Break the Code by Megan Atwood

Author:Megan Atwood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group

CHAPTER 10

“Uh, hold on,” Maiv said to Adam and the sprinted across the street to where Father Michael had parked. He was older than her mom and dad. Maybe even older than her grandparents, who were still in Laos. But he had a spring in his step, and Maiv always though the twinkle in his eye made him look younger. She loved Father Michael. He had always been welcoming to the Hmong community. The other parishioners said that it was Father Michael’s idea to have a Mass in a dialect of Hmong. The older Hmong members of the church always said he had done a lot to make them feel part of the local Catholic community.

She was running so fast that she almost plowed right into him. “Well, I’ll be, Maiv Moua, if you didn’t just almost give me a heart attack.”

Maiv was too stressed to smile. “Um, Father Michael, today I told my mom and dad that I helped you with the after-school program.”

Father Michael leaned against his car and eyed Maiv. The guilt made her stomach squirm. This look was the worst look he could give her. Disappointed and a little confused. He expected better of her.

“And I suppose you’re not going to tell me why you said that, eh?”

Maiv gave her head the smallest possible shake. “I—can’t. I’m sorry.”

Father Michael sighed. “Well, I’ll tell you this. I’m not going to lie for you, that’s for sure. But I’m not going to rat you out either. So there are two things you have to do for me in return, OK?”

Maiv nodded so hard it hurt. She couldn’t believe how great he was being.

“One: you should absolutely help me with the after-school programs. Say, for a month?”

Maiv bit her lip. A month was a long time. Her parents needed her at home, and she’d have schoolwork and hopefully college applications to do too. But Father Michael was being more than fair to her. She nodded.

“Good. We can start that next week, then. The second thing is this: It’s not like you, Maiv, to lie about things. So I’m going to assume you have a very good reason for it. But that also makes me believe something isn’t right. So I want you to promise me you’ll call me if you feel like you’re in trouble. Do you promise?” He stared at her with his piercing blue eyes. She imagined he could make anybody want to confess, just with those eyes. But behind the sternness was real love and concern. And this more than anything made Maiv want to cry again. But she nodded and said in a small voice, “I promise.”

“Double good. Now help me with this sump pump. We have a house to clean up.”

*****

The damage to the basement was extensive. Years of mementos and paperwork were ruined. Still, Father Michael stayed almost through the whole night helping the Moua family. So did most of their neighbors. Maiv was reminded of how lucky she and her family were.

As Maiv worked, she found a small slip of paper stuck to the wall.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.