CLASH

Face them Like a Man…

The floor creaks as the two agents enters the church and saw the preacher sweeps the church…

“What can I do for you…?” Asked the preacher, looking at the two men…

“Sorry pastor, can you tell us anything about this man…?” Asked Andrew, showing the photo of Bryan to the preacher….

“I meet him first while I deliver a service at his mother’s funeral…. We met occasionally….” He said….

“Did he ever tell you his problem…?” Asked the agent….

“If you mean that he seeks counsel in me, the answer is no…. And even if he did, I can’t tell you what’s it all about…” He said…

Andrew sigh, and then asked…

“Well, but you can tell us your opinion about him, right…? How is he, in your opinion…?”

“He’s a god man…. Troubled, maybe…. I think he has some issue with his father….” He said….

“How can you tell? Did you know his father…?” Asked Andrew, pressing at the matter….

“No… But it was obvious…. Judging how resistant he was to the word….” The preacher explains…

“Do you know his whereabouts….?” Asked the local agents

“He just left, and I can’t tell where he was going…. He could be at his work, or having meal…. He’s a freeman…” Said the preacher that makes both agents grunts and frowns….

****

“So, where to, now…?” Asked the local agent, knowing they have to cover a lot of ground….

“Let’s take a break….” Said Andrew, which he quickly regrets, when he saw his colleague drive his car to the diner….

“Don’t you want to order something?” Said the agent, eating a big size burger, while Andrew, feeling full just to see his colleague’s appetite….

He was thinking about his next move when the bell at the door dings, and he saw Bryan enters the diner….

****

For a moment as if the world freezes….

His gaze fixed at the agent, as the man gaze struck at his….

Run…. Run… Run….

He can hear the voice so clearly in his mind….

But suddenly he can see clearly the preacher talked to him….

Don’t run…. Face them like a man….

****

Andrew was ready to get up from his chair, ready to chase the man if he turns his heels and run away….

But to his surprise he saw the man approaches their booth….

“I hear that you are looking for me…. What do you want….?”

****

Andrew gave a deep sigh as he saw his colleague order more food, while Bryan sat opposite to him…

Confident…. Or a psycho…. Thought Andrew as he saw Bryan ordered a cup of black coffee and a turkey sandwich….

“I’m hungry….” Said Bryan, as if he can see the man’s question….

The agent waited until Bryan sip his coffee and put the sandwich after a bite….

“Do you mind if I record this conversation…?” Said Andrew, putting his phone on the table, ready to push the button of the recording apps….

Bryan shrugs his shoulder, finishing his sandwich, and take a sip on his coffee….

“Did you go to see your father during his sermon?” Asked Andrew….

“I did….” Said Bryan, knowing that it was a question that meant to see if he will lie about the fact, they already know….

“Did you come from the front door….?”

“No…. I use the back door…” He answered…

“Why…? He is your father, right…?”

“Yes…. But we fell apart quite a long time ago….”

It matches the statement from the preacher…. Thought Andrew….

“What happened….?” Asked the local agent, after he finally feel full….

“He changed…. You still able to look how he preach in his early days…” Said Bryan, picking up his phone and show the video of his father former preaching….

“What’s wrong with his new preaching…?” Asked the local agent…. “Can’t one wish to be prosperous…?”

“By planting seeds in the preacher….?” Asked Bryan sarcastically….

“It does say that we have to give ten percent, right?” the agent asked….

“For the church, yes…. And the church is not about how big and marvellous the building is, how many people comes to the sermon…. Church is about how they touch the poor, the weak, those in needs…. Not about how elegant the preacher is…” Bryan answered with fire in his voice….

“But why don’t you come through the front door….?” Asked Andrew once again….

“He cut everything with me and my Ma… He wanted nothing to do with us anymore….” Bryan said….

“Then why did you come….?”

“I am desperate…. I really wanted to bring Ma’ to get a better treatment than what I can gave her…. I thought he would show a little compassion…”

“Did you bring anyone to help you…?” Asked Andrew….

Bryan looked genuinely surprised….

“No…. I came alone….” He said….

“So, you don’t know who she was…?” Asked Andrew, showing the footage of the girl with the security….

Bryan squints his eyes, and his head backed a little, confused…

“No…. I really don’t know…. I came alone…. I don’t know who she was….” He said, still confused with the footage, trying to remember that evening, trying to remember if he saw someone else around the area….

He could not remember a single soul or any movement that that night….

“So, she was not there to help you to divert the attention of the security that could intervene with your act that night….?” Confirm Andrew…

“No, Sir… I was coming all on my own… I never saw that woman in my life….” Bryan said, with his eyes fixed towards Andrew, showing him that he was telling the truth….

A brief silence falls in the table….

“Did you know that you just confess for trespassing…?” Asked the local agent….

“Because I enter through the back door…?” Asked Bryan, a glimpse of soft smile on his face…

“Because you entered through the back door…” said the agent feeling confident….

“I will pull my wallet….” Bryan said raising both his hands a little off the table for the two agents to see, then with one hand reaches for his wallet….

“I believe that it is God who wanted me to meet him…” He said, pulling a piece of folded paper, and an id card….

Andrew unfolds the paper and gave it to his colleague that huffs for the irritation he feels to see that the paper was the printout of employment letter for the man as a cleaning crew at the stadium, for the night shift….

“I have all the right to be at the premise, and use any entrance at the stadium… At that particular time….”

Damn….! He played us well…. Thought Andrew, feeling stupid that he and his colleague clearly misjudged the man sitting in front of him….

“Why didn’t you sue them for the beating….?” Asked Andrew, trying to change the subject and tries to get their dignity back…

Bryan smiled and say….

“They will decline, and put all the blame to the vendor…. Am I right…?”

Andrew face hardened…. He clearly underestimates the man in front of him….

“No, Sir… It’s not your fault…. I just know my father to well….” Bryan said, assuring the agent….

“But I am honest on being employed for that time… You may confirm with the agency…. And I am telling you the truth, that I have no knowledge about the girl, and have no association with her whatsoever…. I am purely come to asked my father for his help, and he rejected me….” He said….

“If there is nothing else, then I will take my leave….” Bryan said, standing up, left some cash for his meal and left….

*****

Hahaha…. What a play…. Said the handsome figure, hovering up in the sky, looking at the diner where Bryan just walked out the place….

I chose the right candidate… He thought, looking at the calmness of the man, despite the fact that he can see the tremor of anger and fear on the man’s hand…

Now for the next part… Said the handsome figure as he vanished into the thin evening air….