Unnerving Conversation
Alive with new reasoning, Faith smiled as she dialed the numbers to her house. Thankfully, someone was home and answered the phone on the second ring.
"Hello?" her mother's familiar voice requested. "Faith, is that you?"
She blinked, surprised. "Yeah, it's me. I missed the bus. I'm sorry. But I really needed to talk to Ramona about something. It was really important."
"It's alright," her mother said much more quickly than usual. "I'll pick you
up. We need to talk."
"I..I couldn't agree more," Faith said. She frowned. Hmph, what did she want to tell her now? That she was really an alien lovechild abducted at birth and given to human parents to raise in the ways of their unique culture?
Faith smiled proudly at the sarcastic thought. Ramona would be proud. "I'll be waiting for you," she told Jackie.
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," her mother said. "Be ready." They said their good-byes and the phone conversation ended.
Sitting in the telephone booth at the end of the hallway, Faith bit her lower lip as she grabbed her book-bag and swung it over her shoulder. Would her mother bring up the healing again? Probably. Faith stared further down the corridor lined with lockers at Ramona gathering her books.
If her mother did, she would have to stick to her guns. Faith loved her, but Ramona was right. Her mother couldn't heal her, and whether her mother understood or not, it was wrong to give false hope like that to Faith when the previous events of the week had left her in so fragile a state.
Faith would have to explain that to her. Though fearful, she smiled, thinking of Ramona. It was a reassurance to know that even if her mother didn't like what Faith had to say, she knew at least one person would be on her side.
* * * * *
Walking down to her locker, Ramona realized that she herself had missed the bus as well, but planned to call her aunt as so not to interrupt the much-needed talk between Faith and Mommy Dearest.
She sighed, going through her belongings and lost in her thoughts, barely noticed as a gentleman of average height and weight came walking briskly down the hallway and stopped in his tracks by her side.
Looking up, Ramona instantly frowned. As she gazed upon the man, she backed away, looking him up and down. He was dressed conservatively, in blacks and grays. "Yes?" she asked.
She studied him. Perhaps the only thing extraordinary about the man before her was his lack of any true identifying characteristics. She smirked, probably one of the Bible salesmen the nuns sent around every once in awhile to convert the heathens.
Sporadically, the man held out his hand in need. "I need to talk with you," he said hurriedly.
Fluttering her dark eyelashes, Ramona opened her mouth sideways to speak. "I've already got three Bibles. We're a Catholic school, they see to that."
"No, no," he quickly said, moving his hands quickly in front of him. "That girl that you were just talking to-"
"Yeah, she's got a Bible, too. You're not gonna get much business in OLRA. No one gets too far without a copy."
He blinked, and then smirked, understanding. "I'm not selling bibles."
Ramona shifted her weight. "Then, what are you doing in our hallway?" she demanded.
He paused as he attempted to get back on topic. "The girl you were speaking to. Was that Faith Clarky?"
"Yeah?" Ramona asked, disregarding any authority the man might have. She squinted at him. "Why? Who wants to know?"
"You're a friend of hers," he said bluntly. "I'd like to get to her."
Her lip curling upward, Ramona clutched her books to her bosom, giving the man a distasteful sneer. "Whoa. Get to her?" she echoed, articulating each word with an inborn rebel attitude.
"Yes. Do you know where she went?" he asked more politely, aware that he was being scrutinized.
Ramona bounced her hip and pointed upward. "Do I have a sign that says 'information' above me? What? Do you think I keep a day planner for her?"
"No," he said quite sure of himself. "But you two are close."
"Dern straight." Her green eyes stared at him suspiciously. What would a man like him want with Faith? "And I like her well enough to keep her out of trouble," she said, slowly, carefully. "So, why don't you just move on? Unless you want to spill some grape juice on my home carpet to prove to me the power of Oxiclean."
"I dress this way to make an impression," he said in his defense.
"Consider it made." She turned her back to him and began to walk down the hallway.
As it became apparent that the girl was not going to help him, he sighed deeply. "I'm only trying to help her," he called after her.
"Yeah, well, that girl's got plenty of help, alright?" It was true. Faith was in good hands. Ramona continued to talking to him as she made her way out of the building. "So do yourself a favor." She turned one last time to address him. "Either find a more direct way of speaking to her, or keep out of her - "
But when she swerved around, only an eerily empty hallway met her gaze. "Business," she finished. Growing suddenly fearful, Ramona ran for the door and out into the autumn air, letting the standard glass school door slam behind her.
Uncertain of why she felt such a thrill of fear go through her, she ran across the street for the nearest pay phone and made a call to her aunt, explaining the strange event and imploring for her to come as quickly as she could.
Her aunt's rusty, rickety Toyota Dart came rushing around the corner in record time to scoop Ramona off the property, but only inside the car, did she pause to let out a deep sigh of relief.
Ramona shivered, though she didn't divulge all the disconcerting details to her aunt.
"I dunno," she told her when prompted. She made a face, shifting her thin shoulders backward as she crossed her arms. "The guy just gave off that creepy air, you know?" Though she couldn't explain why, Ramona had been sincerely frightened by his presence, and though there was no scientific certainty, she planned to follow her instincts.
As they rode along, she sat taller with proficiency. "But don't you worry. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll make sure he never gets in that school again," she said with certainty. "The nuns are gonna hear about this."
And as everyone knew - when it came to keeping unnecessary testosterone out of any given area, there was no proven pesticide quite like that of the community of nuns Our Lady of the Rosary Academy…
