James Marlon - John Crow's Devil

And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion, for we are many!

Those of we who did in front see the Apostle face go from pretty to ugly. Him scream out like the roaring lion and look straight at Pastor Bligh. Apostle York head turn red, like pig that choke and dead. Him vex! Him point at the choir and they start sing real loud. The whole o we turning head from left to right, cause one minute the choir a swoop up the chorus, then the next minute the Rum Preacher a burn up the back.

We perplex. After all, everybody did know Bligh when him did fenke-fenke, but here him look strappin, like David with a slingshot. And him loud! This couldn’t be the same man who pee-pee himself and make demon girl beat him down. Is couldn’t him. This man who we seeing now, nobody could a drive him out o him own church. But there him be. Even people who know say the Apostle come from holy Jesus Christ Himself start listen to the Preacher.

The Rum Preacher talkin bout woe this and woe that and woe to the man through who they come, but seeing him was enough. In him white jacket and white shirt and white pants. The sun sneak in and him blast open with light. Then all that white surround with black. Apostle York command The Five to grab the Rum Preacher. One grab him right hand and one grab him left shoulder. The Rum Preacher kick out but them catch him two foot and drag him out o the church. All the time, the Rum Preacher shouting and screaming and Hellfiring bout a man who need deliverance and who writing demon doctrine. Some say is accident, some say them do it on purpose. But all five of them crash into the wall near the doorway and the Rum Preacher head slam into it like battering ram. The Preacher quiet after that.

Outside, the Preacher in the middle of the road and him didn’t move. Him white suit did cover all over with black. Him roll over and try to get up, but crouch down low. Inside, the Apostle talkin bout how him disobey God Himself by inviting that abomination back into the church when First Corinthians clearly say we must expel the immoral brother. The Apostle say that God already pass judgment pon the drunken bastard and is our duty to leave God work to God and hand the man over to the Devil.

“Beloved,” said the Apostle, “turn with me to Exodus Chapter Twenty:

Honor your father and your mother so that your days will be long in the land the Lord is giving you. Say that with me again. Honor your father and your mother so that your days will be long in the land the Lord is giving you.

The Apostle closed his book and grasped the podium with both hands.

“Who is a father?

“Come. Let’s check the scriptures deeply. King Saul, a terrible king, yes, but how bad a father could he be if he raised Jonathan? Now we have King David. Everybody loves King David but lo and behold, as Mrs. Fracas would say, his own son tried to kill him. How about Samuel, who spent so much time prophesying over people’s sons that he couldn’t even see his own sons growing into liars, thieves, and perverts. How about Joseph, father to the Son of God and he didn’t even notice his son was missing until three days later.

“Here is the truth. You don’t need a father or a mother. Let me say this again. You don’t need a father or a mother. All you need is the Heavenly Father. And another thing. I don’t want anybody to call the Lord’s name in this church. Oh, you’re quiet now. Let me say it again. I don’t want anybody to call the Lord’s name in this church. Who can tell me why? Why would I forbid calling the name under which all demons tremble? Well, let me ask you a question … Vixton, what is your father’s name?”

Vixton, along with the rest of The Five, was already standing.

“Adolphus, Apostle.”

“Tell me, Vixton, what do you call him?”

“Nothing that me can say in church, Apostle.”

Some laughed until they saw the Apostle’s face. “There’s a season for laughter and that season is not today. Vixton, seriously, what do you call your father?”

“Well … ah … Papa or Mr. Dixon or P when his ear take him and him can’t hear much.”

“Why not Adolphus?”

“Because …”

“Because he is the head and not the tail, the ruler, not the follower. Because he is the father, you show him due respect. Due respect. So tell me something, Vixton. If you show your earthly father so much respect, how much more should you show your Heavenly Father? Calling God by his first name like you and Him is size. Listen to me, cut it out! Cut it out! Cut it out! Until you can show me, until you can show God that you are more than babes in Christ, I want everybody to address the Father as the Father. He is not your son, or your friend, or your lover. He is your master, and me? I’m just like you. I am His serv—”

Before he could finish, singing disrupted church. The Rum Preacher was outside in the exact spot where he had been beaten and dumped the Sunday previous, singing “Rock of Ages.” His voice was thunderous, full of blood and melancholy. The Apostle heard his song and felt the hatred of Cain for the Preacher, newly able. York pointed at the choir, who erupted into “God Is a Good God.” The chorus rose above the song of the Rum Preacher and consumed it. But as soon as the choir’s song sputtered to a close, there was Hector Bligh, his voice rising. A few in the church began humming with him. The Apostle pushed away the podium in a rage and it fell, sending books skidding across the floor. Nobody dared speak. York pushed open the church doors.

Outside, the Preacher and the Apostle were face to face, separated by yards, years, and ever-mounting animosity. The Rum Preacher kept on singing, his notes rising and falling with the hymn. He looked younger. He seemed to have a new strength, and nobody knew where it came from, though some thought the bed of the Widow Greenfield. The Apostle had no time for Lucinda’s rumors. He turned away from the Preacher but stood in the doorway. Those who had turned to look turned back.

Hector Bligh stood firm. But gray spots blotted out his sunlight, moving left, right, and in circles. He looked up and saw a mass swirling of black that broke away when the John Crows scattered. “Rock of Ages” led to “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Three of the birds landed and met the Pastor with a gaze. Bligh sung. The first flapped his wings and took off, then the second and the third. They rose to a low height, no higher than the steeple of the church, then folded their wings and dove straight for the Pastor. Bligh clutched his heart, closed his eyes, and kept on singing.

The Apostle, his back to the road, folded both arms behind him and rubbed his knuckles. The Pastor’s voice had vanished amidst the scream of vultures. When the Apostle turned around his jaw fell so far that he grabbed his chin to prevent spit escaping. The Pastor was on his knees, in the middle of Hanover Road, with his eyes closed but his arms wide open. Before him, behind him, around him, all the way up to the church steps and down Hanover Road, were dead vultures. John Crows with necks broken, heads crushed, and wings ripped away. The Pastor was praying in a circle of untouched road as the sky drizzled black feathers and blood.

Things done change. Some people feel it, some people know it, but nobody see it. Is one month now. We know that Pastor Bligh bring shame pon the land and is God judgment that drive him out of the village. Last week service everybody on fire for the Lord. Praising and singing and shouting and clapping and even those dutty Rude Boys get baptize! But then the old preacher come back. None of we know how, cause him was so fool-fool before. Him step up the road with purpose like him is John the Baptist himself. Them say is Widow Greenfield to blame. Them decide to do something bout her.