The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (73 page)

Ta
liesin
swa
llows h
ard
.
I
n
front
o
f th
e
wh
ole class? Te
ll

th
em
wh
y
h
e
b
elieves? T
hey
w
ill humiliate him
.

'
I will t
ell
Mr
Dav
ies
t
hat I'
ve
sp
oken
t
o yo
u
a
nd th
at
I h
ave dea
lt
wit
h
yo
u
a
cco
rdin
g
ly,' Ca
esar says, w
ith
a s
mile
. '
W
hen is yo
ur n
ext C
lass A
ssembly?'

'
Next
T
hursday,
Sir.'

'T
hat'll
give yo
u
t
ime
to t
hink
a
bout
i
t. T
ell
m
e
J
ones,
d
o yo
u th
ink we sho
uld
say praye
rs b
efore we g
o h
ome a
t n
ight,
th
e way we
d
id
in p
rimary sc
hool?' Cae
sar co
ntinues t
o wa
tch th
e c
hildren
p
laying
i
n th
e
fi
elds, s
creaming
,
ye
lling
an
d
s
quealing.
'
It mi
ght
d
o t
hem
g
ood if th
ey
did
.
'

Th
e
b
ell so
unds f
or
th
e e
nd
o
f th
e
br
eak
.
Th
e c
hildren
a
re
s
low t
o react
t
o t
he b
ell
,
m
ost of
th
em a
re s
o a
bsorbed
i
n
w
hat
t
hey're d
oing. T
h
ey
move w
ith relu
ctance, s
queezing
o
ut
t
he
extra seco
nds
as if i
t i
s
th
eir
ri
ght
t
o e
njoy
eve
ry m
oment, a
nd n
ever
t
o
d
o a
nything th
at is
n't
e
njoyable
.

'
Right. Y
ou'd
b
etter ge
t t
o yo
ur l
essons
.
B
y
th
e way,
h
ow is
th
at brot
her
of yo
urs?'

'H
e's
okay, Si
r. H
e wo
rks
fo
r m
y fa
ther, n
ow.'

'Y
ou're very
d
ifferent
a
ren't
y
ou? H
e
was
n
ever
mu
ch
o
f
a
n academic. Goo
d sp
ortsman
th
ough. Say
h
ello
t
o
hi
m for me
.'

'Yes, Sir.'

'And
d
on't
t
ry a
nything t
oo fa
ntastic
.'

'
N
o, Sir.'

'
I
don'
t
wan
t
a
ny
mo
re l
etters from pa
rent
s
t
hinkin
g
their c
hildren
a
r
e be
ing l
ed as
tray b
y a yo
ung M
essiah.
W
e a
ll kn
ow w
hat h
appens
t
o
M
essiahs
.
'

'Yes, Sir.'

Ta
liesin
ge
ts th
e g
ist o
f w
hat
C
aesar i
s saying
.
J
esus was a
M
es
s
iah, t
hat mu
ch
h
e k
nows
.
A
nd
J
esus was p
unished
for bein
g
one -
put to d
eath fo
r i
t
.
Caesar
h
as promp
ted
t
he
q
ue
stion,
a mos
t d
ifficult q
uestion:
w
hat
is he p
r
epa
red t
o do fo
r h
i
s
be
lief? The th
ought o
f
ex
plaining
it fi
lls him
wit
h
dread
.
S
tanding up in
f
ront o
f
th
e class a
nd t
elling
th
em a
bout
eve
rything
w
ould b
e
lik
e a
d
eath,
h
is eq
uivalent
c
rucifixion. Wh
at o
n
ea
rth would h
e say?
Wh
ere wo
uld h
e s
tart -
wi
th
clo
uds
an
d
t
hat funn
y
pr
essure a
t th
e
b
ack of
hi
s
h
ead?
W
ith wart
s
disappea
ring
a
nd sp
ines s
traightening? W
ith
d
reams a
nd
voice
s?
W
hat d
o
th
ese
thi
ngs amo
unt
to: a s
uccession
of
du
biou
s
coi
ncidence, or
a
purp
oseful d
isplay
of
truth
? T
he
fact
t
hat t
hese thing
s
h
ave
h
appened
m
akes
th
em
n
o
m
ore
b
elievable.
I
f
o
nly th
ey we
re him
.
If
o
nly t
hey'd see
n w
hat
h
e's seen
.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T
HE
N
IGHT
BEFORE Class Assemb
ly
h
e
h
as a
d
ream. T
he
who
le
drea
m
is i
n l
ush p
urple,
and
i
s as
m
annered a
nd
s
tagey
as a fi
lm
or a scene in a p
lay.
H
is
h
ands a
retied in
fro
nt
of
h
im wi
th
a ro
ugh
s
t
r
in
g;
th
ey are ove
rrun
w
ith
wa
rts s
o
d
ensely
clu
stered
th
at
th
ey
l
ook
l
ike
th
e
h
ands o
f a leper. Hi
s
f
eet
ar
e
b
are a
nd
s
mall,
s
till
o
nly
size fo
urs
.
Hi
s
pastel
s
triped b
ed s
heet
is w
rapped
a
round h
i
s
bo
dy lik
e a
to
ga,
ti
ed wi
th dr
essing gow
n
co
rd. H
e's wa
lking
,
up an aisl
e,
b
etween
w
ooden sc
hool
c
hairs.
O
n th
e
l
eft a
nd r
ight a
re
c
hildren t
aunting
a
n
d Grow
n-Ups
sco
lding, r
aining
abu
se
d
own o
n h
im.