Chapter 474: Katrina XIX—Reluctant Ally
“Don’t look at her like she’s from Satan or something because believe me Father Kolanos, she’s not from Satan,” Katrina said crossing her arms, she closed her eyes, “And why is the air conditioning never working here?” She could feel sweat slick on her forehead, on her upper lip, soaking through the arm pits of her shirt, into her lower back. Not even past the afternoon yet, hours of this strangling humid head to come.
“I’m not saying she’s from Satan,” Father Kolanos said, a barrel chested curly haired priest said, folding his hands together and then raising his fingers so they formed a steeple. “Please don’t put words into my mouth dear? And where is your mother, it’s the girl’s mother I want to speak to.”
Katrina grimaced. “Well Mom’s working, so it’s just me you got, but it’s okay cause when it comes to Chloe I pretty much do all the disciplining. She listens to me more than anyone else, Father, so lay it on. What did the little demon do now?”
“I did not say she was a demon!” Father Kolanos exclaimed.
“Oh but I am,” Katrina nodded.
“That’s not something appropriate to joke about.”
“Fine,”
Katrina sighed. “Look, you called the house, so you tell me, I would rather
handle it here and right now then run it by
“
“Her father,” Katrina replied. “And I think you can guess why I would not him getting involved in any type of disciplinary action?”
Kolanos’ lips tightened and he looked quickly at the doorway. Chloe sat in the hallway on a bench right outside the room of the church which also served as a Sunday school. Loudly she hummed a spiritual, something ponderous and painfully melodic, something borrowed from the plantations of tortured slaves from over a century ago, drilling in the lyrics of the undeniable truth that Jesus would come to save everyone. What should have been something swarthy and deep coming from the throat of a displaced African was made chillingly clear and frail from the voice of a little girl. “I can understand that,” he said quietly.
Of course he would notice the bruises; of course he wouldn’t believe every lame excuse from Mom about falls down stairs, falls off bicycles and roller skates. The question always remained with this priest and anyone else in charge of Chloe’s religious or scholarly education was, did they care enough to intervene? A true man of God, Katrina would assume, would lift a hand to help the girl, and the rest of her family.
“Well come on, give it up,” Katrina said.
“Chloe does not intentionally create trouble, and I want to start out by saying that she’s a bright child, she’s an intelligent child, very inquisitive but there are times when…” he paused and then brought the steeple of his fingertips to his lips and making a loud smacking sound. “When she just causes disruption to the class, and to the teacher. Miss Mockerie is at her wits end with her, she really is. The girl ceaselessly combats stated bible fact, she constantly criticizes Samantha’s delivery of it and even today when I sat in and took over the class, Chloe openly challenged my own faith in God, and my own intentions for serving as a priest…”
Katrina laughed. She couldn’t help it. She pinched the top of her nose and laughed. “I’m sorry. Look Father she does that at home as well, what can we do? I mean Chloe seems to be born to challenge authority okay? I’m sure you have other problem children in class who do a lot more damage than that.”
“It’s worse,” Kolanos said, narrowing his eyes, miffed perhaps at having no effect upon her as a serious authority figure. And he would be right, Katrina thought to herself, after tangling with Huxton on his parlor couch for the better part of the morning, and listening to his repeated fears of being discovered, and her age, she could not really respect a man that much.
“Worse? How? Is she biting or something?”
He took a deep breath in and then exhaled…
“How could you say that?” Katrina exclaimed. “And stop lagging behind, Chloe!”
Chloe stopped, and smoothed her shiny black hair down with her tiny fingers. Her eyes seemed so abnormally huge and green on her heart shaped face that she almost looked like a bug. All she’d need is antennae, Katrina thought, and the girl’s limbs were so bony and knobby, like a cricket’s legs. “It’s truth ‘Trina.” Chloe replied.
“As you see it,” Katrina said wanting to grab
the little brat and shake her senseless. Perhaps with Chloe a good throttling
would have a beneficial rather than detrimental effect. “There is no way in
Hell that’s possible, Chloe, and there’s no way you could believe it, so that
only proves that you were just making trouble on purpose for the fun of it
Chloe, and that’s stupid of you. Sunday school is the best thing for you, don’t
you understand? Wouldn’t you rather be in that church for a couple hours
playing games and singing about God then sitting home with
Chloe sniffled and wiped her nose on her arm, not crying but hay fever. “I dunno Trina I didn’t wanna make no one mad, Trina, I just don’t like it whin they git things wrong and I wasn’t lying because it’s true. S’what ah Su-aw Trina, in my dreams last night I did.”
“You saw it in your dreams last night?” Katrina lifted her eyebrow.
Chloe nodded, “And I thought Father Kolanos would be happy.” Her voice sounded so cartoonish and high, so exaggerated in accent and pitch that it added to Katrina’s impression sometimes that Chloe just wasn’t real. Her tiny pink little lips were turned down and trembling now. “I din’t know he’d be mad.”
Katrina blew out some air and she squatted to her little sister’s height and she put her hands over her bony little shoulders. “Listen to me, Chloe, listen. Now I guess you believe what you dreamed about was real, but it’s not. And even if it is it’s still a long way from now so don’t be talking about it so much okay? You wanna stay in Sunday School right? Right?”
Chloe nodded. “Kin we git an ah-ice cuh-ream?”
“Forget about ice cream,” Katrina sighed, “Enough ice cream you don’t need ice cream right now. Okay? I just want you to tell me, I want you to promise me that you won’t be scaring Father Kolanos like that anymore. Okay?”
Chloe sighed as only a little child beset with the weight of the world could, “Okay. Ooo Roly Poly!” She got to her hands and knees and began to watch a pill bug tracking across the sidewalk.
“Chloe forget about the bug, come on.”
“No! I wanna watch m’friend.”
“It’s a bug it’s not your friend.”
“Yes it is, hi Mr. Roly Po…”
Beyond annoyed now, Katrina stomped on the bug, “Come on, now it’s dead.”
“TRINA!” Chloe shrieked at such a decibel that Katrina closed her eyes and tried to understand why she’d done it to the poor kid. “TRINA NOOOO WHY?”
Chloe was sobbing now, probably inconsolable as she would be, and Katrina felt tears well up in her own eyes, she blinked them away. Stupid kid had to get attached to every blade of grass on the face of the Earth. “Look Chloe I’m sorry I did that.” She lifted her foot and Chloe put her hand over the smashed bug before Katrina could see it. “Look I’m really sorry.” She kneeled down to her height on the sidewalk and shook her head. “I shouldn’t have done…”
“It’s okay!” Chloe declared holding up her little hand, “You missed it!” The pill bug crawled safe and happy on her tiny finger. More importantly, Chloe’s eyes, shiny with tears now glowed with happiness. “See you missed him ain’t hurt a’tall!”
“What?” Katrina whispered and she grabbed Chloe’s tiny wrist and peered at the bug and then she looked at the sidewalk not seeing anything but the cracks in the cement. “Well I’ll be damned he must have fallen into a crack or something. Lucky bug.”
“Now ‘pologize,” Chloe said holding the bug up.
“Sorry bug,” Katrina whispered, feeling awed and a little afraid.
“Good, he accepts,” Chloe replied and she placed the bug into the grass. “Can we get ah-ice cuh-ream now?”
“Come on…” Katrina sighed. “Let’s get ice cream.”