BIA Ch. 125

“And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.”

Pastor Benjamin, with both hands raised high and his voice booming, finally stepped down from the pulpit. As the emcee announced the hymn number, people began to sing in unison. In that moment, Pastor Benjamin, who had fully descended the stairs, stood before the congregation. There, a vessel filled with holy water was placed. Bran was the first to rise and approach it. He knelt on one knee before Pastor Benjamin.

From the 2nd floor, Bran’s face was not visible. Only his back, kneeling with his head bowed, could be seen. The sight was so reverent and beautiful that Isaiah felt even more agitated. He wanted to see his face. He wanted to look at him, even just one more time.

Pastor Benjamin dipped his hand in the water and applied it to Bran’s forehead. It was similar to the Catholic baptismal rite. Isaiah thought, even in the midst of this, that it was a relief. Because Bran wouldn’t feel too unfamiliar.

“And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Now, according to God’s will, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I declare that our faithful brother, Bran Wiseman, has become a child of God.”

“Amen.”

Bran answered quietly. The singing of the people grew louder. He rose from his kneeling position and circled around the pews to return to his original seat. Isaiah involuntarily stood up from his chair and approached the 2nd-floor railing. It was to see Bran’s face a little better.

That was when it happened. For a moment, he had the illusion that he made eye contact with Bran. Of course, that couldn’t be. There was no way he could recognize him from this distance. Besides, Bran thought he was in Virginia.

Bran, who had already taken his seat, lowered his head. Seeing him with his hands clasped in front of him… was he praying? Or meditating? Whatever it was, as soon as he thought that he wanted to see him, his pants pocket vibrated.

How should he describe that feeling? That feeling of joy and horror squeezing his heart at the same time. In the end, his whole body trembled with the frustration of being discovered by Bran and the joy of being found.

Isaiah took out his cell phone with shaking hands.

“What are you doing there?”

He really was an unbelievably sharp-eyed man. Or, was he just intuitive? He didn’t even care about what others thought. He had just been baptized, and right in front of him, the pastor was baptizing someone else, yet he nonchalantly took out his phone and sent a message.

Isaiah sent a reply.

“Can’t I watch my lover’s baptism?”

A message came back immediately.

“It’s over now. Go back.”

“I will.”

Of course, after meeting Chester.

Isaiah turned off his cell phone and put it in his pants pocket. Then, he looked down at the 1st floor again. This time, he scanned not the 1st row where Bran was sitting, but the center row where the Kalisz members were gathered.

He thought he hadn’t found him because he had looked too quickly earlier, but that wasn’t it. Chester was still not visible. He definitely thought he would come. To be exact, he believed that Cedric would force him to come. Saying something like, you have to sincerely congratulate Bran first, so that you can be sincerely congratulated tomorrow, or whatever.

“Do you see Chester?”

Isaiah asked Mickey.

“He’s a little shorter than Bran. His body is only half the size of Bran and he has blond hair. His posture is very bad.”

“Why are you explaining everything based on Bran?”

Mickey looked a little tired.

“Anyway, I know what he looks like. I saw a picture.”

Mickey narrowed his eyes and looked at the 1st floor for a while, then shook his head.

“I don’t see him. I don’t think he’s here.”

In that moment, the baptismal ceremony ended, and Pastor Benjamin returned to the platform. After another short prayer and the final benediction, the service would be over.

There was no reason to keep hanging around on the 2nd floor. Isaiah left the chapel first.

“Are we going to Taten now?”

Mickey asked as they came out to the parking lot through the back door.

“No.”

“Then?”

Instead of answering, Isaiah sat on the curb of the parking lot. As soon as he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, he felt a commotion inside the building. It seemed the service was over.

However, no one came out through the back door. People were still coming out through the front door, but the back door was quiet.

“It seems they’ve completely restricted ordinary people from using the back door.”

At Mickey’s words, Isaiah looked around the parking lot again. Come to think of it, the number of cars was small compared to the number of people attending the service. This was probably only the number of cars of the Kalisz members who attended today’s service.

Perhaps they had informed the ordinary believers in advance about the restriction on using the back door. Telling them to only use the front door and the parking lot connected to it today and tomorrow. They probably made up some excuse about the congestion to the church, but anyway, it was the right decision. If civilians were injured, it would be more difficult to deal with later.

But, is this bastard really not coming?

Just as he dropped the already long cigarette ash on the ground and put the filter back in his mouth, a familiar Mercedes skidded into the church parking lot with a loud noise.

“Isaiah!”

Before the car came to a complete stop, Chester jumped out of the passenger seat. Of course. Isaiah smiled as he bit down on his cigarette. He obviously didn’t have the courage to disobey Cedric’s words, and he stubbornly held out until the service was about to end. Even the huge bouquet of flowers seemed like nothing more than a sarcastic gesture.

“What are you doing here?”

Chester approached, huffing and puffing. Isaiah, regardless, blew out cigarette smoke and said leisurely.

“I’m waiting to congratulate my friend on his baptism.”

“What? Friend?”

A metallic sound came from Chester’s throat.

“You’re not talking about Bran, are you?”

“Why not?”

At the same time as Isaiah’s answer, Manny, who got out of the driver’s seat, closed the car door and shouted.

“I told you! The two of them are definitely like that…”

“Shut up!”

Chester yelled. Manny, as always, had an expression that he had a lot to say, but eventually closed his mouth. Isaiah heard Mickey clear his throat quietly next to him. Surprisingly, the words he wanted to say were conveyed perfectly. This is the famous Kalisz family’s thug, he’s skinnier than he looked in the pictures, but it’ll be interesting to see him become the boss, and so on.

In the meantime, the back door opened, and men in black suits began to come out one by one. As expected, the first to appear were Chester’s subordinates who were forced to attend the baptism.

“Chester!”

“Chester, when did you get here?”

Chester’s subordinates came down the stairs with happy expressions as soon as they saw their boss holding a large bouquet of flowers. But that was only for a moment, and they soon looked at each other with troubled eyes. They probably saw Chester’s distorted face. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears.

“I trusted you. I trusted you no matter what Manny said.”

Whether his subordinates were watching or not, Chester shouted in an excited voice as if he were the tragic hero of a drama. It seemed that he was even more emotional because there were spectators. It was understandable. Those spectators were no different from a fan club that shouted, whatever Chester does is always right, they believe in Chester, only Chester is their boss. And Chester was the type of guy who got more energized when people praised him.

“It’s not about how long you’ve known someone. It’s about the trust between us…, the affection and faith we’ve had all along.”

I truly cared for you. Chester said, choking back his words.

“I thought you knew that too. But you stab me in the back like this?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. You’re the one who stabbed me in the back.”

Isaiah said as he stood up from the curb.

“And it hasn’t even been a full day since I became friends with Bran. That’s all thanks to you, Chester.”

“What…?”

Chester’s eyes widened as if to say, what are you talking about? Isaiah threw his cigarette butt on the ground and said nonchalantly.

“Don’t you know the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?”

“Are you saying I’m your enemy?”

“What else am I supposed to think? You used me as much as you wanted and then threw me away like an old shoe.”

At Isaiah’s words, there was a brief commotion among Chester’s subordinates. Chester has finally broken up with that male prostitute, that’s a relief, but what’s going on, what’s going on, is he going to marry him or what, good for the male prostitute, they were all whispering among themselves.

The number of people had already doubled. Now, Bran’s subordinates were all out too.

“Don’t make me laugh, you son of a bitch. When did I throw you away? If anything, you’re the one who threw me away!”

Behind Chester, who was still filming a movie by himself without caring about what others thought, Manny was looking around anxiously. He was worried that Isaiah might do something crazy like reveal the contract killing.