Operation Wolfe Cub: A Chilling Historical Thriller (THE TIME TO TELL Book 1) (51 page)

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe he wanted to warn me.”

“I said don’t go there, Eddie…what did he say then? Can’t be that bad.”

“Hopefully not…he said your mother left him, and I would be next.”

“And you believed it?”

“Why don’t you tell me? Hard to believe him since you two always mess with each other’s heads.”

“That’s not true…besides, we’re friends.”

“So you can’t admit it. I see.”

“Admit? Admit what?”

Eddie glared. “That all three of you mess with each other since your mother supposedly took-off.”

“Look, you have no idea…best mind your own business if you know what I mean…none of it matters a hill-a-beans, now.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter? It does too, honey.”

“Okay, pop-shot…why would it matter to you?”

“Good gosh, you couldn’t see a fly if it landed on your nose.”

Chantain rolled her eyes. “You can’t come up with a legitimate reason, so shut your mouth.”

“There’s bigger reasons than you know, darling…I’m trying to put a family together with this here kid and not destroy it like what happened to you.”

Without saying anything, Chantain put her eyes back to her Bible and pretended to read along with the lecture.

He continued, “Of course, you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about, would you?”

“Yes, I would…when the going gets tough, I get going, so you better watch it…someday your crap’s going to come back to kick you.”

“I guess that means you’re going to leave me someday. Should I get ready for it?”

“Take it any way you wish. You need to be quiet. We’re in a church in case you didn’t notice.”

Eddie delicately placed his Bible up on the shelf on the back of the pew then slowly put his hands down. “Oh, I get it. We argue all the time anyway, so what is the difference? Remind me not to go to war with you in a church.”

“Gooood God, you and your war stuff again…what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing…you’re not a comrade, put it that way. You’d be some kind of undercover enemy in my foxhole trying to slash my throat at night.”

“Did you hear what you just said? Go comparing me to some murderer, a war man like yourself.”

Eddie smirked, “War?”

“Yeah, war…something you know too much about.”

He whispered a little louder, “War? ‘War,’ she says…you know more about war than I do…you’ve been cutting me up and throwing me to the dogs our whole marriage. What’s more war like than that?”

“Oh God, Eddie, the day I do that, this church’ll freeze over.”

“Think about helping us out, Chantain…‘
God
,’ you say… you keep slipping grenades in my pockets then running off for cover…do you hear what I’m saying?”

Their arguing carried over to the attention of an innocent couple sitting nearby who already looked aggravated.

Chantain whispered louder, “Marriage…that’s what you’re speaking about. My mother always said something about you.”

“Oh boy, look out now. Your divorced mother’s slipping grenades in our marriage too.
Pshhhh
, see what I mean?
Ah
, forget it. It’s a losing battle.”

“Just leave my mother out of this or I’ll start talking about your parents. See how you like that?”

Eddie sneered. “Good luck…maybe you forgot. They’re still together. You and your mother are way different from my parents…you guys are cookie cutters—breeding breakups instead of children…no, my parents are better than that.”

The two of them suddenly became a nuisance to others in the surrounding area. Still, they continued. “That’s it,
Eddie. You make marriage sound so fun. My mother’s brilliant—should have listened to her.”

“Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what your mother said.”

Chantain slapped her Bible back on the shelf in front of her. “You have no idea the wisdom my mother has.”

“Wisdom? She’s making sure you get rid of me like she did your dad.”

Just then two other church members gasped as Chantain carried on, “Maybe it’s not a bad idea, Eddie.”

“No Chantain, I’ll tell you your mom’s bad idea. Misery loves company, so I’m already gone if you look into her evil, crystal ball.”

Chantain spoke loudly, “Shut up. Bad enough…all these church people looking at us. Then you go calling names.”

Suddenly, an older couple whispered at them, “
Shhhhh
, quiet, my granddaughter’s next to me listening.”

“Please, take it outside if you have to.”

Eddie and Chantain immediately grabbed up their Bibles again, but still showed their disregards.

The one little member between them who didn’t mind their arguing was Doll. He looked as if he were immune to it. Besides, Chantain had given him one of her science fiction books to look at while they were there. As it turned out, the paperback displayed a colorful scene of rocket ships blasting into outer space. Doll seemed to be entertained by the picture. He playfully growled, as if pretending that
he
was the one flying the rockets right next to the hideous-looking, green, frog-like creatures in the picture.

When he was done looking at the paperback cover, he opened it up, expecting to find more, but nothing was there except tiny text he knew nothing about. He found himself rummaging through the book, page after page, until he drooped. Somewhere through his page turning, he appeared
as if his fun got hijacked. He then paused to assess the book as a piece of junk.

Nevertheless, Doll looked to be getting through his problem by looking a little further next to him. He snuck a pencil out of Chantain’s purse thinking of something more productive. Unfortunately, when he tried to look for a place to scribble inside the book, he was stuck again. There was no place to draw on it either, for all the letters got in his way.

Reluctantly, he tugged on Chantain’s arm for a probable explanation to his mounting problems, but he was derailed yet again.

She whipped around snarling, “What do you want?”

Doll backed off in shock. Whatever it was about the book she had given him, he wanted no part of it. He dropped it on the pew then took a double take at the creature on the cover as if he were comparing it to Chantain’s awful look. Still nothing matched, but he might have gotten a good picture without reading a word.

Chantain saw the mischief he was into, so she took his pencil away, shoving it back into her purse, and slapped his hand. Before he could shed a tear, she snatched the book away, confounding him even more.

Doll sat there, staring at his empty hands as if he’d just lost everything he had, so he held his hands up to Chantain for comfort or the book back. Either one would have been fine.

Chantain scowled. “Stupid kid. Knock it off or I’ll bust your butt.”

Eddie whispered, “Hey, easy…you gave it to him—then you took it away.”

“So! The little rat stole my pencil out of my purse then tried to vandalize it.”

Eddie looked around before continuing, “You’re angry… how can a boy learn if you keep flipping out on him?”

“Flipping out? He’s the one pouting about it, not me. Look at him.”

Quickly, she grabbed Doll’s arm. “Shut up before I take you outside and find a stick.”

By this time, people next to them tried to distance themselves, as another couple in front started gossiping, “It’s that lady behind us. What do we do?”

“
Shhhh
, just stay seated. Wait, so we can leave.”

Eddie touched Chantain’s shoulder, whispering, “Look, you’re bothering everyone. You gotta stop—right now.”

“Take your hand off me,
youuuu
—”

At the podium, Pastor McKoowey detected a little disturbance. He looked toward the far back of his church, but he couldn’t quite make out who was responsible. Slowly, he got back to the business of his discussion. “
Ahem
…excuse me… where was I?”

Sister Thelma whispered, “You were wrapping up Adam and Eve.”

He nodded, “Oh yes, thank you, Sister Thelma…that pretty well wraps it up with Adam and Eve, the beginning of all life. Don’t forget now…Adam and Eve and all their children were philosophical symbols handed down from the prophets. Their story exists as a parable only. They were never real. Pay attention to what our Prophet says about the beginnings of mankind. That’s what he wanted you to do. Okay, questions anyone?”

He continued, “Now let’s move on to how they, our descendants, populated the world. Go to chapter four, verses one and into Genesis. We’re getting to something interesting now: Adam and Eve’s children, or the offspring of mankind. That’s us.”

Sounds of pages shuffled as he continued, “Eve conceived two children…one was named ‘Cain,’ who was the tiller of the ground. The second son was named ‘Abel,’ who was the keeper of the sheep. Abel’s work flourished while Cain’s
didn’t do quite so well. Cain’s behavior became accountable for a number of things that you or I wouldn’t notice. First, there was anger and jealousy on Cain’s part. Then there was his loss of composure and self-control. Vengeance could have been involved afterward.

He went on, “Anyway, all these ill-fated feelings collected inside Cain, which led to his biggest upheaval of all. You know what that was?”

The crowd stayed silent as he carried on, “Cain turned against his own flesh and blood—that’s one thing. Worse than that…Cain killed someone. He didn’t just kill anyone, he killed his brother.”

Pastor McKoowey then closed his Bible. He walked out to the front of the stage, leaving his notes behind. “This story isn’t what you think. It’s a prophet’s philosophy told in another wise abstraction. Cain starts with little crimes that you or I might pass off. Here’s where his upheavals connect…if one of you plays these little games of mischief or petty crime, they ultimately play out the same if you keep it up. They play out to worse things, then worse, again and again, until…some even reach murder.”

He paused then began pacing on stage with a figurative idea on the tip of his tongue. “There…you see? All these little things lead to worse things, no exception. If you keep doing them over and over, you soon forget you’re doing these things, which makes them worse…how can you stop if you don’t know you’re doing it?” He paused with his hands in his pockets. “One more thing…you have to have done all the little crimes first, before you get to the bigger ones. Sort of like going to school or practicing before you get to a real job.”

He walked back to his podium. “Okay, here’s more… chapter four, verses nine through fifteen. I’ll sum it up. The Lord received Abel, who was murdered from the ground with his cries. The Lord
rather
, didn’t accuse Cain. Instead,
he confronted Cain for an explanation first, to see what he’d say. Cain exposed another vital thing of the stereotypical person that he was. Cain wrote the whole thing off. It’s in verse nine. He explained it his way,
‘Why or how should he know what happened to Abel? He wasn’t his brother’s keeper.’
Do you realize what he said? Guesses anyone?”

Nobody guessed. “I’ll tell what he said. He said,
‘Go bother someone else. I’m not responsible for my brother.’
”

He then tapped his finger on his Bible. “Adam and Eve had more children…they lived on to populate the world. Cain was allowed to live and populate the world too.”

Almost everyone in the audience groaned their displeasure as he went on, “Wait now…let me explain…Cain’s people live among us right now…they’re multiplying. Multiplying by the thousands, now the millions even. These are the criminals, fugitives, vagabonds and murderers. They are vicious to everyone, including their families if they need to be. Where are they, you ask? They hide. They play the same games as us—except they use
lies
to pretend they’re normal. Ladies and gentlemen, they care about no one. They could be you or me. If they’re not stopped, they’ll take over everything we know, including all that is good.”

The audience started riling themselves up as he went on, “It’s right here in verses eleven and twelve…it says here that he cursed Cain as a fugitive, a deserter, a traitor…Cain and the descendants of Cain are cursed forever to be fugitives, criminals, murderers, and vagabonds. There’s no going back, ladies and gentlemen.”

He looked up, trying not to smile. “I mean it’s hard for them to hide once they are caught in the act of a crime committed over and over.”

Nobody said a word, so he continued, “Here’s the scary part…what about the most clever and wicked of them all? Who are they? Good question since we might be talking millions and millions. Why can’t they be found? They
don’t—get—caught. They learn how to lie better, that’s all. It’s simple…they continue to build their armies to devour our definition of
good
, so they can rewrite the definition of
good
…why is that? Simple again.”

Pastor McKoowey turned away from the crowd to hide his chuckle, then turned back to face them with a serious face. “They don’t have to admit they are bad if they devour us and we’re gone…now that, ladies and gentlemen, is evil’s finest hour. The wickedest
world war
of all. A war that will end this world in an instant if nobody finds a solution.”

He looked at the clock, looking shifty eyed: “Wait…I have something for you. It was given to me by this
battle beyond
… then you can
begone
…Cain, who possessed
all
those bad characteristics, was marked, or ‘identified’ if you will. In verses fourteen and fifteen, it says that Cain’s people will hide among us, but they should not be slain by us, the people, as part of his curse. Instead, God has put a mark on them.”

He paused briefly: “The final piece to the ‘Cain’ puzzle I’ve laid out for you…before I go further…I’ll have you know that this book was written as the first book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. These stories were some of the oldest mysteries in the first of five books of the Jewish Torah or Pentateuch. The words have been around since the creation of the world to the birth of Israel and Egypt. What about this book? The book I have here? It’s just a book. It’s the book of primeval history in other words. It’s the Book of—Book of Genesis. This changes things, doesn’t it? Genesis is the beginning of the end.”