Bless Us Father (19 page)

“That’s okay, Mary Margaret. We understand,” Twyla said, patting her hand while Vivian nodded in agreement. “My parents fight a lot, too, especially when they’ve had too much wine.”

“And mine just don’t bother to talk to each other most of the time,” Vivian said. “Sometimes it feels like the cold war around the house.”

Mary Margaret couldn’t believe how open about their private lives these two girls were. None of her other friends had ever opened up this much.

“Thanks, you guys. You’re the best friends I’ve ever had.”

This made her think about Linda, her childhood friend, and her heart still ached that they weren’t friends any longer. Linda had never forgiven her and had moved so far away from Mary Margaret that she barely acknowledged her when they met on campus. It was like they’d never been friends.

“Come on, don’t look so sad. We’re really fine with not going to your place,” Vivian said.

Mary Margaret glanced at the clock. “Oh my gosh. It’s six. We’d better run upstairs. We’re supposed to meet in the lobby.”

And off the three went to spend the rest of the evening walking around the hospital visiting with staff and patients alike, and helping out in any way they could.

#

The next evening, Mary Margaret was back working in the office of the rectory and wishing she was at the hospital with her new friends, when the front doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, Mrs. Hunter,” she called down the hallway.

She opened the door to find a young girl standing there. She was shorter than Mary Margaret, and had long, curly brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were brown, too, and were fringed with long dark eyelashes. She looked like she was about fourteen.

“You must be Mary Margaret,” she said. “I’m Becky Wilson. I’m going to be filling in for you when you’re at the hospital.”

“But what happened to Jane?” Mary Margaret asked.

She’d trained Jane to work on the phones, and she’d been there the prior two weeks when Mary Margaret worked at the hospital. Jane had seemed eager for the job, hoping that someday she could take over when Mary Margaret went away to college.

“I don’t know. I saw her at school, but she wouldn’t say. She just said it didn’t work out.”

“Did she ask you to work, instead of her?” Mary Margaret asked.

“No. Father Antonio did. I’m in his youth group.”

Warning bells began to go off in Mary Margaret’s mind. She hoped Father Antonio wasn’t being overly friendly with these girls. Jane was a really cute young girl, and so was Becky.

“Okay, well we’d better get to work then. It’s an easy job. Not much to it at all. You’ll have plenty of time to do your homework while you’re here.”

Mary Margaret took Becky on a tour of the rectory, showed her where the bathroom was, and then took her to the kitchen to meet Mrs. Hunter.

“This is Becky, Mrs. Hunter. I guess Jane isn’t going to be working here anymore.”

“Hello, Becky. It’s nice to meet you,” Mrs. Hunter said, turning away from the stove where she was cooking dinner for the priests. “I’d heard Jane decided this wasn’t the job for her. We’re happy to have you.”

Mary Margaret took Becky back to the office, showed her how the telephones worked, and instructed her never to open the front door to a stranger when she was there alone at night. She told Becky about what a good cook Mrs. Hunter was and that she could always get something to eat from the kitchen if she was hungry.

“That’s all there is to it, Becky. Go ahead and call your ride to come pick you up. You’ll do fine tomorrow,” Mary Margaret said, handing her the phone.

Just then, Father Antonio came into the office and Mary Margaret felt a wave of trepidation wash over her. She hadn’t seen him since that awful night the week before when he’d told her he was through with her.

“Hello, Mary Margaret. Do I have any messages?” he asked, but was looking at Becky and not at her.

“No, Father. No calls tonight.”

“I see Becky decided to take the job.”

“Yes. I just showed her everything. She’ll start tomorrow night.”

Mary Margaret felt sick to her stomach at the way Father Antonio was staring at Becky, who was cute, but was really still just a little girl. He had a glint in his eye like he’d had when she’d first met him. Surely he wasn’t going to try to do to Becky what he’d been doing to her.

“My mom is coming right now. I’ll go wait out on the front step for her,” Becky said, hanging up the phone.

“Thanks for coming,” Mary Margaret said. “I hope you’ll like it here.”

“I just know I will. Father said he had some special projects for me to do when I’m here,” she said, smiling broadly while looking at Father Antonio.

Mary felt a sinking sensation come over her, like she was going to faint, but she didn’t. She watched helplessly as Father Antonio walked Becky to the door, his hand on her shoulder.

He closed the door and came back into the office, bending down over the desk to look Mary Margaret in the eye.

“I certainly hope you haven’t said anything to Becky.”

“What would I say? I don’t know what you mean,” she said, feeling her throat closing.

“But of course you know exactly what I mean, and you’d better not say one word to her. I can still go to your parents, you know.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, imagining how her parents would react if Father Antonio went to them and told them she was behaving in an impure manner around him. They would go nuts, and maybe even throw her out of the house. That wasn’t the only thing bothering her, however. She was feeling terribly guilty about sinning with Father Antonio, and she hadn’t even gone to confession about it, either.

“I will never, ever say anything to anyone, Father. I promise. Just leave me alone, okay?”

“Oh, I’ll be leaving you alone all right. I won’t be taking my ever watchful eyes off of you though and don’t you forget it.”

She let out a sigh of relief as he left the room. She would never, ever tell anyone anything. Their relationship would remain her dirty little secret forever. Deep in her heart she didn’t believe that Father Antonio really was finished with her. And in a way she hoped he wasn’t. She didn’t want another girl to have to endure what she’d had to, losing her innocence so early and all. Then again, she had a tiny bit of jealousy at the thought of him being attracted to someone else. Wasn’t she his special one?

The telephone rang, jolting her back to reality.

“Saint Catherine Laboure Church. How can I help you?”

“Hi Mary Margaret. Can you talk?” Todd asked.

Relieved, she said, “Yeah. There’s nobody here. What’s going on?”

“I was just wondering if you’re all ready for my prom Saturday night. I’ve got your flowers ordered, and I’m borrowing my brother’s car for the night.”

“I’m all ready, and I’m so excited. I got you a boutonniere to match my dress. It’s a lavender carnation with some tiny baby roses around it,” she said, feeling like a kid again. “What kind of car does your brother have?”

“It’s a 1962 Pontiac Catalina. It’s white with blue interior. Pretty cool, and he lets me drive it once in awhile.”

“This is going to be so much fun,” Mary Margaret said.

“Where do you want to go eat? I’ve got money saved up so we can go someplace nice. How about the Dal Rae?”

The sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach came back at the mention of the restaurant where she’d had her birthday dinner, that monumental day a year before. She knew she’d never be able to go there again, but she couldn’t tell Todd why.

“Isn’t that kind of far from your school?” she asked.

“Well, yeah, I guess it is. I probably shouldn’t drive my brother’s car that far anyway. How about Stox Restaurant in Downey? It’s close to my school and a lot of the guys are going there.”

“That sounds perfect, Todd. I can’t wait. But I’d better go finish my homework now. I’ll see you Saturday night.”

“Yeah, me, too, Mary Margaret. I can’t wait either. I’ll pick you up at six.”

She hung up the phone and smiled to herself. It really was going to be fun. She promised herself she wouldn’t think about Father Antonio even once that night. She was going to dance, eat cake, drink punch, and laugh the whole evening. She would have at least one night of a real high school experience, and then in the next two weeks she and Todd would do it again at her prom.

No one can look back on his schooldays and say with truth that they were altogether unhappy.

-George Orwell-

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Mary Margaret heard a car pull up in front of the house.

“Mom and Dad. Todd is here,” she said, gathering up her fake fur stole and white purse. She glanced in the mirror to make sure her tiara was on straight and headed to the front door.

She opened the door to find a smiling Todd, his curly red hair slicked straight with Brylcreem. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and black bow tie, and his shoes were shined so bright they looked like patent leather.

“Hi Todd. I’d like you to meet my dad.”

“Hello, Todd. I understand you’re a student at St. John Bosco. It’s a fine school,” Mr. Riley said, extending his hand for Todd to shake.

“Yes, I like going there. I’m getting a good education, I think.” Todd firmly shook Mr. Riley’s hand.

“And are you as good a driver as you are a student?” Mr. Riley asked.

“DAD! Of course he is,” Mary Margaret said, blushing to the roots of her shiny blonde hair.

“Now Mary Margaret. I’m entitled to ask a few questions of this young gentleman before I send my only daughter out on her first date.”

“DAD! Please!”

“It’s okay, Mary Margaret.” Todd straightened his back and looked Mr. Riley in the eyes. “Yes sir, I’m a very good driver. In fact, my older brother even loaned me his car. He trusts me completely.”

Mr. Riley laughed and clapped Todd on the shoulder with the palm of his hand. “Then that should be good enough for me.”

Just then, Mrs. Riley entered the room with her Eastman Kodak camera in hand.

“Oh, you two look so lovely,” she said, extending her hand towards Todd. “I’m Mrs. Riley, Mary Margaret’s mother. It’s so nice to meet you, Todd. Your aunt talks about you all the time. She’s very proud of you.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, too.” Todd grasped Mrs. Riley’s hand in his.

“I’m sure you kids want to get on your way,” Mr. Riley said.

“Wait a minute. They’re not going anywhere until I’ve taken all the pictures on the roll. Let’s go into the living room.”

“I forgot the boutonniere,” Mary Margaret said, heading for the kitchen to get it out of the Frigidaire.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot your corsage in the car,” Todd said, clapping his hand to his forehead. “I’ll go get it.”

They were both back in a minute and Mary Margaret pinned the lavender carnation to Todd’s lapel. Todd had gotten a beautiful wrist corsage of white orchids and dark purple ribbon for Mary Margaret.

“I wasn’t sure what your dress was like, so I thought this would be better than pinning it on,” He said, helping her put it on her right wrist.

“It’s beautiful, Todd. Thank you,” she said. “Okay, Mom. Let’s get those pictures taken so we can go.”

Mrs. Riley led the way, then posed Mary Margaret and Todd in front of the fireplace. They smiled indulgently and allowed her to snap away.

“Mom, I counted nine pictures. Aren’t you about done?” Mary Margaret asked.

“Let’s take a couple on the front porch, then one of you getting in the car, and that will use up my roll of twelve. That way tomorrow I can take the roll in to be developed.”

Soon they were in the car and on the way to Stox Restaurant.

“You sure look pretty, Mary Margaret. I really like the way you did your hair, and that tiara looks boss.”

“Thank you, Todd.” She reached up to touch her French roll to make sure every strand of hair was still neatly in place. “You look really nice, too.”

And she meant it. Todd was very cute and nice, too. He had

perfect white teeth and he liked to smile, which made her feel safe and happy. She hoped he’d never find out about her relationship with Father Antonio. He’d lose interest in her immediately and probably hate her.

It didn’t take long to get to the restaurant and they were soon seated in a booth by a window. A few other couples dressed in prom attire were there as well. They ordered their meals, a turkey dinner for Todd and Yankee pot roast for Mary Margaret, and talked while they ate.

Mary Margaret couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt with him. It almost seemed like Todd was someone she’d known all her life. He was so easy to talk to.

They shared a piece of lemon meringue pie for dessert, Todd paid the check, and they left for the prom.

The gymnasium of St. John Bosco had been transformed into a ballroom. Tables and chairs were set up on the floor, with a large space open for dancing. A band was setting up their musical instruments on a stage that had been erected at one end of the gym. Fabric partitions and draperies were hung to camouflage the basketball nets and bleachers that had been folded back out of the way. Hanging above the stage was a silver, glittery banner that said
TWILIGHT TIME.
A recording of the Platters singing their hit song was playing in the background. Silver stars and moons hung all around the gym as well.