Frank Georgalis – Writer

The Barefoot Evangelist: The Prologue of the Book

“At the left hand of God“

A modern novel of triumph and tragedy.

The Prologue of The Book

Beginning to write the book, and basing it on his life story, Frank Georgalis felt isolated as if the world he knew had moved ahead and he was left behind. He told one of his friends in a confessing fashion, that he felt he was locked all alone in a room with no windows and one door which he couldn’t open to get out. Finding out that most of his friends and relatives had already died, he became tangled up with the thought of death. He felt angry and goaded realizing that the moment we are born we are condemned to die. He began to ask the question, whose hand it is that takes us away from life, disregarding who and what we are leaving behind. He thought the spirit, whose hand takes us away without our permission or any warning, showing no mercy, no remorse and no begging for repentance, had to be a ruthless spirit, full of vengeance and revenge. If that spirit, he thought, was the spirit of God or controlled by God, why do we worship God? asked himself angrily. “Why do we worship you God? All the people you have taken away were my friends and beloved kin folk, I know that all their lives they worshiped you, they obeyed you. Don’t you know it, God . Speak out don’t you know it, God Because you have never shown your face and because you cannot be be touched or seen you must feel safe hiding behind the clouds, or living in the depths of the sea or roaming the high mountains, are you playing games with us mortals?”.

He continued to write the book, which he named “The Barefoot Evangelist” which tells of the life of Erik Karas, but once he finished the book, he told his friend, he realized that he was wrong speaking to God in a very unkind manner. Writing the story of Erik Karas and following his every move, the writer realized that what ever had happened to Erik Karas, it was out of his doings. Frank Georgalis realized that God doesn’t design our lives nor does he point out the time of our death. Erik Karas lived his life according to his own design and plan. “God will help but He will not help you do anything that you can do alone,” said Frank Georgalis.

Erik Karas, the imaginary main character in the book, was born in Greece in a small fishing village, with one unpaved road coming in and none going out. The first years of his life were under the German occupation troops and then the communist guerrillas. He was fourteen years old when he saw the first bicycle, he was fourteen years old when he saw the first running train, he was fourteen years old when he first tasted chocolate, he was fourteen when he first saw a movie show, but before he was fourteen he had seen many army trucks, scary tanks, rolling cannons, war ships in the gulf of his hometown and had seen many airplanes diving into the town and bombing the small houses and killing poor innocent citizens. One may say that he saw life at its normal state when he was fourteen or one may say he was born fourteen years after his birth. He was fifteen when he immigrated to America with his mother and father. Settling in the East cost of New Jersey, Erik finished his schooling and was called in the army and was shipped to Germany where he served in the German-Czechoslovakian border, monitoring the Russian army movements along the border. He served his country, encountering many problems and escaping death many times; he completed his hitch and returned to New Jersey.

Having to live with his horrible childhood past and haunted by a load of bad memories that he brought with him from his service in Germany, including the mysterious disappearance of three German fishermen, caused by the actions of a fellow officer, who had left him in a river to die, he tried to live a normal life. He located a position as insurance executive, eventually married a beautiful woman and they had one son named Randy. Although his life with his wife and child was happy, he was restless and at war with himself and as the time went by he became worse and less tolerant..with everything around him.

That came to a head one day at the breakfast table when Randy was six years old, It was a simple husband and wife argument which was ignited by the husband announcing that he left his job to look for something better. He went on to tell her that he believed that it was an omen from God by saving him from dying so many times before so he that could come to America for a mission.

“Being lost in America with pockets full of dead dreams is not a mission it’s a curse, Erik” she returned.

That didn’t greet Erik’s ears favorably; he grabbed a hold of the table cloth and threw the food all over the kitchen. That led to her leaving the house and taking the boy with her.

Erik, angry with his wife, hurt by her actions and sayings and disappointed with his life and station, placed his pistol in the shoulder holster, left the house in his car. Driving around and looking to vent his anger on anybody or anything, he arrived in another town and found himself parking his car in front of a rowdy saloon. Erik Karas, without any planning or forethought walked right in. Seeing the place more unruly than it seemed or he had heard from the outside, he went and took a seat at the bar at the farthest point of the long and crowded bar. At the beginning he sat in silence romancing his drink, having all his thoughts nailed on his wife and son. Suddenly his attention was directed as his eyes fell on a big man, roaming the saloon like a monarch holding a bottle of beer in one hand and using the other to push patrons out of his way. Seeing such an unkind and arrogant man brought back some more horrid memories into Erik’s head. Watching the big man closely and drinking more, he came to the conclusion to go and stop the big man from showing off. the more he thought about stopping the big man the more he wanted to kill him, if the big man resisted, Erik planned in his horrible mind to walk up to the big man, and without a word, would place the barrel of the pistol, on the big man’s stomach pull the trigger and leave the bar. Standing up to go and execute his plan, a beautiful lady’s hand pulled him down to sit next to her. It didn’t take long for Erik to strike an interesting conversation with the young witty lady who told him that she had a full time and part time job. Her full time was selling flowers and plants to restaurants and offices and her part time was looking for a rich husband. The delightful conversation was suddenly interrupted by the big man, who stood above the couple and although Erik spoke in a scarcely audible whisper, the big man imperiously commanded him to be silent and reached over and grabbed the young lady and holding her against her will with his arms around her he ordered her to dance with him.

Erik, being in a perfect mood to kill, stood up, pulled out his pistol, aimed it at the big man, and gave him two options; one to let the girl go and the other to refuse and die right there and then. Erik, pointing to the door with the pistol barrel, briefly advised him to take notice that he was a good shot, and that if he faltered he would fall dead that instant. The big man, astonished by sudden change in Erik’s attitude, for the first time in his life retreated , left and three or four of his followers stayed at his heels. Erik stood and watched him and as if he had known him from long ago, and he was convinced that the big man didn’t retreat he just pulled back to plan his return..

The young woman sized up Erik showing much satisfaction on her face.

“Cowboy, a while ago you said that if you were Jesus you would legalize polygamy.

I don’t think you’d feel guilty spending the night in another bird’s nest”
“Do you have a sitting duck in mind?” he asked.

“Not a sitting duck, a pheasant; a Polish pheasant”

“That’s funny,” said Erik with a pleasing smile, “I came here with no plans to hunt; I shot at the crow, wounded the pigeon and I going home with a pheasant. God bless all the birds on earth.

It was 4AM and a rainy night, when Erik came out of the young lady’s apartment. On the way to his parked car, he noticed a strange red pickup truck parked a few parking spaces from his car. He entered his car and left but the red truck followed close behind. Suddenly the truck passed on the wrong side and he saw the passenger firing a pistol at him. Erik, following that speeding vehicle, realized that he was being led into a trap. He stopped his car suddenly trying to decide what he should do, the red truck parked in front of a yellow house, as he looked up he saw the big man coming out of the yellow house and heading towards him. Erik thinking that a physical confrontation with the big man was eminent he quickly removed his shoes, as he was trained in the army to fight more effectively barefooted, came out of his car and the big man aimed his pistol at Erik, He pulled the trigger but the gun misfired. He tried again but seeing that it was hopeless, the big man charged Erik. Before he could get close enough to hit him, he stopped grabbed a hold of his chest as if to hold it together staggered a few steps and fell into the street while a speeding eighteen wheeler went over his body. Erik astonished by the phenomenon, looked around to see if anybody was around, he saw one of the big man’s followers turning the corner holding a rifle. Erik, not wanting to be involved any further headed for home.

Getting into the house all wet and barefoot, he was welcomed by his young son, Randy, who offered him slippers and a lot of comfort, took his father’s coat and while he was going to hang it he felt the pistol in the coat pocket.

Looking to get out of his wet clothes Erik went into the bedroom, but upon returning to the living room, he found his son at the kitchen table eating breakfast while the wife was pacing around the house aimlessly. Finally the wife went into the living room and stood by the widow looking out. Erik approached her in a very apologetic manner, but was rebuked by his wife as she walked away.

What do you want from me?” he asked loudly.

“I want you to kill me, Erik,” returned the wife with a broken voice at first. “Kill me Erik! I cannot live any longer like this, Erik.”

Randy hearing those words became very alarmed. And visibly upset.

The dialogue of pleading from his wife and apologizing by the husband went on from room to room.

“Kill me Erik. Don’t poison me little by little,” she said with tears in her eyes. Finally the conversation subsided a little while the two were standing in the kitchen. Suddenly the boy appeared at the kitchen entrance, holding the pistol with both hands aiming it at Erik. “Dad, look at me” said the boy and pulled the trigger, but the pistol misfired and while both parents rushed towards Randy, he turned the pistol to look in the barrel and he then pulled the trigger again, the gun fired, the blood splattered all over the wall and the boy went down dead.

The day after the funeral, Erik woke up and went into the kitchen and noticed that his wife was packed and ready to leave him.

Erik clasped his hands together and involuntarily uttered a subdued exclamation of horror. A mist came before his eyes, the cold sweat stood upon his ashy and unshaved face, his limbs failed him and sunk to his knees before his wife.

“Please get up,” murmured the wife.

“Stay my love, please stay with me. If you have no more love have some pity,” he cried.

Needless to say that the family broke up Even though Erik pleaded with his wife to stand by, she left him.

Erik stayed back alone, desperate and lost , anticipating suicide, and as good fate may have it , one of the police that favored him walked in.. Seeing Erik’s condition and understanding his plan, said to him’ Erik, my friend, find a reason for living because there no prize for dying.”

The next 400 pages of the book deals with Erik’s life. It is loaded with philosophy, humor, religion and facts of life. Frank Elias Georgalis is not in the habit of preaching to his readers, but they learn a lot about life’s problems and solutions.

“Life is just an employer, you just get what you put in and ask for, you bargain with life for a penny and life will give you no more”

The beginning of the main book

The silence of the darkness, the drenched feeling of the air, the lingering mist that crawled along the ground like a dense cloud of smoke and sorrow were destined to be related by a brotherly nature. That was what Erik Karas felt as he stood at the back door of a single family house with his face painted with grief, gazing far beyond the well illuminated garden unto the darkness ahead. He saw far off lights twinkling and dancing in the damp atmosphere.  The sparse sounds of the early birds awakening that showered the air, and the scanty light in the far low sky revealed the hour of the nearing dawn. He stood there and gazed vacantly ahead as if he were trying to gather some promises of new hope. Logically speaking no man in his right mind will stand at the back door of a house and stare at the chaos of life hidden in the dark beyond, unless he has lost his past. To a man, whose past is lost or ruined his thoughts are weighted by despair and remorse which presses on his heart, nothing can remove and all sound of joy or complacency is torture to him; solitude is only one consolation— deep, dark, deathlike solitude.

It is true that most people began life with benevolent intentions and are looking for the moment to put them to practice and make themselves useful and somebody happy. Sometimes in the process, beyond their power and control, they lose it all and now are exposed to all damps and dews of life.

It is clear though when a man who lost his past will find hard to find his future. It is not clear though whether it is better to stay put and rebuild the past or leave and look for a new life in the future. Erik Karas decided to leave everything behind and go and feel his way through the chaos, so he began to walk towards those flickering lights and quickly disappeared in the soft darkness. He walked on with the same unaltered look on his face. The grass was wet and the low places were filled with water. The damp breath of the wind was soothed languidly by, with a hollow moaning sound, but he rambled on, insensitive to its call. After a short while, rain began to pour and the wind became sharper and more piercing as if it were in a hurry to reach other distant lands. Eventually the birth of a new day glimmered faintly in the sky. The objects that looked dim and blurred in the darkness grew more defined and gradually were resolved into their familiar shapes as he came upon them, he then passed them by. He was staggering and creeping, almost unconsciously, with his head drooping on his breast now as if he were stricken with a good deal of sorrow as he was drawing space between himself and the house he had just left behind.

Police are after him