Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6
“In case none of this happens, we will have one last chance,” Ignacio continued. Now he put his hand on my shoulder. “In Izamal, the Pope will speak at the church. We will have this man, a native of that town, as a backup plan.. No one will be suspicious of him. I know exactly where to have him stand. I know exactly where the Pope will be.”
I relaxed a little. I was only to do the deed if the other should fail. The two smallish grenades stood on the table before us, small pineapples that would make a huge difference to the world. Tomorrow, August 11, would come too soon.
~~~
Wednesday the eleventh was here. Soon would be the Papal speech. I had heard nothing from Ignacio. I had to summon all my courage and remain calm. I had my small radio tuned to a station in Merida. It was time. I expected to hear a news bulletin describing the attack on the Pope. The radio did not report an attack. They only made mention of some car that had blown a tire and had careened off the highway thirty minutes earlier. There had been a fiery crash and an explosion that killed the driver. My listening was interrupted by a violent pounding on my door. It was Ignacio.
“Jorge` is dead! It’s all up to you now. We must go to the church. The Pope made his speech in Merida and is on the way to Izamal!”
Beyond
We didn’t say a word to each other on the way to the church. For my part, my head was spinning with many details. We arrived at Mission San Antonio de Padua before anyone else had entered. “Here is where the Pope will be standing when he gives his speech.” Ignacio said. “You will already be here when he enters. The crowd will be allowed to get incredibly close to him. Take your chance when you see it. Remember—This is for all Mayans, past, present and future.”
This really was our chance to make a statement. The grenade in my pocket was cold. My fingers, hot as they could be, curled around it. I didn’t need to look at it . I had studied it endlessly since Ignacio had given it to me. I had pondered and wondered at the small package of death sitting on my kitchen table. Such a change to the world could be made by its use! It was going to be so easy. I would pull the safety pin and roll it gently to Pope John Paul II. In the confusion following the blast, I would slip out the back way that Ignacio had shown me. If it all went well, no one would see where the grenade had come from. All eyes would surely be on the Pope.
People were now being allowed into the area where the Pope would be. Many people, friends and neighbors, filed in and took their places as close as possible to the podium. There was a sense of anticipation that emanated from that place. The surging crowd was in front of me, behind me, filling every square centimeter. I thought about Izamal and all the wrongs her people had suffered. I thought about how good the people were. And I thought about Yaxche`. We had drifted apart. I loved her absolutely. But she would not see me as long as my trips to Merida had continued. I didn’t see any way we could get back together. I was furious that she had allowed her intuition to come between us. It’s so hard to love someone and to be apart from that person. I didn’t know how to go forward from here.
About Wes Oldham
