Oliver Benjamin
“Why not?” Colin said, “The Pope tells people how to fuck.”
“You’re doing great, Izzy,” Sprout assured him.
He had finally let down his guard with them. Having assumed at
first that they were denizens of Gomorrah, the boy understood that
the forces of true evil were against them and now saw them as the
embattled Israelites.
In the bible it was difficult to find anyone having an easy time of
it: the whole cast was equally tried and deluged by the Creator, but
while some drowned, others made use of his storms to grow flowers.
There were therefore two ways to see the maligned: either they were
sinners suffering God’s wrath, or heroes suffering God’s tests. Izzy
decided that a) since they were still struggling valiantly and that b)
since they could not be worse than the enemy they fought against,
they consequently must be on the side of good. Plus, he had always
wanted to see the cesspit of Las Vegas firsthand, the modern-day
Sodom. He came aboard when Bennie suggested the trip, just as
Martin’s funeral was finishing up.
The funeral had been an anonymous, secretly-culled affair. Loath to
attract the media, the attendees were all given short notice and asked
not to wear their gym uniforms. Martin’s second-in-command,
Tobias Heck, a handsome monster of a man presided over the
ceremony, never once mentioning the real name of the deceased. The
tombstone as well remained cryptic: “Our Great Leader,
Unforgotten,” was all it said. Heck promised that his good works
would not go to waste. They would do whatever it took to keep
Gymnesia alive. With their help, the world would someday
remember their fallen sovereign as a great visionary. At the end he
quoted Wilde, a surprise suggestion from unsentimental Yak.
Alien tears will fill for him
Pity’s long-broken urn,
For his mourners will be outcast men,
And outcasts always mourn.
After his speech, everyone lined up to say goodbye to the body.
Martin still wore the Ethiopian amulet around his neck and beside
him in the casket lay one of his rechargeable batteries. “To take our
energy with him,” Heck explained.
Izzy was the last to bid goodbye. They hardly knew each other,
241
 |
 |
 |
 |