The Atua Man: A Novel

That evening, not yet twenty-four hours since Jason had appeared before the girls at Marsdan Hospital, Lillian sat in the parlor of her parents’ home thinking how radically her life had changed that day. In the last ten years, since Jason had established the trust and made her, David, Melanie, and Dorothy trustees, Lillian had lost many of her friends as well as her freedom. Now she felt she was on the verge of losing her husband too.

The early days of the work had been thrilling. Jason would speak to thousands of people about his book and was able to lift many of them to the heights of spiritual bliss. With baby Alex strapped to her back, Lillian had seen her husband’s effect on people, and she’d felt the love of the crowds and had witnessed so many people transformed and healed. David had been their only helper—he had done everything from rounding up volunteers, to managing the large number of people, to babysitting Alex when she and Jason had needed to be alone. Melanie was also part of the early days, although she seldom traveled with them. Melanie handled the tons of mail that came to Lillian’s London flat and made sure the embryonic Ministry had enough money to operate. Dorothy stayed in the apartment and edited the transcripts from the rallies that would later become Jason’s best-selling books. The detractors and hatemongers had yet to surface, and the need for a trust and a board of directors hadn’t even been considered. Fame had not yet become a kind of prison.

Lillian questioned why she wanted David to come back. He had been in her life nearly as long as Jason. If circumstances had been different, she might be living in Hawaii with David instead of in Jason’s fishbowl in London. She had noticed the look on Jason’s face when she suggested they call him. Jason and David would always be best friends, but when Lillian was with the two men, their competiveness made her uncomfortable.

Nancy Harvey, Lillian’s mother, came into the parlor and set two glasses of sherry on the coffee table along with a package of letters tied with a ribbon. “I found these when I was getting your room ready.”

Lillian looked at the letters as if they were toxic. “Did you read them?”

“Of course. I’m your mother.”

“I should have burned them years ago.”

Nancy put her hand on her daughter’s hand with a mother’s love and the wisdom not to say anything. The ladies looked into the flames of a small fireplace.

“Dave is coming back,” Lillian says softly.

“Is that a good idea?”

“It seems the only way out of this mess.”

“Won’t it stir up old feelings?”

“Oh, Mom, not at all. Jason caused this current mess just by being himself. It was my idea to call Dave. At first Jason didn’t want to. I think he was more hurt when Dave left the Ministry than I ever was. Of course Jason thought David betrayed him, and in a way he did. Dave was the buffer Jason needed so that he could stretch his saintly wings. I don’t think Jason ever realized how much he used David. I think Jason saw David as an extension of himself. I cringe to think where we’re all headed.”