Sunday School
Sunday School
A girl in a blue patterned dress cupped her hand up to a boy's ear to whisper, and then they began giggling hysterically. Another was eating crayons in the corner of the room- either that or it was a rolled up piece of play-dough. Matt couldn’t tell, both were the same shape.
He stood up, half in the process of saying “No! Don’t eat that,” and half giving up as he could hear the child swallowing. Instead, his efforts ended up being a slight grunt as he stood with his arm outstretched, trying to catch the little vermin.
Why, or how he had been convinced to lead Sunday school was a mystery to Matt. He must’ve been in a euphoric state. They say to never make plans or agree when you’re happy, and perhaps Matt should’ve considered that shred of wisdom the week before. Because now, he was responsible for every rapid heartbeat until his partner got back from the restrooms. And from the sound of it, said partner had ditched church.
Matt tilted his head to listen. He heard bits of a phone call, something about a pet dog coughing hairballs and an emergency vet visit. He just sighed, accepting his fate and creating a plan to entertain all thirteen young children.
He managed to set up a craft station, they began creating bedazzled crosses for their parents. That would be appreciated, parents always thought such memorabilia was cute and special. It was going pretty well, despite the one demonic child who began eating the glue sticks. Matt decided to hold onto her. For being so young and speech-impaired, the children were surprisingly loud. Matt didn’t even know what kids would talk about at that age. Their favorite color? Maybe they’d have competitions or just comment on what they were doing? He tried honing in on the individual's conversations to satiate his curiosity.
It must’ve been fifteen or twenty minutes before the end of class when a kid entered the room. He was quiet and shy, not much older than four.
“Hey! This is Jake, I gotta go. Can I just leave him here?” His mum extended her hand. She subtly pulled it back as she discovered his dark tinted glasses.
“Yah, yeah” Matt smiled. “Is there anything I need to know? Any allergies or anything like that?”
“He really keeps to himself, he probably won’t talk to anyone and won’t tou-” Jake let go of his mum's arm and latched onto Matt’s leg. Not only was Matt still carrying the psychotic chemical-craver girl, but now had Jake attached to him like a barnacle.
“That’s so weird! Jake’s never done that before. Well, enjoy,” his mum waved them off before internally face-palming.
Jake stood up, pulling on Matt’s sleeve. He bent down, assuming Jake wanted to ask him something.
Instead Jake looked around him to see if anyone else was listening, and whispered in Matt’s ear, “I wanted to say thank you”
“For what?” Matt questioned.
“You know,” Jake smiled, both of his index fingers pointing upwards behind his head. It was a perfect display of horns, and Matt could only guess what that meant.
A few days ago, Matt had been late for a client. However, a small kid- Matt had assumed that was Jake, was being picked on by a group of Neanderthalic teenagers. Of course, all Matt had to do was flaunt the red mask for a few seconds before the cowards scattered. Matt had walked Jake home and made sure he got inside safely before continuing his highly frantic journey. How had he not recalled that sooner? The fact Jake even recognized Matt was a miracle, especially since the kid hadn’t seen his face.
Matt wasn’t too worried, as no one would’ve believed a little kid preaching that he; blind church frequenter was the devil of Hell’s Kitchen. He’d just visited Father Lantom, and spoke with the nuns, practically being the poster boy for text-book church role models.
And with that, he smiled to himself. He made a difference in that kid's life, no matter how big or small, what he did mattered. He helped the children finish their crafts, and then observed as each of them were gathered by their parents. This wasn’t so bad after all.