Herman shook his head, because he understood, saying, “And, another thing I'm noticing, Cloud. All this talk lately, the last few years, on the television … about Jesus, and God. The people on television who are always telling you what the causes of your problems are. They like to pick on things like homosexuality, or abortions, or lying. They act like those are the only sins. And they seldom use the word lying,' even when they know someone is lying, unless they think that person is inferior to them. The big shots, like presidents and senators, get away clean.
“More important, they never mention, or talk about, Satan; and Satan is all through the Bible from the Garden of Eden to today! As the cause of all problems, even death. It's time to make choices, man. But they try to say Jesus is gay, or married, or something just as unreal.
“You know, Satan is the great propagandist. The first liar! He can really lie, man, and get all kinds of men to lie for him! The big men in these churches? And politics? Satan uses them! Because they are all about money!”
Herman was fired up, passionate. “You know it was the false religious leaders that caused Jesus' death, it was not all the Jewish people. Many of them believed in Jesus. Where do you think ‘Christians’ came from? The twelve Jewish apostles! The Old Testament cannot be separated from the New Testament. The old foretold the new; the new fulfilled the old. Did you know Jesus was not only their Messiah, he is our Messiah, too!”
Cloud nodded his head, thoughtfully. “But, why do people dislike the Jehovah's Witnesses so much? They're not carrying a gun; they're carrying a Bible.”
Herman laughed, lightly, as he nodded his own head, and said, “I asked Myine's teacher that myself. He showed me, in the Bible. I remembered this one: Matthew 24:9. It says, right there, that people would hate God's followers on account of His name. Man, that's the same chapter where you can find out about a lot of things that are happening, even now, and it was written two thousand years ago.
“I want to tell you this also; it says some times hard to deal with would be here on this earth, in that same chapter of Matthew. Things are changing on this earth, man. All over the world. Armageddon is real! People don't pay any attention to it, like they didn't pay any attention to Noah; but the rains came anyway, and so is Armageddon coming. I'm glad I found my wife, Myine, while I was still able to have a life.
“You know, Cloud, I can only say now, my life is full. I have a home, a family, and I have Myine. I have love and peace, and I am learning about God. Man, you can't beat that! I wouldn't have been as lonely before if I had found God earlier, but I use to run from these people talking about God! Satan makes you do that. Every time you listen to Jehovah God, Satan loses you. Satan does not like that! He start giving you problems to take your mind off of God's wisdom.”
“I know what you mean, Herm. That's why no one can tell me about Juliet, and her wheelchair. She is all woman to me, and we are lucky to have a good son.”
“That's not luck, man, that's a blessing. I don't mean any harm, man, you know that. But everything you have: your son, a wife you love? Those are blessings!”
“Yea, Herman, I feel blessed. And Juliet and me are thinking of taking our savings, and building a house nearer to the reservation. We saved all the rent we would have paid Myine, and more from this job you gave me. We are getting old, and I am tired; not tired to death, but I know it is near us. We want to be buried out there; another kind of home.”
Herman slowly shook his head as he said, “I know it can't be too far off from me either, and I want to leave Myine safe as I can, so I saved. I always have saved my money. I get mad sometimes, because life waited so long to give me a life. A life I could love.”
Cloud laughed softly. “Just be glad, man, that life gave you one before it was all over.”
“There's more coming, Cloud, at least the Bible says so.”
Cloud laughed gently. “Give me mine, man, and Juliet's.”
Life is not perfect … for anyone. But love makes such a difference in life that sometimes it is the only thing that seems important. It makes life livable.
The world had speeded up so much that mankind could not keep up even with itself. It would soon be the twenty-first century, and so many things were on the horizon that would be different, and difficult, for mankind, harder to bear, from all the years gone before on earth.
Herman and Myine had their love. But, as Herman says, “We are not tearing up our mattress every night, or every week, as some people like to think lovers should. But when we do make love it is of such a quality, it is enough to make us complete in our souls. Lovers just love. The main thing is, we have each other.
“Cloud, you are in your sixties, and Juliet is still in good health, and in her early seventies. You are happy, or at least, content. Good, peaceful, loving stands for a lot. Myine is sixty-three, and I am seventy-three. And I thank God we are happy, because I know human beings seldom had anything to do with our happiness. Happy! Now … you know, man, that is something.
“Because, well… Life is short, especially if you are happy. And life is wide; especially if you are old, and still have a chance for happiness. But, you have to watch life as you live it, because life is always deep.”
Herman sighed, and they both stood up to leave, going home. Cloud started up his usual path, a little slower than earlier days. Herman bent to rub his bad knee before he started his slow pace on his path home. Saying as he raised up, “Me? I'm not afraid of dying, but … I just want to keep living as long as I can keep living.” He smiled a sweet, secret smile, as he said, “And Myine keeps making the living worth living.”
Cloud, looking back, smiled his own sweet smile, and answered, “Man, that's all a man should want; we are in paradise.”
“Thank God,” Herman sighed as he waved farewell to Cloud. He looked toward his house, where Myine was waiting for him. Smiling, he said again, “Yes. Thank you, Jehovah God!”
Well… that's the story I wanted to tell you. Happened right here in my town. Now, I'm tired, and mama has fallen asleep listening to me tell their story to you. But me? I never get tired of telling it because it's about love: hard-to-find, hard-to-get, hard-to-keep love.
They are old now, but who gets too old to love? Nobody! It is built in us to want love, because God is love. I'm old, but I still love Love, chile. I could tell you a story about that, too. But that's enough for today. We'll just have to talk again sometime, cause I got to go.
Now.
My My My!
J. CALIFORNIA COOPER is the author of four novels, Family, In Search of Satisfaction, The Wake of the Wind, and Some People, Some Other Place, and of seven collections of stories: Homemade Love, the winner of the 1989 American Book Award; Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns; A Piece of Mine; The Future Has a Past; Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime; The Matter Is Life; and Some Soul to Keep. She is also the author of seventeen plays and has been honored as Black Playwright of the Year. In 1988, she received the James Baldwin Writing Award and the Literary Lion Award from the American Library Association. She lives in California.
DOUBLEDAY
Copyright © 2009 by J. California Cooper
All Rights Reserved
www.doubleday.com
DOUBLEDAY and the DD colophon are registered
trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cooper, J. California
Life is short but wide / by J. California Cooper. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. African Americans—Fiction. 2. Oklahoma—History—20th
century—Fiction. 3. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.05874L54 2009
813′.54—dc22
2008032021
eISBN: 978-0-385-52921-1
v3.0
rchive.
Life is Short But Wide Page 23
