THE SON OF ELI

CHAPTER 19: THE ANGEL

There were two major activities on Sundays.

One was the interdenominational church service in the mornings, and the Complex Community Meeting in the evenings.

The church grounds was a large shed that had originally been the tournament scores and information venue of the sports complex. It had electronic and information boards where scores of sporting events were announced or recorded.

Now it had benches, a pulpit and hard-backed chairs knocked together by the Carpentry Team. It had a slightly raised wooden platform where the pastor and his assistants sat. It was also the venue for the meetings.

Pastor Ralph Serto was in charge of the church. He had been an armed robber once and had found Jesus whilst waiting on Death Row. He was a medium-built, intense man of fifty whose new-found passion made him a very likeable man because he was always smiling.

His preaching always raised hopes and restored a semblance of sanity to many of the inmates whose lives had been traumatic since the Meltdown.

Jo was a regular member of church activities. She and Pat had rarely missed a service. Mike, on the other hand, was a pagan who believed the ideas of God and Jesus Christ were, as he put it, whimsical, obnoxious and vexatious vanities.

Eli, however, was very excited about going to church. Jo found some attires for him at the Clothing Department. Male clothes that were oversized for the men in the community had been kept over time, and Jo selected them because Eli was a thick and tall man, well over six feet and well-built.

A pair of black slacks, white smock and black shoes fitted him very well. When Dr John came around to join them to church, as he usually did, he looked at Eli with startled eyes.

"Well, ain't you one handsome bastard!" he exclaimed and made Nancy laugh, and Eli smiled self-consciously.

As they walked to church with other members around them, Eli walked slightly ahead with Nancy, and they were holding hands. People stared at them, especially at Eli.

"I've never seen Nancy this happy," Dr John said with a gentle smile. "Whoever he is, he is good for her."

Jo smiled and nodded.

"He is, and her nightmares have stopped, strangely."

"Did it happen again?" he asked abruptly, and Jo did not pretend not to understand.

"No, I pretended to be busy last night and delayed in the kitchen. When I got to the room, he was asleep. This dawn, he wanted to, and I wanted to, but I told him there was something we needed to discuss first, tonight, and he understood."

Dr John laughed.

"I feel sorry for you," he said eventually. "And Tilly is so strong now. By the way, I want to marry her, maybe in the next couple of weeks. I proposed last night, and she agreed last night."

Jo whooped with joy and squeezed his hand.

"Aww, congratulations! That's so sweet!"

The church was very animated that day. The pastor welcomed them. There was a time for fraternising, where they hugged and welcomed each other back. Jo did not fail to notice how many of the younger girls fawned around Eli and craved his attention, and she saw he was amused and often showed confused smiles as he tried to manoeuvre his way from them, looking at her often for help, but she remained seated where she was with Dr John and Tilly.

Mike was not in church as usual, but Anita was. Jo took sublime pleasure in how often Anita cast glances at Eli and how her expression dimmed each time she saw Eli looking at Jo, which was often.

Pastor Ralph Serto announced before his sermon that Deacon Steven, the young man that read the Bible quotations in church, was down with the flu. He wanted a volunteer from the congregation to help with Bible readings for the service.

Eli promptly stood up, and many people laughed with frank admiration as the pastor beckoned him forward.

"Well, our newest member impresses me more and more," he said as he took his position behind the podium. He proffered a black Bible to Eli, who took it and flipped it open.

"It is the New International Version," he said with a scowl.

"Indeed, it is," the pastor said. "Any problem with that?"

Eli looked a bit disappointed as he handed the Bible back. "I already have that one."

"Good, then you read it for me when I mention the quotation."

"Alright, pastor."

The pastor hesitated with a puzzled smile on his face.

"So, you need the Bible."

"No, I don't," Eli said. "I have it already."

Dr John chuckled softly.

"And here we go," he said softly.

Tilly looked at him sharply and exchanged glances with Jo.

"You think he has memorized the whole Bible?" Tilly asked softly. "That's preposterous!"

"You have the Bible?" Pastor Ralph asked, now very confused. "I don't see you holding any Bible, young man."

Eli scowled.

"I don't need the Bible," he said, obviously exasperated. "I have committed it to memory."

"The whole Bible?"

"The New International Version, yes."

There were titters now and amused little laughs, but the pastor was feeling less and less amused.

"I see," he said, his voice a tad cold because he thought Eli was now playing pranks. "Alright, let's begin then."

He put a black diary on the pulpit.

"My sermon today is titled The Grace of the Lord," he began testily. He looked around appreciatively as people began to write in their notebooks and diaries. "Our first reading is from the book of Revelations, chapter twenty-two, the verse twenty-two. Brother Eli will read for us."

Again, soft laughter and titters rang around the church, and the pastor turned towards Eli, who was looking at him with unfriendly eyes.

"Stop tempting me," Eli said softly.

"Tempting you?" the pastor said, suddenly sounding defensive. "My dear brother, you know…"

"You know there's no verse twenty-two," Eli said softly. "Revelations end at chapter twenty-two verse twenty-one."

The pastor looked at him with a sudden shock, and slowly the laughter died down.

"Well, you're right, and I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Alright, read the verse twenty-one for me."

And Eli quoted it.

The pastor began his preaching, calling out his quotations, and Eli narrated it. And, getting to the end of the sermon, Pastor Ralph Serto turned and stared at the young man with shock, and a hint of fear on his face.

"That is unbelievable!" he said softly. "My dear God! That is quite something you're doing right there, Eli."

With the sermon over, Eli was once again the centre of attraction as the silent applause went around. There were praise and worship, an intense session of prayer, and then the church ceremony ended.

Eli made a straight line to Jo's side and stood looking down at her, oblivious to the number of people who were suddenly around him and trying to touch him. Jo noticed the almost-reverential looks on the face of the congregation as they looked at Eli and noted their subtle attempts to touch him.

She noticed Anita standing at the far end of the auditorium looking at them with a slightly-creased brow, and then she moved away.

"Can we leave now?" Eli asked softly. "They're making me hot."

Jo nodded sympathetically and took his hand.

Even as they walked, they followed Eli.

The last person she saw was Pastor Ralph Serto standing on the platform and staring after Eli as if he had seen the sky cracking open and an angel coming out.

***

Mike Mensah, as usual, was present at the community meeting.

He sat on the platform with Dr John, Pastor Ralph, and seven other members of the Ruling Council that included Jo and Mrs Tilly.

It was late afternoon, and the auditorium was filled by all the adults and some of the very young children who needed parental attention.

Jo watched Eli sitting in the front row to her right, listening attentively to what was going on. She noticed, once more, that most of the younger ladies had chosen seats near him, and that Anita was seated directly behind him.

Jo made sure she was five seats away from Mike.

Various council members briefed the crowd, and soon it was the turn of Mike, leader of the Utility Team.

"We're running low on everything," he said, his ominous voice carrying across the gathering. "Low on food, low on water. Our Runs are taking us farther and farther away, and the beasts are steadily creeping closer. Medical supplies are stretched now. We are afraid that once more, we have to reduce the rations of food, water and supplies we have been allotting."

This brought a lot of clamour and groans from the people. They were very agitated because most of them had to survive on minimal rations that just kept them alive.

Mike was quite angry as he enumerated the dangers the Utility Team had been encountering, how the members were being killed on Runs, and how many of the young ones present were unwilling to join.

"Our numbers keep increasing, and food is getting harder to come by!" he said coldly. "Soon, if we don't replenish adequately, we'll run out! It is time to take drastic measures to ensure we survive as long as possible on the inadequate resources we have!"

Again, voices rang out angrily, with despair and despondency, and Jo felt the tension rising. The horrors of hunger, of being forced to go out to scavenge for themselves, was driving terror into the people.

And then, quite suddenly, out of the clamouring shouts, his voice rang out, deep and calm.

"I am wondering if you have tried the CHS."

It was Eli's voice, and it arrested all other voices. He was standing up, taller than all of them, his handsome face an epitome of calmness as he looked at them on the podium.

Slowly, the people who were on their feet sat down, leaving him standing.

"And what did you say, Brother Eli?" Pastor Ralph asked.

"I was asking about the CHS."

"And what the hell is that, if I may ask?" Mike asked in a cold, nasty voice.

"The Chapel Hill Silos," Eli said calmly, unfazed. "I was reading about the history of Takoradi in a book Doctor John gave me. The authorities commissioned the Chapel Hill Silos just a month before the Meltdown. It was supposed to be a huge compound filled with silos, which are huge storage buildings. It was to store food for export from the hinterland, and also food from abroad for distribution. It was built to be close to the harbour for easy export and import movements."

"You're sick!" Mike said angrily. "The Meltdown happened eighteen years ago, with massive earthquakes! If there was such a thing, it would be razed to the ground by now, or the crops spoilt!"

Eli shook his head.

"Most of them were treated and packaged for export, and food from abroad were mostly canned, tinned or packed food, able to last for years. It also had tanks, machines, maybe a weaponry section. Even if another community has taken over, maybe we can beg them, trade with them. You can make runs there!"

There was hushed silence now in the auditorium, and Jo could see the beginnings of hope on the faces of the people.

"Does anybody know of this CHS?" Mike asked eventually.

An old man got to his feet suddenly.

He was Mr Duku.

"Yes, I used to live in Chapel Hill before the Meltdown, and indeed I remember a place like that. I didn't see it personally, but I do remember they said it was so huge and there was a lot of noise about it."

"Can you direct us there, Mr Duku?" Ebo asked from the end of the row.

The old man shook his head sadly.

"Alas, my sight fails, and my memories are dim because I'm senile."

"I know the geographical coordinates," Eli said. "If you have a compass, or if I see landmarks, I can direct you there."

Mike's heart lurched suddenly.

His dark mood had started with the pain of seeing Jo naked in the arms of this boy, and since then it seemed he was the topic of all conversation around the complex. He could see the women fawning over him, even Anita, and it drove Mike mad.

He hated Eli to his guts and wanted him dead.

This, it seemed, was a golden opportunity. The CHS sounded like a mad idea, but if it would help him in his agenda, so be it.

"We have a good compass," Mike said as he moved towards Eli. "But the whole team can't go. What we need to do is scout the area, verify if it would help us, then we would move in on a full run. Tomorrow, you and I will try and reach this CHS!"

The people shouted with glee and happiness, breaking into applause, overriding Jo's stringent cries as she jumped to her feet and shook her head almost violently.

Slowly, the noise died down, and all eyes turned to her.

"Is there a problem, Jo?" Mike asked coldly.

Jo stared at him with wrath.

"You know there's a problem!" she said scathingly. "Eli is just a new member, with no experience! He won't survive out there!"

"I'll go too," Ebo said suddenly and got to his feet. "I'll keep an eye on him, Jo, I promise. Won't let anything happen to him."

Jo's hands clenched at her side as she looked at them with impotent fury. She did not trust Mike, but she knew Ebo was a good man and could be relied on.

"I can do it, Jo," Eli said sharply. "The people need help. I have to help."

They applauded and cheered, and many of them shook his hand and patted him on the back and shoulders. Suddenly, he represented a symbol of hope for them. His amazing exhibition of quotation recitation at church had made the grounds, and they were now shifting their belief and allegiance to him.

Pastor Ralph Serto leaned towards Dr John.

"That boy and the mysteries around him, doctor," he said in almost a scared tone. "I'm beginning to believe we have a real angel of God in our midst. And angels can be a blessing, and also agents of destruction!"

Dr John smiled briefly.

"Do not be alarmed, pastor. Eli is simply a very special and gifted man, but that is all he is, a gifted man. He is no angel."

However, it seemed the pastor was not convinced, and he was not the only one that night who felt Eli was an angel sent divinely to save the people inside the abandoned sports complex.