“Can I come in?”
I heard Father Haralambos’ voice from inside the woodshed. I was angry with everyone, and I didn’t want to see that Athenian fool, but I was cold and wet. My stubbornness won out, and I had ended up in the woodshed.
The wind was howling outside, and I could feel the cold under my feet. I felt sorry for the priest. It wasn’t his fault that God lied. I beckoned inside. If I weren’t angry, I would have laughed—his robes were plastered to him, and his kalimavkion was also soaked, and the water had dripped down his face. I didn’t laugh because there was no laughter in me. He was just a man who was soaking wet. Father H took a seat on a pile of logs.
“The tears of God are washing over our country, Zoe.”
“What’s he crying about? He’s the one who broke his promise, and my papa is dead. You promised me that God was on our side.”
“He is on our side.”
“You’re lying! The enemy is at our door! Is that being on our side? Papa died because he believed God was on our side!”
“Your papa still lives. He is in heaven with God…”
“I don’t want him in heaven! I want him here, with us. I don’t want him to be with Michael, Thieri, and Theo! I want him HERE!” I screamed at the priest, who withstood all my anger and his demeanor never changed. Instead, he got up from the woodpile and came to sit next to me.
“Zoe…”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie to you. I said God was on our side and He is. Do you remember all the lessons you have heard in church about striving for good and God will reward you?”
“That’s not going to happen now.”
“It will happen. Our world is on fire, and the demons are walking the earth. Do you remember that God said that the devil will be walking about like a roaring lion? That’s what he is doing now. When a wild beast is loose, people die.”
“Why doesn’t God kill the German and Italian pigs? Why doesn’t he send a bolt of lightning and set them on fire? I would have done that.”
“Our job, little one, is to resist the invaders like our forefathers did so many years ago. God will avenge the fallen, but we have to do our part.”
“I’ll take a gun and shoot them all.”
“Your job, my child, is to help your mama through this difficult time. Then, after forty days, you can join the Resistance.”
“I will fight them, Father. I will.”
“I know you will, but for now, your mama needs you to be strong. Can you do that? God would want you to do that.”
“I don’t care what God wants.”
“What about doing it for your mama? She needs you, and I need you to be strong. Can you do that?”
“Yes. Papa told me to be brave like Laskarina Bouboulina, and I will be brave.”
“That’s my Zoe. There will be tough times ahead. Tough times, but we must be brave, and we will fight them off.”
“When?”
“I don’t know, but God will show us the way, and we will follow.”
“What if God doesn’t show us the way?”
“He will. I have faith in Him, and He will guide us.”
“I don’t have faith, Father H. If I don’t have faith in God, what happens?”
“Oh, my child, don’t worry. I have more than enough faith for the both of us. Together we will overcome this.”
“I hope you are right.”
“I’m right. God will see us through this darkness.”
I didn’t believe God was going to answer our prayers, although Father H thought so, but he is a priest, so that made sense to him. God lied to me, and as far as I am concerned, he’s dead to me. I do not believe in God. He lied about my brothers, and he lied about my father. I now have to kill as many Germans as I can before I join them. I will avenge their deaths.