THE CHOSEN ONE
4. TRUE OR FALSE?
Come closer.
Don't be afraid.
I can feel you.
"And he will proclaim,
'Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.'"
Amen!
"…I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth."
Amen!
"My mercy will I keep for him forevermore,
and my covenant shall stand fast."
Amen!
May we see Jodie?
What do you want?
We've come to praise the miracle.
-Excuse me. -Ángelo, Carlos, come closer.
The Lord gave these boys their father back.
Carlos awoke from his purgatory by divine grace.
Jodie is the divine grace.
And I am his humble servant.
Jodie is the Lord's emissary.
I know I didn't see it at first.
But God opened my eyes as well as the eyes of many others.
Please, leave.
The Lord sent Jodie to this town!
He sent him to us, Sarah!
Go to hell!
You can't silence the voice of God!
Lord, melt your divine blood into our hands!
Amen!
So we may fight your battles!
Lord, help those who cannot see so they may understand that arrogance
is the path to hell.
-Amen! -Glory to the Lord!
Thank you, Lord!
Come here, Jodie.
Come here.
My grandson, Jodie.
Heal my grandson. He's very sick.
-Ma'am, I can't-- -Look, he woke up Carlos.
Help me.
Cure the Deaf.
It's the Miracle Child!
Help me.
Please.
Please, Jodie.
Come on, Jodie.
Jodie, what's wrong?
-Jodie's bleeding. -Are you okay, Jodie?
Thank you.
I can hear.
I can hear!
-Jodie. -Now me.
Come on. Let him go.
Jodie, come back!
-Help! -Me too!
What's up?
Thought you didn't wanna rush.
We'll talk later.
END OF SCHOOL YEAR
Everyone knows my brother as the "Santa Rosalía bat."
Suddenly, he can see better than me.
These are things no one could imagine that had never happened before.
And he healed a Deaf man in front of many people.
-Can you help me pass my chemistry test? -And my math test.
-Can you make the school explode? -What else can you do?
Here's the fucking gringo with his Apache and his fans.
Can you walk on water?
Hey. What's up?
Chendo! Leave him alone!
-Or what? -Mess with him, you mess with all of us!
Come on.
Get out!
-Get out! -Get out of here!
Get out!
Get out of here!
Chendo, we don't have to fight.
Jodie? No way.
Are you in my head?
Jodie, are you okay?
Help!
He's awake.
How are you feeling?
Careful.
What's the last thing you remember?
We were in the gym…
Hernández will expel me.
Don't worry.
He's not here today.
His mom is very sick.
He's coming.
What do you want? Why are you here?
We heard about your mother.
We thought maybe Jodie could help her.
Help her?
You got a lot of balls to come here and say that.
If it's Jodie, I want to see him.
Come closer, child.
Are you Jodie?
Hello, ma'am.
Leave us alone.
What happened?
I'm not afraid anymore.
Now let me rest in peace.
You call this helping?
I just…
-No. -Go.
-Get out! -No.
Listen, I'm at peace.
Okay, all right. Yeah, Mom.
We should go, right?
Why don't we go to your place?
If I go home, my mom will want us to leave.
I don't want that.
Don't you think your mom gets it?
Should I take you home?
I'll stay here.
Your mom won't like it if you stay here alone.
I'm not alone.
Tell her I'm okay.
I'll tell her, but I can't promise she won't come here to drag you home.
Thanks, Elvis.
See you.
It's me, sis.
Is Jodie okay?
I just came to tell you he's fine.
Thanks.
Did you convince him to come back?
Let him stay in his lair for a bit longer.
I feel like I'm losing him.
Give him some space.
He'll come back.
Remember, we were all rebellious when we were 13.
Speaking from experience.
Thanks, Elvis.
God bless you.
Trust us, Jodie.
Take it easy.
Easy.
Now take it off.
With the money from the scams, we made you this throne.
It's not worth being upset with the fucking savior of humanity.
Every prophet needs to see their people
if they really want to help them.
What? Does it feel nice when they all come to visit?
Hail Mary, full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us…
MY FATHER WAS AN ALCOHOLIC JODIE HEALED HIM. NOW HE DOESN'T HIT ME
JODIE IS NEAR TRUST HIM
Hi, honey.
Could I speak to your daddy for a bit?
Carlos, good afternoon.
My name is Lemuel.
Could you tell me what happened?
What do you know about the "Miracle Child"?
Where I am,
no one should be.
Move out. You can't be here.
Move out.
Everyone, disperse. Get out of here, please.
We'll have to ask you to leave.
This place isn't meant for gatherings.
Let's go. Back to your homes.
You're not authorized to be here. You can't hold gatherings here.
Back to your homes.
Officer, we're not doing anything wrong.
It's not about that. But we need to talk to an adult.
Calm down!
Quiet!
Please, listen!
This is a place of faith.
Go back to your duties and support us with prayers.
Everything will work out.
Officer Ramiro, hello.
Sorry, Pastor, but you're not authorized.
I understand. Why don't you take me to Counselor Barrera?
You know he and I go way back.
I'll talk to him, and we'll find a solution.
Hello.
I've got news, Jodie.
I spoke to Counselor Barrera, the mayor.
We'll have his support to keep this growing.
Thank you.
It's nothing.
I wanted to talk to you since the day you healed Carlos.
I know I didn't believe in you at first.
I was arrogant.
My faith
was tested.
I find it hard to believe all of this.
That's why I want to stand by you.
Support you like a father would.
You're just a boy, after all, Jodie.
I want to build a temple here.
For you. With my own hands, Jodie.
To honor you.
Because now I know that honoring you is honoring God.
Tell me…
how can I help you?
Use me without fear.
Make up with Elvis.
The whole town is talking about us.
I don't know if I want that.
I don't like being the center of attention.
Are you okay?
Magda, what's all that racket?
-Don't answer. -He heard us.
Go.
-What happened? -Nothing.
Bye. Good night.
Dad, what the fuck are you doing?
Why didn't you pick Camila up from school?
Dad!
Don't you get Camila needs you?
I need you.
What happened to Santos wasn't your fault. You paid for it.
We all did!
You can get another job.
Remember when you were okay?
Jodie, right?
Who are you?
My name is Lemuel.
What do you need?
Let's say I'm a kind
of expert in cases like yours.
There are other cases like mine?
We'll see about that.
How did you find me?
Like everyone else.
Nah, I just read the paper.
Come.
What's this about what you hear and see?
I feel people's pain.
I hear their negative thoughts.
I've also heard the voice of a little girl.
Can we try something?
An experiment.
I'll show you some objects.
They're very old.
But only one of them
belonged to one of the followers of the prophet.
Can you tell me which one?
Did I fail?
There is no right answer to the wrong question.
Well?
I found him.
Are you sure?
He took Apostle John's pendant.
And I saw a cave.
That must mean something.
We've been through this, Lemuel.
I'm not wrong this time.
It's him.
You're putting us all at risk.
I'll find more evidence.
I know I'm right.
The evidence must be conclusive--
You are his blood.
The Bible says we wait for the second coming of Jesus.
And it's almost the year 2000.
It all fits, Jodie.
Are you hearing yourself, Tuka?
Don't overthink it.
How do you feel?
I'm really scared.
But I also feel something great inside of me.
Choose him again.
Amen.
I'm not even Catholic.
Or baptized.
Neither was Jesus.
Until he was baptized.
What?
Jodie, look!
It's a sign!
Jodie's here!
He's here!
Jodie, where the hell were you?
What happened?
-What did you do? -You should've seen it.
I've never seen so many fish in my life. Jodie brought them.
Who's hungry?
I am!
The fish is great.
What?
He said the fish is great.
At least I'm not mad that the one that stole Magda from me
was the Messiah.
So, you're immortal?
Jesus was never immortal.
He died for us, Wagner.
-So, you're gonna die? -Perish the thought.
If you're the son of God, is the Apocalypse coming, or…
Shut up, Wagner!
What if we tape everything that happens?
I mean,
picture the Bible on tape.
Hold on.
Stay as you are.
Prophet Jodie.
Say something.
Something grand and evangelical for us, please.
Pull it up, guys!
Come on!
There it goes.
Well done, Josué.
Thanks, Pastor.
Hi. Good morning. Come on. Look.
Here, take it. Eat up.
-Thanks. -Go on and share.
-Hi, good morning. -Hi.
This work is very important to the pastor and all of us in his congregation.
What's going on, Jodie?
Nothing.
Excuse me.
-What? -Elvis.
What's this asshole doing here?
Your brother is helping us.
This wouldn't be possible without him.
The police came. They were gonna evict us.
How do you know he didn't call the cops himself to look like a hero?
I'd like you two
to make peace.
Make peace?
This bastard forgot peace a while ago.
Elvis,
we're siblings.
We have the same blood.
I know forgiveness won't be easy.
But I forgive you.
You forgive me?
After everything you've done?
Who do you think you are, you bastard?
And you, Jodie,
you believe him?
Praise the Lord!
-Praise the Lord! -Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Jodie is who brought us here.
Jodie with his miracles.
Carlos is standing there!
Living proof of a miracle!
Praise you, Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Because today, in this oasis,
there is an outpouring of faith.
Faith in the Lord!
Faith in Jodie
and in his miracles.
And that is the work of our Lord
because he is his father.
Jodie, that's not true!
He's my son. He's just my son.
Reborn mother.
Immaculate virgin.
Cruz, stop!
Mother of the Miracle Child!
You're insane! Jodie!
You told me, Mom.
You said my existence was inexplicable.
That I was a miracle.
I was born without a father.
Praise her divine womb!
Praise be!
Praise her divine blood!
Praise be!
Amen!
Glory to Jodie!
Let me go.
Look at his hands!
Miracle!
The blood of the Miracle Child!
Anointed with Jodie's blood!
Hallelujah!
Glory be to Jodie!
IN MEMORY OF RAY GARDUÑO PACO MUFOTE
BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL AMERICAN JESUS BY MARK MILLAR & PETER GROSS