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"If you are not gonna say, I'm just gonna jump out!"
I yelled with silence reaching me.
"Just shut and come! " Richard spoke after a few seconds, riding the bike.
"Yeah!!"
David echoed in my ear, holding me from the back.
There lied me, compressed by both, with no idea where we were heading?
The bike stopped near St.Pallis lake, which was used as a sight of a ghost lake with blooded water in every movie that was shot in our place.
"Seriously?? to lake??" I asked with a numb head.
"Just get down! we, have to walk more!" said Richard, shaking the bike to provoke us to get down.
"At least you say, for the sake of god, where are we going?" I asked David, jumping from the bike.
"To God!" he said.
"Huh??" I wore the face of hearing stupidity.
Richard stared at David. He gave a deep breath. After seconds, he came near me and said-"We are going to St. Pallis Church."
"Church?? For what??" I asked with 40% confusion and 400% anxiety.
"For repentance," Richard said, looking at the ground.
"Repen....?? What repentance? Are you drunk?"
Richard stared at me for seconds and gave a deep breath.
"Pls don't give that deep breath! That's tensing me up. Just say what the hell are we doing?" I yelled.
"Okay, listen! It's been 7 months since the incident happened. It's like more than 1.....2..... 210 days, but still, you are not fine. And that bothers me.
As a friend, I feel like, I've to do something about it. I ...I just can't see you like this. So......I just arranged......"
Suddenly David snored at Richard.
".........WE.......WE just...." - Richard corrected himself.
"..... we just arranged something for you. "
"Yeah!" David said.
I still couldn't get anything.
"CONFESSION!" said David.
"What? Confession?"
"Yeah! You are carrying the baggage of the sin. So..... it would be better if you share it or..... say confess it to the priest so that you may be forgiven for the sin and .....could feel better." Richard said.
My legs started shaking. My mind went back to the sin I committed.
Richard brought me back-"You okay?"
"But Richard, this.....this won't work. It's been a while. Now....we going ....confessing..... no that won't work...." I said half trembling.
"we aaa??? You! You sinned. So you are going to confess." David said pointing his finger at me.
"What??? Me?? We 3 went to the house" - I appealed in panic.
"But You opened the door! So You sinned!" David said still pointing the same finger.
I was speechless and turned to Richard while he came holding me by the side and spoke in a husky tone.
(It's dangerous when Richard speaks in a husky tone. It means he's going to convince you to do something.)
"Yeah! Yeah! You are right. We went to the house, but Jeff, we stayed in the garden while you were in the house. soo technically, it was you who opened the door. So sorry to say but it's your 'SIN' ."
I opened my mouth to speak up, but Richard continued.
"And...and I know it's hard for you, but unfortunately, we can't do the confession. So you have to do it by yourself."
Again I opened my mouth and again Richard continued.
"But... We'll come along and stay till you end the confession. "
I did not open my mouth this time.
He looked at me with a pity face.
"Okay?" he asked.
"I don't think I have the gut to confess and.....and... I am not sure this is safe." I panicked.
"What if the one who hears it goes by and informs the man in the house. Aaaaaaaaaaa. I just can't imagine. We'll be screwed ".
"You'll be screwed!!"
David spoke again with his pointing index finger.
"David! please shut your mouth."Richard said and turned to me.
"The Father???"
"Yeah! What if they are friends. What if he goes and says this."
I kept hands over my head -"Then...That's it.....No...No" I nodded my head.
Richard wore his husky voice again.
"Jeff. Listen! Fathers are like- God's messengers. They hear your sin and forgive you. That's it. Super simple. They are not spies. They don't even know who you are. They can't even see you. All they do is- Just Lend the ears. They hear you out and forgive your sin. Bamp! That's it." said, Richard hitting his palms.
But that did not convince me. The anxiety level continued staying in the same 400-spot.
"Richard! I'm scared. I can't do this. " I said nodding my head.
"Aaaagh! Come on Jeff. You'll not regret it. I am saying this as a friend. I can't see you like this. I need my old friend back."
I looked at his eyes.
"Yeah, man. I miss the older you. I just want the CAREFREE Jeff back. The Jeff who dares to do anything. The Jeff who makes our life feel LIFE. The Jeff whose craziness has no limits."
I half-smiled.
"I want the Jeff back," he said and patted my back.
I did not say anything.
I smiled and turned towards the rocky path.
************************************************************
"Aaaaagh......How many more miles to go?? I feel thirsty" I said half walking and half dragging.
"Yeah!" David said.
"Have you both also not been to the church?" Richard queried.
I just stopped dragging.
"What.....' also'.....???? So you've also not been to the church?" I asked surprised.
"No-No. I know the place. Just asking you guys. Hehe... Anyways, we almost reached .... walk faster.."
After some 20 mins of walk, finally we reached a newly renovated but still scary high domed 280 ft building.
"Here comes- St. Pallis Church" Richard introduced the church in the tone of a tourist guide.
Seeing a water arena both ran inside leaving me still with a dual mind at the entrance.
Richard turned back and waved at me "What??"
"Richard! You sure we have to do this."
"Aaah Jeff we have to do this. Trust me. You'll feel much better."
I still remained numb but somehow he pulled me inside.
The church was way more huge than I imagined and especially the statues and the old sculptures made it look scarier. But my eyes did not flee to any other place as soon as I saw the CONFESSION CHAMBER.
Richard described the chamber, where the father would sit, how should I position, How should I speak, He gave it in so much detail which made me doubt and ask him-
"Richard! Have you done any confession before?"
"Uggghhhhhh, Yeah kind off...." he said half-heartedly.
"What was the sin?"
"Aaaah..... That was actually..." our conversation broke as we heard a squeaking voice of shoes over the polished floors and there came a 6 feet tall heavy-bodied man who seemed more like a gym trainer. That was the priest. He walked around the closed doors and went into the confession chamber.
"How rude! He did not even care about us?" David yelled.
"Shhhhh!!!" Richard kept his hands over David's mouth.
"Idiot. He will not see the person who is about to confess." Richard said.
"Okay. Now your time. Just go and do as I said. We'll wait for you here. "
I half nodded my head.
"Rock it, buddy! wooooooooooooo!!"
David cheered me as if I was about to contest in Olympics.
I went to the chamber and sat in my position. I turned towards Richard. He signaled-"Tell!!"
I took my mouth near the hole, gave a deep breath and-
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned!"
"Amen!" I heard a heavy-toned voice.
And then my confession began which took me back to the day of the dark.
************************************************************
"Woowww, How huge the building is. All our money would've been spent only on making this huge mansion I guess. " I turned to Richard for his response.
"Dude! I'm afraid...Are you sure we have to do this?" Richard spoke with trembling lips.
"Richard! If we don't sneak in now, tomorrow we'll be in hell. Our parents would be called, our rooms would be shifted more than that entire school would get fun of us. You want that?"
Richard stayed calm.
"So Instead what if we get our phones back and run away. Just a day and we would get out of this bloody missionary school. Am I right David?"
"Yeah! " David nodded.
"But if we take our phones back, wouldn't he know we did it. Anyway, he's gonna knock us down."
"I have a plan for it" I smiled at Richard.
Richard nodded his head waving no.
"Okay! Listen. You two would spoil the plan. You guys just stay in the garden. I'll sneak in get our phones back and would come exactly after 10 mins."
"10 mins? So you already paved a path for you" Richard asked with an open mouth.
I winked at him.
The path I already have made, I made my way through it.
My plan was to climb through the pipe to a balcony beside his daughter's room and sneak into his office and grab our phones which the authorities snatched for using on the campus. The same way down to the garden and bang! I would get back to my hostel. Maybe the plan was simple. But yeah who cares if it works well.
I climbed the pipes, reached the balcony, opened the doors jumped into the mid-room, and as I was approaching the office... I heard a voice.
"The hell!!" I said myself and hid behind the doors. I peeped to see who was it. The direction of the sound went into his balcony.
"Yeah! I'm looking for it. I've no clue about it. Aghhhhhh... okay....okay....yeah right side there is a room....what?... how could I get in there?....hello??? U there???"
A guy with a phone over his hand was expelling out these words. He was talking with the daughter in the room which was locked by the missionary man. But damn! I knew where the keys were.
Maybe I could've minded my own business. But I didn't. And that was my leap into the SIN.
I stopped my confession.
"What did you do? You helped them run away."
"Not only that...."
I continued my confession.
"Thank you, bro! You would never regret your help" The 30 yr old man told me with the phone in one hand and my principal's daughter in another hand.
They went down through the pipe. After that, I went to the office and snatched our phones back, and sneaked through the balcony.
"Wait!" I thought myself.
My principal has always been a hidden man. He was like a spy whose identity has never been revealed in front of the students. Being a student in this missionary school for more than 12 years I thought-"What is it like to be the first student to capture the picture of the missionary man!"
"MMMMmmhhmmmmm" I smiled to myself.
I sneaked into his room. I could only look at his back which was wrapped with the blanket. I slowly walked over the toes to reach him. some glittery object caught my attention.
"Safe??" The father quoted.
"Yeah! An open safe."
"You looted the money????" The father asked in surprise.
"Yeah! that was my next sin."
"Child !you need a lot of prayers to be forgiven..."
"But Father, that did not stop by....."
"What??"
I took him back to the next day of the sneak out.
Gossips started exploding in the school. The entire town came to know about the night. But not about our sneak out. The news was of
"You know something... Our missionary man's daughter ran away that too with a lot of cash and some accessories, mobiles, like everything...He looking after us but not after his daughter Hehehhehehe".
But I was the one who looted the money.
"Ohhh! Now I get it. So you are the reason, not his daughter."
"Yeah, Father!"
"Hmmm. Okay, what was the name of the daughter? You remember anything."
Actually, I was not sure of the name. I thought for a while.
"Ughhhh. Veno.....Veronica, I guess! Father."
"Venovica" He corrected.
"Yeah yeah Venovica. yeah, father Now I remember."
I stopped for a while.
"Wait! Father, how do you know ?"
"Cause I'm the one who named her"
saying the giant muscular man came from the confession chamber.
The same face I saw beside the blanket that day.
"F....fff....fffaaatherrr....."
"Yeah! I'm the father, also to Venovica!". He said.
I turned slowly to David and Richard.
"THE HELL!!" I said myself.
Your's confessionally,
Mr.Nothing
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