Dreams Upon A Silver Pine Branch

Chapter 32B: Who Are the Sinners Now?

A lanky dark-skinned man in his fifties staggered into a butcher shop. As he passed the refrigerators displaying frozen meat, several customers raised their eyebrows at him but he paid them no mind and continued making his way to the cash register. The cashier, a guy who looked like he couldn't have been more than two years out of college, frowned at the tipsy man. The frown quickly vanished as that same man slapped a note on the counter.

"The person you're looking for is in the staff break room," the cashier said. "If you go past the bathroom and turn a corner just next to the rows of shelves with smoked meat, you should find the room with no problem. As for the passcode, I can confirm that what she's written on this note is correct. I assume you must be Curly-Furred Fox?"

"Who else would I be?" the slightly drunk man slurred. "But thanks for working with me and Lady Judas. Oh yeah, she did mention you'd expect payment for keeping mum about our business, so here!" he handed the smirking cashier a fat envelope. "If that's not enough, let us know."

"This would do," the young cashier nodded after counting the Elmian bills. "Thanks."

The middle-aged man just grunted before staggering to the staff break room. Behind neatly stacked boxes of deer jerky and cured meat, four lottery machines awaited. A gray-haired woman stood between two of the machines and smiled as the man approached her.

"I was getting worried you'd forgotten where to meet me, Petrus!" she threw her arms around him. "What took you so long, darling? Did you have a drunken argument with Clara again?"

"Not today, no. But I was distracted watching the news from the bar's TV. Judith, have you been following the latest developments regarding a controversial institute in Red Sycamore?"

"The one about Blue Orchid University of Xenobiology expanding its course offerings to include the study of homosexuality in primates and its correlation with homosexuality in humans?" Judith crossed her arms. "Yeah, I am up to date with that news. Your son wants to go to that university, right? I remember. He told me he is interested in Earth biology but is thinking of studying how the genetic materials found back on Earth are still intact in Infernoan hybrid species, like the Alexandria Birdwing butterflies of Golden Valley. He said if primates can be homosexuals, then by logic other animals--insects included--can too, and he wants to investigate if homosexual animals can be turned straight through genetic engineering. He hypothesizes that not even genetic engineering can turn animals straight and thus conversion therapy used in humans should be outlawed everywhere."

"You're doing a good job, Judith. It looks like Johan has started to trust you and see you as a confidant, not just his homeroom teacher," Petrus pecked his illicit lover on the cheek. "I hope you keep it up! However, I must ask you to do even more favor."

"Anything, darling. Anything as long as you keep your promise of not telling my husband, our fellow church friends, and my colleagues in Bataplai High that we're having an affair and that we're managing a hidden gambling parlor."

"When have I ever broken a promise, Lady Judas?" Petrus laughed. "And before you replied with something sarcastic, no, my promise to stay loyal to Clara doesn't count. I don't love her anymore and have not been in love with her ever since I laid eyes on you."

"Good. You're the only one I can slowly build a gambling empire with, Petrus. Other men in our church, my husband included, wouldn't understand that my salary as a teacher no longer satisfies me. I still like teaching, but at the end of the day I can't rely on my income as a teacher alone if I want to buy designer bags and expensive perfume."

"Black Elm government doesn't appreciate teachers enough," Petrus grimaced. "Or any other profession that has to do with using one's brain. That extends to positions as researchers and post-doc fellows, of course. I wouldn't be desperate enough to turn to gambling if Clara wasn't stubborn enough to pursue her passion in archeology. I keep telling her to quit being an archaeologist, but does she listen? Nope. Instead, she said I'm a parasite."

"You already know what I think of her, darling, but I'm going to say it again: she's in the wrong!" Judith reassured Petrus. "Weren't you two in agreement, before you got married, that she would be the breadwinner and you would be in charge of taking care of the kids because she was the one with better education and could secure a decent job? She's in the wrong for suddenly wanting you to be a breadwinner too."

"She used to be sweet to me when Johan was still little," Petrus sighed. "But then Nardho and Nardhia were born and she started nagging me to be a career man. I wish she'd leave me alone."

"From the look of it, I'm sure she's gonna be divorcing you soon, anyway!" Judith shrugged. "I secretly wish my husband would divorce me, you know? But what do you expect of a Catholic priest? The congregation would be shocked if they heard Father Andrew Richard dismiss the teaching that no humans are allowed to separate what the Lord has united. But we're getting off tangents here. You said you need me to do an additional favor for you?"

"Yes. Judith, I know I've asked you to become Johan's chaperone for the Mathlympic, but we still need to put an even shorter leash on him," Petrus cracked his knuckles, "Because who knows how much Blue Orchid would corrupt him if he managed to get in? I'm not asking you to mess with Mathlympic, but I need you to keep spying on him and you know what that means, don't you?"

"You want me to get ready to move to Orchidsboro?" Judith gasped. "That's a tall order."

"No, it's not. You've been complaining that your salary as a teacher in Bataplai is laughable, so I was thinking if you could move to Orchidsboro you'd be able to increase your salary by at least triple-fold. After all, that city is renowned in the entire galaxy for valuing educators so highly."

"That's true," Judith nodded slowly. "But Petrus, getting a job as an educator in that city is difficult because all the institutions there only want to hire the best of the best."

"I believe in you," Petrus took her hand and kissed it. "I believe there is a job in Orchidsboro you're qualified for. Remember that news I mentioned earlier? Blue Orchid expanding its course offerings might mean the university is hiring even more professors and assistant professors."

"But don't you need at least a Ph.D. to become a professor?" Judith blinked in confusion. "I don't have a Ph.D. yet, just a Master's degree. Do you think there's an opening for something a bit on the lower rung but still high-paying? Something to do with administration like a library clerk for a specific department--as opposed to the main library--or a laboratory monitor?"

"Don't fret, darling, I've looked it up for you!" Petrus grinned as he showed her the search history tab on his phone's browser and opened the most recently visited website. "Blue Orchid Biochemistry Library is hiring an archivist for the Rare Collections section of their journal archives. You use biochemistry journals extensively in your teaching of high schoolers, right? I assume that means you're familiar with how scientific journal archiving works? The principles ruling the process of archiving journals should be the same regardless of whether the journals are for high schoolers or college students, no?"

"I do have some familiarity with the process of archiving digital journals, yes. But Petrus, are you sure I would be able to spy on Johan if I become an archivist?"

"You becoming an archivist would make him less suspicious of you compared to if you would just move to Orchidsboro without any job," Petrus explained. "If he started asking why you keep bumping into him, you can use your job as a cover so he wouldn't think you're a stalker."

"Fine. While we're at it, should I also spy on Kenta Kinoya? That's the boy your son seems to be very fond of, right? You want me to investigate what's going on between your son and him?"

"Certainly. Why do you think I trusted you to accompany Johan to the Mathlympic?" Petrus let out an amused laughter. "As soon as I learned that Johan's competitor is Akira Kinoya, I figured that Kenta would be there too. Find out as much as you can why Johan is drawn to him."

"I will," Judith promised. "But I think Johan was just lonely and Kenta used to be the only person who was able to keep his loneliness at bay. The reason I think that way is because, as soon as Sherlyn became his Mathlympic teammate, he seemed to feel less and less lonely."

"Yeah, I was so surprised when he said he's gonna meet up with a girl at Yellow Rhododendron Cafe!" Petrus exclaimed. "I almost gave up hope of seeing him show an interest in girls after Bethany was pulled out of Mathlympic. That was too bad, you know? Bethany was so nice."

"Sherlyn is nice too," Judith interjected. "But I understand that you're still worried it is Kenta your son is really interested in. Petrus, I'm giving you my word, I'll keep an eye on both boys."