From A to Z

K

Adam stood there looking at Zach and then his father and then back to Zach.

It did not cross his mind that Zach would be a son of a priest. He recalled that, on their car ride going to M. Kiling, Zach mentioned that he transferred to St. Joseph because he moved along with his father who was delegated to Calamba. Back then, he thought Zach meant that his father was assigned to the Calamba branch of some business he was working for. He did not think, not even a little, that the assignment was to oversee a church; let alone, a church under the Consortium.

But as he looked at the two, he recognized the similarities between the father and the son. Their faces were of the same shape; their eyes were of the same size and the color was of the same shade of brown; the shape of their noses was also alike. Even their countenance was the same. Zach has that calm, serene aura that captivated Adam the first time he saw him, and now he realized that Zach got it from his father who was a man of the Church.

Despite the similarities that he was able to draw between the two, a question still lingered in his mind: how can a priest have a child? Maybe Zach was only adopted by this priest?

"Father, this is Adam," Zach said, breaking the train of questions in Adam's mind. "He is a friend from school."

Adam pressed his forehead against the back of the hand of the priest.

"Kaawaan ka ng Diyos," the priest said to him.

"Adam and I need to discuss about a project. Can we move our catch up to lunchtime?"

"No problem," answered the father, "but be sure to be back here by that time because we have a lot of things to talk about."

Adam felt a little jealous as he watched Mr. Sales tousle Zach's hair. Zach shoved his father's hand and shot him a look, making the father chuckle. Mr. Sales combed the curly strands of Zach's hair before giving it a gentle kiss.

"I'll meet you here by lunchtime."

Zach looked up at his father with a smile. "Lunchtime."

Outside the church, the then bustling street was now silent. The liveliness that lit up the stonewalls of the old church dissipated even if it has only been ten minutes since the Mass has ended. It became more apparent to Adam that the congregation was only interested in visiting St. Jude because of its presiding priest and not to hear the morning Eucharist.

Zach brought him to a quaint café located on the ground floor of a four-storey cream-colored building across St. Jude. The place was empty when they walked in, just like how Zach said.

An employee wearing a white apron on top of his pink long sleeves uniform greeted them with a welcoming smile. He left the counter and assisted them to a table by the glass window. The man, who casually conversed with Zach, took the "Reserved" sign and pocketed it. He gave Zach a playful wink before returning to his post. Zach was smiling while he took the seat across Adam.

"I guess you come here quite often," Adam said. "The waiter seems to know you and you even have a reserved table."

Zach let out a soft chuckle. "This is where my dad and I usually do our catching up after the morning mass."

"I see."

Adam thought of asking the question that has been bothering his mind, but he hesitated. It might not be the best way to start the conversation. Food may do something to clear the air.

"Since you are the expert here, do you have any recommendations?"

Zach was quick to answer: "Their halo-halo here is delicious."