Second Entry


>>“What’s your name?” she asked the angelic man.
>>They were sitting inside a diner about three blocks away from where she had almost been raped. They sat at the counter facing the main entrance door, but near the side door.
>>“Reyn,” he answered.
>>“Is that it?”
>>Reyn looked at her with perplexed amusement. “What more were you hoping for?”
>>Her eyes widened as she apologized. “No! No, no… I didn’t mean…” She stopped, smiled and laughed at the flustered mistakes she was making. Reyn was beautiful to look at. Looking into his deep blue eyes made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And even after fighting with that dirty man, Reyn still smelled of vanilla and home cooking.
>>Reyn smiled: perfect teeth. “What’s the matter?” He asked like a man who was used to this kind of behavior.
>>She blushed. “Nothing. I was just wondering what your last name was, err, is.”
>>Reyn smiled again. The smile made her heart speed up. Here was this man who had just faced down a knife and he was calmer than calm! She couldn’t help but be attracted to him!
>>“My last name is Witticker,” Reyn responded.
>>She waited for Reyn to say something more to her. Then she waited a bit longer. Reyn took a bite out of his sandwich and drank from his cup of water: no straw or ice. He didn't seem to notice that she was waiting.
>>“Aren’t you going to ask me my name?” she finally asked.
>>“Sure,” Reyn said, taking another bite of his sandwich.
>>A sharp pain shot up her throat and the feelings of longing went away as quickly as they’d come. Reyn was rude.
>>“I’m not rude,” Reyn explained. She was taken aback. How had he known what she was thinking?
>>“And I can’t read your mind, either,” he explained further.
>>Her heart jumped into her throat once again.
>>“I know who you are,” Reyn said. “Your name is Chelsea. We used to go to school together.”
>>Chelsea stopped breathing. “We did?” she asked. “I don’t remember you, though.”
>>Reyn smiled. Part of it was to her, but most of it was to himself. “No,” he sigh-laughed. “You wouldn’t. I look a lot different now and I’ve been gone for the past few years.”
>>Chelsea turned her head to the side, interested to hear more. “Where did you go?” she asked.
>>“I really would rather not talk about it,” he answered. He didn’t sound rude at all now; he sounded distant and sad.
>>Chelsea’s heart swelled with pity as she imagined Reyn going through something so terrible that he didn’t want to even talk about it.
>>The bell above the main entry jingled and three police officers walked through the door. >>Chelsea looked at them for a moment and then turned back to talk to Reyn.
>>But Reyn was no longer there.
>>The side door latched closed as she found the note Reyn had left.
>>It read:
>>>>>>>>>>“Stay away from dark alleys and try not to travel alone at night.
>>>>>>>>>>>Your friend,
>>>>>>>>>>>Reyn Witticker

***
>>Sayge Germain sat at the back of the church listening to Father James give his sermon on peaceful resolutions.
>>He scoffed and the idea. Peaceful resolutions to problems were a great thing, but they didn’t ever seem to work. Three tours in Iraq and the $25,000,000 reward in the bank were proof enough to him that peaceful solutions never worked.
>>Even the Lord Jesus Christ had a temper, he thought to himself; he liked to throw tables around when money changers were in his church. And the church didn’t seem to mind when I donated over half the reward to them. Blood money pays the same as pussy pacifist money.
>>Sayge stood with the rest of the congregation and joined hands with the little old lady to his left as they prayed The Lord’s Prayer together. The prayer always made him feel a little better about himself and about life.
>>If the Lord has a plan, then maybe I must be part of it.
***
>>The young girl looked up at the blond man and noticed he wasn’t saying the words to the prayer. He only stared straight forward like he was staring into forever. She felt his hand begin to tighten around hers and she wriggled her fingers. His grip immediately relaxed. But, throughout the rest of the prayer, she could feel his arm trembling.
>>“For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, oh Lord, now and forever…”
>>“Amen,” said the congregation.
>>As they sat down, the young girl looked up at the blond man. He was sweating. Beads began to drip down his nose.
>>The blond man reached inside his jacket and pulled out a red cloth and wiped his face.
>>“Are you okay?” the young girl whispered.
>>The blond man looked down at her with dazzling blue eyes. He smiled the most pleasant smile she’d ever seen in her life. “Yes,” he whispered back. “Thank you for asking, little one.”
The mother put her arm around her child and pulled her closer. Reyn could hear her whispering to her child:
>>“What have I told you about talking to strangers.”
>>Reyn looked at his boots: perfectly shined black leather, steel toe, United States Marine Corps standard issue. Sister Emily would be very proud of his boots.
>>Not talking to strangers is a great thing to teach you children, Reyn thought to himself. The only problem is, that they never learn how that way.
***
>>“In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” Father James led his parish. “The mass is now ended. Let us go in peace to Love and serve the Lord.”
>>“Amen,” the congregation dutifully answered.
>>Charles had sat in the first row. He’d never been more anxious in church in his whole life. The sermon had been short ironically, and, even more ironically, on the topic of the importance of peaceful resolutions. Charles had let a laugh escape his lips accidentally when he’d heard Father James begin talking.
>>Charles walked into the sacristy while Father James was instructing the alter servers on how to properly wash the Eucharistic wares.
>>“Come in, Charles!” Father James said. “I’ll be done soon and then I’ll give you a ride home.” Looking at the man in his priest adornments, Charles would never have thought that underneath it all was a young, fit person with the skills of an experienced cage fighter. Father James always smiled so pleasantly and spoke so calmly.
>>“Actually, Father, I was wondering if I might be able to speak to you in private after you’ve finished up here.”
>>Father James looked surprised but happy. “Not a problem at all, Charles.” Then to the servers. “You can all go now. I’ll take care of the rest of this. I want to speak with Charles alone.”
>>“Bye bye, Father James!” the servers each called as they left.
>>Charles watched them leave, thinking about the time back when he was young and innocent enough to be an altar server.
>>“What’s on your mind, Charles?” Father James asked.
>>“I just wanted to ask why you went through so much trouble last night? I mean, taking me back and talking to me this morning on the way to church and even going out of your way to bring me to church even after you saw what I was like last night. I mean… why are you a bouncer?”
>>Father James sat down in the chair near the back of the room and folded his hands. “For your first question, I helped you because I hope that you’re one of my hundred thousand. And as far as the bouncer job, well, I hope to get more towards my hundred thousand.”
>>“Hundred thousand?”
>>Father James’ eyes grew large. “Never mind that, Charles. It’s something between God and I.” He stood up and brushed his pant legs off. “Come on, then. Lets get you back to that bar and get your car so you can go to work tomorrow.”
***
>>“Brother Sayge!” Reyn yelled across the parking lot as he trotted over to his friend’s car. Sayge drove a very old car. The rust was peeling the metal right off the fenders and the wheel wells.
>Sayge smiled pleasantly and offered his hand to shake.
>“I haven’t seen you at the last three meetings,” Reyn said, taking Sayge’s hand.
They both waved at Father James as he drove past with a young man in the passenger seat.
Sayge looked back at Reyn and shook his head. “Has it been three months already since I attended a meeting? I’ve been so busy doing two different jobs… I can hardly keep up with what day it is let alone what kinds of meetings I have to go to. I’m sorry, Reyn, I just…”
>>Reyn’s eyes went distant again as he seemed to stare over Sayge’s shoulder. Then Reyn snapped his attention to Sayge. His voice sounded concerned, but sincere: “Sayge… Is everything okay?”
>>Sayge took a step deeper into his open car door, edging towards sitting down. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “Yes, Reyn. I just haven’t been able to get to a meeting in awhile is all.”
Reyn nodded as though listening to someone else. “Sayge, Brother, why don’t you and I go out for a cup of coffee and we’ll talk about what’s going on.”
>>Sayge sat in his car and slammed the door. His tires squealed slightly as he backed out of his parking spot and squealed very loudly as he pulled away from the church.
>>“Go with God, Brother Sayge.”
>>“Reyn!” It was Brother Toby, the council treasurer.
>>“Yes, Brother Toby, how can I help you?”
>>“Well, I just wanted to talk to you about tomorrow’s meeting at the Knights of Columbus hall. I was thinking that…”
>>Reyn did his best to pay attention to what Brother Toby had to say, but his thoughts kept circling back to Sayge and how he’d reacted. Sayge was a great person, but a troubled man. He had never been willing to talk about his experiences during the war.
>>“That sounds great, Toby,” Reyn said after his fellow knight finished speaking. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then?” He shook Brother Toby’s hand and walked towards his own car.
***
>>“So do you just work at the bar on the weekends then?” Charles asked, making small talk as Father James drove him to the bar to pick up his car.
>>“Yeah,” Father James answered looking over his shoulder as he changed lanes. “I work there almost every weekend. They pay me sixty dollars plus tips every night I work. So I just give the cash directly to the church. I don’t need it.”
>>“Huh,” Charles said, looking out the window as they drove down the high way. “I still have a hard time seeing you as the violent type.”
>>Father James’ eyes became more distant than usual. “You have no idea…” Even his voice sounded far away.
>>Suddenly Charles became more anxious than he’d ever felt in his life. His heart started pounding in his chest and the only thing he could think about was getting out of the car. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his pocket knife and kept if in his fist just in case.
>>Having seen Charles reaching in his pocket and pulling something out, Father James sighed.
>>“Put it away, Charles,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you. I was just remembering some things from my past.”
>>Charles relaxed a little, but did not put the knife away. Father James didn’t seem fazed by it.
>>“Like what?” Charles asked.
>>“Huh?” Father James said, snapping back to reality again.
>>“Remembering stuff like what?”
>>Father James smiled and tapped the steering wheel. “Nothing. Just some stuff from before I became a priest.”
>>“You mean like when you were in the Navy?”
>>Father James shot Charles a glance out the side of his eye. “How did you know I was in the Navy?”
>>“I looked on line for your name last night after I got home. I guess I was just interested to find out what kind of person would be a priest and a bouncer. You came up under a lot of articles. You used to play drums for your ship’s drum band. You even performed for dignitaries and stuff.”
>>Father James laughed and smacked the steering wheel as he remembered the funny memories. “Yes. I was a member of the ‘Drums of Fire’ taiko drum band when I was stationed in Japan. We played everywhere and anywhere the ship went.”
>>“Yeah, you even played for fifteen hundred people once, it said.”
Father James smiled to himself. “Yes I did. I had a good time, then, too. I always liked public performing. Rather it be public speaking or playing music, I just liked being in front of an audience. So I guess it’s no surprise that I became a priest.”
>>“Actually, the thing that surprised me most of all was finding out that you used to be married.”
>>Father James shot Charles a full-on stare. His eyes were glassed over and his face went pale.
Charles had to grab the wheel to keep them from hitting the median. “Father! Pay attention to the road, man!”
>>Father James snapped back into reality and stared at the road. Charles could see how hard his heart was pounding by the size of the priest’s jugular veins.
>>“Are you okay, Father?” Charles asked.
>>“I’m okay, Charles. It was just a surprise to my system is all.”
>>“Well, what hap…”
>>“I’d really rather not talk about it, Charles.”
>>The rest of the car ride was silent. Father James only whispered good bye when Charles left the car.
***
>>Sayge wiped the sweat from his forehead as he continued to punch, jab, and kick the plastic martial arts dummy. His basement smelled damp and there was water trickling down the walls. This was the environment he preferred to train in.
>>Sweat glistened over the USMC tattooed on his left shoulder. Above the solid black USMC tattoo was a blood red tattoo saying HEAVY MACHINE GUNNER. On his right arm was a tattoo of a tiger guarding the crucifix of Jesus Christ.
>>The dummy had seen its better days. Just last week it had still had a nose, eyes, and ears. Now there was nothing but holes where these things used to be. Sayge had to buy a new dummy every month.
>>Wearing nothing but a white tank top and a pair of grey shorts, Sayge tore the dummy apart for over an hour a day. From the moment he started his egg timer, he didn’t stop punching, jabbing, kicking, gouging, or elbowing until the timer said he was done. When he needed a rest, he danced in circles around the dummy.
>>After his hour of fighting the dummy, Sayge would lift weights for another hour. Then after that, he would run on his treadmill for an hour. Once that was done, he would shower and eat a heavy meal of tuna fish, eggs, and three apples.
>>Today, after his work out, Sayge went upstairs to start the routine I have just described to you. As he walked through the kitchen towards the shower, he noticed that he had a new message on his answering machine. He clicked the play button and listened:
>>“Hello, Brother Sayge. This is Brother Reyn. Just calling to remind you that we are, in fact, having a meeting tomorrow night at seven p.m. I hope to see you there. Vivat Jesus, Brother!”
Sayge deleted the message and pulled a gallon of milk out of the fridge. Drinking directly from the jug, Sayge downed over half the contents before taking a breath. Wiping his mouth, he put the rest of the milk back in the refrigerator.
>>“I won’t be there, Brother Reyn,” Sayge said, walking towards the shower. “I’ve got two jobs. I told you that. I’m not going to a meeting when I’ve got to go to work.”
***
>>“Everybody freeze!”
>>The bank went silent as five different men in all different corners of the room pulled out guns.
The manager inched towards the silent alarm.
>>“Don’t think about it, pal!” a sixth gunner said, shoving his pistol into the manager’s back. >>“The security systems are all turned off anyway! So it won’t do you any good!”
>>“How…?” the manager turned to see George, his most trusted employee, wearing a bullet proof vest and pointing the sixth gun at him.
>>“Maybe you should have given me that raise, Walter,” George said, smiling from ear to ear.
>>Just as the hammer was falling towards the strike on George’s pistol, a knife caught in the between the two, preventing the shot from being fired.
>>In his surprise, George dropped his gun.
>Everyone looked in the direction from which the knife had come. At the very end of the desk, they saw a blond-haired man with dazzling blue eyes.
>>All guns were now trained on him.
>>“Let these people go,” Reyn said.
>>“And just what are you going to do about it?” George asked, retrieving his gun and pulling the knife away from the hammer.
>>Reyn pushed the seventh hidden gunner on the floor from behind the desk: unconscious.
>>“Everybody on the floor!” George screamed, pointing his gun at Reyn. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt that doesn’t need to! And that includes you, Hero!”
>>Everyone dropped to the floor and covered their heads. Everyone, that is, except Reyn.
>>“Let these people go,” Reyn repeated, raising one side of his face in a half-smile. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
>>“Grease him!”
>>“Hail Mary!…” Reyn threw two more knives at the gun men to his left and right. The blades stuck into their firing hands and they toppled to the floor, holding their hands in agony. “…full of grace…” Reyn close lined a gunman coming up behind him. “…the lord is with thee…” Reyn caught the man’s gun as he was falling. “…blessed art thou amongst women…” Reyn threw the gun across the room, ricocheting it off the forehead of another gunman, knocking him unconscious. Reyn began to run forward and vaulted over the desk. “…and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus…” He twisted the gun out of George’s hand. “…Holy Mary, mother of God…” Reyn spun George so that the final gunman’s bullets would be absorbed by George’s bullet proof vest. “…pray for us sinners…” Reyn fired a shot into the man’s left leg. “…now…” Another shot into the man’s right leg. The man fell to the ground, curling into a ball. “…and at the hour of our death.” Reyn dropped the unconscious George to the ground. None of the bullets had gone through the vest, but the pain still caused George to pass out. “Amen.”
>>The manager picked himself up and rushed to Reyn’s side. “Thank you so mu…”
>>“Call the police,” Reyn said. “I’ll tie them up. You make sure all these people are okay.”
>>“But what about…”
>>“I won’t be here when the police show up. Don’t turn on the video cameras until I leave.”
>>“But how…”
>>“Just do what I say!” Reyn shouted. “You can thank God later!”