Mendoza is a fool. He let the bitter thought roll around in his mind. I needed advice, not a sermon!
“Those who gather wealth by lying are wasting time. They are looking for death.” Mendoza had intoned the words as if from memory.
Ranell reflected on the brief, painful meeting with his friend and confessor. He’d asked, “Is that from the Bible?” more disrespectfully than he’d intended. But inside he couldn’t help thinking, I told him I betrayed my country to save GML, and this is his only advice?
“Proverbs 21:6,” Mendoza had nodded, “I think the message applies to you now.”
Ranell tried to consider the message but impatiently cast aside the thought. “I didn’t lie to get rich. They were tearing my company apart. I did it to survive.”
Ranell vividly recalled the moment Mendoza tried to wrap an arm around his shoulders, but he’d pulled away.
“Listen to me, Josef.” Mendoza had pleaded, somewhat awkwardly, “You cannot use your will to force a different outcome now. You have faced temptation and succumbed to it. But it is not too late for you.”
“Not too late?” he’d hissed. “I made a deal with the devil!”
Mendoza’s shoulders slumped, and nodded sagely. “That may be more true than you will ever know, my son. I know you are worried about your company, and your country, but these things come and go. The real battle, the eternal struggle, is what I am trying to show you now.”
“You mean for my immortal soul?” Ranell asked.
“Si. This is what is truly at stake.” Mendoza placed a hand meaningfully on Ranell’s shoulder. “This is what really matters.”