01/31/2023
Following is a short story written by R. Tyler Scott. Author of Son, Moon and Star, Back From the Dead, Broken Hero and The Vince Profett Series.
This short story is only a couple of chapters... Take a read and enjoy.
I’m Not That Good of a Christian
R. Tyler Scott
Chapter One
Danny could tell that most of the bleeding from the cut on his head had stopped and was only a trickle that was running into his eye. Of course with his own handcuffs on, he wasn’t able to wipe it out, so he had to keep that eye closed. The eye he could keep open let him see all he needed to know. Oscar, the other deputy who had been in the car with him was lying motionless on the floor. Instead of a lick on the head, Oscar had been shot during the altercation. The man responsible for all this mayhem was named Randall Bryan, an escaped convict from Parchman. He killed one guard and put another one in ICU when he escaped from a work detail. He then stole a car and shot the owner and his eleven year old son. They were both in surgery the last time Danny had talked to the office.
Randall was standing at the door of the barn watching the road to see if anyone was coming to the rescue.
What Danny knew and wasn’t going to say, was that no one knew where they were. He had gotten a tip from an Alton Brister. An old man who watched the roads in his part of the county. He said that he saw a blue ford car with a white stripe just like the one they talked about on television, on the road near Odelle Stewarts Farm. Even though the old man was pretty sharp to be 96, Danny didn’t think much of it because sometimes Alton liked to call in reports just to get someone to come see him. This time Danny decided to take a turn down river road on his way home. Since his wife was out of town, he was a confirmed bachelor tonight. Everyone knew that when his wife was out of town, Danny went to the camp and didn’t want to be bothered. He usually turned his phone ringer down just to make sure he had some privacy. Oscar, who getting off duty, had asked if he could come too. They had left Oscar’s car at the office and he rode with Danny. The plan was for him to drop Danny off at the cabin and take Danny’s Tahoe home, then come pick him up tomorrow after lunch.
The best laid plans go out the window when someone starts shooting. They hadn’t done more than open the doors when Randall opened fire and struck Oscar. Before Danny could return fire, Randall was beside the car and held a gun to the Sheriff’s head. He then took Danny into the barn and handcuffed him to the post and knocked him unconscious.
That was where they were now.
“Is he still alive?” Danny asked.
“Well, if it isn’t good old Sheriff Jones. I saw your name tag. I hope you don’t mind us being introduced like this. I was wondering if you were down for the count too. Not that I care if you live or die because I’ve already got triple life sentences so what are they gonna do to me? As far as Deputy dawg over here, I checked a few minutes ago and he was breathing. The best I could tell, the vest stopped most of the bullet, but some fragments must have gotten through cause he bled more than you did.”
“Listen Randall, this isn’t going to end well for you. You killed one guard and maybe two. You shot a father and son to get their car. When they find you, I don’t believe they are going to worry about getting you back to prison.”
“That’s where you are wrong mister smart Sheriff. You see, I’ve been planning this for months. Everything that has happened so far has been according to plan. That is until you two geniuses showed up. I thought I covered my tracks pretty good. What brought you out here?”
“Got a call from an old man who saw a car that looked like the one on television. Technology is a great tool. If you will turn yourself in, you stand a much better chance of Deputy Coffey recovering. He has a family that needs him and you are trying to take him away from them.
“I didn’t take anything from them. He’s the one who pinned that badge on his chest.
He’s the one who swore to protect all the little innocents. You people deserve everything you get. Besides, you were sloppy today. You came into an area where there might be an escaped fugitive with no backup, no assistance and no plan B. What were you going to do if I hadn’t been here.?” Randall walked over and sat down on an old bucket beside Danny.
“I was going to my camp on the river. My wife’s out of town and I go there when she’s gone.”
“Camp down by the river. Ain’t that the most redneck adventure thing. Do you do much fishing at your camp by the river?”
Danny tried to lean his head and wipe his eye so that he could see better. Now that Randall was close to him, he needed to make a plan to get out of this situation.
“Oh, you’ve got some blood in your eye. Let me help you with that.” Randall reached into his pocket and took out a knife.
Danny saw this and tried to move away, but the convict grabbed his head and slowly gut a gash over his right eye.
“Now you’ve got blood in both eyes. I’d hate for you to be uneven. Now, you were telling me about what kind of fishing you do at your camp.”
“I don’t fish at the camp,” Danny said through gritted teeth. The cut didn’t hurt as bad as the sweat running down into it. “I go there and read my bible and pray and try to keep my head right.”
Randall laughed.
“You mean to tell me that you’ve got a camp down by the river and all you do is have a one man church service? What kind of bible freak are you?”
“I’m just a Christian man who tries to serve the
Lord the best I know how. I’m Sheriff and I have lots of responsibilities.
” The blood was running down his face into his mouth. If he swallowed much of it, he knew he would throw up.
“Well, what do you think of me? I mean you must have a lot of pent up anger at me as a law man, but as a bible freak, aren’t you supposed to turn the other cheek and that kind of stuff? Let’s see if that works?” Randall then slapped Danny across his left cheek. “Okay bible boy, let’s turn the other one.”
Danny Cotten was a tough man who in his career had cleaned out several bars and had broken up brawls more times than he could count. But in all those times, he had never been hit that hard in his life.
“Come one Bible boy. Turn that other cheek.”
Now on top of the blood coming down into both eyes, Danny could taste the blood in his mouth. He was definitely going to be sick. Since he was probably going to die, several insults came to mind and most of them began and ended with profanity. But something kept him from saying any of the word. Instead, slowly he turned his other cheek in the direction of where he heard the voice. It didn’t take long for Randall to oblige and slap him on the right cheek.
“Now that was some true bible stuff right there. Sheriff, I think you earned a little break.”
Danny heard footsteps walking away so he tried again to wipe his eye with his shirt. The blood coming down into the left eye had stopped but the cut over his right eye was flowing pretty good. Looking with his left eye, he saw Danny coming back with a bucket and what looked like a towel.
Since you practiced what you preached, I think you deserve a prize. In fact, while we wait for my ride into the sky, We are going to play a little game.
It’s called are you as good a Christian as you think you are? How about that?”
“I don’t think I’m anything, Danny said. How about you check on Deputy Coffey and see if you can do anything. Or better yet, take off these handcuffs and I’ll check on him. I was a medic in the Marine corp. I can dress battlefield wound.”
“No, we haven’t played our game yet. I will check to see if he’s still breathing.” After he finished wiping the blood out of Danny’s left eye, he got up and checked on Oscar. “He’s breathing, but seems a little ragged. You might better pray for him.”
Danny looked at Randall who was smiling a smile that only an evil man could have.
“That sounds like a great idea. Lord, I don’t know what your plans are for me and Oscar. I am only a servant. First I am your servant and secondly I am a servant of the people who elected me. Forgive me where I fail you. I ask you to heal Oscar right now. Make him stop bleeding and make his breath even and strong. Lord protect me and while I’m with you, I pray for Randall. He’s not one of your servants and doesn’t act like he wants to be. But Lord, show him that all he has to do is turn to you and you will forgive him and provide a home in heaven. I don’t fear death, because I know when I die, I will be with you. Protect my family however you choose to handle this situation in Jesus name Amen.”
“Pretty words right there. I wish I could say them kind of pretty words. You said them words to someone you’ve never seen. I bet you can’t talk to your wife as pretty as that? But we haven’t played our game yet. Here’s your first question. If I am a killer and you are a law man, but you have to arrest me, would you arrest me or just make up a reason to kill me? Now answer truthfully because I can tell when people lie to me.”
Danny looked over at Oscar. He looked like he was breathing better.
“I would try to take you in because that is what my job requires. I am not judge or executioner on this earth nor am I judge of people’s sins. I fail so much, I don’t have time to judge anyone. I can not like what you do and I can want to take matters into my own hands, but in the end, I am held to a higher standard and that is by God.”
Randall leaned his head over and then slapped his leg. “That’s a great bible man answer.” You get one point for that answer. Okay, next question. Instead of going off to my appointed destination tonight, I go to your house and have my way with your wife. You look to old to have any kids, so I’m going to guess she’s at home alone. If I get caught and go back to prison, but I decide that I want to be a bible man like you, could you forgive me?”
Danny could feel his blood begin to boil. Not because of the question, but because he knew that with this man it was an option. He tried to get his mind to think like a homicidal maniac, but the loss of blood was making him woozy.
“I know that God expects us to forgive. I know that Jesus forgave the people who crucified him, so he would expect me to forgive you if you became a Christian.”
“Wrong,” Randall said.
Then he hit Danny so hard he almost lost consciousness again. If he hadn’t been handcuffed to the post he would have flown across the room.
“I’ll bet you didn’t know, but I studied human psychology and got a degree my first ten years in prison. I did that so I could learn my opponents weaknesses and see when they were not being truthful. I can look into your eyes and know that if I did that to your wife, you wouldn’t ever forgive me. You would think about me the rest of your life. You might even try to track me down, but that would just make your life miserable. Since you lied, that takes a point away and you have no points again.
Ready for the next question?
Danny felt his face swelling from the punch and he thought his head might be bleeding again. “I guess I better make sure you believe me next time, cause I don’t think I can handle another one of those shots.”
“No, no, no. That’s not how this is going to go. You don’t make me believe you. You tell me the truth. You are a law man. You know there’s a big difference between the two. Now, get ready for number three. Since you are a Christian, do you ever think I could ever get into your heaven? Now remember, I’ve killed seven people, not counting Deputy Oscar over here cause he’s won’t decide if he’s going to die or not and that’s not counting you because I haven’t decided if your are going to die or not.”
“It doesn’t matter what I think is going to happen. The only thing that matters in this world is God’s word. He said whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That doesn’t give me any leeway as to whether I like it or don’t like it. If God said it, then it’s true and it will happen. So to answer your question, yes. If you were to sincerely accept Christ as your savior, then you would go to heaven just like me.”
Randall leaned over and looked into Danny’s eyes, both of them crusted with blood. He drew back his hand, but then he put it down. “You actually believe that garbage. You actually believe that I could go to the same heaven as you. You have to either be the dumbest person I have ever met or the most devout because I don’t believe it at all. In fact, I don’t want to go to the same heaven as you. You’d be such a stick in the mud it would be no fun.”
For the first time, Danny noticed a change in the tone of Randall’s speech. He was still ranting, but his confidence level wasn’t as big as before.
“There’s only two options when we die. We either go to heaven or we go to hell. I’m going to heaven and Deputy Coffee is also.
Before he could say anything else, the sound of a helicopter came from overhead. It landed beside Danny’s patrol car.
Randall got up from the bucket and looked down at Danny.
“When I was in Angola a long time ago, an old con told me if I ever escaped, never leave any loose ends. If a witness is dead, they can’t testify against you.” He then took Danny’s pistol out of his belt where he had put it and chambered a shell.
Danny saw the end coming and did the only thing he could do. He closed his eyes and began to pray.
“Lord, If I die now, thank you that I was able to die telling someone about you. Protect my family.” When he opened them, Randall was standing completely still. There was a look of confusion on his face.
“I’m not usually surprised, but that surprises me. You could have told me to go to hell or use other profane words, but you thanked your God. That proves you are a true Christian. I’m gonna let you live and if Deputy Coffee lives, so much the better. You tell everyone you meet after today that the only reason I didn’t kill you was because you thanked God. I’ve never seen that.” Then without another word, he walked out of the barn, got into the helicopter and flew away.
Chapter Two
It was a week from the one year anniversary of the Barn hostage crisis. Danny walked up to the officer who was guarding the room, and surrendered his sidearm.
Randall had been captured robbing a bank in Juarez Mexico and was extradited back to Mississippi but not before the Mexican police did a number on him. He had broken ribs and multiple fractures and lacerations. Now Danny was going to come face to face with the man who almost killed him.
When he walked in the room, Randall’s eyes lit up like he was seeing an old friend. “Look who it is,” he said. The broken ribs kept him from his usual high volume speech. “Hello Randall. I really never thought I’d see you again. Did you get bored and need some adrenaline?” Danny said as he sat down.
“I guess that was it. I got down there in Mexico and everything was going fine. I had plenty of money and plenty of senoritas, but it wasn’t enough. So, what brings you here? We gonna start a bible study?”
Danny looked at the bandaged face. Then without a smile or another word, reached into his pocket and pulled out Oscars pistol and pointed it directly at Randall, who saw the truth immediately.
“What about forgiveness? What about all that stuff you said in the barn?” “Oscar died and this is his gun. As far as forgiveness, I thank God he can forgive me and he could have forgiven you for everything too.
I’m just here to tell you, I’m not that good of a Christian.”
Then he fired.
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