Chapter 43
1159 Words
Chapter 43When Samuel reached Suva, he disembarked with the rest of the passengers and decided to spend the morning at the market. He wanted nothing, he needed even less, yet he wanted to lose himself among the people and maybe sit somewhere in front of a tall, refreshing juice. While walking down the street, he noticed a man sitting at a shaded terrace. He noticed him because of his white beard and his detached attitude. He climbed the couple of steps separating him from the terrace and approached the old fellow silently. He bent down to his ear and whispered, “May I join you?”
The man didn’t reply but waived a hand to the chair opposite his.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir,” Samuel began as he sat down, “but you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago and I wonder if you wouldn’t mind a bit of company.”
The blue eyes met Samuel’s in a gentle but steady stare. “Why did you shave your head and beard?”
Samuel passed his hand over his scalp and smiled. “I needed to do it.”
“Ah,” the old man said, “it should have been a great need to subject yourself to such a disfigurement. Would this need be that you wanted to hide from undesired scrutiny?”
The perspicacity of the man surprised Samuel. “You’re right. I didn’t want some people to recognize me.”
“Ah, yes, of course. And your manner of dress does not match your presence. Was that part of the need to disguise yourself, too?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Why would you need to hide behind a mask that is as revealing as your eyes?”
“Yet, you do not know me. How could you tell? My appearance is all but a disguise, albeit a transparent one.”
“Because, dear boy, same as you, I have known you all my life.”
“That’s impossible!” Samuel exclaimed. “I have never been here...”
“But this is assuming that I have lived here since birth, isn’t it? And if the premise is wrong then the theorem must be false.”
“May I know your name?”
“You know it already, but your mind has yet to acknowledge its recollection.”
“Have you been to Australia?”
The old man shook his head, and when he did, the beard moved aside and let the pendant around his neck reflect the sunlight. It was the Star of David.
“You are Rabbi Joshua.”
A thin smiled crossed the old man’s lips. “Indeed I am, dear boy.”
“I guess the beard and the long hair had me fooled.”
“Unlike you at present, people do not often know who I am, or recognize my station in life.”
“I thought a balding head would be the perfect disguise...” Samuel let the words trail off when he saw the Rabbi look at him reprovingly.
“God has given you a mind to think—nothing more, nothing less. Yet, what you do with your mind and the thoughts you engender within is up to you. The consequences of your thoughts and actions are yours to bear.”
“I need to protect someone from harm, Rabbi, but before I can reach her, many men will want to stop me, that’s the reason for my disguise.”
“Your chivalry has rendered you blind and deaf, my son. You have expressed your wish to God in prayer, have you?”
“Yes, Rabbi, I have. And I have expressed the reason for my wish in recitations.”
“Very well then. Let me assure you that your disguise however sheer it may be will not be necessary. God has seen your way to her already.”
“How would you know this, Rabbi?”
Joshua’s eyebrows lifted slowly and his eyes peered in those of Samuel. His regard was penetrating. Indeed, Samuel felt as translucent as a veil floating before the Rabbi’s eyes.
“Do not doubt my word, child. Have the juice you wanted when you climbed those steps, when you joined me, and then go on your way. You need to be there shortly. The sooner the better, I would even say.” The Rabbi then raised a hand and a little Fijian woman appeared at his side instantly, as if by magic. “Samuel here would like a papaya and mango juice, my dear. Would you mind bring it to him?”
“Bien sûr, Rabbin, tout de suite,” she said in French.
Samuel had not listened to anything after Joshua had pronounced his name. “How did you know my name?” He had whispered the question as if afraid that his voice would attract attention.
“Would you prefer I call you Isaac,” the Rabbi replied, leaning to the back of the chair.
Samuel was stunned. “No, not really. I would prefer to erase that name from my memory forever.”
“There is only one person on this earth who can do that. I think you know who that is, don’t you?”
“Yes, Rabbi, I know. I can hardly wait to prostrate myself at her feet and ask for her forgiveness.”
“Ah, thank you, Louisa,” the Rabbi said to the little woman as she deposited the tall glass in front of Samuel.
“De rien, Rabbin, c’est mon plaisir,” she said, trotting away already.
Rabbi Joshua looked at Samuel while the latter sipped on his juice. He still looked like a child to him.
“Talya...” Samuel raised his head, an astonished look on his face. The Rabbi held his gaze. “Yes. Do not be surprised. I know Talya. And she will not understand why you did what you did unless you tell her how much you love her.” Joshua paused. Samuel didn’t believe what he was hearing. “...and, how do you expect her to come back to the fold if you don’t?”
The Rabbi knew everything about him, right down to the last message he had received from Israel.
Joshua smiled. “Don’t dismay yourself, my son. Someone is watching over you and the same person asked me to be there where you could find me—be across your path, as it were—to advise you to make your way to your destination sooner than planned. Evil has been caught and you need to get to Talya.”
“And when you said I shouldn’t worry about people recognizing me, did you mean they will welcome me?”
“Yes, they will, son. You are no longer to be tried; no longer to be perceived as a criminal, but as an instrument in the wrong hands, and now as a witness to the evil deeds that have been perpetrated by the one you are to meet at your destination.”
“May I ask you a question, Rabbi?”
Joshua chuckled. “You have already... but go ahead, what would be your second question?”
“Will the prince be there when I arrive?”
“I presume so. In fact, I would think he should be there. Why do you ask?”
Samuel looked down at his glass without answering.
“I see. You harbour hate in your heart for the one who only tried to save the woman from harm for many months now.”
Samuel nodded.
“Moses had vengeance in his heart when he introduced the law of an eye for an eye, Samuel, and after many enactment of his uncontrollable rage, God exiled him from his sight. Do you want to be exiled from the sight of God as well?”
“No, Rabbi, I do not. I want peace. That’s all I want for Talya and for me.”
“Then I suggest you talk to him in peaceful terms and God will be vigilant, I assure you.”
Samuel finished his juice, stood up and walked down the few steps to the sidewalk, feeling thankful. He didn’t turn around immediately to wave goodbye to Rabbi Joshua, but when he did, the old man had disappeared.
- Writer
