Tangled With A Priest

 Ivie did not know whether to laugh or curse. She glared daggers at him as she spat the gum to her palm and pressed it against her desk, the white pulp a glaring contrast to the brown wooded desk. 

 He stared at it, her obvious display of disrespect, with a small smile plastered on his face. Then he walked to her desk, removed the nicely plastered gum and threw it into the waste basket. Ivie closed her eyes in embarrassment. 

 "As you already know, I'm leading your form this year, let us get along." He paced around the classroom. "Hmm, why do you look so familiar?" He pointed at a student, wondering. "Oh," he pointed from her to Ivie, "you two were together yesterday in the bleacher, you had this really red lipstick on. Wonderful, the first two people I made friends with are in my class."

 They were not friends, Ivie felt embarrassed that he had touched her gum, her spit. She would have gone with her gut and skipped the introduction that morning.

 Gaga stood up. "I'm glad you remember me, Father."

 "Your lipstick stood out, it was brightly red. Maybe you should try a darker shade next time."

 If Gaga took any offense, she didn't show it. "Yes, Father. My name is Gaga."

 "Gaga," he repeated. "That sounds like a name a vibrant person would bear, the crazy type of vibrant, the type where no body wants to trouble you because you have a few nut loosened and you know how to deliver it to the right person. Does that describe you, Gaga?"

 Gaga laughed. "I don't have just a few, I have many loose nuts."

 "What a wonderful pair you and Ivie should make then. She breaks the rules, you cover up. What does your name means?"

 "It's actually Osasenaga, Gaga for short. As for the meaning, I always forget."

 "Shouldn't you be embarrassed about not knowing what your name means?" Itohan asked, interrupting their chat chat.

 "Well, she's honest about it. If she's embarrassed, she's going to look for ways to cover it up and end up lying, that's worse than any embarrassment, don't you think so, Ivie?"

 Did the priest develop a liking to her name over the night? "I lie a lot, so it doesn't mean anything to me," she answered dryly.

 "Hmmm, such honesty, and comfort in your sins. I don't know if I should commend your bravery of being unapologetic towards telling lies." 

 "Maybe you should give me an award."

 "For what exactly, placing your gum on your desk so I can discard it for you?"

 Ivie heard snickers behind her and she clenched her teeth, feeling stupid. She definitely should have slept through the morning. She stared out of the window wondering if the two eye coloured cat really belonged to him. Although she found it fascinating, it scared her, and she would prefer that it didn't appear in her dream again, or her window. 

 Then her mind reeled back to Sister Gabriel and what she had seen the previous night. She had tried to not poke her nose where it didn't belong, but she felt so uneasy about this one. She had not been prepared to see anything, so it had shocked her, feared her even. Ivie was not easily scared, and that's why this one scared her so much. 

 "….isn't that right, Ivie?"

 Ivie swore under her breath. Did Father Chibuike derive joy in tormenting her?

 "Hmmm, Ivie?" He pressed. 

 "I don't know, Father." She wasn't even following his chit chat with the other students. 

 "Ivie doesn't seem interested in the award no more, so sad."

 She could see her friends giving her questioning glances at the priest's taunt. As if she had an explanation for it. She managed to survive through the class and even though she wanted to jump through the window, she had a feeling she would get caught and embarrass herself again. So she stayed put, and when the class was dismissed, she couldn't wait to leave. 

 But Father Chibuike called her back. "Ivie, a word."

 "I'll pass," she replied, tugging the edge of Gaga's dress so they would leave. 

 "I wonder why you think that was a request. We had a deal yesterday and you didn't keep your end of the bargain."

 She halted her steps. "What deal are you talking about?" She waved Gaga and her friends off and the other students paused to give them curious glances. 

 "I thought we agreed that you would serve detention for two days, how come you weren't there yesterday?"

 Had he really gone to check? Definitely this priest was bored. "Sorry Father, I don't think I remember quite well what agreement that was."

 He shook his head. "So pitiful, it hasn't even being a complete twenty four hours and you forget so soon? A lady this young," he tsked.

 Ivie's jaw dropped. That was no way to talk for a priest. She cleared her throat. "I'm having a little migraine which is why I forget, I couldn't sleep last night, somebody's cat kept me occupied." 

 "Good gracious, somebody has a fancy for cats."

 "It has this yellow and blue eyes, black fur, small vile animal." She studied his face to see the expression that would give his facade away. 

 There was none. "You call a creature of God vile? Are you trying to say God had evil intentions when he created it."

 Ivie exhaled, this was going no where. 

 "So while everyone was sleeping you decided to play hide and seek with a cat, what are you, a rat?"

 She clenched her jaw. "Maybe you're the one with bad memories, rats are not usually this big."

 He smiled and shrugged. "Giraffes did not originally have long necks, they got it from stretching too much, who knows?" He shrugged again. "So tell me about this cat."

 He was curious, it meant something. She indulged him. "It was outside my window, destroying the panes. Looked like it was trying to come inside because when I checked it, there were scratches. I followed it, it went to the canteen and then I didn't see it any more." She deliberately left out her dream and that she had an encounter with Sister Gabriel, it didn't matter anyway. She was studying his face. 

 "What an eventful night you've had, no wonder you were at your best behaviour this morning."

 "Thanks for the compliment, Father." She bowed. "But don't you think it's strange, cats walking around the school at night? Makes me wonder who owns such cat."

 "Somebody divine I suppose. But don't change the topic, you breached our contract yesterday, and now you owe me."

 There was no contract, this sneaky priest and she definitely did not owe him anything. "I—" 

 "Father, I got the other names you asked for." Sister Gabriel interrupted her, walking into the classroom with a sheet of paper. "I misplaced it amongst the names to be sent to the Dean, it was good you were observant."

 "Thank you." He took the paper from her. 

 "Oh, Ivie," Sister Gabriel called when she saw her. "You look perfectly fine for somebody who sleepwalked to the canteen last night."

 Great, her cover has been blown. 

 "You should be careful and avoid things that makes you sleepwalk, you don't know what lurks in the shadows at night."

 "Poor girl," Father Chibuike looked at Ivie. "That sounds very much like a warning, if you're wise you'd heed to it."

 Sister Gabriel laughed awkwardly. "It wasn't a warning at all, Father, I just wanted her to be safe."

 "I didn't know ambush laid behind the shadows at night to attack people who sleepwalked."

 "My mistake, my words must have being misunderstood and confused you," Sister Gabriel bowed, trying to redeem herself. 

 "You should get better at speaking comprehensible words then, we don't want to confuse ourselves now, do we?"

 Ivie concluded that the priest had the natural charm to put people in their place. Sister Gabriel still bowed her down, feeling bad that her choice of words had been misunderstood but Ivie knew it wasn't a mere slip of tongue. She looked at Father Chibuike who eyes caught her and she saw him mouthed, "You lied."