FIRST CONSONANTS by John Whittier Treat

Author:John Whittier Treat
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay
Publisher: Jaded Ibis Press, LLC
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

In the spring of 1985, Tess was old enough to make her First Communion. More than old enough, because Brian had kept her back. Mary was annoyed. His feelings about the church, and St. Joseph’s in particular, made him wary of priests and their ceremonies. He never explained why. But with Tess feeling left out, and in-laws who were nagging him, he told Mary she could sign their daughter up for the special catechism classes.

Tess was smart, smarter than her father. She took after her mother. He had noticed that since she was an infant. She assembled toy building blocks without dithering. She learned to read before starting school. He was close to confident nothing could go wrong at her First Communion. When it was over, there’d be one fewer time he’d have to sit on a hard wooden pew for any Catholic whatever in his or his family’s lives.

The parish priest rewarded Tess for doing well by singling her out for a special role. After all these years, the priest was still Father Thomas. Brian, who hadn’t been to mass in decades, curled his hands into fists when Tess told him the news. Insisting to Mary they take their daughter to another parish would have required an explanation he didn’t want to provide. Brian’s one-time molester told Tess she would recite a prayer in front of everybody at the start of the service. Why did he pick her? On her? he wondered. Why this unique attention lavished on the Moriarty family? In his generation, and now his daughter’s? Brian hoped the years had reformed, or neutered, the old priest.

The prayer would be the Christi Anima once again. Two weeks ahead of time, Father Thomas gave it to Tess on a piece of mimeographed paper. Some of the print was hard to read. The ink had bled. Tess asked her parents for help. Brian left that job to Mary. After eavesdropping a couple of times, he was sure his daughter had it down pat. He even let himself look forward to her recital in front of everyone, managing what her father hadn’t. Still, Brian felt a dread that wouldn’t go away. He reminded himself Tess wasn’t the stutterer her mother had been and her father still was.

The sky shone a nearly perfect blue. Clouds receded early in the morning. The tops of the Cascade mountains stood in clear relief. Brian took this as a good omen. Many of the children were already assembled on the front lawn. Their families were taking pictures. The fathers and their sons wore suits, their daughters dressed in white. Tess was the most beautiful. A little taller than the other girls, Brian could tell she’d be a knock-out when she grew up. He hoped she’d find a better husband than her mother had.

He grew apprehensive as soon as people started drifting inside the church. He and Mary parted from their daughter and sat where they had during the previous evening’s rehearsal. They were not far from the lit votive candles underneath a stained glass window of Christ’s resurrection.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.