8

At Future High, Lemuel knocked on the door of the Director’s office and let himself inside. There, he couldn’t quite figure out what he thought of the scene before him.

The director, a somber faced man in his sixties, peeked at him from a pair of thick medicated glasses.

A single seat was arranged at the left hand side of his table, while the right hand side was occupied by a couple and the plump girl from his class. What was she even doing here? he thought.

There was a resemblance between the girl and the woman, so he figured that they could be a family. The woman was on the slim side though.

Lemuel realized that he recognized the man as a Reverend who preached on Television. He generally didn’t like preachers because he had discovered that many of them twisted the scriptures to put money in their pockets. This one though had earned his respect when he heard whispers of how he lived an average lifestyle and spent most of his church funds on charity and missionary work.

He also noticed that the girl had her eyes glued to her feet while she kept wringing her hands and fidgeting nervously. The Reverend and his wife however had their eyes on him and their gazes looked reproachful. The question was, what business did he have with them?

“Good morning, I’m glad you could make it.” said the director, pointing him to the empty seat that he had noticed.

“Good morning sir, Reverend, Madam.” Lemuel greeted and the Reverend and his wife nodded, somewhat curtly. The girl was avoiding his gaze so he ignored her.

“Well, why am I here sir?” He asked the director.

“Do you recognize this young woman over here?”

“She’s in my class” Lemuel responded, still wondering what that had to do with anything. He really didn’t like this meeting because something seemed completely wrong and off.

“Well, this here is Reverend Anthony and his wife. Miss Inara over here is their daughter and there’s an issue of...”

“Young man,” Inara’s father cut in, directing his words to Lemuel. “What the director here is trying to say is that the examination you wrote with my daughter has produced a result, one you must be willing to accept responsibility for because you passed. You both passed.”

Lemuel understood allegories but couldn’t allow himself to fathom that what was being said was real.

“Excuse me sir?”

“My daughter is pregnant for you. How can you be so aloof?” Inara’s father accused him.

“What? I don’t even...Jesus, this isn’t happening. How can that be?”

Lemuel had never been so shocked in his entire life and he was one who was open to surprises because he believed a wise man should never underestimate mankind.

“Are you saying that you never had sexual relations with Miss Inara?” The director probed.

“Of course I never did.”

Inara broke into a sob and Lemuel was forced to really look at her. This was insane, he thought.

“Miss Inara, look at me. Look at me damn it.” he snapped, impatient and she gave him a glance but quickly returned her eyes to her lap and continued to cry.

“Don’t try to intimidate my child.” the Reverend warned.

Inara raised her tearful eyes to look at Lemuel and his hazel eyes narrowed at her, causing her heart beat to escalate with fright and guilt.

“Why don’t you tell the truth about whoever is responsible for your pregnancy? What exactly do you want from me?“Lemuel demanded.

For a second, Inara considered telling the truth but when images of the consequences of ignoring the last dare flashed in her head, she painfully shoved that thought aside. She didn’t want to age strangely and die strangely.

“The...the baby is yours.” she sobbed and quickly averted her gaze to her mother’s. “Please help me mummy, daddy, please help me.” she cried and her mother threw her arms comfortingly around her.

“Young man, you must accept responsibility for your actions. How can you treat this innocent girl so?” The director was indignant.

“I have told you that I never had anything to do with this girl. I’m shocked.”

“That’s it. I cannot listen to this degradation against my own daughter.” Inara’s mother cried.

“My patience is running out.” the Reverend shouted, rising to his feet and pacing about.

Lemuel threw his hands up, unbelieving. The rage that overwhelmed him was so powerful that if no one was there, he probably would have killed the girl and made sure that he did it slowly.

The thought triggered vengeful feelings from the core of his being and as soon as the vengeful thoughts entered him, he decided that he would do anything to ensure that this girl came to learn in a hard way that indeed, he was the bastard son of his father. The only way to do that was to let her into his world. She had come knocking right? Well the door was about to open.

“Reverend, Director, Madam, I sincerely apologize for all the confusion so far. I have had some ponder and accept the result of our examination as you so proverbially put it sir.”

Silence enveloped the air when he finished talking. It seemed as though the sudden peace was staggering because his positive response had been unexpected.

“Well I am glad that this has come to a peaceful resolution.” said the director, his grim face, relaxing into a more friendly countenance.

Inara had stopped crying upon hearing Lemuel’s words. It wasn’t from relief but from shock and she didn’t know what to make of the turn of events.

When she stole a glance at Lemuel, his eyes were narrowed at her in that ominous way that overwhelmed her with fear, hence she quickly cast her gaze to the floor, her heart hammering against her chest.

“My daughter will not give birth out of wedlock.” her father insisted.

“I understand.” Lemuel agreed. “In that light, I will like a short moment with your daughter so we can talk.”

The hammering of Inara’s heartbeat escalated with the fear of being alone with him but knowing that her parents were around the corner gave her some little comfort.

“We’ll be right outside sweetheart.” her mother said, kissing her forehead before they exited the office, leaving her alone with Lemuel.

She tensed as he rose up and drew closer to her with slow, calculated steps, his musky scent travelling towards her. She continued to avoid his gaze until she felt his hand lifting her chin, forcing her face upwards but she still wouldn’t look directly at him. Instead, she continued to sniff tearfully.

“Look at me.” he demanded, his voice low to prevent possible eavesdropping.

Inara swallowed hard and forced her gaze to focus on his for a moment.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Twen...twenty” she stuttered.

He felt like wringing her neck but he controlled himself.

“You should know that you’re playing with fire.”

“I...I don’t know what you mean.” she said, her eyes welling up again.

“Cut the crap. Who really is responsible for your pregnancy?”

“I...I already to...told you.” she stammered, tears rolling down her face again.

Lemuel gritted his teeth in frustration and took a deep breath to calm his anger.

“Listen to me very carefully. I am the last person that you want to have problems with miss. I am not a very nice guy so you have one last chance to end all this drama, right here, right now, regardless of what I had said earlier to the others and we can pretend that this never happened.”

Remaining terrified, Inara chose to stay between the devil and the deep blue sea. She saw no other option which made the tears rolling down her face, intensify and her silence, unbroken.

“Well, you’ve had your chance.” He drawled. “And I don’t know what your mission is but one thing is for certain.”

Inara felt his breath on her neck as his last words were whispered darkly into her ear, “You will surely regret knowing me.”

She visibly shuddered and wanted to call for her mother’s help but managed to keep silent and return her gaze to the floor with fresh tears rolling down her face as he released her jaw.

“I don’t want to see those tears. Wipe them off.”

She sniffled and he lifted her jaw again, capturing her green eyes with his.

“I said, wipe them off, now!” his deep voice commanded and Inara quickly cleaned her tears with the back of her hands.

“Good, I would hate to send the impression that we haven’t been making up.”

With that, he strode to the door and opened it. The others reentered the office and everyone took their seats.

“So what has been decided?” The director asked.

“Oh, Reverend, I officially request permission to marry your daughter.”

The preacher was relieved. “That is the right thing to do son. Permission granted.”

The director nodded with pleasure at the turn of events. The Reverend shook hands with Lemuel and Inara’s mother hugged her close.

“Well, congratulations to you all.” said the director. “I guess we can all look forward to a wedding.”

Lemuel let his gaze travel to his so-called bride to be as she cowered in her mother’s arms and all he could think about was that she had better enjoy such comfort while it lasted because soon, there would be no hiding place for her.