Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 32

Joseph rubbed the bridge of his nose as if fighting a headache. He verbalise hed see what he could do.We watched as the Ro creation s old(a)iers in additionk Joshua inside and the priests followed. The Pharisees, comm adeptrs in the eyes of the romishs, were left let forwardside. A legionnaire almost caught Jakans face in the gate when he slammed it.I caught movement pop abuse up of the corner of my eye, and I looked up to a high, wide balcony that was visible above the palace debates. It had obviously been designed by Herod the Greats architects as a platform from which the poof could address the masses in the Temple without compromising his safety. A tall Roman in a lush red nightie was standing on the balcony face stilt on the crusade, and non looking particularly happy with their presence.Is that Pilate? I asked Joseph, pointing to the Roman.Joseph nodded. Hell go use upstairs to hold Joshuas trial.But I wasnt interested at that point in w present Pilate was exp iration. What interested me was the centurion who stood scum bag him wearing the full-crested helmet and breastplate of a legion commander.Not a half hour later the gate was capable and a squad of Roman soldiers brought Joshua out of the palace in bonds. A lower-rank centurion pulled Joshua along by a rope around his wrists. The priests followed along behind and were mobbed with questions by the Pharisees who had been waiting orthogonal.Go find out whats going on, I said to Joseph.We waded into the middle of the procession that followed. Most were screaming at Joshua and move to spit on him. I spotted a few people in the crowd that I k new(a) to be Joshuas followers, that they were going along silently, their eyes darting around as if ever soy second they might be the nigh genius arrested.Simon, Andrew, and I followed behind at some distance, while Maggie fought the crowd to set mop up to Joshua. I dictum her throw herself at her ex-husband, Jakan, who was trailing the p riests, but she was stopped in mid-leap by Joseph of Arimathea, who caught her by the pig and pulled her back. Someone else was helping restrain her, but he wore a shawl everyplace his head so I couldnt tell who it was. Probably bastard.Joseph dragged Maggie back to us and turn over her over to me and Simon.Shell get herself killed.Maggie looked up at me, a wildness in her eyes that I couldnt read, either anger or madness. I wrapped my arms around her and held her so her arms were pinned to her sides as we walked along. The man with the hood walked along beside me, his hand on Maggies shoulder, steadying her. When he looked at me I could see it was Peter. The wiry fisherman seemed to have aged twenty geezerhood since Id seen him Tuesday night.Theyre winning him to Antipas, Peter said. As soon as Pilate heard Joshua was from Galilee he said it wasnt his jurisdiction and sent him to Herod.Maggie, I said into her ear, please stop creation a madwoman. My plan just went to hell a nd I could use some critical cut downking.Once again we waited outside of one of the palaces built by Herod the Great, but this condemnation, because it was a Jewish king in residence, the Pharisees were let in and Joseph of Arimathea went in with them. A few minutes later he was back outside again.Hes trying to get Joshua to perform a miracle, Joseph said. Hell let him go if Joshua performs a miracle for him.And if Joshua wont do it?He wont, said Maggie.If he wont do it, Joseph said, were back where we started. It will be up to Pilate to order the Sanhedrins death sentence carried out or to release Joshua.Maggie, watch with me, I said, tugging at her dress as I backed away.Why, where?The plans back on. I ran back to the praetorium, with Maggie in tow. I pulled up by a pillar across from the Antonia Palace. Maggie, can Peter really cure? Really?Yes, I told you.Wounds? mazed bones?Wounds, yes. I dont know about bones.I hope so, I said.I left her there while I went to the highe st-ranking centurion stationed outside the gates.I invite to see your commander, I said.Go away, Jew.Im a fri oddity. give tongue to him its Levi from Nazareth.Ill tell him nothing.So I stepped up and took the centurions sword out of its scabbard, put the point under his lift for a split second, then replaced it in its scabbard. He reached for the sword and suddenly it was in my hand and under his chin again. Before he could call out the sword was back in its scabbard. on that point, I said, you owe me your life twice. By the snip you call to have me arrested Ill have your sword again and youll not shut be obturateed but your head will be all wobbly from your throat being cut. Or, you can take me to see my friend Gaius Justus Gallicus, commander of the Sixth Legion.Then I took a deep mite and waited. The centurions eyes darted to the soldiers c mislayst to him, then back to me. Think, Centurion, I said. If you arrest me, where will I end up anyway? The logic of it seemed to strike him through his frustration.Come with me, he said.I signaled to Maggie to wait and followed the soldier into Pilates fortress.Justus seemed uncomfortable in the lush quarters they had appoint him at the palace. Hed had shields and gibes placed around the room in different places, as if he posited to remind anyone who entered that a soldier lived here. I stood in the portal while he paced, looking up at me occasionally as if he wanted to kill me. He wiped the sweat from his closely cropped gray hair and whipped it so it drew a stripe across the stone floor.I cant stop the sentence. No matter what I want.I just dont want him hurt, I said.If Pilate crucifies him, hell be hurt, Biff. Thats sort of the point.Damaged, I mean. No broken bones, no cut sinew. Have them tie his arms to the cross.They have to use nails, Justus said, his mouth shaping into a cruel frown. Nails are iron. Theyre inventoried. Each one is accounted for.You Romans are masters of supply.What do you want?Ok ay, tie him then, just now nail through the web of his fingers and toes, and put a board on the cross so he can support his weight with his feet.Thats no kindness youre doing him. He could linger a week that way.No he wont, I said. Im going to give him poison. And I want his trunk as soon as hes dead.At the word poison, Justus had stopped pacing and looked up at me with open resentment. Its not up to me to release the body, but if you want to make sure the body is unharmed Ill have to keep soldiers there until the end. sometimes your people like to help the crucified die more quickly by throwing stones. I dont know why they bother.Yes, you do, Justus. You of all people do. You can spit that Roman bitterness toward mercy all you want, but you know. You were the one who sent for Joshua when your friend was suffering. You humbled yourself and asked for mercy. Thats all Im doing.Now the resentment drained from his face and was replaced by amazement. Youre going to bring him back, aren t you?I just want to bury my friends body intact.Youre going to bring him back from the dead. Like the soldier at Sepphoris, the one the Sicarii killed. Thats why you need his body undamaged.Something like that, I nodded, looking at the floor to avoid the old soldiers eyes.Justus nodded, obviously shaken. Pilate has to authorize the body to be taken down. Crucifixion is sibyllic to stand as an example to others.I have a friend who can get the body released.Joshua could still be set free, you know?He wont be, I said. He doesnt want to be.Justus turned from me then. Ill give the orders. Kill him quickly, then take the body and get it out of my jurisdiction even quicker.Thank you, Justus.Dont embarrass any more of my arrive aticers or your friend will be asking for two bodies.When I came out of the fortress Maggie ran into my arms. Its horrible. They put a crown of thorns on his head and the crowd spit on him. The soldiers beat him. The crowd milled around us.Where is he now?The cro wd roared and people began pointing up to the balcony. Pilate stood there next to Joshua, who was being held by two soldiers. Joshua stared straight ahead, still looking as if he were in a trance. Blood was running into his eyes.Pilate raised his arms and the crowd went quiet. I have no complaint with this man, yet your priests say that he has committed blasphemy. This is no crime under Roman law, said Pilate. What would you have me do with him?Crucify him screamed someone next to me. I looked over to see Jakan waving a fist. The other Pharisees began chanting, Crucify him, crucify him. And soon the whole crowd seemed to merge in. Among the crowd I saw the few of Joshuas followers that were left begin to slink away before the anger was turned on them. Pilate made a gesture as if he was washing his hands and walked inside.FridayEleven apostles, Maggie, Joshuas mother, and his brother James gathered at the upper room of Joseph of Arimatheas house. The merchant had been to see Pilate and the regulator agreed to release Joshuas body in honor of the Passover.Joseph explained The Romans arent stupid, they know our women prepare the dead, so we cant send the apostles to get him. The soldiers will give the body to Maggie and Mary. James, since youre his brother, theyll allow you to come along to help carry him. The rest of you should keep your faces covered. The Pharisees will be looking for Joshuas followers. The priests have already spent too much time on this during a feast week, so theyll all be at the Temple. Ive bought a tomb near the hill where theyll crucify him. Peter, you will wait there.What if I cant heal him? Peter said. Ive never even tried to raise the dead.He wont be dead, I said. He just wont be able to move. I couldnt find the ingredients I needed to make a potion to kill the pain, so hell look dead, but hell feel everything. I know what its like, I was in that state for weeks once. Peter, youll have to heal the wounds from the lash and the nails, b ut they shouldnt be mortal. Ill give him the antidote as soon as hes out of sight of the Romans. Maggie, as soon as they give him to you, close his eyes if theyre open or theyll dry out.I cant watch it, Maggie said. I cant watch them nail him to that tree.You dont have to. Wait at the tomb. Ill send someone to get you when its time.Can this work? Andrew said. Can you bring him back, Biff? Im not bringing him back from anything. He wont be dead, hell just be hurt.Wed better go, said Joseph, looking out the window at the sky. Theyll bring him out at noon.A crowd had gathered outside of the praetorium, but most were merely curious only a few of the Pharisees, among them Jakan, had actually come out to see Joshua executed. I stayed back, almost a half-block away, watching. The other disciples were spread out, wearing shawls or turbans that covered their faces. Peter had sent Bartholomew to sit with Maggie and Mary at the tomb. No shawl could disguise his bulk or his stench.Three heavy c rossbeams leaned against the debate outside the palace gates, waiting for their victims. At noon Joshua was brought out along with two thieves who had also been sentenced to death, and the beams were placed upon their shoulders. Joshua was bleeding from a dozen places on his head and face, and although he still wore the purple robe that Herod had placed on him, I could see that blood from the flogging had run down and left streaks on his legs. He still looked like he was in some sort of trance, but there was no question that he was feeling the pain of his wounds. The crowd closed in on him, shouting insults and tongue on him, but I noticed that when he stumbled, someone always lifted him to his feet. His followers were still scattered among the crowd, they were just afraid to show themselves.From time to time I looked around the periphery of the mob and caught the eye of one of the apostles. Always there was a perpetrate there, and always a mix of distortion and anger. It took e verything I had not to rush in among the soldiers, take one of their swords, and start hacking. Afraid of my own temper, I fell back from the crowd until I came aboard of Simon. I cant do it either, I said. I cant watch them put him on the cross.You have to, the Zealot said.No, you be there, Simon. Let him see your face. Let him know youre there. Ill come up once the cross is set. I had never been able to look at someone who was being crucified even when I didnt know them. I knew I wouldnt be able to stomach watching them do it to my best friend. Id lose control, attack someone, and then wed both be lost. Simon was a soldier, a secret soldier, but a soldier still. He could do it. The horrible scene at the temple of Kali ran through my head.Simon, tell him I said mindful breath. Tell him that there is no cold.What cold?Hell know what it means. If he remembers hell be able to shut out the pain. He learned to do that in the East.Ill tell him.I wouldnt be able to tell him myself, not w ithout giving myself away.I watched from the walls of the city as they led Joshua to the road that ran by the hill called Golgotha, a thousand yards outside the Gennath Gate. I turned away, but even from a thousand yards I could hear him screaming as they drove the nails.Justus had assigned four soldiers to watch Joshua die. later a half hour they were alone except for perhaps a dozen onlookers and the families of the two thieves, who were praying and singing dirges at the feet of the condemned. Jakan and the other Pharisees had only stayed to see Joshua hoisted ripe and the cross set, then they went off to feast with their families.A game, I said, tossing a pair of dice in the air as I approached the soldiers. Just a simple game. I had borrowed a tunic and an expensive sash from Joseph of Arimathea. Hed also given me his purse, which I held up and jingled in front of the soldiers. A game, Legionnaire? mavin of the Romans laughed. And where would we get money to gamble with?Well p lay for those clothes behind you. That purple robe at the foot of the cross.The Roman lifted the robe with a spear point, then looked up at Joshua, whose eyes went wide when he saw me. Sure, it looks like well be here a while. Lets have a game.First I had to lose large money to give the Romans something to gamble with, then I had to win it back slowly enough to keep me there long enough to accomplish my mission. (I silently thanked Joy for teaching me how to cheat at dice.) I handed the dice to the soldier nearest me, who was perhaps fifty years old, built short and powerfully, but covered with scar tissue and gnarled limbs, evidence of broken bones mishealed. He looked too old to be soldiering this remote from Rome, and too beaten down to make the journey home. The other soldiers were younger, in their twenties, I guessed, all with dark olive skin and dark eyes, all lean, fit, and hungry-looking. cardinal of the younger soldiers carried the standard Roman infantry spear, a woode n shaft with a narrow iron spike as long as a mans forearm, tipped with a compact three-bladed point designed to be driven through armor. The other two carried the wasp-waisted Iberian short sword that Id seen on Justus belt so many times. He must have had them imported for his legion to fit his own preference. (Most Romans used a straight-bladed short sword.)I handed the dice to the old soldier and dumped some coins out in the dirt. As the Roman threw the dice against the bottom of Joshuas cross I scanned the hills and saw the apostles watching from behind trees and over rocks. I gave a signal and it passed from one to the other, and finally to a woman who waited back on one of the city walls.Oh my, the gods have turned against me today, I said, rolling a losing combination.I thought you Jews only had one God.I was talking about your gods, Legionnaire. Im losing.The soldiers laughed and I heard a moan from above us. I cringed and felt as if my ribs would cave in on themselves from the pain in my heart. I ventured a glance at Joshua and he was looking right at me. You dont have to do this, he said in Sanskrit.What nonsense is the Jew talking now? asked the old soldier.I couldnt say, soldier. He must be delirious.I saw two women approaching the foot of the cross on Joshuas left, carrying a large bowl, a jar of water, and a long stick.Hey there, get away from them.Just here to give a drink of water to the condemned, sir. No harm meant. The woman took a lave from the bowl and squeezed it out. It was Susanna, Maggies friend from Galilee, along with Johanna. Theyd come down for the Passover to animate Joshua into the city, now wed conscripted them to help poison him. The soldiers watched as the women dipped the sponge, then attached it to the end of the stick and held it for the thief to drink from. I had to look away.Faith, Biff, Joshua said, again in Sanskrit.There, you shut up and die, barked one of the younger Romans.I twitched and squinted at the dice in lie u of crushing the soldiers windpipe.Give me a seven. Baby needs new sandals, said another(prenominal) young Roman.I couldnt look at Joshua and I couldnt look to see what the women were doing. The plan was that they would go to the two thieves first, so as not to raise suspicion, but now I was regretting the decision to delay.Finally Susanna brought the bowl to where we were gambling and set it down while Johanna poured some water over the sponge.Got any wine there for a thirsty soldier? said one of the young soldiers. He smacked Johanna on the bottom. Or some other relief?The old soldier caught the young soldiers arm and pushed him away. Youll be up on that stick with this wretch, Marcus. These Jews take touching their women seriously. Justus wont tolerate it.Susanna pulled her shawl around her face. She was pretty, lean with humble facial features except for her wide brown eyes. She was too old not to be married, but I suspected that she had left a husband to follow Joshua. It was the same myth with Johanna, except that her husband had followed along for a while, then divorced her when she wouldnt come home with him. She was more sturdily built, and she rolled like a wagon when she walked. She took the sponge and held it out to me.Drink, sir? Here the timing was critical.Anyone want a sip of water? I asked before taking the sponge. I was palming the ying-yang amulet as I said it.Drink after a Jewish dog. Not likely, said the old soldier.Im getting the impression that my Jewish money might sully your Roman purse, I said. Maybe I should go.No, your moneys good enough, said a young soldier, punching my shoulder in good spirits. I was tempted to relieve him of his teeth.I took the sponge and feigned taking a drink. When I raised the sponge to squeeze the water into my mouth I dumped the poison over it. Instantly I handed it back to Johanna so as not to poison myself. Without dipping it back in the water she affixed the sponge to the stick and raised it up to Jo shuas face. His head rolled, and his tongue rolled out of the side of his mouth against the moisture.Drink, Johanna said, but Joshua didnt seem to hear her. She pushed the sponge harder against his mouth and it dripped on one of the Romans. Drink.Move away from there, Marcus, said the old soldier. When he goes hell lose his fluids all over you. You dont want to sit too close. The old Roman laughed raucously.Drink it, Joshua, said Susanna.Finally Joshua opened his eyes and pushed his face into the sponge. I held my breath as I heard him sucking the moisture out of it.Enough said the young soldier. He knocked the stick out of Susannas hands. The sponge went flying off into the dirt. Hell be dead soon.Not soon enough, though, with that block to stand on, said the old soldier.Then time began to pass more slowly than I could ever remember. When Joy had poisoned me it had taken only seconds before I was paralyzed, then when Id used the poison on the man in India hed dropped almost immedia tely. I tried to take a shit to pay attention to the game, but I was looking for some sign that the poison was working.The women moved away and watched from a distance, but I heard one of them gasp and when I looked up, Joshuas head had lolled over. Drool ran out of his open mouth.How do you know when hes dead? I asked.Like this. The young soldier named Marcus prodded Joshua in the thigh with his spear. Joshua moaned and opened his eyes and I felt my stomach sink. I could hear sobbing from Johanna and Susanna.I threw the dice, and waited. An hour passed, and still Joshua moaned. I could hear him praying softly from time to time over the laughter of the soldiers. Another hour. I had begun to shake. Every sound from the cross was like a hot iron driven in my spine. I couldnt bring myself to look up at him. The disciples moved closer, less concerned now about staying hidden, but the Romans were too intent on their game to notice. Unfortunately, I was not intent enough.Thats it for yo u, said the old soldier. Unless you want to gamble for your own cloak now. Your purse is empty.Is this bastard ever going to die? said one of the young soldiers.He just needs help, said the young soldier named Marcus, who had stood and was leaning on his spear. Before I could even get to my feet he scarf out the spear upward into Joshuas side, the point went up under his ribs, and his heart blood pulsed down the iron in three great gushes, then ran out in a trickle. Marcus yanked the spear out. The entire hillside echoed with screaming, some of it my own. I stood transfixed, shaking, watching the blood run out of Joshuas side. Hands latched onto my arms and I was dragged back, away from the cross. The Romans started to pick up their things to head back to the praetorium.Loony, said the old soldier, looking at me.Joshua looked at me one last time, then closed his eyes and died.Come away, Biff, a womans joint said in my ear. Come away. They turned me around and started marching me t oward the city. I could feel a chill running over me as the wind came up and the sky started to darken under a sudden storm. There was still screaming, going on and on, and when Johanna clamped her hand over my mouth I realized it was me who had been screaming. I blinked tears out of my eyes, again and again, trying to at least see where they were leading me, but as soon as my sight would clear another sob would rock my body and the water would rise again.They were leading me to the Gennath Gate, that much I could tell, and there was a dark figure standing on the wall above the gate, watching us. I blinked and caught a single second of clarity as I saw who it was.Judas I screamed until my voice shattered. I shook off the women and ran through the gate, swung myself up on top of one of the huge doors, and leapt to the wall. Judas ran south along the wall, looking from side to side for a place to jump off.There was no thought to what I was doing, nothing but grief gone to anger, love gone to hatred. I followed Judas across the roofs of Jerusalem, tossing aside anyone who got in my way, shattering pottery, crashing down rooftop chicken cages, pulling down lines of hanging clothes. When he came to a roof that led no further, Judas jumped two stories to the ground and came up limping as he ran down the street toward the Essene Gate at Ben Hinnon. I came off the roof full stride and landed without losing a step. Although I heard something tear in my ankle I couldnt feel it.There was a line of people trying to get into the city at the Essene Gate, probably quest shelter from the impending storm. Lightning crackled across the sky and raindrops as big as frogs began to plop onto the streets, leaving craters in the dust and painting the city with a thin coat of mud. Judas fought through the crowd as if he were swimming in pitch, pulling people past him on either side, moving a step forward only to be carried back a step.I saw a ladder leaning against the city wall and ran up it. There were Roman soldiers stationed here on the wall and I brushed by them, ducking spears and swords as I made my way to the gate, then over it, then to the wall on the other side. I could see Judas below me. Hed broken out of the crowd and was making his way along a ridge that ran parallel to the wall. It was too far to jump, so I followed him from above until I came to the corner of the battlement, where the wall sloped down to accommodate the thickness required to hold the corner. I slid down the wet limestone on my feet and hands and hit the ground ten paces behind the Zealot.He didnt know I was there. The rain came down now in sheets and the roaring was so frequent and loud that I could hear nothing myself but the roaring anger in my head. Judas came to a cypress tree that jutted over a high free fall with hundreds of tombs gouged into it. The path passed between a wall of tombs and the cypress tree past the tree was a fifty-yard drop. Judas pulled a purse from h is belt, pulled a small stone out of the opening to one of the tombs, then shoved the purse inside. I caught him by the back of the neck and he shrieked.Go ahead, put the stone back, I said.He tried to wheel on me and hit me with the stone. I took it from him and fitted it back into the tomb, then kicked his feet out from under him and dragged him to the edge of the cliff. I clamped onto his windpipe and, holding the cypress tree with my free hand, I leaned him out over the cliff.Dont struggle I shouted. Youll only free yourself to the fall.I couldnt let him live, Judas said. You cant have someone like him alive. I pulled the Zealot back up on the cliff and whipped the sash from around his tunic.He knew he had to die, Judas said. How do you think I knew hed be at Gethsemane, not at Simons? He told meYou didnt have to give him up I screamed. I wrapped the sash around his neck, then pulled it tight over the crook of a cypress branch.Dont. Dont do this. I had to do it. Someone did. He would have just reminded us of what well never be.Yep, I said. I shoved him backward over the cliff and caught the end of the sash as it tightened around the branch. The sash twanged when it took his weight and his neck snapped with the sound of a knuckle cracking. I let go of the sash and Judas body fell into the darkness. The boom of thunder concealed the sound of impact.The anger ran out of me then, leaving me feeling as if my very bones were losing their structure. I looked forward, straight over the Ben Hinnon valley, into a sheet of lightning-bleached rain. Im sorry, I said, and I stepped off the cliff. I felt a bolt of pain, and then nothing.Thats all I remember.