Brother Willy's Traveling Salvation Show (8 page)

Then,
Michelle started laughing which got Scott started. It took several minutes for them to regain their composure during which time William waited patiently, as he too was smiling. Finally, he spoke and his serious tone returned. “I can assure both of you that this offer is not even close to what you think it is.”

Scott
managed to stop laughing, but Michelle put her head down on the table, as she was yet to control her laughter. After a moment, she raised her head and looked at William. “I can assure you that Scott is not remotely qualified to engage in the act of salvation.” She then burst out laughing again.

Scott
put his arm around Michelle. “I haven’t noticed you wearing your angel wings lately either.”

After a few more minutes, she looked at
Betsy and William and apologized. “I’m sorry. We don’t have a clue what you are talking about and the idea of Scott and I saving souls is just a little far out there.”

Betsy
looked at them with an expression that suggested she was about to challenge them. “It’s funny that when people hear the word salvation they almost always assume our effort has something to do with the deliverance from sin. Salvation can also mean the liberation from ignorance or illusion. Or, it can also mean preservation from destruction.”

Betsy
’s serious tone and message was sobering to both Michelle and Scott as their desire to laugh quickly faded away. William chose to follow up on Betsy’s comments as he relit his cigar. “What you most likely are not aware of is the fact that you have already been introduced to Brother Willy’s Traveling Salvation Show.”

Scott
looked at Michelle and then at William. “I’m not following you? Could you be a little more specific?”

“
On Wednesday night, you read a script in which you were both made to realize the time would come when you would have to say goodbye to each other. Scott was led to tell Michelle that he had been in love with her for years, and Michelle told Scott the two of you made a mistake and you should have been in love with each other rather than friends. You were both reading a script of what life was going to look like for you somewhere down the road, if nothing between you changed. You both were forced for a moment to understand the pain of separation.”

Betsy
joined William in their explanation. “You have been living an illusion for most of the time you were together. Salvation came when you achieved liberation from your illusion that you could just go on forever being friends and that nothing would ever change.”

Michelle
was expressing her doubt as she challenged them. “Are you saying that the few sentences we spoke in the barn changed the course of our life?”

At that moment,
Scott was not convinced that William and Betsy were wrong, but he was very interested in hearing their answer.

Betsy
was the one to accept Michelle’s challenge. “The words were one factor in the equation. However, if you could have seen the look in your eyes when Scott told you he was in love with you, then you might better understand. The biggest single factor that changed the course of your life was when Scott took you in his arms and kissed you. In keeping with the role, he could have given you a short kiss and the play would have ended. He didn’t do that. He held you very close and your kiss lasted for some time. More to the point, you continued to hold each other long after the lights had faded to black. That’s what changed the course of your relationship and your life.”

Michelle
was not ready to acknowledge the accuracy of Betsy’s statement, but gave Betsy’s words her full attention. Michelle and Betsy were watching each other as though there was some type of mental link between them. Whatever was going on between them was beyond Scott’s skill level to figure out.

Scott
chose to address his question to William. “What are the broader implications for what you are saying? You didn’t start the Salvation Show just for our benefit. You must have had a bigger game plan than that.”

William
decided to offer Scott a better explanation than they had been given. “If you were to drive through a small town and see the Salvation Show, you would think that you are seeing a typical religious revival. But that is not what we are doing.”

Betsy
spoke as she glanced at William. “I think for you to really understand what we are all about, you would need to come on the road with us once. We are going to a little town called East Kings Ridge next week and we would like for the two of you to come along.”

William
continued her lead. “I think it would be best for you to see what is going on before you make a decision to work with us. Then if you want to be a part of our group, we can talk more about it. As it stands right now, Michelle would act as our business manager and Scott would be a general manager.”

Scott
looked at Michelle as he spoke to see if she would agree with him. “Mr. Broughton, I don’t know you very well, but I have a feeling this is going to be well worth my time. You didn’t get where you are today by going on wild goose chases. I would like to go.”

Michelle
echoed his sentiments. “I know you both very well and I am almost positive you are up to something, but I’ll bet that whatever you are involved in will be interesting. I will be happy to go along.”

William
stood up and pulled the chair out for Betsy. “Great. Then it’s all set. We will be leaving from the Farm on Tuesday morning at 8:30. You are welcome to stay here until Sunday morning but I have another guest using this place next week.”

CHAPTER VII

Betsy
and William had declined the invitation to stay for lunch, leaving Michelle and Scott to grab a sandwich and get ready to spend the afternoon on the beach. Scott was sitting in a rocking chair on the deck waiting for Michelle for at least fifteen minutes before she joined him. She had something on her mind and it took only a few moments to find out what she was thinking.

“
Scott, do you consider yourself to be an observant person?”

“I think so, why do you ask?”

She then began to make her point. “Tell me what Betsy and William were wearing today.”

Scott
thought for a minute and replied, “Betsy had on long white pants with a pink top. William had on older jeans, a white knit shirt, and tennis shoes. I think Betsy had on sandals.”

In her typical playful
manner, she smiled and nodded her head. “That’s right and now I have another test for you. What is the difference between the swimsuit you were looking at yesterday and the one you are looking at right now?”

Scott
was sure they were the same, but there apparently was something different that she wanted him to notice. The only problem was he could see nothing different. “I really don’t see any difference.”

She moved closer to
him as she became more insistent. “Look closer and see if you notice anything different.”

Hoping for a clue,
Scott tried to narrow down the options. “Is the difference in the top or the bottom and is it in the front or the back?”

She replied patiently, “The difference is in the top and bottom and in the front and back. Just keep looking until you see the difference.”

After a few more minutes, Scott had to confess he saw nothing different about her. “Listen Michelle, I am more than willing to spend the next five hours looking at your top, bottom, front, back, and all the rest of you. The view is pretty good from where I am sitting, but I just don’t see a difference.”

She sat in
his lap with one arm around his neck as she touched the end of his nose with her finger. “Here is the difference between the swimsuit you were looking at yesterday and the one you are looking at today. The suit you were looking at yesterday was being worn by one of those four little college girls who are staying in the house down the beach from ours. The suit you are feasting your eyes on today is being worn by me. Are you starting to see the difference now?”

The best defense is a strong offense, at least in theory.
Scott began to make his weak case. “I didn’t really notice the girl in the pink suit with the straps that tie behind the neck who apparently did not buy the right size top.”

Michelle
was smiling at this point. “Actually, I was not thinking about the girl in the pink suit.”

Scott
quickly realized that for him to admit some guilt might be better and more effective than total denial. “I understand now. You are talking about the girl in the blue bathing suit that untied her top while she was lying on her stomach. The only reason I noticed her was that I was curious about what she would do if someone dumped a glass of cold water on her back. Would she jump up, thus exposing herself to the world, or would she fight the cold shock and hold her position. These are the questions we as a society must answer.”

Michelle
continued her assault. “That is not a major question for society. Besides, I was thinking more about the girl who was so uncoordinated that she couldn’t catch the Frisbee that just happened to land a few feet away from you. It was amazing how many times during the course of the afternoon she would walk over to you before slowly bending over to pick up the missed Frisbee while making sure you missed nothing she was pretending to hide.”

Michelle
’s inquisition was not ending and Scott had no choice but to try more denial. “I didn’t realize anyone was playing with the Frisbee, so I could not have paid any attention to this alleged girl.”

Her stare almost insured
him this defense was ineffective. She then continued her prosecution. “Neither the young lady nor her boobs are alleged. They were clearly entered into evidence.”

Speaking once again without forethought,
Scott replied, “You got that right!”

Michelle
’s mouth opened wide. “Excuse me!”

This time
he spoke with full damage control in mind. “All I was saying was you’ve got the right to your opinion based on the facts as you saw them.”

Michelle
began to make her eloquent closing argument. “On Wednesday night when you so thoughtfully took of my top in the hot tub, you surrendered all of your future rights to be interested in other girls. When you made love to me, you surrendered all of your future rights to look at other girls. I just wanted to call this to your attention before we go down to the beach today.”

Scott
kissed her cheek as he began to play defense. “I am so glad you’ve brought this new rule to my attention. I mean, who knew.”

Michelle
kissed him and replied, “You’ll know from now on.”

He
became serious with Michelle for the first time. “Put your mind at ease. There is a saying that goes something like this; why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home.”

Michelle
smiled before she stood up. “I’m not worried about you.”

As
they were walking down the steps, he stopped Michelle to make a point and perhaps settle his own curiosity. “The girl with the Frisbee was being fairly obvious about what she was doing. When she threw the Frisbee, she was dead on target, which suggests she has played with a Frisbee before. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume she can catch the Frisbee if she so desired. Here is my question. She knew you and I were together, so what was she trying to accomplish?”

Michelle
stared at him for a moment before she continued her walk down the steps. “I’ll explain it to you sometime. However, I do you credit for being observant.”

Once
they were settled on the beach, Scott started a conversation they were both ready to have. “I have a feeling we are going to spend an interesting couple of days starting next Tuesday. There is a lot more to the Salvation Show than meets the eye.”

Michelle
was facing the ocean, as she remained silent for several minutes. “Something unusual happened a few months ago. I went to a pool party at Uncle William’s house to celebrate Betsy’s birthday. We got there in time for lunch and spent most of the afternoon around the pool. My brothers and I went swimming for a while and then they left to go see something on the farm. I was lying down on a lounge chair and went to sleep.”

She paused to take a sip from her drink at which time
Scott chose to tease her. “Were you wearing a sexy little swimsuit?”

She shook her head in
frustration. “Do you want to hear my story or talk about the very conservative one piece bathing suit I was wearing that day?”

“How conservative
was it?” He asked.

“Put it this way. If I was wearing it today, I wouldn’t blame you for looking at Frisbee girl.” She replied.

“Okay, you’ve lost me now. Let’s get back to the story.” He replied.

She shook her head as she continued. “I woke up but didn’t open my eyes
, but I heard them talking about taking the show to Western North Carolina. William made the comment that some political leader would be hung out to dry when they got finished.”

Her story
made him curious. “Are you saying they might use the Salvation Show to bring down the politician? If so, how are the two things connected?”

She handed
him a bottle of sunscreen, “Would you put this on my back please? I don’t know what the connection would be unless they use the show to target their message to average people.”

Scott
took the bottle from her and replied, “I would rather put the lotion on your front. Anyway, why not just take out an ad in the paper or do a TV commercial.”

Michelle
leaned forward as he started to squirt the lotion on her back. “I’m sure you would like to smear lotion all over Frisbee girl, too. What I learned in my marketing class was to tie your message to the person’s emotions for the strongest and longest lasting results. If they can link their message to someone’s religion, then they have them locked into their idea.”

Scott
squeezed Michelle’s neck as he continued to tease her. “Where is Frisbee girl anyway? She may need some lotion.”

She used her elbow to hit
him in the chest. “She’s not out here yet and her lotion is not your problem. Besides, I don’t know if we have enough lotion to cover those things.”

He
thought about Michelle’s point for a moment. “In any case, what would be William’s interest in going after some political leader that far from home. Is he involved in politics?”

“I doubt you get to his level of wealth without being involved to some extent. I’m not sure why he would get down and dirty with
local politics though, unless he had his own political agenda to crusade for.” Michelle said.

Scott
started to recall their experience at the farm on Wednesday night. “I realize the guy is rich, but if he is putting on a road show with all the equipment he had in the barn, then he is spending some big bucks. There is no telling how much money he spent just on that rear stage TV system. That was state of the art equipment. I don’t think he would make that investment if he weren’t after something.”

Michelle
turned and looked at him. “You know, people throw some big money into the collection plate.”

He
shook his head in disagreement. “He can find better ways to make more money than running a scam like that. Besides, it’s still an expensive show to take on the road.”

Michelle
chose to argue his point. “But you forget he and Betsy are very good at what they do when they put on a show.”

She could see
his look of confusion. “How do you know they are good at what they do?”

Michelle
looked away and then back at Scott after only a few moments. “I know because you and I were the targets of his dog and pony show. And admit it or not, it was successful.”

Scott
thought she was giving them too much credit. “I’m not sure I agree with that. If you remember, we agreed to have a long talk just before we walked into the barn. I think you and I had figured out what was going on with us and we just needed to reach an agreement.”

She
started laughing at Scott as she listened to his argument. “Give me a break, Scott. If you and I had one of our typical conversations, we would have talked for a few minutes, ordered a pizza, and then watched a movie. As it turned out, we left his barn just before eight-thirty, and within two hours, you were taking my clothes off in the hot tub. Thirty minutes after that, we were in bed together making love to each other. That was a big step for us.”

“That may be true, but let’s be honest here. He had a lot of pent up demand working for him.
We were motivated for change.” Scott replied, still having some doubt about his role.

Michelle
tried patiently to make her point. “Betsy was right. The minute we kissed each other, things changed. We haven’t been the same sense.”

Scott
had to agree with her. “You have a point there. If William has found a way to use the Salvation Show to sway public opinion, then that would be a powerful political tool. He may not even be using his own money. He could be using 501c money and the feds won’t know who is making the contributions.”

Michelle
carried his idea forward. “I wonder if he passes a collection plate and if so, what does he do with the money?”

Scott
started smiling as he thought about that possibility. “If you are going to be his business manager, then I guess you will know soon enough.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “You and I might be on the verge of a great job. Some of these
grassroots organization groups pay good salaries and all we have to do is herd sheep.”

Her enthusiasm led
Scott to think about something she had not considered. “What if we don’t agree with his political views?”

“That won’t be a problem because he would agree with us about most things. This could actually be a great job.” She replied
, while looking off in the distance.

They
sat quietly for several minutes considering the possibilities until Scott heard the sound of Michele’s voice speaking with a tone of disbelief. “Don’t look now, but Frisbee girl and one of her friends are coming down the steps.”

Scott
immediately turned and looked before he glanced back at Michelle. She hit him in the arm for not following her instructions. “Why did you look when I told you not to look?”

In pure logical defense,
Scott had to point out the obvious. “People always look when someone tells them not to look. If you hadn’t said anything, I would not have looked. Besides, what possible difference does it make if I glanced in her direction? All she’s doing is talking to her friend.”