The Co-Worker's Desk
He sat at the desk and pulled out the top drawer to his right. Pens, pencils, a stapler and paper clips, a lifetime, twenty-four years, a fellow employee, a friend. He’d been asked to perform this task because he and Renny Diaz, Renaldo A, had been friends.
Had been.
The thought seemed to set upon the desk top, like a coffee stain that couldn’t be wiped away. Just last week, Renny was sitting in this very spot, this chair, smiling broadly when Carla talked about her granddaughter. That same night Renny had a massive heart attack. Fifty-eight is too young to die.
“I see you’ve been given the task.” A voice spoke from behind him. He knew it was Carla.
“I kinda offered.”
“You guys were close… at least here at the office.”
He shrugged.
Carla pulled out her chair and sat down at her desk. As was her habit, she logged onto her computer before doing anything else. There was a coffee pot just outside the cube. A fresh cup was the second part of her morning ritual, which would be followed by a comical story about her evening and the little girl who lit up her life.
“You want anything, Andy?” She asked as she grabbed a bright purple mug from a desk drawer.
“Not right now, Carla, thanks.”
“Ya know, Renny used to grab a cup of coffee, first thing, just like clockwork. Then he’d come back, pull his Bible from his desk… and just leave it… where it could be seen by anyone entering our area. I think he wanted to just immerse himself in the pages. Still, he’d wait for break… faithfully.”
“Having it nearby was a comfort,” Andy added. “He used to tell me that he read every morning before jumpin’ into the day. He was an example I tried to follow. He used to remind me. It was like he could sense when I wasn’t reading God’s word every day.”
Carla continued to the coffee pot as Andy opened another drawer. There it was, the Bible, a worn burgundy cover. He took it out of the drawer and flipped through the dog-eared pages. Renny took his Bible whenever he went on break, sometimes drawing whispered comments from co-workers. ‘Was it inappropriate?’ The comment had been spoken by a few willing to voice their concern for political correctness.
There was a piece paper shoved into John’s Gospel, chapter six. Jesus was going to feed the five thousand. Andy closed his eyes and could almost hear Renny sharing the message, talking about the small boy with just five loaves and two fish.
Carla came back and sat at her desk. Andy saw her through the corner of his eye. He rubbed away a little moisture.
“Is there going to be a service?” She asked.
“His sister, Alina, is going to have something at her church.”
“He didn’t belong to a particular denomination, did he?”
Andy shook his head. “He said he used to go where the spirit drew him. He didn’t want to be tied down by man’s law. God’s law, the law within the pages of this book,” he held up the burgundy Bible, “that’s what he wanted to live by.”
“Can I lighten the mood a bit?” Carla asked.
“I wish you would.”
“So my granddaughter,” Carla began, and then paused as the phone on Renny’s desk rang.
“What should I say?” Andy asked.
It was Carla’s turn to shrug.
The phone rang four times before the caller was able to leave a message. Andy watched for the red light to illuminate, letting him know a recording had been left for someone to listen to.
“I’m not good at this kind of stuff,” he said.
“Neither am I.”
Andy packed files into an R-Kive box. A few miscellaneous scraps of Renaldo A Diaz’s life were discarded in a trash can.
“What are ya doin’ with the pictures. I think they’re of his niece?” Carla queried.
“Pass them over to his sister, I guess. She’s the only family member I’ve ever heard him mention.”
“What about the Bible?”
“That too… maybe.”
“It doesn’t seem right, not having it there. It’s a part of Renny. Sometimes when things weren’t goin’ good… I would look over there and remember. It reminded me of His presence.”
“God’s,” Andy clarified.
“Yes, God’s presence, His power and His promises.”
“Renny clung to those promises and held God’s presence deep in the recesses of his heart,” Andy added.
“Ya know,” Carla continued, “Renny was one who stood up in the face of criticism. He was bold in his faith. Most of us are weak. We lock up faith inside our churches. Renny, not bound to any one church, kept his faith as an open book on his desk. I’m going to miss his courage.”
Andy brought the Bible to Carla’s desk. He opened it to John’s gospel and paged through to chapter six.
“Maybe the Bible should stay here,” Andy said. “A Bible
which belongs to this small group of co-workers. Maybe we should all inherit a little piece of
Renny’s courage… and no longer hide in the shadows.”
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