A Gangster's Gospel

Chapter 6: Sinful Thoughts

It had been nearly two months since the Reaper of Enigma visited St. Clementia.

Two long months and Jeremiah couldn't forget the man. The night he confessed to killing Viktov Usamov was on constant repeat in Jeremiah's head.

The Reaper of Enigma's smoky cherry smell, his broad back and wide shoulders that swayed as he walked away from Jeremiah. The way he held Jeremiah against him. The confusing feelings he left to fester within him.

He calls himself the Reaper of Enigma yet he himself was the enigma.

Jeremiah knew next to nothing about the man. His name, his face, his true intentions with the smaller man. Everything was a mystery. It was like the man didn't exist. A living ghost, a shadow.

Jeremiah had tried to ask Father Abrahim about who the Reaper of Enigma was but even Abrahim didn't know. The older man had actually never met the Reaper of Enigma face to face but he was aware of who he was. All Father Abrahim knew was that the Reaper of Enigma, like many members of other organized crime groups and gangs, trusted those at St. Clementia enough to hold his secrets and absolve him of his sins. Father Abrahim even mentioned that he was surprised the gangster confessed to someone other than him. According to Abrahim, the Reaper of Enigma was very particular about who he spoke to at St. Clementia.

The idea of a gangster using the good will of the priests of St. Clementia as his own personal diary for some semblance of peace was comical at best to Jeremiah. But it wasn't like Jeremiah had any room to judge since his curiosity and attraction to the Reaper of Enigma seemed to grow with each passing day. The smaller man even felt a small sense of happiness to know the Reaper of Enigma liked him enough to confess to him in the first place.

It had gotten to the point that Jeremiah would perk up with a strange rush of excitement when he saw a tall man dressed in all black come into St. Clementia. Only to be disappointed when it wasn't who he wanted it to be. Jeremiah didn't want to hear another tragic confession, but there was just something mystifying and magnetic about that man, that made Jeremiah want him to return even if it was to confess again.

While attending classes at Beaurock Community College or working in the library he always felt like he was being watched. A shadow in the corner of his eye that he could never catch. It made him feel like he was losing his mind.

And he might be considering how his thoughts were of nothing but that man.

The way the Reaper of Enigma spoke, walked, smelled, the way he covered Jeremiah's eyes during the last confession, the way his hand felt on the small of his back even the way he breathed seemed to ignite something that had laid dormant deep in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah couldn't stop the thoughts he was having about the man.

He wondered if the Reaper of Enigma looked just as good unclothed as he did with clothes. How many scars did he have from his many brushes with death? He definitely had a bullet wound that Jeremiah was aware of. Did he have tattoos? Was he a rough man in bed or was he gentle? Jeremiah didn't feel like he'd be a gentle man, not with a suffocating presence like his.

"And that's it for today," Assistant Professor Nova said, breaking Jeremiah from his train of thought, "finish reading The Wife of Bath's Tale and have a rough draft of your essays completed by next week's class."

The students all packed up and began leaving the small classroom.

Jeremiah made his way towards the door preparing to head straight to the on campus library when he was stopped by the assistant professor.

"Jeremiah?" the woman said, "May I have a word with you?"

Jeremiah nodded and the two waited quietly for the classroom to clear out. When the last student left, the door closed with a soft click.