The Wrath of Jeremy (21 page)

David’s father pulled the owner’s arm toward
him and stared at his young face with anger in his old eyes,
wanting to know the truth about his son’s whereabouts. “You listen
to me, Bob, my son came here because your institution specializes
in his sort of sickness. Now, you’re telling us that you don’t know
his whereabouts? I thought you were supposed to help him!” David’s
father shouted.

“Listen, Mr. Donovan, I’m sorry, but we don’t
know where they are at this moment, we don’t know where any of your
sons are at,” Bob stated in a nervous tone. He pulled his arm away
from Mr. Donovan’s grip and fixed his tie that lay over his blue
suit.

“Are you trying to tell us that our sons are
missing?” asked Jeremy’s mother.

Bob replied, “Yeah, Mrs. Daven, that’s what
I’m trying to tell you. When the building burned down last night,
they must have—”

“The building didn’t burn down,” interrupted
Mrs. Donovan. “There is no way in Hell this building could have
burnt, there’s nothing here to be burned. I mean, I don’t know
what’s going on here, but I just want you to be straight with us,
no bullshit!” The media and cameramen showed up as they ran up to
Bob with questions pouring out from their mouths as well, pointing
their cameras and microphones to his face of sweat, mixed with dirt
that blew and stuck to his face.

A journalist held a microphone up to Bob’s
mouth, literally touching his lips while questioning, “Sir, is it
true that Grewsal has been stated as ‘missing’ and all that’s left
is what seems to be dirt?”

All paused, not a sound was heard, except the
sparrows singing out their tune, and all waited for the answer to
come from Bob, the owner. He gave out a sigh, a breath of stress
and confusion, and inhaled the question, mixing it around in his
mind, wanting to give the perfect answer that wouldn’t damage his
credentials when he decided to build another Grewsal. He exhaled,
“That is true and false. It’s true that Grewsal is missing, but
it’s false that it ended up as a bunch of dirt. I mean, that’s
absurd, there has to be some reasonable explanation for this and
you know that.”

“Do you think this kind of miracle relates to
the wars that are going on in Iraq and Jerusalem?” another
journalist asked, while Bob noticed out of the corner of his eye
that the parents of the boys were walking away slowly.

“Listen, I already told you, this isn’t a
miracle, and there is a reasonable explanation. Also, I do not
believe that this has anything to do with the wars. Wars in Iraq
and Jerusalem have been going on for years. I don’t think that this
incident has any relation to that, so let’s not create this into
religious propaganda and call this a miracle,” Bob replied in a
strict manner, trying to walk away from the media and people who
still begged for answers.

Another journalist stepped in front of him
and stopped his walk, demanding, “Do you believe that this miracle
is a sign that something will happen if the wars don’t stop?”

“Listen, by my recollection, a peace treaty
has been made in Jerusalem already, and one is in effect with Iraq,
but that’s not up to me to remind you of that. Besides, like I said
before, this wasn’t a miracle. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s be
professionals about this and not create this incident into a
religious mockery; it’s embarrassing. I know that it’s baffling to
see all this dirt, but I could assure you that this was not caused
by God or anything of that matter!” Bob shouted and then started to
run away from them.

“All I see is soil, sir, I think this is a
form of a miracle,” the same journalist stated with sarcasm, seeing
Bob running to his red convertible. He got inside of it and drove
away from Grewsal without answering the question. Suddenly the
media noticed the boys’ parents in the distance.

They ran up to Jeremy’s mother first and
began asking her the same questions, seeing her tears at the same
time, noticing that every question they shouted toward her meant
one more teardrop would leap to its death from her
melancholy-filled eyes. The word “miracle” echoed in her mind,
drowning out her will of hope, confusing her even more to the
perception of Jeremy’s whereabouts, as well as all the other
patients who lived at Grewsal.

All the journalists stood quietly, waiting
for her words of truth, and the only sound that was heard was the
sparrows singing their tune. The mother noticed the lovely pitch,
stared and gazed at the sparrows that huddled in a large tree right
next to them all, and then answered, “I don’t know if this is a
miracle or not, all I know is I want my son back! I don’t know what
happened here, but I know in my heart that Jeremy, as well as the
other boys, are alive, somewhere. So please, listen as I say that
all I want is my son, Jeremy, in my arms again….”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

T
he sunlight became
a God-like entity to the boys’ eyes, as well as Mary’s, as it
pounded down its heat through the airport window. They stepped out
of the airplane in Amman, Jordan, with incomprehension in most of
their minds, except for David’s. The puzzlement was mixed with
trepidation in Michael, Jeremy and Gabriel’s psyches, the confusion
and fear of why exactly they were here in Amman. They recognized
the rational incentive that they had contained within them, the
reason of them being cured. But their thoughts changed as Grewsal
faded to a pile of dirt, and as they saw miracles occur that they
couldn’t believe. ‘Understanding’ was gone from their lives, and
all they had left was a metaphoric mountain to climb, that had no
top or bottom.

As they exited the airplane, Sam, the
stewardess, was still knocked out cold. “Why don’t you help her
wake up, David? After all, you did make her wound disappear,”
Jeremy asked. They reached the outside of the airport while Sam was
beginning to slowly open her groggy eyes, piercing them toward
Jeremy’s sight. She gave a small smile toward him, and he did the
same, showing his attraction toward her beauty, her beautiful hair
and eyes of wonder and mystery. Yet the smile on her face vanished
as she tried desperately to open her eyes more, not knowing where
she was, who these people were, and why she had to fight her eyes
to open.

“Put her down,” David said. Gabriel and
Jeremy placed her down on the dirt of Amman and watched her eyes
begin to open even more, with passers-by looking their eyes towards
them, but not stopping at all to see if they needed help with Sam.
A few men in the distance were staring at Mary and Sam in an
appalled manner, rubbing their beards and cracking their knuckles,
as if they were about to attack these women with their hair of
beauty. They noticed these men, and suddenly the look in David’s
eyes went from confusion to realization. He snapped his fingers,
showing that he had a thought in mind. “I forgot their customs
here,” David noted, running back into the airport and leaving all
of them confused at his actions and words. He came out five minutes
later with two long, black scarves. “Here, Gabriel, you put this on
Mary’s head, and Jeremy, put this on Sam’s. This is their custom.
We don’t want to draw any more attention to us than we already
have.” The boys placed and wrapped the scarves around Mary and
Sam’s head, and after they completed the ensemble, Jeremy noticed
the men, who were watching them before with harm in their eyes,
were no longer watching them. David was right.

Sam once again fought to open her eyes, and
when she fully opened them, her pupils dilated at the sight of
Mary, Gabriel, Michael, David and Jeremy all watching her with
their bodies around her in a circle. The heat began to make her
flush, and perplexity started to eat at her already anxiety-filled
mind, to the point where she suddenly yelled out, “Somebody help
me, help me please!” David immediately touched her fretful head and
allowed her to be knocked out again, closing her eyes immediately
with her head falling back into Jeremy’s hands.

“We have to take her with us, there is no way
that we can leave her here. When she wakes up, she’ll tell the
Amman police what she saw on the plane, and then she’ll tell them
about us—shit, we have to take her with us.” David panicked, and
each of them picked up her body from the soiled ground again and
brought her across the street from the airport. They sat her down
on a table that was right next to a wooden building, resembling a
tavern with its simple design.

Mary rubbed Sam’s head quietly and
calmly.

Jeremy asked, “What do we do now?”

David thought about his question for a second
or two, and replied, “Well, my last memory tells me to go to the
Jordan River. Beyond the banks of it shall lie a man who goes by
the name of ‘Luke’. He shall guide us—”

Gabriel, with anxiety racing through his
veins as he eyed the surroundings, interrupted David with: “Wait a
second! How are we supposed to get there?” Gabriel then noticed the
time on his watch reading 6:15 a.m. He looked toward the orange
sun, perceiving its beauty and how it slowly went downwards and
seemed as if it was burning the sand that made up Amman. He added,
“Damn, that’s right, it’s sundown now, what time is it?”

“Who cares, but right now our transportation
is sitting right across the street,” David answered. He pointed
toward a grimy, parked taxi that was waiting by the airport.

They grabbed Sam and carried her to the taxi,
placing her in first in the passenger’s seat. The driver looked at
them with wide eyes, knowing that this was an unusual moment. They
then all entered the taxi and David told the driver the directions,
but in another language, once again impressing Jeremy, Michael,
Gabriel and Mary.

They headed to the banks of the Jordan River,
as darkness overshadowed the earth, and a feeling of terror of what
they would see when they reached the river traveled through their
minds with infinite speed. Jeremy just looked out the window of the
taxi, seeing this new and beautiful land, trying to grasp beyond
this surreal moment if this was all a dream or reality. But he knew
it was real, yet the trip allowed his wandering mind and eyes to
rest, and in his sleep he dreamt, for some reason, of a memory he
had when he was fifteen years of age. Jeremy’s flashback began with
his best friend, a boy by the name of ‘Joe’ coming up to him while
young. Jeremy was sitting on his back porch, gazing out at the
stars that twinkled their reflection off his pupils, being so
bright.

“Hey, Jeremy, why weren’t you in school
today?” Joe asked, sitting next to Jeremy and noticing a sad look
on his face. No answer came from him, just silence. “Jeremy, you
know, you can tell me what’s wrong. I mean, you are the most
popular guy in school, you have everything going for you when it
comes to grades. Man, what’s wrong?” Joe asked again, this time
with Jeremy showing a shield of tears in his eyes. Joe noticed the
tears in the reflection of the stars, and suddenly patted Jeremy on
the back, knowing that he was in fact upset about something.

Jeremy turned to him and answered, “Joe, did
you ever have a feeling or a sense that maybe you were meant for
something great, that you were special, that God heard your prayers
every night and would answer them?”

Joe didn’t know what to say, so he replied,
“Um, dude, what’s wrong? You are special, man, in your own
way.”

“Well, I’m losing that feeling. I’ve lost it
already, and now I don’t know what to do. It’s like I feel that God
isn’t hearing me anymore!”

Joe raised his body up and went in front of
Jeremy, blocking out the starlight from Jeremy’s eyes. “Jeremy,
maybe one day all of us will find out how special we are. I mean,
dude, God loves all of us, everything that existed and exists.
That’s why he’s God. You have a perfect life, and when we turn
eighteen, we’ll be free to go wherever we want, and you can do
whatever adventure you want to do,” Joe explained.

Suddenly Jeremy’s dream and flashback ended
once the taxi went over a bump, with his eyes opening to the sight
of Mary sleeping on his shoulders. In his mind, Jeremy closed his
eyes again, and found himself at a funeral, standing over a coffin,
giving a speech to over a hundred people who stood crying. “He was
my best friend, and we were both gonna turn eighteen tomorrow. But
he taught me one thing out of many, that we all have an adventure
to live, and that God loves all of us,” young Jeremy cried out. He
then opened his eyes again and the flashback ended once more, with
his perception being that of tears. Jeremy found himself in the
taxi again, with tears in his eyes of a memory hidden deep in his
mind. Jeremy whispered to himself as he stared out the taxi window
at the brilliant stars of Jordan, “We all have an adventure to
live, and God loves us all.”

Nevertheless, the taxi finally reached the
Jordan River, and the driver told them the price of the ride in
another language as Mary awakened from her sleep. David continued
speaking the same language of the driver to the driver. He touched
the driver’s hand and said, “Thank you for taking us, that will be
all!” The driver looked at his hand, without seeing any money in
it, and smiled at David. They exited the taxi and helped Sam out of
it when her eyes slowly opened again.

The taxi drove off and headed straight to the
river’s bank with Jeremy and Gabriel holding onto Sam, trying to
help her walk with her still sleepy body. Yet Sam began to come out
of her sleep. “Where am I?” she asked while opening her eyes wide.
She looked around at the magnificent view, the view that held
deserts in its texture and stars that reflected off of the river,
showing its beauty to their eyes. She became overwhelmed with
confusion, looking down at her stewardess’s uniform, feeling the
scarf on her head and then looking at the landscape again.

Did the plane crash…? Sam questioned that in
her mind over and over.