Chapter
4 – A Kind Heart's Guidance
Polina and I spend so much time in
courthouses, restaurants, and dining halls that we might as well live in them,
for how often we have talks and negotiations in them. Raziel, Zahara, and the
rest of the Compassionate have the situation with the extremists and civilian unrest
under control, from what I hear, but it’s still a single excuse from igniting
into fighting again, no matter how good the excuse is. If Polina and I don’t finalize
the peace deal between Fribus and Nanpa here and now, everything that we’ve
done here will have been for nothing. Civil war will erupt. Good and innocent
people will kill one another, and the only way to bring a stop to it may be to injure
and kill some of them ourselves.
I’m no stranger to killing when I have,
but most of the people mixed up in this are good, and that’s different than
killing criminals and villains who refuse to change. The Castigators and Council
of Punishment could do it, but…I don’t know if-
“Penelope. Calm down. It’s not
going to happen if we finalize the peace treaty here and now,” Polina says as
she grabs my hand.
“Yes, of course. Thank you, Polina,”
I say as I refocus on the negotiation.
I still can’t believe I find myself
on the front lines here with Polina. I’m used to her doing most of the work and
giving her suggestions on the side. I’m still in disbelief that the influencers
and leaders from both sides want to talk to me, along with her, and want my opinion.
God only knows why He pushed me to be so talkative and proactive now of all times.
Crossing myself, I pray for the strength and wisdom to do and say what needs to
be done.
“Now that the misunderstandings are
out of the way, we can continue the negotiations to their logical end,” a
leader from Fribus says.
“What end would that be? More
taxes? Less money going to the schools in Nanpa, so the children are forced to
go out of their way to schools in Fribus, which disproportionally teaches them
the crimes of one side of the country more than the other,” a leader from Nanpa
says.
Here we go again with the two sides
going back and forth.
“No. As stated in our agreement, schools
in both regions of Ferdinand will be taught one history with no favoritism
shown. The tax is also put on both sides to pay for all the damages done and is
temporary until everything is fixed.”
“Shouldn’t the richer people of
Fribus pay for it since Nanpa has historically suffered higher taxes?”
“No, it’s even so that no one side
is shown favoritism. Like it’s said in the agreement, we are one country and
shall deal with the consequences of our actions equally.”
“You can’t expect the poor to pay
as much as the rich.”
“Penelope, what do you think should
happen?”
Being put on the spot, I stop
myself from immediately answering. I think for a second and say, “The agreement
should be proportional to what each region can give. Therefore, Fribus should
pay more, while Nanpa should pay less.”
The two sides look at one another for
a second and agree, and stamp the document together.
“Next. Let’s discuss the price that
must be paid for the crimes committed by both sides, and seeing as how you don’t
want things to be equal, then let them be proportional. The criminals of Nanpa
must repair a majority of the damage done in the areas affected by them, while
the criminals of Fribus will not do as much.”
“Then what will the scum of Fribus
do, huh? Sit in their cozy cells for the rest of their sentence?”
“They’ll face justice all the same.”
“I’ve heard the prisons in Fribus
aren’t as tough as the ones in Nanpa. In fact, I’ve seen it for myself on the
internet. You take it too easy on the people who deserve to face the consequences
of your actions.”
“Our prisons are the way they are
because we’re inspired by the ones created by the Dominion. There, the inmates
live in mild comfort away from the public and may come and go to do community
service.”
“How is that fair? Your criminals
do wrong, and they get comfy cells and have to do less clean up, while ours have
to do all the heavy lifting?”
“Are you saying that yours deserve
more comfort?”
“No, but this is the same treatment
that Nanpa got after the world war. This is why many of my people rebel against
and hate yours. I say that yours should suffer proportionally to the crimes
they’ve committed.”
“Penelope?”
To break this hang-up, I pray,
think, and decide, “The punishment should be based on what each criminal has
done. The criminals of Nanpa have done the most damage and will do the most to
repair the damage they have done, and so will the criminals of Fribus, but they
will not live in comfort if they don’t deserve it. The Dominion’s prisons have
solitary confinement and cells of discomfort or comfort based on the criminal's
actions and the validity of their repentance and want to correct their mistakes.
I also think they should be forced to work together to remind them that they
both live in the same country and are part of the same people.”
The leaders from Nanpa look more
uncomfortable than those from Fribus, and yet, they agree with them and stamp
the document.
“With the matter of reparations out
of the way, there’s only one more issue to settle, that being of whether the
governments of Fribus and Nanpa should continue to be separate or combined into
one governing body.”
“Yeah. That’s an obvious one. We
should continue to govern ourselves independently from one another with few
binding laws and agreements.”
“What is the purpose of that?” I
ask.
“We each know what’s best for our
people. That’s why each region has its own government.”
“But that only further separates
you from one another. You’re supposed to be one country, not two countries in
one.”
“I have to agree with the
representative from Nanpa. One singular government hasn’t worked since one
region has historically been favored over the other, given that the king or president
was from one of the regions.”
Great. They’re both against me.
What if…
I suggest, “What if there was a third
party that acted as your central government and brought them together?”
“Such as?”
“…the Dominion…”
The people in the crowds of both
sides start talking among themselves. Now I’ve really done it. Looking over to
Polina, I silently beg her for help, but she simply nods at me, as if
approving.
Continuing, I say, “The Dominion has
stopped Ferdinand from fracturing and destroying itself in a civil war. We can
make sure that each region is given equal but fair treatment and balances the
deals of politics and business between them.”
“No, the Dominion hasn’t done
anything. The Compassionate have done all the work, and specifically, you and
your friends,” says a leader from Fribus.
“Without the Compassionate, we
would’ve been at each other’s throats. They know and are loved by both sides of
the country. They should be in charge,” says a leader from Nanpa.
“I agree. What do you think, Penelope?”
“If…if that’s what it takes to
ensure peace for Ferdinand, then…” I’m getting in over my head by acting as the
leader when it should be Polina making all the decisions, but when I look over
to Polina, she simply nods. “We gratefully accept.”
The crowds stand up and clap for us
as the final agreement is stamped, and the Compassionate are written in as its
new ruling party. I’m completely stunned by this turn of events, so much so
that I sit stunned with my hands on my face in embarrassment.
Polina hugs me and says, “You did
great, Penelope.”
“Are we really doing the right
thing?” I ask.
“We are. This is the only way I saw
us achieving lasting peace for this country.”
“How are you going to lead it,
along with being mayor of Meridian?”
“I’m not going to. How does being a
leader of a country sound to you?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“They love you, probably more than
me. They ask for your opinion, and it was you who calmed down the crowds
without my help. You should be the representative here of the Compassionate.
Not me.”
“I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t
know if I can do it.”
“I didn’t know if I could be a good
mayor. I’ll help you in every way I can, along with the rest of the Compassionate.”
I hold Polina tightly and thank
her. The people of Ferdinand gratefully accept me as the representative of the
Compassionate, even offering me a home here, a place between both regions,
symbolizing how I keep the two together. When Raziel and Zahara hear the news
and return to us, they congratulate me and embrace me. Zahara offers to be my
bodyguard here, and I accept; she is also provided with a house for herself
that is near mine. God truly works in mysterious ways. We may find ourselves in
situations and bearing responsibilities we’d rather not have, but in the end,
we’ll find that we were exactly where we needed to be, making a greater impact
on the people around us than we often realize.
The End
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