i think about a lot of things, especially when it comes to vincent benítez and today it's no different. anyway; vincent who loves to dance. vincent first being taught by the teens from his congregation and then him teaching the children with them. first it was khaliji, then dabke, popularised by the few families who escaped syria and joined his parish. in exchange he tried to teach them tinikling and despite him taking some liberties, it got added to their repertoire too.
and then he left for vatican, the only indication of him going away being him giving the kids the heads up that he might not be able to host their dance get-togethers for quite some time.
i think of him waking up on the second day of his pontiff and realising, that he will never be allowed to dance with them again, not at least for a foreseeable future.
i think of children realising the kind priest who danced with them every wednesday got elected as a pope and i think of the parents having to explain to them, that there will be some changes now. i think about the teens trying to come up with ways to keep their community strong, even without their leader. i think of them taking over the organising, trying to stay strong, as he always taught them.
i think of them taking a photo together sometime later and sending it to him, without a return adress, for they didnt expect a reply.
i think of ray going through the pope's mail and almost casting it aside, but something in the vagueness of the letter, combined with the post stamps indicating it was sent from baghdad, make him open it. he doesn't even have to read the letter - those faces are familiar to him, he sees them every day on the pope's desk, the worn photo of vincent surrounded by the group framed and positioned right beside his monitor.
i think of ray asking lawrence to clear out the evening and the following morning for him, before he hands him the letter - he guesses the older might need that.
i think of him sending sister agnes to him, knowing that only her could probably understand him, as the one who also got plucked out of her home to serve in vatican.
i think of vincent being so bold with everything else, with breaking all the other rules, but the lack of community to dance with is what is slowly killing him inside despite all the other efforts to make him comfortable. i think of all his friends wondering what is wrong, what they could do, but there is nothing - they couldn't just fly him out back home, after all and they couldn't make him feel at home fully either.
idk, just the cruelty of having dance as extention of oneself and having it forcefully taken away