until the next day after Bernie
discovered the child clinging to the back hatch handle as he rode the car bumper,
that Guppo disclosed his nightmarish encounter with the man in black.

Chapter 8  Confronting the Foe

Zeff flicked the smoldering cigarette butt from
the stern of sloop. His wish at the moment was that his own burning resentment
towards everyone and especially his family, could be snuffed out so completely.

Tino Lucero, tight muscled and tight lipped sat
next to Zeff. Tino was carving into a coffee-colored piece of iron wood.

Zeff said, “I try to do what is right and look
what I’ve got. No money. No girl. Nothing and my family may or may not be glad
to hear that I am alive... Well, my mother will be glad, of course. Everyone
seems to be on the take... even my brothers. Or should I say, especially my
brothers.”

Lifting his knife from the wood, Tino examined
the slender piece critically before saying, “Yeah? Well, according to Mac,
you’re right. Everyone is on the take. This generation is so corrupt that the
Bible says it’s like it was in Noah’s time.”

“Sí. I’ve listened to Mac plenty about Noah. I...
I just never knew that it was based on a real event,” Zeff responded. A tarp
gave the men shade but the day was warm and the breeze nonexistent. An odd calm
prevailed and the
Serendipity
would need to use their reserve fuel to
get moving again if no wind arrived soon.

Unlike Tino’s immediate family, Zeff’s people
were very religious in a cultural sort of way. He and his siblings had gone to
religious schools and attended various church events with solemnity. In truth,
the Zeferanos had a religious veneer. None of them had questioned their routine
of hypocrisy because their peers and everyone they associated with upheld the
legitimacy of the spiritual façade.

Wiping the sweat from his neck with a faded
bandana, Zeff said, “To prove his point from the Bible, Mac pulls up internet
sources everyday... all day long. Well, I should say whenever the internet is
up and working! Mac says the earthquakes and even the UFO sightings are linked
to Noah! Que? If they had UFO technology back then, why did everyone supposedly
drown in Noah’s flood? The Bible makes no sense!”

“Crazy! Come on, Zeff! We’re getting just part
of the picture. I can shoot down your argument by saying,
if we
were
drowning right now - our boat was sinking, do you think a UFO would swoop down
and rescue us? No, probably not! But we’ve seen some really weird aircraft
flying about the skies these last few weeks. Doesn’t prove they were or
were
not
around back in Noah’s time.” Tino began carving again.

It was true that they had seen dozens of UFOs.

Zeff tried to grasp Tino’s rebuttal. Tino said,
“Besides, Mac didn’t say that the Bible mentions UFOs... Read it for yourself.
The scriptures talk about fallen angels and their offspring - giants. So, maybe
the connection is that the UFOs have something to do with what the Book of
Revelation describes as the final battle between the good angels and the bad
ones. I don’t know! According to Mac’s Bible study, Jesus said before He
returns life will be like the days of Noah. With everything happening, I think
there is something to it. That’s why I quit smoking. Its bad for my health, the
ladies don’t like it and I want to go to heaven one day... You know, when I’m
old.” Tino crossed himself.

“Tino, you’re a self righteous estúpido!”
declared Zeff as he stood up and deliberately dropped the damp bandana on Tino’s
head. Cursing in Spanish, Zeff walked off to find Mac.

The bandana landed behind the retreating Zeff
and Merry picked it up as she emerged from the aft companionway. She looked
toward Tino who had resumed his carving and then toward Zeff. Following Zeff,
she climbed the stairs to the control center.

“What you doing?” she asked as he dropped into
one of the two swivel chairs in front of the console, running his fingers
through his thick hair.

Zeff didn’t look over but he pulled his
cigarettes from his pocket and tossed the pack a few inches to the dashboard.
“I’m thinking about quitting those nasty nails, cuz I don’t want to go to
hell,” he said in Spanish.

“For reals? Well, you should quit. I hope you
do. But really, Zeff?  There are a lot of people who are going to find
themselves rejected from entering heaven, even though they don’t smoke,” said
Merry, speaking in English. Although, Merry was eight years his junior, she
looked to Zeff as a younger, Baby Huey type of brother. She stood holding the
back of the adjoining captain’s seat, the bandana still in her hand.

“Well yeah. I’m going to quit cursing too.”
Swiveling towards her, he added, “You know, I am really trying to please this
God of yours but He isn’t happy with me. I don’t know what to do.... When we
get to
Greece
, I’m going to get some
money wired from father and buy a solid gold crucifix. I’ll never take it off,”
He smiled at his sacrificial pledge.

“Hmmm, I don’t think that is going to work. Though,
it sounds like you really want to please God... make Him happy with your
life... your lifestyle,” she said cautiously. His smile fading, Zeff nodded.

She said, “The Bible, it’s like a manual to
life. God tells us - dictated by humans, what is on His mind. The scriptures
show us how to live a great life and how to make God happy and ultimately, how
to spend eternity in Heaven. All of us are born with an inclination to sin.
Your smoking isn’t going to send you to hell, as you say.” Merry smiled at his
shocked look.

Snatching up the crumpled pack, Zeff pointed to
the health warning printed on the counterfeit package of American cigarettes.
Merry threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, of course! But if you go to hell
because you die of cancer or get hit by a speeding taxi or you live to the ripe
old age of 105 but still end up separated from God paying for your own sins in
the
Lake
of
Fire
... Your short life here
- even at 105 will be for nothing. Eternity is forever! God tells us that we
are all inclined to sin eventually... My mom says ‘Sinners sin.’ God truly
loves us and yet, it’s our sin that repulses Him. God is holy and He is
unwilling to allow the filth of sin in His Presence.”

Zeff always got stuck here. “Si, but God is
love, as you say. Everyone says so and even in that Spanish Bible you gave
me... I read that God is love. Love forgives. Love does not punish by sending
everyone... even the good people to hell!” His face was red and Merry could see
the frustration building and he plowed his hair with his fingers again.

Now,
Merry quit smiling. “Zeff, God sends no one to
hell. It’s our rejection of His payment for our sin that will send us there. I
heard Mac explaining it to you the other night when you two were discussing
this. Your sin can be forgiven when you make the choice to accept God’s payment
plan. Jesus was sent by God the Father to die for our sins. Mary, a Jewish
virgin gave birth to the Son of God. When the religious people and the Romans
too, had him crucified, Jesus died and then rose three days later. Death is for
sinners - that’s us! The second death, eternal death is for God-rejecters. You
can chose to believe what the Bible says or you can chose to reject it... When
you hear the good news that Jesus died and rose the third day and you chose to
believe it, your dead spirit is made alive and you become born into God’s
family. It’s your choice.”

He had heard this before but today something
rung true. Remembering the words he had read that morning from his Bible, ‘
escogeos
hoy a quién sirváis
,’ Zeff said, “If it seems evil to serve the Lord, then
choose for yourself who it is you will serve...”

Merry finished the scripture from Joshua 24.
“‘As for me and my house we choose to serve the Lord.’ Once you’ve heard the
great news that God is offering forgiveness of sin, it becomes a matter of
choice,” she said with quiet confidence.

“I’m quite tired of my sin, to tell you the
truth,” Zeff confided. “But I don’t see how I can live up to God’s
expectations.”

At this momentous juncture, a shout came from
the crows nest.

“Merry, get Mac!” yelled Junior Tapia from
above. She failed to notice the terror in his voice.

As Merry frowned skyward at the intrusion, Mac
was already barreling up from below. He began yelling orders at the men and
then, he pushed Merry roughly aside. “Get a life vest on and then get one to
each of us,” he barked just inches from her face.