It's only this time of the day when you awaited eagerly instructions from your mother. Hurried ones, mind you.
"You're not to go outside. Even after your sweetheart--mate whatever, calls you..."

I fell into the defence line for Roy. He was a good boy, hailing from some village in the south-east. Probably had a villa there. And I'm sure children of my age deserve to explore...even to quite an extent. I guess.

"It's not his fault that Father Pero is entangled in this funny business called..." Wasn't it something like secret nightly meetings?

"...nightly affairs?" I tried my luck with this word. I mean, who arranges meetings at night?

My mother's eyes could fit a ring, registering a shock that wasn't so shocking anymore with a scandalous expression. "Never speak of it, boy! If the Church..."

Off she went, until father, exasperated, escorted her out with her final words ringing in my ears. "Never, ever let a woman in silk coat, or a red shining attire distract you outside. She will--"

I didn't need to hear the latter. I had heard of someone similar roaming the streets in summer who forces you to strip if you let her inside. But a bigger question worried me: What does she do after we strip?

The clock ticked, feeding on my misery as I imagined Roy outside somewhere, playing his heart out.

Rat--tat.

Rat--tat--tat.

God, I stood up, mother, I'm sorry. I flung open the door suffering the harsh beatings from the outsider. Onto my feet fell Roy, his soggy hair christening my feet.

"Ow! Couldn't you have been faster?"

"Why? What ha--?" Before I could kick him out, he, with one push, directed me along my courtyard and near the side where we ambushed the nearby houses with out sleuth eyes.

"Look!"

Instead of the blinds drawn, today, however, my neighbour, who happened to be invisible till now materialised as a shadowy figure, welcoming two guests at hand. One of them, a figure draped in red.

I immediately cupped my mouth to shout a warning about that dangerous woman, before Roy silently signaled the whitish gray mass of a hair being played by the woman's hand. The hair of Father Pero.

What went ahead we could only bear with heated excitement, following what the adults did, and the rustle of the clothes both were heard from here as well as from my neighbour's.

***

Laughter graced the silence before stopping short. It awoke me.

I felt the grass tickling everywhere. A hat dropping entered my line of vision. That was the last thing before another scream tore through the evening. Mine. Filled with pleasure.

And all Roy could do was gasp. This new found treasure of us seemed not to be liked by mother, what with her clutching herself in panic.

A guttural groan ensued from somewhere. And this time we were sure it wasn't us. We smiled. The most heart provoking adventure of lifetime done.