Part IV:
—
”I said, can I help you with something?” I said, repeating the question a little louder than necessary even though the music wasn’t blaring in her ears anymore.
She lifted her eyes and slowly scanned my form from my feet up to my face. I knew that I shouldn’t have felt conscious; but I did. I couldn’t help it; I was wearing one of my older and rattier undershirts. Her left eyebrow arched and, while plopping the ear bud back into her ear, she said with a scoff, “No, I really don’t think so,”
It took me quite a few seconds before I could gather my bearing. I stood there, my mouth slightly hanging open and with my mouth hanging slightly open. How dare this girl? I took a few deep breaths to calm myself before even attempting to continue. It wouldn’t do to fight fire with fire, especially if it involves teenaged girls. “I’m sorry, but who are you again?” I asked, but it’s either she didn’t hear me through the music or was choosing to ignore me deliberately.
“Ah there you are,” a voice called out from the entrance of the church. It was the plump form of Father John, already in his alb, but looking quite harried and out of breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Father Jhun.” He walked over to us and when he was standing close enough, I could see the tiny beads of perspiration formed on his upper lip. “I thought you were up in your room but you weren’t and so I checked the kitchen—” he finally took notice of the person seated on the pew. Personally I think he noticed because of the sound of angry music escaping from her ears more than anything else. “Oh, I see you two have met,”
“Uh,” I said, hesitating. “Not really, Father John. She’s –”
“Oh yes, of course,” he said, dismissing whatever it was I was about to say with a wave. “She’s…uh…got some problems with meeting new people. But I wanted to introduce her to you anyway and since we’re all here, let’s get to it, shall we?” Father John patted her shoulder and with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, she took off her earphones and looked at us. “Rin, this is Father Jhun, my assistant priest in Christ the King. Father Jhun, this is Rin. She’ll be staying with us for a few weeks here in the parish.”
I nodded towards Rin who still didn’t acknowledge my acknowledging her. She stared intently at the slab of marble on the wall with her arms crossed, ignoring my conversation with Father John.
“Oh,” I said to my senior.
“The thing is,” Father John said, ushering me a few feet away from where the girl was seated. “She was sent here by her parents, who’re valued patrons of our parish. I couldn’t say ‘no’ to them, could I? To lose their patronage would affect our income, severely affecting our year-round projects for the poor.”
I didn’t exactly get where Father John was going with this and I’m sure the confusion showed on my face. “Yes, I understand, but why exactly is she here?”
For the first time in many months I actually sense Father John being uncomfortable. I’ve never seen him break a sweat before. “Well, her parents want her to receive counseling. And I need you do to them,”
Well that wiped out the look of confusion right out of my face. Only to be replaced by one of incredulity.
-To Be Continued-
