The Church smelled old and dusty. This didn't seem to bother my Grandma. She sat next to me smiling and waiting, content. She LOVED coming to Church, she had been coming "religiously" ever since my Grandpa died 5 years before...She often dragged me along, although I pretended to enjoy myself because I wanted to spend time with my Grandma.
My Grandma was a petite woman, blonde hair in a bob, nice earrings, she looked a bit like Betty White, but 10 years younger. A pretty woman, she spent her time in her garden, pottering around her home in our small country town, and going to Church. She involved herself in her Church community, always volunteering and working closely with the Minister.
Father Brown was a tall black man, very young for his work, in his mid-30's, younger than me, and seemed devout. He gave energetic sermons and went about his duties with energy and vigour. He looked like a young Will Smith, but more athletic. On top of his work with the Church he also ran a local boxing gym for troubled youth which kept him fit and on his toes.
My Grandma always spoke highly of him, she was always saying things like "Father Brown is doing such great work for this town" and "If only we had him years ago, this town needs a strong community leader like him" and she absolutely adored him.
Father Browns wife was a buxom black woman, strong and tall, with wide hips and a large "booty". I say that because I'm always jealous of her, she has such a great curvy figure. She reminds me of Michelle Obama, so stunning. They appeared to have a great marriage and their young daughter was often at Church sitting near us. My Grandma would scoop her up and she'd sit on my Grandmas lap, my Grandma staring with adoring eyes at her father up at the podium giving a sermon or celebrating a wedding we were invited too at the Church.
One day I offered to volunteer in the kitchen serving hot meals to the homeless which ran from the back of the Church. The Church had a fitted kitchen and the people would come up to the window and receive hot pasta, soup and a coffee which was a blessing during winter. They'd sit and talk in the cafeteria area and Father Brown would walk amongst them enquiring as to their condition and how they were managing. He was a lovely young man. My Grandma was working beside me, making pasta and boiling soup and humming Christian hymns, really enjoying her work.
I got home early the next morning having worked all night serving, cleaning and restocking the kitchen, walking through the front door around 9am exhausted and ready for a long sleep. Grandma had stayed behind saying that Father Brown had offered to drop her home after the volunteers had all left. This was normal he often dropped her home on his way back to his family after a long night in the Kitchen.
"Shit!!!"....I'd left my phone back at the Church kitchen. I needed my phone as I work as a nurse and on call, so I made a warm coffee and drank it quickly then drove back to the Church downtown, hoping to be able to sneak some sleep in before my shit later that day.
The car park was empty and the front doors were closed and locked, so I made it around the back entrance where the Kitchen was. I had a spare key to get in so I let myself in and found my phone in the Kitchen by a kettle. I must have left it there while I was cleaning or something, "Silly!'" I thought to myself and smiled. I was about to hurry back to my car and home to bed.......and then I heard a noise. A woman laughing.
"Who's that?" I thought. It was coming from Father Browns office. He had an office in one of the rooms in the Church complex between the Kitchen and the Chapel. A woman's laughter drifted down to me from its direction. I listened closely and then I heard what sounded like the desk move abruptly, grazing on the floor. And then again!
"Oh no!! The Church is being robbed!! Someone's in Father Browns office stealing his furniture!!" I thought to myself. I panicked, my phone was flat so I couldn't call anyone. "I'll confront them, try and scare them....I'll probably know them, this is a small town" I decided. I made my way slowly through the kitchen access into the hallway that connects the complex and where Father Browns office door is. I walked slowly, not wanting to startle the burglars in case they got scared and hurt me or something....