Life Is Short But Wide (35 page)

When Poem, who had returned to France for the moment, and with whom he had grown up, called him, she wanted to discuss
a few things about her new property. They made a deal. “You help me rebuild my house, and I’ll let you build one for yourself on the land.” Poem knew she would have many helpers; Herman and Cloud. They may be older men, but they were certainly capable, if only to supervise. Further, she knew someone needed to be living on land, or it would just decay. Land, like a heart, has to be loved to really live.

Herman and Myine watched all the progress around them happily, as long as it was not too close. Cloud and Juliet felt the same way.

So, the next few years passed smoothly, and quickly. Herman and Myine built such a happiness as to compare with any happiness on earth. A happiness that did not depend on money or looks. Using, or being used. They were happy, and content. Of course, everyone who happened to have a chance to be around either of them felt their joy in living.

They had the usual human problems: taxes, health, if they didn’t take care of themselves, small debts; nothing they could not handle. They grew all their own food; vegetables and several fruits from their trees. They had a glass of wine with their dinner sometimes. They didn’t celebrate Christmas because they discovered Jesus Christ wasn’t born December 25, it was a day to profit business stores. But they had eggnog at New Year’s celebrations at home.

They didn’t have many people in their lives, so it was comparatively simple, quiet, and problem free.

Herman and Myine had sex whenever they felt like it. If they had to wait they waited. But patience and love were woven through their days of marriage. The sex was always good, because it was in their heads and hearts, as well as their bodies.

Herman and Cloud still had their machine shop that could have stayed overloaded if they hadn’t refused some jobs. It paid well, more than they needed.

Herman liked to buy things for Myine; perfumes, silk scarves, flowers. He had music he liked to play for her in the evenings when they sat on their porch in the swing, or downstairs in their sun-garden, sitting in the dark. Juliet told Cloud, “Myine is happy, chile!”

When Wings was at home, he began to set up a computer for automobiles for his father, because so many things had changed in the automotive industry, becoming computerized. Half heartedly, Herman and Cloud waited, and watched, to see how it all worked out. They never did really understand it, and seldom, if ever, used it.

They really felt semi-retired, so new things, to them, did not matter. They felt too tired to bother learning new things, but … just in case, they listened to Wings.

What everyone wanted was to see what kind of young woman Wings would bring home; who would share in their life. Well, he took his time. He liked to spend time out on the reservation with his relatives, as well as travel.

He liked trips to New York, or San Francisco. He flew to France to visit Poem once. She gave him the use of her house and a map. They had lunch or dinner together several times. They even cooked a meal at home, together, a few times, laughing and talking about “ole country Wideland!” Even discussed plans for their houses on her land.

Myine went regularly to the Jehovah’s Witness Hall on Sundays, and often, Herman went with her. Cloud asked him about it, because Herman had said, “I don’t like organized religion.
All the people I hear on TV lie a lot, and beg for money. If I want to learn about God, I go to my Bible.”

When Cloud asked him about the Hall, Herman sighed, and took a moment to answer. “Well, Cloud, you know I don’t like liars. And you know it’s not hard to see through most of the people preaching in this world. But … these people … every time they tell you something they hold that Bible up in your face and make you read it for yourself! It’s hard to lie about the Bible that way.

“And another thing, they make you study that Bible; you can’t read just one scripture and let it go. You have to study. I know people who say they skip all over the Bible. But, listen. I studied mechanics, and we had to read many books dealing with mechanics to learn all we could about the work.

“Well, it’s the same thing. The Bible has sixty-six books in it. The Old Testament, and the New. All these people are talking about Jehovah God, and Jesus; the past, and the future. When they skip around from one chapter to another, they are reading what each one said about their own experience with Jesus and God. So skipping around is necessary for a person to get a full picture of things. Focused on one subject at a time.”

Cloud looked thoughtful, because he respected Herman and his mind. Then he asked, “Why do they call Him Jehovah? Isn’t it the same God for everybody?”

Herman smiled, “Yea, that’s the same thing I asked Myine.”

“What’d she say, man?”

“She told me, and showed me in the Bible, at Psalm 83:18. Don’t laugh at me, man. I have remembered a lot of things that were worth less.” He laughed, briefly, then continued, “Anyway, He says His name is Jehovah, Myine said, like in the prayer
where everybody says, ‘Hallowed be thy name’? Well, God is not his name, God is what He IS, it is not his name.

“So at that Psalm 83:18, it says, Thou whose name, alone, is Jehovah, is the most high over all the earth.’ And, I’ll tell you the truth, Cloud, I have heard people called many names out of that Bible; Jesus, Isaiah, Benjamin, and others, but I have never heard of anyone called Jehovah, but Jehovah. Now … how did that prophet know that, that long ago? Thousands of years ago?”

Cloud looked at Herman, his best friend, very seriously. They had never written a contract, never did a thing but shake hands on anything. They never argued, or if they did, it was argued like a math problem; solved and forgotten. “And,” Cloud thought, “Herman is not a dumb, silly man, by any measure.”

He said to Herman, “My people believe that Nature is God.”

Herman laughed, lightly and briefly, again. “Man, God created Nature. That’s one thing I always liked about you; you are real, and I think your beliefs are real. But, I am learning, ‘Don’t love the creation as much as you should love the Creator of the creation.’”

Cloud answered, “We believe in a Supreme Creator, man, but my people keep it simple, and real. I can’t speak for everyone, but we don’t get involved in all this ‘Mine is greater than yours’ kind of mess. God is God; surely He will decide. He said not to judge, anyway, man.”

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.