Fifty cents for your soul - Epilogue
Epilogue
Jeff couldn’t sleep. Jared had phoned to tell him what had happened at the bar and to say that he would be spending the night at Jensen’s place. Jeff was proud of the kid-in so many ways-but the thing with Jensen… By God, Jeff hoped he knew what he was doing. Jared was a decent young man, kind and good-hearted and both he and Sam were enjoying having him in their home. In many ways, he was becoming the child they’d never had.
Sam had already gone to bed, but Jeff was up going over brochure copy. One in the morning probably wasn’t the best time for it, he was probably too tired to see even the most obvious of mistakes, but he was restless. Worried. Jeff rubbed a hand over his brow. So this was what parenthood was like. He’d often wondered.
When the phone rang he assumed it would be Jared and he feared the worst.
“Jeff?” It was Father Michael from the monastery.
This couldn’t be good. “Do you have any idea what time it is, Father?”
“I do. But this is rather urgent.”
Jeff grunted. Of course it was. He knew Michael wouldn’t have called this late without a damn good reason.
“Have you seen the news?” Michael said.
“What news?” Jeff really wished Michael would just tell him what was going on.
“About Thomas Gibson Garcia.”
“The movie star?” Jeff wasn’t sure what this had to do with him, or the Center, or why it was urgent. The actor in question was an outspoken financial supporter of Opus Dei, his donations sizeable enough to warrant him a meeting with the Pope, but there were times when the Catholic Church could really do without the publicity he generated. “Was he caught on camera having another one of his insane rants? What was it this time? His circumspect support for anti-abortion violence? Or another homophobic tirade?”
“Worse,” Father Michael sounded grim. “He was arrested in a public restroom with his penis down the throat of a fourteen-year-old prostitute. He swears by almighty God that he thought she was over eighteen, but he’s looking at serious charges. And Catherine is leaving him and taking their children with her.”
“Not the first A-lister divorce in this town,” Jeff said, still unsure why they were talking about this.
Father Michael sighed audibly. “Given Thomas’s well-publicized association with the Catholic Church, to the public this won’t just be another celebrity divorce scandal, it will link the Catholic Church, however tenuously, with yet another case of child sex abuse.”
Jeff harrumphed. He still didn’t see why this was an emergency for the Center, unless the child involved was hurt and in need of their assistance.
“The girl,” Jeff began, but Father Michael cut him off.
“I’m beginning to suspect that you don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?”
Father Michael sighed. “You have no idea why I’ve called you about this, do you?”
Jeff’s stomach dropped ominously. He had a nasty feeling that he really wasn’t going to like this.
“Thomas Gibson Garcia and Catherine J Monaghan,” Father Michael paused. “They’re Jared’s parents, Jeff.”
--
The End (for now)
Thank you for reading! Comments much appreciated. :)
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