Father Julien (Two of Five)

Father Julien yanked out another few threads of hair. He got a Mag-lite, started patrolling the place. Stuff kept disappearing. He had a locksmith deadbolt every window. Someone was still sneaking out with the goods. Sometimes, he had some volunteers with him, and no one saw anything. He couldn't even trust them anymore. Father Julien fidgeted in his seat. He tried to sip the tea, but his hand shook so bad he just ended up spilling it on his cat's sock [Trace means cassock, the traditional priest's garment. When I explained the term, he responded, “Guess it helps em be more quiet?” -Dara].

I asked him why he was taking it so personal. He said there was someone he couldn't trust in his parish, couldn't do anything but take it personal. I asked him if he went to the cops. All they did was take some pics and leave. Made sense, no money in a small community church like Shepherd's Cave. If this was one of em super churches out in the burbs, they'd have cops crawling like ants all over it. No one with any money, or no one that wanted any money, had a reason to care about Shepherd's Cave.

Father Julien read my mind. He told me he didn't have much, except some money he'd been saving up, a couple warm meals, and God almighty's grace. Then he sat and stared at me and Dara. Put his hands together, closed his eyes, started praying to God almighty that we'd help him. I told him I'd tell him by the end of the day. We shook hands after I let him give me his hand, then he shook Dara's hand. He almost tiptoed out, like he was waiting for something to come screaming at him, then eased the door closed behind him.

Five seconds passed. Dara laid into me with a dame rant. Told me she couldn't believe I wouldn't take the case after he prayed out loud in our office, said that we were gonna help him. I told her we were busy, it was gonna take a lot of time for a small flat fee and some soup. She told me I didn't have a heart. I told her I had a head, and I had to use it. This wasn't gonna be worth it, and we had to concentrate on Mrs. Vetter strutting it up downtown without Mr. Vetter. Long nights and long days meant I'd be burned.

Thing is, Dara can do some real dame things. She started full-on bawling. I told her it was my office, my rules, and I wasn't gonna stand for her crying over this. So I left the office and stood in the hallway to let herself get composed. She was faking, I knew she was.

Ten minutes I'm waiting. She starts bawling even harder.

Went back in, told her we'd give it a week, and if nothing happened, we'd shift back to Mrs. Vetter. Wouldn't you know it, she starts laughing and hugs me around the neck [Depsite Trace's protestations, I wasn't faking my tears. I was genuinely distraught by Father Julien's plight. I may have exaggerated the physical signs of my distress, but nonetheless, I think it was more than worth it for Trace to take on this case. -Dara].