Moses Maggio and the Godfather

“The boss would like to see you now.”

They pushed Freddie through the empty Italian diner and sat him down in front of Moses Maggio. He was finishing up a plate of Mama’s Meatballs. Freddie sat down staring at the red and white checkered table cloth as Moses picked up his napkin and wiped the red sauce off the corner of his mouth.

Freddie was afraid of Moses. Moses was a hero to his people. He lead them out of Italy to this amazing land of the free. Moses also spoke for the Godfather. No one but Moses saw the Godfather. The Godfather set all the rules for the community. Many doubted the existence of the Godfather, some said Moses was making him up to keep order. Those who spoke against Moses were often taken care of and made as an example.

“I have heard some troubling news about you, Freddie” spoke Moses with a raspy whisper.

Freddie shuffled in his chair waiting to hear the charges laid against him.

Moses reached over and caressed Freddie’s cheek. “Have I not been kind to you? Have I not provided you protection? A place to live? Food to eat? A family to belong to? All I ask is that a few rules be followed.”

Moses pulled his hand away and sat back in his chair, placing his arms folded over his stomach. “What’s this I hear about you picking up sticks? Freddie, you know it’s the Sabbath. Yet, you openly defy me and the Godfather by strutting your ass up and down MY streets and picking up sticks? Freddie, your forcing my hand here.”

Freddie lifted up his hands in defense. “Moses! I didn’t know I couldn’t pick up sticks. I needed a little wood for my oven. My wife is cooking a big meal and we ran out of wood. I meant no disrespect!”

Moses sighed. “Hey, I don’t know what to tell ya. I’m going to go back to the kitchen and talk to the Godfather. I personally would love to let you off with a warning. But, it’s not what I want to do, it’s what the Godfather commands.”

With that Moses leaned on the table and pushed himself up. Moses wheezed as he walked to the kitchen, every step buckling under the weight of his body. Freddie watched every step waiting for one of Moses’ knees to blow out like an overinflated tire.

Five minutes passed as Freddie waited nervously. Moses came lumbering out. The momentum of his body carried him back to his seat in front of Freddie. As Freddie looked at Moses he noticed garlic bread crumbs around his mouth and neck of his shirt.

Moses cleared his throat. “Well, Freddie, the Godfather has spoken. He said we need to stone you.”

“WHAT?” screamed Freddie as he tried to stand up, but immediately two men from behind him grabbed his arms and restrained him. “This is insane! Did you even talk to the Godfather or did you just shove bread into your fat face?!”

As Freddie was yelling the men started to drag him out of the diner, knocking over tables and chairs. Freddie pulled himself out of the men’s arms that were dragging him. “How is it against the Godfathers law to pick up sticks to cook dinner for my family, yet it’s OK to pick up stones to kill a man? How is that fair, Moses?”

The men that were dragging Freddie hesitated to grab him. They wanted to hear Moses answer. The room got silent. Moses looked up from his plate. “I don’t make the rules, I just execute them. The Godfather has spoken. Unless we remain loyal to him, he’ll do to us what he did to the Sicilians.”

“No one has seen or heard the Godfather but you, Moses. Most of the people think your loosing your mind! You want me to believe you saw the Godfather in a burning olive bush? Oh wait… whats this…. I think the Godfather is speaking to me…” Freddie reached over and picked up a glass sitting on a table and put it up to his ear. “Yes, Godfather? He’s giving me a revelation. He’s telling me your full of shit!”

Moses stood up and flipped the table. The teetering fat man now appeared to be a towering behemoth. The room felt darker and heavier every step Moses took closer to Freddie. Moses grabbed Freddie’s shirt collar.

“You are the reason we stone people who pick up sticks. First you pick up sticks, then you question the law, then you question your boss, then you question the Godfather. People like you are an infection. A plague on our community. Getting rid of you is cutting off a gangrenous finger. Better for one to suffer than all die.”

Freddie stared at Moses in the eye. “The only thing your protecting us from is moving forward. You can continue to cut off parts of your body that you think are infectious. Eventually you’ll run out of parts to cut off. All that will be left is a stump on the ground. An abomination of a human being groveling in the dirt. As you lay in the dirt not able to walk or even feed yourself you’ll remember it started with your finger. That seemingly unimportant finger.”

Moses threw Freddie into the arms of his men. “Get him out here… you heard what the Godfather said…”

The two men looked at each other waiting to see what the other would do. Moses turned around and paused for a moment. “I don’t think I need to remind anyone here the penalty for not heeding a command of the Godfather, do I?”

The two men grabbed Freddie and dragged him out the front door.

Christopher Witnesses the Crucifixtion

When Fredrick came back something seemed off. Fredrick warned Christopher not to go. He said that things were not quite as he hoped them to be. Christopher never considered Fredrick to be a man of strong faith. Christopher knew that what he was about to experience would strengthen his faith. He wanted to see the crucifixion of Jesus.

After the time displacement procedure Christopher found himself surrounded by a mob. Bodies were pushing up against him as he struggled to wiggle free for a breath of air. He propelled his body forward and underestimated the force he was using. The crowd gave and he found himself on the ground. As he looked up he found himself looking at a few men that were beat, battered, and bloody.

These men looked the same. Which one was Jesus? Which one of these men would be the sacrifice to save Christopher’s soul? Whose blood was worthy? As Christopher looked at these men grouped together, mob yelling, something strange stirred up inside of him. It was compassion.

His mind went to a video someone sent him in an e-mail once. It was a video of an American soldier that was captured by a terrorist cell group. They stripped him naked and beat him. He looked so helpless and so alone. Christopher remembered the rage that overcame him when he saw that video. He wondered where the justice was when he watched that video. It was the same thing he was feeling at this moment.

No! This wasn’t a moment of injustice. This was a moment of justice! This is the moment when mens sins would be forgiven, when the wrath of God would be satisfied, when union with the father would be possible!

One of the men threw up as the Roman soldiers started to nail him to the cross.

A song started to play in Christopher’s head, “And I’ll cherish the Old Rugged Cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down, And I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross, And exchange it some day for a crown.”

He found it hard to say amen to that song in this moment. He found it hard to find anything to cling to or to cherish. This just seemed wrong.

No! He knew that this wasn’t wrong! This was necessary! He needed this to happen. Jesus had to die. Christopher and the rest of the world needed this to take place for the remission of sins.

A woman cried out for Jesus from the crowd. One of the battered men looked up helplessly. This had to be Jesus. He had not been crucified yet. As Christopher looked at him he couldn’t help but to notice the weakness, the helplessness, the heaviness. He looked like someone who needed help. Christopher wanted to help him.

A commotion broke out in the crowd. There was a lot of arguing, pushing, shoving and fighting. Christopher couldn’t see what was going on but he could hear it. The Roman soldiers were distracted as some of them went to investigate this disturbance.

Jesus was unattended. Wild thoughts went through Christopher’s mind. He could help Jesus. He could pull him into the crowd and get lost. He brought some devices from his time that could be used to get out of a tight spot. If he grabbed Jesus he could take him far away from this place. He could even nurse him back to health!

At that moment, Christopher’s faith rose up within him. No. To do so would doom the whole world. Christopher could not let his compassion get in the way of what he knew had to happen. Jesus has to die.

The Roman soldiers subdued the brawl quickly. They started to prepare Jesus for crucifixion. One of the women from the crowd cried out, “Why? Why? This is not right! Someone have mercy upon him!”

A man next to Christopher scoffed at the woman’s pleas. He was wearing what appeared to be priestly robes. Christopher’s blood ran cold. This was one of the men who sentenced Jesus to death. If only he knew who he sentenced to death. Christopher turned to the man and was about to say something when he heard the man respond to the woman, “Jesus has to die.”

A chill ran down Christopher’s spine.

Alternate Ending: Jeff in You, The Hope of Glory

This is an ending written by Sixghun Garrilha to a previous short story I wrote. If you would like to add on to any of my work, I encourage you to do so. Just send me an email or comment and I would be happy to. Enjoy!

Pete runs out the door and down the street to mom’s.
“Jeff!, Jeff!” his dad calls after him.
Jeff wakes up still kicking in his hospital bed, Dad holding him. “Jeff!, Jeff!, you were dreaming again!”

“I had the dream again Dad. I dreamed I was this other kid named Pete, that it was him who broke your watch, and you were really mad about it”.

“You know that watch wasn’t important, son”.

“Yes, I know dad, so why do I keep dreaming this?”

“Well, as you know, our counselor says it’s because you have this cancer, you’re trying to make sense of all the suffering you’re going through, and your dreams show you’re blaming yourself for it”.

“I understand, Dad, but when you’ve punished me in the past, I know it was for my own good and you’ve never been angry like that. It bothers me that I’d dream this about you”.

“You know I love you more than anything, don’t you”

“Yes, Dad”

“Then, first, trust me when I tell you that it’s a bad dream and nothing more. The dream is not about me at all. Secondly, stop blaming yourself for bad dreams, son. They’re only natural to the condition you’re in”.

The American Jesus – The Greatest Commandment

The TV studio was set up like a mountain cabin. A giant stone fireplace was lit and an expensive wood table sat in the center of the room on a Native American hand sewn rug. Sitting at the table was Jesus. His Rolex and the rings on his fingers glistened from the flames dancing in the fireplace.

The opening music for the broadcast played as the camera pulled into Jesus. As the big band music died down Jesus looked at the camera and smiled, “Hello and welcome to the Abundant Life of the Overcoming Believer’s Broadcast. I’m Jesus the Christ.”

“I was asked during my last Believers Conference what was the greatest commandment. That was a great question which requires a great answer. The Father spoke clearly to me once the question was asked. The answer is, ‘Bless God with all your heart and watch God and others bless you!’

How does one bless God? As I have mentioned before, if you have seen me you have seen the Father. Therefore, by blessing me, his son, you bless him! Let me define what I mean by blessing. You can bless with kind words, but that is a lower blessing. Words last for a moment and have no lasting value. I can’t pay the expenses of this ministry that my Father has given me with kind words. The real blessing takes real action. Sending in finances is the simplest and most effective ways to bless God. Me and my Father created all things, we authored life, we continue to allow this creation to go into the future and we didn’t even send you a bill for it. We did it for free! The least you can do is show your appreciation with a financial gift today.

One of the liberal hippies out there might be wondering about the poor. Who will take care of them? Me and my Father already have that taken care of. This principle of blessing applies to them as well!  It’s a system that is fair and unbiased. If the poor would bless God by sending me their money, they would receive a blessing back! By giving money directly to the poor you are blessing poverty, not God. Ask yourself, ‘Who do I want to bless? Poverty which comes from the devil, or Jesus who comes from God?’

Join me tomorrow as we will learn how to pray communism away, the greatest threat to Gods blessing system.”

As the camera away from Jesus the broadcast faded to a neatly arrayed stack of books, DVDs, and CDs. A voice over began to announce the product being offered. “For a blessing of $120.00 you can receive all 20 teachings of The Greatest Commandment. If you act now, Jesus will even give you a free gift of Miracle Mud. This mud was spit on by Jesus and can be applied to your checkbook, bills, your body, or your spouse for miraculous results.”