by Mike Luoma
BC wakes up with his door alarm ringing repeatedly.
RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING...
My headache is gone but now there's a whole new one starting. Who the hell is so annoying? I swear, if it's Swan I'm gonna kill her!
"Who is it!" BC calls out to the com.
A woman's voice comes back over the com, "BC, it's a blast from the past, man, it's me, Fiza! Let me in!"
Fiza?
"C'mon BC, you gotta remember me! It's Fiza!" she whines.
Fiza! What the... Where the fuck did she come from? What rock...
"Let me in, man, c'mon!" She's getting loud.
"Fiza? Is that really you? After all these years?"
God save me from old girlfriends... especially her!
"Surprised? Yeah, it's me! Hey, c'mon, fucking let me in already, you shit!"
Forgot about the mouth. Good thing it's as lovely as it is foul... least it used to be. And she was quite skilled with it as I recall, too. Might as well let her in before the whole embassy hears her.
"Come in, Fiza, come in and have a seat. I'll be right out."
BC hears the door open in the next room. Fiza calls out.
"BC?"
"I'll be right out," he says, getting up and smoothing his clothes.
How long did I sleep that time? Only a couple hours. Past three, though. I'll hear it from Swan.
He walks out into the living room and Fiza is sitting on the table.
Kept her figure. Damn, she still looks good. Looks like trouble, as always. Forgot how short she was. Wearing her hair short and dark these days. Last time it was long and strawberry blonde, for a little while, anyway. I liked that, took me hook line and sinker, whatever that means.
"Hello, Fiza."
"Holy Shit! Look at you, a fucking priest! No fucking way!"
"It's been a long time."
"You've really got them fooled, huh? You big liar! A priest. Nice costume! Good scam! You know, where I've been, they'd shoot you on sight dressed like that."
"Okay, I'll bite, where have you been?"
Fiza smirks, "yeah, I remember, ‘you bite.' I like that," she laughs. "A priest! Huh. No priests on Mars."
"Mars! You've been on Mars," BC says with disbelief.
"On Mars. With the Moslems. Not my scene at all! It sucked, completely."
"You. You were on Mars? You expect me to believe this?"
"You don't forgive or forget, do you BC? Yes, I was on Mars. That's why my hair is dark. I had to dye it to hide there, blend in. What?"
"You always lied so easily, Fiza. I forgive you, but I won't forget all the fucked up shit you did to me back then. I promised myself a long time ago I would never believe you again. The only thing about you I can trust is that I can trust you to lie."
"Ouch. Forgive me for I have sinned, Oh ye of little faith," Fiza says, "Get it? Faith?" She laughs at her own joke.
"Shut up," BC says. He rubs his eyes and forehead with his right hand.
"You know, all of a sudden you don't look so good, BC. You all right?"
"I was until you showed up. Why are you here, anyway, Fiza? What do you want this time?"
"Do I have to want something? Maybe I'm just visiting an old friend."
"You always want something."
"Oh, can priests fuck these days?" Fiza asks with a wicked grin.
"That wasn't what I meant."
She keeps grinning at him. "Oh no? Too bad. You see, it's late, and I do need a place to crash, just for tonight..."
The mind is strong, but the body is weak... I should be going to see Swan...
Fiza gets up off the table and walks over to BC. She tugs at his collar.
"Does this come off? Oh lookie here, it does indeed." She pulls the collar off and unsnaps the button behind it, then wraps her arms up around his neck, looking up in his eyes as she draws in close. "How's about we get reacquainted, huh?"
She starts kissing him. BC can't stop kissing her back. All her betrayals melt away for now, all the bad memories, the time she left him for dead, the guys she slept around on him with, the fall she let him take when their grift went south... a lot to melt away, but the mind can easily go blank when a beautiful woman is wrapped around you.
The body is weak... well, that's hard enough.
Oh yeah, she does like it when I bite like this...
BC wakes up early the next morning, feels Fiza still sleeping beside him. He mentally berates himself for forgetting all his Fiza rules. Rule number one had to be ‘do not sleep with Fiza'.
WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!! You let her in again, all these years later! Don't you learn fucking anything? What the fuck were you thinking! She's fucking poison!
Fiza stirs, turns over, and kisses his cheek. "Morning, handsome. You still got it, you know that honey? That priest collar didn't fool Fiza, hon. Bless me Father for I have sinned!"
"Shut up."
Remember how much she always fucked up everything in the past? Let's not repeat the same mistakes again and again, okay? Good, I'm talking to myself. She really does bring out the best in me.
"So, this whole priest thing," she says. "What is it, some con gone out of control?"
"You could say that," BC says.
"I did." She smiles a fake smile and bats her eyes at him.
He ignores her and goes on, "I figured religion would be a good cover for my import export scam I was running on Linderstern Finch. You remember that station, don't you? That's where you left me the last time you fucked me over, remember? Remember leaving me for dead? The good old days!?" BC says, his voice slick with sarcasm, "God, what was that, ten years ago? Forgive me if I'm not nostalgic."
"Harsh. You got any drugs here?" Fiza starts rummaging around.
I'd grab her to stop her, but I know what will happen then. Not again. She turns anything physical into, well, sex. She's very good at that sort of manipulation. And very good at that.
"No. Trust me, after what I've been through the last couple months I don't need anything else in my system."
She looks at him, a little puzzled, but plows ahead. "Yeah, BC, you know I remember Linderstern Finch. But I don't want to dredge that all up and rehash it over and over again, okay?" She's getting louder. "We both made mistakes. Were we young and stupid, and let's leave it at that, okay?" Her face is red. She suddenly seems aware she is almost shouting. She regains her composure, and asks BC in her softer voice, "What did you do after Linderstern Finch?"
"It's a long story." BC shakes his head.
She can change emotions on a dime. That's fucked up.
"How about you tell it over breakfast?" she says.
"It's so sad, the way you have to work everybody, get something out of them."
Fiza jumps up off the bed with the sheets wrapped around her and yells down at BC. "Jesus fucking Christ! Will you give me a fucking break! Get over yourself! I just asked for some breakfast, not the fucking Moon! I fucked your brains out last night, didn't I? I'm not the only one who wants something!"
"All right, calm down, Fiza, calm down. Jesus, look, I don't know what to think."
Fiza calms a little, "I think you should make us some breakfast while I freshen up." She ducks into the bathroom and closes the door. BC gets up and walks into the living room to muster up some breakfast.
Hmm. Headache's gone, anyway. One of them. The other's in the shower...
His message light is still blinking. Six messages from Swan.
Delete.
BC throws together some muffins for breakfast. After the refresher, Fiza walks into the living room wearing only a sheet wrapped around her.
"Breakfast?" she asks, looking down at the muffins on the table.
"Best I could do on short notice. Coffee?"
"Please. There's no coffee on Mars, did you know that?"
"So, you're sticking with that story, huh?"
"I'll tell you all about it sometime. But, come on, you told me you were gonna tell me how you became a fucking priest!"
/>
"They made all the different denominations minister's priests in the Great reunification, five years ago."
"Yeah, but how did you get to that point? Come on, juicy details!"
"Don't talk with your mouth full! Nice. Don't play with your food like that. Yeah, I get it, muffin and muffin, funny."
"Why don't you eat them both?"
The body is weak... the mind is pretty weak, too, when you get right down to it. Speaking of getting right down to it...
BC is in the refresher a half hour later, beating himself up again.
I cannot keep doing this! Gotta be pheromones or something. Undeniable attraction. Carnal desire, whatever you want to call it. Lets her wrap me right around her little fucking finger. And I'm not 19 anymore. I should be over this sort of shit by now.
"Can I come in?" Fiza yells from outside.
BC opens the door, steps into the bedroom. "I'm just coming out."
"Do you mind if I use it again?" she asks.
"Nah, go ahead."
"Don't think you got out of telling me your story," Fiza says, before she closes the refresher door behind her.
BC gets dressed while she freshens up. He calls the Cardinal.
"Good morning, Campion."
"Good morning, Cardinal."
"You missed your time with the Reverend Swan yesterday, Father Campion. She's quite upset with you."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I had every intention of being there, but I'm afraid I'm still getting these terrible headaches. I took sick again just after lunch yesterday, and I'm afraid I won't be able to work today, either. I'm sorry, Cardinal."
"Well, if you're sick, you're sick. I'll tell Reverend Swan. But you best get well soon, Father. The Pope himself sent her up here just for you, my boy. Just for you."
"I know. Bye."
"Good-bye."
"Who was that?" Fiza asks as she walks, nude, out of the refresher and across the room.
"The Cardinal. I was calling in sick."
"For me? How sweet!"
"Not just for you. For me, too. They want me to work with this woman priest. She's supposed to train me to be a better priest, since I became a priest by such dubious means." BC says the last three words with mock gravity.
"Did someone say doobies?" Fiza says and laughs.
"Dubious. And no, no doobies. I told you, no drugs. I'm trying to get normal again."
"You're not normal now?"
Can't tell her what really went on...
"I've been sick, and on some medication. I'm better now, but there are still some residual effects, some headaches I get from time to time. I'm trying to let the remnants of those drugs pass out of my system before pouring any new ones in."
"I see. Sick, huh?" Her brow furrows and her mood suddenly darkens. "Nothing fucking contagious, better not be or I'll fucking..."
"Relax, nothing like that, you're fine, don't worry."
"So let's get back in bed."
"Fine, but I don't think I can..."
"Shhh," she says, putting her finger to his lips. She taps his nose. "Tell me how you got into this mess. How did my favorite young con man get conned into a priest's collar?"
They get back in under the covers and spoon up close to each other.
I don't know why I'm letting myself fall into this again. Into her. So she wants to know?
"Fine. Well, then, despite the fact you brought the UTZ goons down on us on Linderstern Finch..."
"Sorry, okay? Get over it! Go on..."
"... I found a way to escape their notice, stay alive and on the station, and keep the smuggling operation going. I answered a classified ad from the Holy Redemption Church of Jesus. I remember the ad's headline caught me, ‘Get Nontaxable Status!' Real holy, huh? Anyway, they sent me ordination papers and tax forms and for just fifty dollars I officially became Brother Bernard Campion of the Holy Redemption Church of Jesus!
"I recruited a bunch of my friends as my church members, my congregation. I even got some members of my family to join. Since my congregation was growing, The Holy Redemption Church of Jesus raised me to Reverend status."
"Hallelujah!" Fiza says, and nudges her head into his shoulder.
"I used our nontax status to cover my import/export deals. You're gonna like this part. With the Reverend status I could easily arrange for travel visas for myself, so I began to act as a courier for several 'nontraditional' business interests operating on Lunar and Earth."
"Organized crime?"
"More disorganized than anything. But they paid well. And the money I made running for them paid my way after I got kicked off of Linderstern Finch." BC shakes his head just thinking about it. "That happened a year after my ‘ordination'. I lost my station job because they didn't like the stuff I had going on on the side. But it was the stuff on the side that was making me the real money."
"Ain't that always the fucking way," Fiza says with a little laugh. "Where did you go after you got kicked off the station? Were you homeless?"
"Not at all. I had places set up here on Lunar Prime, in orbit, and on Earth. The job on the station had almost become unnecessary. But it helped explain my travel activity. After I lost the station job I couldn't make the same runs anymore. But I could still travel between my residences as the Reverend Campion of The Holy Redemption Church of Jesus."
"Do I hear an amen?"
"Amen. Eventually, even the Holy Redemption Church of Jesus got swept up in the Great Reunification of 2104. We were absorbed into the New catholic Church, and I was granted priestly status. They welcomed me into the greater church and even assigned me to a rectory on Earth, in Boston."
"They had no idea what you were all about?"
"No idea at all. At least not at first. Things were pretty chaotic in the church back in those first couple years right after the reunification."
"Yeah, I remember that. Didn't a lot of popes die, like, right in a fucking row?"
BC laughs. "Yeah, until Pope Peter got in. Peter the Second. Took a lot of balls to take that name."
"That was a pretty big deal too. First black pope, right?"
"Yeah. And the first pope to come from a church other than the old Catholic Church. It was bound to happen. The new church was too huge. It was a mess. They had people like me in it! Peter, old Leo, well, he's a lot like me, like I was. It was easy for him to rise to the top. When chaos reigns, those who will do anything in order to gain power gain that power pretty easily. There are no checks, no balances to stop them. Leo Benford is ruthless. He rose really quickly. And I did okay, too."
"This is the pope you're talking about?"
"Yup. He came up from the streets of LA. Brought in his own ‘security force' after he was raised to the papacy. They were all gangsters."
"The what-acy?"
"Papacy. It's what being the pope is called."
"Oh."
"His security force got a new name right after they joined him at the Vatican. He renamed them the Office of Papal Operations."
"The OPO? Oh my God, you're OPO!" She starts jumping up and down on the bed, as if BC were some music star. She almost squeals when she says, "I knew it! Holy shit! Do you kill people? When did you become OPO?" She drops back down and snuggles back up close. BC feels her trembling in excitement.
Cat's out of the proverbial bag. Might as well...
"I was recruited into the OPO three years ago, in 2106. The OPO began digging up the dirt on the priests who came into the New catholic Church from fringe denominations like mine. Whenever they found someone like me with a checkered past they'd use that to ‘encourage' us to join the OPO. It was join or be brought up on all your old charges, for most of us. And then, you don't leave the OPO. Once you're in, you're in. You're either in, or you're dead, plain as that."
"Rough job. That collar chafe, then?"
"A little."
"So, what do you do for them? You kill people? Are you an assassin? How many people have you killed?" Her breath is hot on the back of his e
ar.
She can barely contain herself. She's almost turned on by this shit...
"I can't say. The OPO is supposed to be involved in public relations," BC says in mock seriousness.
"Yeah, like anyone believes that. Everyone knows the OPO is like the pope's secret police."
"Not me. I'm a simple spin doctor."
"Right. Last time I checked, they didn't have to keep spin doctors on the job with death threats. You're as much a spin doctor as you are a priest. It's funny, though, I never thought of you as an assassin or a spy."
"Why not?"
"You're too much of an old school con man. Assassin, spy, that's too respectable. But, then, look at you. You, a fucking priest! Good thing they don't have that nasty ol' celibacy thing anymore..." Fiza disappears beneath the sheets and BC decides his storytelling is done as his mind goes elsewhere.
Later, Fiza talks BC into going out for lunch.
"If anyone sees us, tell them I'm an old friend who's in visiting and I made you come out to lunch even though you're sick. It's all true, isn't it?"
"Sure."
BC mulls their conversations over as they walk through the main dome.
I've already told her way too much.
I could just kill her.
There's no holy justification for that, though, no holy orders. I could justify it as necessary for covering my tracks, but then they might kill me for getting sloppy.
Maybe I am... Getting sloppy.
Fiza looks around as they walk, making a show of taking in the surroundings. "Look at those pine trees! They look like fucking green toilet brushes!"
"Nice. Maybe watch your language out in public with a priest?" BC asks.
"Right," she agrees, ignoring him. "You know what I mean, the way they're so straight up like that?" Her attention shifts, "Let's cross the pond!" she shouts. She starts to run towards the central pool and the nearest walkway. BC has to quicken his step to catch up.
"I didn't think I'd find a place like this here. So wet, and lush. So much nicer than Mars."
"Still sticking to that story? I think it's your turn to tell some truth. I won't believe most of what you tell me. Safer that way. But I'd love to hear your story so far."
"Why won't you believe me."
"Because you lie. And there haven't been any non Moslems on Mars in the last two years because the UIN killed them all!"
"Let's go sit down somewhere. I'll tell you all about it over lunch."
"Fine. How about that place, the French one?"
"Nah, I hate French. Polynesian?"
"Sure."
They make their way to a little Hawaiian themed Cafe just off the atrium. They sit and look at menus. After they order, Fiza defends herself. "It wasn't easy being on Mars. I had to hide. I dyed my hair. I had to wear a veil!"
I could almost believe her.
"Right."
Their food arrives. They drop the discussion and dive in to their lunch, both of them hungry. Their silent feast continues until a familiar voice calls from the atrium.
"BC!"
Edwards!
"Marc! How are you?" BC asks, standing up to shake Edwards's hand as he walks over to their table.
"How are you, BC? They said at your office that you were out sick today." He looks Fiza up and down and begins to grin.
"I'm feeling a little better. And I have an old friend visiting. She demanded I come out to lunch. Fiza, this is Marc, Marc Edwards. He's in charge of this place."
"What, the restaurant? You know this pineapple is..."
"No, Fiza, the Moon. Marc is the governor of Lunar Prime!" BC laughs.
"Oh, fucking ay, I am so fucking embarrassed, I'm sorry, governor. It's nice, I mean, it's an honor to meet you," she says, shaking Edwards's extended hand in between both of hers.
"It's an honor to meet you too, Miss Fiza. Any friend of BC's is a friend of mine." He eases his hand out of hers.
Edwards catches BC's eye and winks.
Oh great.
"Well, hey, I can't stay. I'll let you two get back to catching up. BC, give me a call when you get a chance, okay? See you guys later!" Edwards turns and walks quickly away.
"He knows you're getting laid," Fiza says with a knowing leer.
"What?" BC almost
"He's happy for you! You can see it in his eyes, he knows."
"Please. Could you please keep your voice down?"
"What, worried about upholding your image?"
"Never mind. Tell me more about Mars."
"It sucked. Dirt and sand. That's fuckin' Mars. Dirt and fuckin' sand, red sand, everywhere, always in your hair, in your makeup, in your cra..."
"Hey, we're in public, huh?"
"You started it! You asked me!"
"Right. Eat your lunch."
"Make up your mind."
"Okay. Eat your lunch."
"Fine," Fiza huffs.
She digs into the Polynesian delight on her plate and shovels it down in silence. Every so often she looks ups from eating to glare at BC until he looks up, meets her glare, and goes back to eating. She holds her glares for a short time longer, then goes back to eating, too.
"Why were you on Mars?" BC asks when she finishes. Fiza just glares at him. He presses his point. "I find it awful hard to believe you've been on Mar..."
"I was hiding. That's it. Like I told you."
"Who were you hiding from?"
"It was, I was just, I was hiding, okay? Look, can we drop this?"
"Drop what?" The Reverend Swan has suddenly appeared tableside between BC and Fiza.
Can this get any better?
"Reverend Swan. Hello," BC says with little enthusiasm.
"Hello, Father Campion. Glad to see you're feeling better. Who's your little friend here, Father?"
"This is an old friend of mine, Reverend. She demanded that I come out to lunch even though I told her how sick I am with these headaches I've been getting. Anyway. Fiza, meet The Reverend Swan. Reverend Swan, may I introduce you to my old friend, Fiza."
"Nice to meet you," Fiza says.
Fiza and Swan warily size each other up as they extend hands and shake.
"And you likewise, I'm sure," says Swan, dismissively.
Swan turns from Fiza to address BC.
"Father, we have to start working on your rites and rituals training! Your lessons await!"
"You mean you came looking for me? I'm eating! I'm ill! I have a visitor! Excuse me!"
"Looks to me like you're almost done. Anyway, I've arranged with the Cardinal to free you up from some of your public relations duties while you work with me. Hmm. I was told you were sick today, but you look fine to me. So guess what? We'll begin in a half an hour. I'll expect to see you in my office then. Nice to meet you, Ms. Fiza."
Swan turns and walks briskly away.
"Looks like you should be hiding, too, maybe, huh?" Fiza says with a little laugh.
"We'll talk more about your hiding on Mars later," BC says, "Let's head back to my rooms for now. You can wait for me there."
"Wait for you there?! Why? I wanna see this place! I'll play tourist while you play priest."
"I thought you were in hiding?"
"Not here! At least, not yet, anyway!" she laughs.
Half an hour later BC sits in front of Reverend Swan as she revs up her lecture.
"...things are looser now, true, and you are in the loosest branch of the NcC, but really, Father, some decorum, please." She finishes and glares at him from behind her desk.
"What?" BC asks?
"That little number you were brunching with earlier... not exactly discreet, Father Campion." She actually "tsk, tsks," at him.
"Now, look here, you're criticizing my friends, now?"
Who the fuck do you think you are, bitch?
"You have an image to uphold, Father, whether you like it or not. And a post coital brunch with some little floozy you've just boffed, both of you sitting there all glowing... not the image you should
be projecting, if you get my drift."
I'd like to set you adrift in space right about now...
"Look, Swan, let's get this straight. I may have to follow along with you on church stuff, but you can keep your opinions of my private life to yourself, okay?" BC says quietly, trying to keep his temper checked.
Swan continues her attack, "I'm supposed to teach you to be a better priest. That's exactly what I'm trying to do. Being a priest means more than saying some words at Sunday Mass. It's a whole lifestyle."
"That's fine, but you weren't assigned by Pope Peter to train me into a new lifestyle. You're here to simply help me brush up on some of the finer points of the rites and rituals, stuff I'm rusty on. That's it. I'll let you do that. But I'm not going to let you judge me!" BC almost shouts.
Damn, don't need to get heated, she has no real power over me. Got to maintain control.
Swan tries to assert herself, "What I'm to teach you is for me to decide as your teacher. Our interpretations of my assignment seem to differ. You are..."
"Shut up, Swan." BC says levelly. "Stick to your mass lessons, leave my private life alone, and we'll get along fine. Stick your nose where it doesn't belong and you'll be gone faster than you can say, 'return ticket to Earth, please'."
Swan just stares at him, mouth drawn tightly closed, eyes full of fury.
Is that steam coming out of her ears?
BC stares back at her. She remains silent, so BC says, "You've been brought in to teach me, Reverend Swan, but make no mistake, I outrank you. And although you were brought in at the request of my superiors, if I give the word, those same superiors will send you back where you came from, real fast. It's up to you, Swan, really. You can make it easy or hard on both of us. Your choice. What's it gonna be?"
Swan stares at him, considering.
Considering how to dissect me, by the look of it. You know, though, her eyes have quieted a little. And her face seems a little more relaxed. We'll see...
BC stares back. Their eyes stay locked until Swan breaks the contact and looks down at her desk.
Eyes still lowered, she says, "Very well. Have it your way. But I will teach you how to be a better priest. In my own way. You're just going to have to deal with that, Father Campion. Shall we begin over?"
BC relaxes. "Fine. Go ahead."
Swan looks up at him, says, "Okay, Father. We'll start by finding out what you do know. Tell me what you know about the Sunday New United Reform Liturgy."
Better.
"Let's see. It's new, united and reformed, and it's said on Sundays, right?"
Attempted humor.
Swan scoffs, "Yeah, right. Here, take this," she says, and hands him a red leather book about an inch thick.
"What's this?" BC asks.
"That," Swan says, the glare back in her eyes, "is the book we use for the New United Reform Sunday Liturgy. It has all the liturgies we use in it, actually. Are you telling me you've never seen this book before?"
"Um, well, not that one, no," BC stammers out.
"I can see we have a lot to work on," Swan says, "if you don't even recognize the book..."
"See, Swan, plenty of work for you to do without your prying into areas you don't belong in. We'll do fine."
Swan ignores the comment. "Turn to page 25," she instructs BC.
Three hours later, BC feels like his head is going to explode.
"That's all for today, Father," Swan finally says. "Thanks for your time. We'll see you here at ten tomorrow morning for our next session."
"Right. Tomorrow at Ten. See you then, Reverend Swan," BC says and almost leaps up and runs out of her office.
Too much information!
He rubs his temples as he walks back to his rooms. No headache actually appears. It gives BC some time to think.
A lot of what Swan was just hammering into my skull was kinda familiar. A lot of the rites we read through today are similar to what The Light's people use. Funny, though, Most of the NcC stuff seems simplified, dumbed down.
'Course, I don't want Swan to know I know any of it. Keeps her out of my business if she figures she's got to cover everything.
I kept thinking about Kim's lessons. I liked him as a teacher better than Swan, that's for sure. Taught me just what I needed to know, not all this extra BS Swan seems to think is important.
BC opens the door to his rooms to see Fiza sitting inside on the sofa.
"I thought you were going out exploring?" BC asks.
"I did. I thought you might want something to eat. They said you'd be done around now."
"They? Who said that?"
"The Cardinal and his secretary. What?"
"Shit, Fiza, you've got to be more, I don't know, discreet, less in people's faces!"
"Why BC, are you ashamed of me?" Fiza asks playfully, batting her eyelashes.
BC looks at her without answering.
Maybe I am. Can't tell her that. Won't go over well.
"No, that's not it. It's just... my position right now is a little dicey. They want me to become a better priest, The Cardinal wants me to study with Swan because he thinks I'm lazy, The Pope figures Swan will help me strengthen my cover, which he thinks is already blown! They're looking to me to be more, I don't know, priestly, I guess. And, unfortunately, you don't quite fit that image."
Fiza pouts.
"Aw, c'mon, don't... look, you've worked scams with me in the past. Granted, that was a long time ago, but this is the same thing, Fiza! Work with me here!"
Still pouting, she asks, "What do you want me to do?"
"Just lay low for now, okay? And don't talk to any church people!"
"Okay, okay, I can do that, just calm down, all right?" She goes from a pout to a glare in a split second.
"I am calm!"
"Yeah, right. And I'm a nun." She glares at BC, shakes her head. "Okay. Tell you what. You can go out on your own and get something to eat by yourself, okay? I don't like you much right now, so I'm gonna go my own way for now, okay. I'm outta here." She gathers herself together to get ready to leave.
BC doesn't try to stop her. "All right. Be that way. Do you want to do dinner later?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know right now. Bye," she says, and heads out the door.
If the door swung shut instead of sliding, she'd have slammed it. But it wouldn't kill me if she disappeared again for good. How did I get tangled up with her again so quickly? I guess you forget all the bad shit over time. Maybe I've got that forgive and forget thing going for me. Probably get me screwed, usually does, right?
Fiza doesn't show up for dinner. She doesn't return at all that night. BC has mixed emotions when he wakes up alone the next morning.
I can't be sure if I'm happy or sad. Funny.
Wonder where she is?
Chapter Twenty-Five
