"Oh, Moses, no, no! What have I done?" Amy covered her face with her hands, and bowed her head in anguish, as Moses looked on in confusion. He had just been showing her his new scanner phone.
"What do you mean, Amy? What did I do wrong?"
Amy peeked out from behind her fingers, and then dropped her hands altogether.
"God forgive me. I never told you, Moses. Those microchips... They're evil!"
Moses had never heard Amy talk like this before, and he was shocked.
"What do you mean evil? They're just microchips."
"The Bible says so," Amy began.
"The Bible?" Moses almost shouted, knowing instinctively that it wasn't just the Bible that Amy was referring to. This had Josephat written all over it.
"Microchips weren't even existed in Bible times, Winky! You been talking to Josephat, haven't you?" he asked.
"Moses, even in my church back in Australia, they talked about the microchip. We didn't call it like that then, but we knew something was coming… something people could use to buy and sell . It's called the Mark in the Bible... the Mark of the devil."
Moses was deeply offended; but he just sighed and waited for Amy to finish.
"The Bible says anyone who gets the Mark will be punished real bad by God, Moses. It says his wrath will be on them. Do you want that, son?"
Amy reached for a Bible and started to look up the passage that she was referring to. As she did, Moses launched into his defence.
"Winky, I'm not getting a microchip. I'm just using the phone for people who already have it. Do you think God is going to punish me for that?"
"Here it is," said Amy, ignoring his question.
"He causes everybody, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead... That's the devil, Moses, or at least the son of the devil. It's the Antichrist who does that!"
"You're not listening, Winky. I don't have the mark. I got no right arm, see!"
And he held up his stump.
"Yeah, true. I can see that," Amy said, sounding perplexed as she glanced down at the Bible. She blinked a few times and then she pleaded, "Well… promise me you won't ever get it."
"Winky, how can I? I got no right arm."
Moses knew secretly that he had not promised her anything. The passage said something about a mark on the forehead. If it happened that there was a microchip for the forehead, he would be less worried about getting it than he would be about telling a lie to Winky. Because he technically hadn't promised, he still felt that he had left his options open.
It's all Josephat's fault, he thought to himself, secretly hating the man who had come between him and his best friend, Winky.
To everyone else, Moses was already a celebrity... not because of the posters and TV ads that would soon be shown around the world (People in the village had no idea about that yet.) but just because he had been overseas. He had been to America.
So why couldn't Amy show a little more respect too? Moses had only arrived back in Shinyalu the day before, and he hadn't yet returned to work. When he did, the following day, he was the center of attention; business had never been better. Most locals still didn't have the microchip, but those who did went straight to him as soon as they learned that he had a scanner. It was just as well that he had shared customers with the other bodaboda drivers previously, because he was clearly taking business from them now. And it continued that way for a long time after. Amy made a few attempts to broach the topic of the scanner, but Moses just smiled and assured her that he had heard what she was saying, and that he was thinking about it... which he wasn't really. Ray had asked the bank for the cell phone number, and then called Moses two days after he got back.
The subject of the new cell phone came up, and Moses complained... but only a little... about Amy's attitude. Ray was sympathetic. He supported Moses in making his own decision, but coached him on being tactful about it too. Moses liked having a male to turn to and SMS's became a regular thing between the two of them after that.
Then, a few weeks later, Amy said she wanted to "talk" with him. He had stopped reporting to her, now that the loan was repaid, and he had his own bank account. But he had developed good habits, and he and Rosy were quickly saving up money to start construction on a real house... one with brick walls and an iron roof.
When Amy first mentioned a "talk", Moses tensed up, thinking that he was going to be in trouble for something. But that soon changed.
"I need your help," she began, and Moses looked surprised.
"You need my help?" he asked, pointing at himself with his good left hand.
"We got problems here with the children, son. Some of the people who give to help us have stopped giving. It happens with most missionaries over time; people move away, die, or just forget about what's happening way over here. So they have to go home from time to time... to get new supporters.
"But I got no one to mind the children if I leave. I'm not part of a proper church; it's just me and the kids."
Moses was wondering what all of this had to do with him. Was she asking him to give her the money he and Rosy had been saving? He could maybe give a little, but not enough to save the orphanage.
"I have a friend in Australia," she said. "A Quaker, like the people here, 'cept they're different in some ways. He heard of our work through a pastor in Kakamega who went to Australia for a big Quaker meeting five years ago.
"The man's name is Kyme. Kyme has been asking me to come and talk to Quakers in Australia, to see if they can help with the work here. He said he'd pay my way if I could come over and talk."
And then Amy paused, like she was waiting for Moses to guess what this had been leading to. He thought for a while but surely she was not going to ask him to run the orphanage! Even Benje wasn't old enough to do that! So he waited to see what she would say.
"You did so well on your trip to America," she said. And then it started to dawn on Moses what she was suggesting. "The bank thinks you'll do a good job making people want to give. Do you think you could do something like that for me? In Australia?"
Moses was glowing. He had moved from fearful thoughts about being in trouble, to being asked if he could "help" by taking another trip overseas, this time to Australia. What a great offer!
"You really want me to go to Australia? for you?" he asked incredulously.
"That would be... momentous. When do you want me to go?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead," Amy admitted. "But we need something pretty quick. You have your passport, and Kyme said he can send a ticket whenever I like. We just need to go over some questions they may ask about the work here."
"Can you watch Rosy again?" Moses asked.
"Of course!" Amy exclaimed; but it encouraged her to see Moses thinking about his sister's welfare.