Redemptive Fusion

This story is by Marien Oommen and was part of our 2024 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

“Just cut me some mango. Please. With clotted cream. I’m famished,” Jero said, as he returned, reeking sweat from tennis.
“Go wash first, then eat. No way I’m serving you mango. You look one  clotted mess right now,” replied Erin, his pretty wife.
Jero  loved his tennis and nothing could come between him and his game. As a young boy, he  watched the stars at their game and decided he’d be famous one day. Then again, not really for fame, but a desire to smash the ball every day. At his age, it was a past midlife crisis.

The desire to accomplish something as a fulfillment of some childhood dream. And he loved to be alone, caught in a whirlpool of his own thoughts. Power in the smash is what men want all over the world. At all times. What goes into their genetic makeup, their women will never know. Sometimes it shows up in their voice, sometimes in their gestures. Most often in their actions.

Meanwhile  his equal half, Erin was a different cuppatea. Her universe involved her family and their happiness was her sole desire. Yes, she loved playing Pickleball. And she loved to sing and dance. Her heart whispered its longings in the spaces between words.
Her eyes spoke volumes about life itself but she was unable to convey her million thoughts to her man who never understood the poetry of her soul. 

True,  there were certain good times. The  hour when he met her eyes, felt her touch, and together, woven into the fabric of the now, everything around them turned infinite.

True they were different. As chalk and  cucumber. That’s what marriages were made of in this hill country. Overcoming their  differences and living well was important. Sacrificial love, a giving up of one’s wishes to suit the other. Submitting to each other in utmost regard for the other person’s comfort. This was the  recipe for happily ever after.
Erin  was the ultimate Proverbs 31 wife to her very bone, tissues and blood.
Jero banked on her totally.

In direct contrast,  there was this other family  in the neighborhood. Everybody around knew there was turmoil within the walls. The dad  had gotten  bored with his retired  life and wandered  aimlessly, with no plan or purpose. Retirement does that to people. The feeling of being irrelevant, insignificant, unimportant. There were no meetings to attend, no financial scoops to be followed. No markets to be chased. Today there was nobody to listen to him. He had been a brain in his heyday. Now did anyone care?

Somebody shoulda warned him that there’s always folks who take advantage of such losers. Before long, he got entangled  in the wiles of an evil agent straight from hell. That fair broke the wandering bloke, who found himself  getting  caught deeper and deeper,  in a web of deceit and instant gratification.

The story of people unfolds.
His own family started hating him. They distanced him and it broke him further. What is worth of  a dad if his own blood sees him as a wastrel?
Where is mercy and love? Where is forgiveness? How much he had loved them in his youthful days.
Could he justify himself in the eyes of his neighbors? God sees hearts that are desperately wicked, his good  mama had taught him  years ago. Who isn’t wicked? He throws the question to the heavens hoping his mama would catch it. But the sky was silent.

“The church, that’s where I should go! Mama would’ve gone there.”
Sunday arrived.  The priest was babbling on and on.

“Quick fixes ain’t gonna fix our hidden hearts. We need to go to a higher authority who understands our daily grind. Everyone tries to hide and run for cover. Without getting to the root of the issue.”
The Reverend droned on.

“Yesss, exactly what I need. I need to get to that root. What’s bothering me right now?” Rob spoke aloud, looking sheepishly around at the others, sitting straight-faced.

“Who is this higher authority? Tell me.”
Rob asked the priest after service had ended. He stayed for an answer but got none. The Rev. was saying his Hi and Bye to the departing congregants, displaying the usual niceties to everyone. He wanted them to show up the next Sunday. The member  list was crucial.

Nobody cared for Rob. Nobody stopped by to talk.
Hey! What’s the point in going to a church where nobody spoke. Was he  ugly? Or was he a martian? Was it his accent?

His own  family was nowhere near him. They had driven off,  tired of his boorish behavior. How much could they tolerate? He spotted his neighbors, Jero and Erin,  get into their car and drive off. The perfect pair. He could take a few tips from them.

But they wouldn’t stop to talk to him either.

Rob stopped by an eatery and got himself two Subways. He walked over to the park and sat down to eat his sandwich. He wasn’t going home. Not just yet.

A hungry bird came close, begging for crumbs. Rob shared a big piece happily with it.
“At least you care!” Rob smiled at the dove.

He realized he was on a hunt for a true friend. The folks at home had divorced him totally. Their facade and self righteous guile nauseated him.

Somebody was on the bench nearby,  snoring loudly. The power of his own snores knocked him down and he fell forward. Rob rushed to go help him.

“Hey there,  are you alright? Here, care for some water? I’ve got some to spare.”

“O thank you! You are kind!”  The big man, dressed in khakis, didn’t look impoverished.

“What made you fall asleep at this hour?” Rob asked encouragingly.

“Oh boy! Was I tired! Ain’t sleeping well at night. Bad thoughts keep me awake. There’s no peace at home. Everyone just argues all day long. I CAN’T  provide any more. Is everything on MY head?” He waved his hands over his throat as if to say, he had enough. “I’m thinking of giving it all up. Hey, why am I telling you all this?”

“Give up? How? That’s never a solution. You gotta brace yourself and face the foes, as it were,” said Rob.
Rob wondered if the words had actually spilled  out of his mouth. Was it  him who spoke? Where did his strength come from? He reckoned he had none.

“Here, take this sandwich. ‘Twill  make you strong.”  The huge stranger on the bench looked at him, tears in his eyes,  falling on his beard.

“O man, I needed that. I am hungry.” He  chewed slowly.

“Tell me, are YOU Jesus?”

“Ha..ha I am not. But I do know a bit of the Bible. The truth is I have faulted too. It’s this age we are living in. There’s so many voices out  there to catch our eyes. Telling us to hurry up and fill the emptiness, our longings. And why do we long? Why aren’t we satisfied? What can fill us?

He fumbled in his pocket for his cellphone. He turned it on to Psalm 139 and read it out loud and clear, to his new buddy.

“God hems us from behind and before . He has his hands on us, believe me. He discerns our thoughts from far away.”

The man gave him the look. One eyebrow up, left lip screwed upwards.

 Rob continued. “Why would I share my lunch with a total stranger? He knew I needed you as much as you needed me. You have helped me more than you can imagine.”

“Really? A spark of hope flashed through this stranger’s eyes. So we helped each other? That’s funny!”

A strong wind blew through the trees. It ministered to them in their hour of need. Two big men crying on a park bench.

“Is this ironic or what?  Our own families don’t get us. But we find understanding in each other, total strangers. Truly  God must be above, watching over us.”

Rob braced himself up to leave the hallowed bench. A new hope had come over him. He was aligned to a Higher authority who forgave him for all his earthly mistakes. Psalm 139 held the answer.

“Bye, dear friend. Nothing can be so bad. Go home and be at peace with everyone. I’m going to do the same. It’s a whole lot of surrendering. It’s just the chemistry of life.”

As Rob walked away, he felt much lighter on his feet. A dance step was coming up. He felt like a little boy again. The cool wind blew right through his hair. Doves and pigeons cooed all around, much to his delight. There was no more sandwich for them.

A car pulled up near him. It was Jero.

“Hey, Rob, wanna join me for a free tennis lesson tomorrow? I’m actually looking for two guys. Wanna ask your friend  on that bench?

There’s mango with clotted cream as dessert afterwards!”