“Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior Jesus Christ?”
“Yes, Billy!” I responded enthusiastically. “Who else?”
“Fedex, ma’am, I have a package for you.”
I clapped my hands in enthusiasm, and my torso jiggled more than I would like to admit. “Great. Excellent. Good work, Quentin. Now – what happens next?”
Little Vincent, smallest of all the teenagers in front of me, raised his timid hand. I figured that I’d give the kid a chance. “Yes, Vincent,” I called, trying not to sound exasperated.
“You smash the metal clipboard against his nose! Real hard!”
I stared at him for a second.
And I had to hand it to him. For a meek-looking kid, he had really studied the basics.
“Good job, Vincent. And if you don’t have a clipboard?”
He crinkled his nose in concentration, then smiled. “Always have a pen or some other writing utensil,” he explained methodically. “It only needs to penetrate half an inch into the eye for complete neutralization of the threat.”
I grinned despite myself. If the smallest among us could be taught so well, then we would truly be great.
I paced back and forth in front of the group. Certainly, there were at least a dozen kids. But we are just one arrow in a quiverfull, and together, we are mighty. We are unstoppable.
We are a better way.
“What do we do when the threat is neutralized?” I shouted in my most authoritarian voice (and believe me, it’s a doozy).
“Assert control!” The kids shouted back in unison. I was barely able to conceal my grin.
“That’s correct, children. And what is mercy?”
“Mercy is weakness!” they shouted back as one.
See, I’ve always hated that line. It speaks of a simplicity that does not exist in the real world.
“Kids,” I muttered quietly, “have a seat.”
They looked at one another furtively, but sat on the floor without a word of protest. I spun the chair around so that I could lean forward against its back.
“Yes, you’re taught that mercy is weakness,” I explained, running a hand through my thinning hair. I heaved a great sigh. “But it’s not going to be easy to ignore your urges,” I continued with a dangerous softness. “The enthusiasm that you feel when chanting with your friends is not going to be there when a man is bleeding on the floor, begging for his life.” I flicked a tear away from my left eye. I risked a glance at the assembled kids.
You could have heard a pin drop.
I cleared my throat. “The first time that I went on a solo assignment, I broke my target’s nose, he tumbled backwards, hit his head on a table, and fell paralyzed onto the floor. I shut the door behind me, and stared at him as he gazed back at me.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could feel them staring at me, even when I couldn’t see them. When I resumed the story, it was with my eyelids pressed shut. “The man convulsed, but then was still. The injury to his head had damaged something severely.” I blew out a steady stream of air. “But he was still awake. He could still talk.
“He could still beg for the life of his infant child.”
Here I opened my eyes once more, and looked at each one of them in turn. I lingered on Vincent last of all, considering him severely, imagining him as a baby.
So malleable.
“Anyway,” I continued, “I had all of the power, and he had none. This was true despite the fact that I was a young teen, just your age, and he was so compelling as he pled for his life.” I shook my head. “I was weak. I was stupid.” I peered at them intently. “And do you know what happened?”
There was silence for a beat.
Quentin was the brave one who answered. “You killed his son and made him watch?” He swallowed nervously. “Then killed the bitch while he cried?”
My breath hitched involuntarily, and a rogue tear slipped down my face. Truly, he did not know what he had done.
“Quentin,” I began apprehensively. I strode over to him.
Then I lifted the boy and wrapped him in a giant bear hug. “You’re such a good student, son! You understand what we have to do for the better way!” I put him back on the floor, wiped away more tears, and walked back to the front of the room.
When I turned around, I could see the rest of the teens staring at Quentin in silent jealousy. He was blushing a deep crimson.
I took a moment to regain my composure. See, teachers and tutors spend their lives trying to make a difference, but secretly wonder if we will. Moments like the breakthrough with Quentin make it all worthwhile.
Billy, clearly upset that his classmate had taken all of the attention, raised his grumpy hand.
It took me a couple of seconds longer to regain my composure than I’d like to admit. But when I answered, I was in complete control of myself. “Billy, you’re an inquiring mind,” I offered while pointing my index finger at him.
He scowled. It was unseemly, and something that he’d need to learn to control. “Mister Toit, I have a question,” he queried, unable to mitigate his snottiness. “When you were neutralizing targets, the Time was far away. People disappeared unnoticed, as they have since the beginning in 1913. But now that the Time Is Nigh, won’t people notice what we’re doing? Isn’t it going to be obvious that answering the door is dangerous, when every stranger ringing the bell is simply a Harbinger of torture and death?”
This broke the tension for me – it really did. What started as a slight chuckle ended as a hearty guffaw. When I had calmed myself, I was finally able to ask him the obvious.
“Oh Billy, Billy boy. Do you not understand anything about what we’re doing here? Don’t you realize what potential we have?” I wiped my eyes. “Look, everyone trusts strangers with the right message – everyone. You just have to ask it the correct way, and you can get them to open their front door – even if it’s just to say ‘go away!’” I leaned forward on my desk and rested my weight on my elbows. “Look. Anybody will offer their trust to a doctor – right? A cop? Someone who says they’re an electrician from the power company?” I was grinning now. “When the moment comes – we’re in!” I lifted my index finger to the ceiling and shouted. “There is a Better Way!”
The children, big and small, each mimicked me and pointed the index fingers of their right hands to the sky above. “The Time is Nigh!” they shouted in response.
“Good,” I shot back with a smile as I lowered my hand. “Look,” I explained condescendingly to Billy, “the Day of Reckoning will be in June. The world will never be the same – and all because of us! Oh, what a difference a day will make!” I clapped my hands enthusiastically together. “And see Billy, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll prove it to you. I will confess our plans for murder, torture, and general mayhem on the forthcoming Day of Reckoning to Reddit!” I smiled devilishly. “And mark me, no one – not a single person – will take our plans for destruction seriously. Even if I spell it out for them!” I cackled.
“They think this isn’t real!”
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Credits: BD
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