In the Castle of the Flynns by Michael Raleigh

Author:Michael Raleigh [Raleigh, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Coming of Age, Family Life, Historical, FICTION
ISBN: 9781402255694
Google: eRfou0kxA9kC
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2012-09-01T21:07:41+00:00

Nuns and Reckonings

At breakfast the next morning Aunt Anne announced that she was taking me to school, and then Uncle Tom cut her off in mid-proclamation.

“Nah, I’m takin’ him. I’ll go in to work a little later.”

And so I walked proudly up Diversey that morning holding my uncle’s hand. Tom kept up a stream of chatter till we got to school. He led me to the line where my friends waited. Children know when another child is in trouble, they smell it the way a shark knows his dinner is nearby, and so I was the center of attention.

Uncle Tom seemed to be waiting for something, my teacher, I thought, but when the front door of the school opened, it was my aunt, Sister Fidelity, who emerged. She came down the stairs looking as radiant as one can look in a black habit and every eye was on her. When she saw me in line she broke into a smile and she made directly for me.

She gave Tom a brief hug and I thought he blushed a little, and he smiled at her the way you’d smile when Ted Williams emerged from the dugout to sign autographs. Then she turned to me and gave me a longer hug.

I stole a look at my companions and felt myself grinning. They were shocked speechless at this unearthly display of affection from a nun, at the fact that she knew me, that she was undeniably the most beautiful nun any of them would ever see in life. Then she led me a few feet away and asked me how I was doing, though it was clear she knew.

“Are you here because I’m in trouble?”

“I’m here because both my favorite boys are in trouble.”

“Did you see my teacher?”

“I did,” she said, and then before I could ask what they talked about, she added, “And I’ll see you after school. We’ll go for a Coke. Okay?”

“Sure.”

She led me back to the line and exchanged a few words with Tom. It was odd to see how shyly he spoke to her, how he seemed almost physically uncomfortable even though his eyes never left her face. Then the bell rang, they both waved to me, and I had to go into the school.

It proved to be an uneventful day, but I passed it in great tension, almost at the edge of my chair, for I was just waiting for Polycarp to find something wrong with my work or my attitude or my looks, and I was by now half convinced that I was possessed by some impish spirit that sought to bring my ruin by making me talk when I was supposed to be silent.

Then at the end of the day, Sister Polycarp came over to my desk.

“I’d like you to stay for a couple of minutes after school.”

“Yes, Sister,” I said, as though I had a choice.

I watched my schoolmates marching out to freedom and felt the old knot growing in my stomach. Sister Polycarp asked

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