Breakthrough
Zach had been panhandling in front of my brother’s sail store for years, spread across the ground like a wrecked ship. The smell of his wounds remained a struggle for those who wanted to enter into the store. But Jonas tolerated him, arguing that his customers were mainly fishermen, and that fishermen are accustomed to nasty odors. Actually, since Rachel had passed away, nothing seemed to matter anymore for Jonas.
“Bring me to him, Nathan!”
“Ah, shut up Zach, you’re chasing away the customers.”
“ I don’t give a damn about your customers! Bring me to the Nazarene who performs miracles! I know he is here, in Capernaum, at the moment…”
“And what sort of miracle could he do for you, Zach? You’re definitely incurable.”
“That’s why I need a miracle, you moron! He’ll make me walk again! I’ve heard he’s done it before. It even seems he’s walked on water!”
“And if he somehow manages to make you walk on water, would you go yelling elsewhere?”
“Maybe.”
I would have warded off Zacharias many times if Rachel hadn’t discouraged me.
“We must take care of him, honey. Everyone’s got their own disabilities,” she told me, “and there comes a time when we need someone to help us carry them.”
I didn’t dare say “no” to her. She smiled at me, going to the cellar to grab a piece of bread and some smoked fish for Zacharias. I wonder what I had done to deserve such a wonderful wife… and what I had done to lose her. “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.” I’ve never understood either way.“
“Hi Simeon, what’s new out at sea?”
“Hi Jonas, broken ropes, again… That’s why I’m here. I need two new ones.”
“Another miraculous draught of fish?”
“No, not this time…”
“You’ve seen a marine monster?”
“No, more like a ghost… There was a flash storm on the sea last night. So sudden that I didn’t even have time to lower the sails. I swear to you I’ve never seen a storm of this kind on the Sea of Galilee in all my life! And he was there again… the Nazarene! It was as if he was walking on the water, and the storm abated all at once when he reached the boat of his disciples…”
“Hey, Nathan, listen to this! Simeon saw a guy walking on the sea!”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, the Nazarene… Zach has just told me. Actually, it seems that he is in the tax collector Matthew’s house at the moment. We might go there to see him, just out of curiosity. And we could bring Zach to him, he‘s confidant he can make him walk again!”
Simeon gave me a look of appreciation. Jonas, however, seemed suddenly frozen; his arms outstretched with a coil of rope in each, looking like a well-ordered display rack.
“Something to hide from the tax collector, Jonas?”
“Never good to approach that kind of guy.”
“It seems he’s changed his life since he met the Nazarene… I’ve heard he is no longer a tax collector.”
At that, Simeon took the two ropes from Jonas’ arms and headed for the exit.
“Okay, let’s go see this Matthew! I’ll be paying you next week, Jonas,” he stated, going through the door.
But, just out of the shop, he poked his head through one of the two small windows. “Hey, Jonas, don’t just stand there, get out of your grimy shop and help me carry Zach’s stretcher! Perhaps it would be good for you to meet this Nazarene. We’ve all got our own disabilities.”
I looked at my brother, wondering what he was going to do.
People along the winding streets watched us with a mix of amusement and curiosity. Even Jonas took his turn moving Zacharias since our way was becoming steeper.
“Look everyone,” shouted the paralytic, “the sail maker has accepted the Nazarene’s faith!”
“If you… don’t… stop… bellowing, I’ll make you… eat your… stretcher,” Jonas managed to say, despite his breathlessness.
There was a compact crowd surrounding the home of the former tax collector. Jonas and Simeon were carrying the stretcher while I cut a path through the congregation of people to reach the door. But the main room was so full that it was impossible to even get a toehold in it.
“Through the roof…” Jonas muttered to himself with a strange smile, as if it sounded patently obvious.
“What the matter with you, Jonas?” I whispered to him to avoid drawing attention. “An hour ago, you did not even imagine leaving your store, and now you want to climb up on the roof?”
“Don’t ask me why, I just know that’s what we have to do… Hey Simeon, bring those ropes you didn’t pay me for yet!” he cried out, while starting to climb on a rock pile near the house to reach the edge of the roof.
Simeon tied a knot at each end of the stretcher’s bars and threw the opposite end of the ropes up to Nathan and me. Then, he and another guy who seemed to know Zacharias lifted the stretcher above their heads. We held it with the ropes in a horizontal position until they joined us on the roof. Zacharias, clinging to the wooden bars with a panicked look, had become mute for the first time.
After a break, we lowered the stretcher through the hole we had made in the roof. Inside the house, people surrounding the Nazarene spread out to let the stretcher touch the floor, just at his feet. At the same time, the wind chased away the clouds and sunlight broke through the roof all at once, blinding everyone. I started laughing uncontrollably. I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed. The sound of my laughter seemed strange to me. But I kept laughing. Laughing at our unbelievable journey. Laughing at the grace that had just started to enlighten my soul.
Editor’s note: Damien is one of my longtime English students. About a year ago, I challenged him to write a short story. We spent many weeks bouncing ideas back and forth and I couldn’t be more proud of the final result. I hope you all enjoyed this tale. — Stephen
