The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (26 page)

‘
What?
’ Shaun asked, louder
than he intended to. ‘How could this not be the right time? You’ve got
everything going for you, man. You have a successful
international
business, a huge house, and two overpriced cars, each on their own worth more
than most people earn in a lifetime. What else do you need?’

‘It’s not like that,’ Jared said. He
fumbled in his pocket and produced a small velvet box. He could gauge from
Shaun’s facial expression that the content of the box was no mystery. With the
flick of the thumb, Jared exposed the flawless 1 carat diamond ring. The dim
lighting in the pub only added to the breathtaking effect of the platinum
setting.

Shaun whistled between his teeth as
he took the box from Jared’s hand to have a better look at the ring. ‘No
offence, Jay, but if you don’t plan on marrying her, this might just give Amy
the wrong impression.’

‘It’s not that I don’t
want
to marry her,’ Jared sighed. ‘It’s just...’

‘Just...?’

‘There are some...issues that I need
to sort out first, you know.’

Shaun shrugged. He didn’t. ‘Issues?
What issues?’

‘Take the whole church thing as an
example. Last night she, once again, tried to guilt-trip me into going.’

Shaun shot his cuffs and wiped some
imaginary dirt from his jacket sleeve. ‘And you don’t want to go?’ he asked and
finished his drink.

‘For what reason would I
want
to go?’ Jared asked. ‘They always take you on an emotional high before bringing
you down hard. This is their cue to squeeze you for most of your hard-earned
money.’ Jared motioned to the bartender and washed down the rest of his drink.
‘They do it with the music, you know? With a piano they excite you. They call
it praise. With a violin they pull you down and call it worship. It’s then—when
you’re emotionally at your weakest—that they hold out their cupped hands. At
the end they close off with more songs of praise so that you go home with this
warm fuzzy feeling in your heart which fuels the eagerness to go again. Nothing
ever gets accomplished. Wars still continue; famine still ravages countries. No
lives are really ever affected for the better.’

The bartender interrupted, asking if
he could get them another round of the same. Both confirmed with a nod.

‘Spoken like a true atheist,’ Shaun
said once they were alone again.

‘Agnostic,’ Jared said. ‘There’s a
difference.’

‘There is?’

‘In short, we believe that man can
neither prove nor disprove the existence of a god. It speaks only to the
knowledge of the existence of gods, and not the belief in them.’

‘So you can believe in a god and
still be agnostic in that you don't believe you can prove that your god
exists?’ Shaun asked. ‘Even though you sincerely believe it does?’

Jared nodded. ‘But that’s beside the
point,’ he said as Shaun handed him the velvet box. Jared took one long
thoughtful look at the jewel inside before snapping the lid shut and burying
the box in his jacket pocket. ‘How much do I sacrifice of who I am to please
the one I love?’

‘Well, if it means
that
much
to her that you go,’ Shaun said, ‘why don’t you just go with her and get it
over with?’

Jared raised an eyebrow as the
waiter delivered their drinks.

‘You love her, right?’

‘That’s a stupid question.’

‘Well, then just go with her, man,’
Shaun said. ‘I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?’

Jared stared at the contents of his
glass as he swirled it around, in his mind weighing reason against love, and
love against ego. He
could
go; there was nothing that hindered him. It
was giving in on his initial position that bothered him the most about the
whole affair. If he could give in to this, what would he give in to next? Where
would it end? ‘All right,’ he finally said and a smirk spread across his face.
‘I’ll go.’

‘You will?’ Shaun asked in
disbelief, surprised at how easy it was to sway the un-swayable.

Jared nodded. ‘On one condition
though.’

‘Yes...?’

‘That you join us.’

Shaun almost spilled his drink.
‘You’re kidding, right?’ he asked and laughed. ‘Please tell me you’re joking.’

‘Come now,’ Jared said and smiled.
‘After all...what’s the worst that could happen?’

Shaun sighed and bit his lip. ‘Tell
you what,’ he said. ‘If you ask her to marry you, I’ll join you on Sunday.’

‘I have a better deal for you,’
Jared said, his smile broadening. ‘If you still want a job to go back to on
Monday morning, you’d join me on Sunday.’

‘Okay,’ Shaun said and threw his
hands up in defeat. ‘At least pick me up on your way, eh?’

The two quickly finished their
drinks together and slammed their glasses on the table three times; their
tradition of showing that the “meeting” was over.

‘Okay,’ Jared said as he motioned to
the waiter to bring the bill. ‘Now the only question that needs to be answered
is, do we pick you up in the Bentley, or the Aston Martin?’

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Tell me about this church you
want me to go to,’ Jared said as Amy handed him his coffee. ‘What could one
expect? What should a person wear?’

Amy shot him a glance, unable to
hide the excitement in her eyes. ‘You mean...you’re going?’

‘I’m thinking about it,’ Jared said.
‘Shaun said that he’d join us, so I figured I might as well check it out, you
know, seeing as how important the whole thing is to you.’

She didn’t know whether it was meant
as an insult or not, but what mattered to her was that he was going. ‘You don’t
have to dress up fancy,’ she said and smiled. ‘In fact, you’d almost look out
of place if you wore a suit.’

Jared frowned. ‘Wouldn’t it be
disrespectful to your God if I arrived in shoddy clothing?’

‘Not at all,’ Amy giggled. ‘He
searches your heart. It’s what’s on the inside that matters to Him, and not
what’s on the outside.’ She stole a kiss on his cheek and rubbed her palm
against his chest. ‘Besides, your “shoddy” clothing makes kings look like hobos
in comparison.’

Jared managed a stiff chuckle. ‘I
just can’t imagine that God, Divine Creator of the universe would be impressed
by anything less than the best.’

‘You can’t impress God, Jared,’ Amy
said. ‘Ever.’ She snuggled up to him and gently ran her fingers up his arm. ‘Do
you really believe that we can impress the God that controls every single thing
in existence?’ She gave him a moment to think about it as she finished her
coffee. ‘He loves us just as we are; rich or poor. No exceptions.’

Jared smiled and gave her shoulder a
loving squeeze. ‘Have you ever considered the possibility that the Bible could
be wrong? That God, if He exists, isn’t this all-loving being that you believe
Him to be? How can a person possibly grasp the complexities of an almighty God
with the limited capacity of the human mind?’

Amy’s blood turned to ice. She had
this conversation with Jared before and knew where it was leading. ‘He came to
earth as a mere Human to show us what He’s like,’ she said, hoping to bring the
topic to an end. ‘You only need to read and believe in the Bible to understand
how He works and thinks and loves.’

‘I believe in my cheque book,’ Jared
said, trying to end the topic with the last say. ‘I don’t need a book of fairy
tales to tell me how to live my life. So far it’s worked out great for me.’

For a moment Amy didn’t say
anything. She merely stared at Jared’s face, wondering how a man who understood
the complicated nature of business could not grasp the simplicity of God.
‘Don’t worry about it, love,’ she said and wrapped her arms around him. ‘You
don’t have to participate or believe in anything; your mere presence at Church
would be more than enough for me.’

Jared finally forced a smile. ‘How
about going out tonight?’ he asked, changing the subject. ‘We could have some
Chinese, and perhaps a movie.’

‘Okay,’ Amy said and sat upright.
She smiled broadly and Jared could see the childish happiness in her eyes.
‘Stunning idea. Just let me grab my coat.’ She got up and took hold of his
hands and with one heave she helped Jared up.

‘Right,’ Jared said and ran his
fingers through his hair. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

*   
-    -    -    *

It cost an additional
₤
5000 to have the back of
the Vanquish modified to house two small back seats. Jared didn’t mind the uncomfortable
seats. He never sat in them. Shaun didn’t mind either because of the sheer
thrill of being a passenger.

The three of them made small talk as
the Aston Martin sailed through the streets of Kelwick, stopping only at the
occasional traffic light. On several occasions people stopped in mid-stride to
look on as Kelwick’s most expensive car growled by. Finally the Vanquish
 turned into the Church parking lot, gently gliding past the open bays as
Jared searched for the best parking spot that would allow them the quickest
possible escape route.

‘Where’s the VIP parking?’ Jared
asked with a smirk.

The joke was lost on Amy. ‘Just park
anywhere,’ she said. ‘We’re all equal here.’

Jared rolled his eyes and parked the
Vanquish as close to the main entrance as he could manage.
Perfect
, he
thought with a satisfied nod,
for that quick get-away.

A few minutes later the three of
them strolled up a wide brick path to the main entrance of the building. Two
men in suits stood at the doors, greeting those who entered with a firm
handshake while stuffing the Church itinerary into the free hand. Jared shook
hands with one of the men and took the pamphlet that was shoved into his hand.
He briefly eyed the contents before handing it to Amy.

‘Where should we sit?’ Shaun asked and
tugged at his collar.

‘Bottom, back,’ Jared decided for
them.
Closest to the exit.

The three of them walked through the
foyer and into the massive two-storey auditorium. Both Jared and Shaun were
amazed at the sheer size of the building. For a moment Jared felt like they
were in a massive Opera House, about to watch a ballet or stage play. As they
took their seats, Jared ran his fingers over the soft material. He looked
around, studying the faces and dress-code of those that entered and took their
seats wherever they felt most comfortable. ‘Tell me,’ Jared said and poked an
elbow into Shaun’s side. ‘How many people do you think they could seat in
here?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Shaun said, stalling
for time as he did a quick calculation in his mind. ‘Two, maybe three thousand
people?’

Jared nodded. ‘How many services are
there on an average Sunday?’ he asked Amy.

‘Four,’ she said. ‘Two in the
morning, one late-afternoon service, and one in the evening.’

‘Four...’ Jared echoed softly as his
mind worked out the mathematical motive behind his questions. ‘Going on an
estimate of two thousand seats, and only two hundred people, a mere ten
percent, showing up at each service and giving ten Rand each; this Church would
have made eight thousand Rand. Not bad for a day’s work, don’t you think?’

‘Uh-huh,’ Shaun said, pretending to
be interested in Jared’s financial observations. He was, in fact, more
interested in the band fine tuning their instruments on the stage at the front.
‘Is that an electric guitar?’ he asked.

Jared leaned forward to take a
closer look at the five people on the stage at the front. A moderately
attractive young woman stood at an electric keyboard, warming her fingers to
the keys as she rehearsed one of the songs that they were going to play at the
beginning of the service. The drum player sat at the back, casually talking to
what Jared assumed to be the female lead vocalist. The remaining two members of
the band were fine tuning their guitars, and every now and then trying to catch
up with the girl behind the keyboard.

‘Indeed. I believe it is,’ Jared
said and nodded. He leaned toward Amy and dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘It
seems that God is keeping up with the times, eh?’ he chuckled. She shot him a
glance. ‘Kidding,’ Jared said and held up his hands in surrender. ‘But don’t
tell me that you don’t find the whole setup at least somewhat disconcerting.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘for starters, the
sheer size of this place. How can a person develop a personal relationship with
the priest in a place like this, let alone God?’

‘Pastor,’ she corrected him. ‘Priest
is Roman Catholic.’

‘There’s a difference?’ Jared asked.
He didn’t give her time to answer. ‘And the electric guitars? Isn’t that too
retro for God?’

Amy bit her lip. She wondered if
Jared was purposefully trying to upset her or if he actually
wanted
to
know. She took a deep breath to subdue the anger that might reflect in her
voice. ‘We believe that God should be worshipped through everything we do, with
any means possible. George happens to be good with an electric guitar, and uses
the instrument to assist others with their worship.’