The Curious Case of Faith & Grace (The Trial Series) by David B. Lyons

Author:David B. Lyons [Lyons, David B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-02T20:00:00+00:00

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As the success of The New St Benedict’s Church grew, so too did Clive and Dorothy’s work load. It actually got out of hand at one point — too many sermons to write, too many parishioners to console, too much money to count — that they decided between them that they needed an assistant.

Kelly McAllister wasn’t necessarily the obvious choice, given that she had tendencies, but she had been with the church the longest out of the entire ‘family’ and both Clive and Dorothy had developed a soft spot for her.

When Dorothy had first recruited Kelly — finding her begging for money on the trams; skinny, spotty, greasy-haired and famished — she instantly knew she could transform her. Though she never would have envisioned Kelly would eventually become their closest confidante. Nobody would have. Kelly had strong issues around addiction. She relied on alcohol, drugs and — on the rare occasions she had cash in her pocket — gambling. It’s why she left Glasgow in the first place. She threw all her wages up the wall; betting on anything from televised horse racing to side wagers with neighbours about who would be the next person in their community to die. She couldn’t help it; gambling gave her a reason for being. It raised her endorphins as much as the drugs did.

Soon after she’d been let go from her job as a waitress in Clydebank for consistent lateness, she took a ferry to Antrim, which was followed by a long bus ride to Dublin. Just to get away from her old life. She had been living most nights on the streets of the Irish capital for almost a year before a woman with a hooked nose and large brown eyes sidled up to her on a tram one day.

‘Jesus will repent all your sins,’ the woman said. ‘Fancy a hot cup of tea and a Jammy Dodger?’

Dorothy took a shine to Kelly instantly; felt befriended by the melodic lilt of her Glaswegian accent. She ensured Kelly got lodgings, calling on an array of folk who attended the church to sort her out with a spare bed or a couch if and when they could. There was always a welcome mat at the door of these people’s homes. Feeling refreshed in life, Kelly began to turn up almost daily at the community centre. She’d often find Clive or Dorothy running through some paperwork for the coming Sunday’s sermon or perhaps hosting a counselling session with one of the ‘family’. And pretty soon after those daily drop-bys she was right in the middle of that ‘family’, chanting hymns and songs towards the makeshift altar with her hands in the air during sermons. She loved every minute of it, and within two months had come completely off the drugs; though the alcohol and gambling not so much.

By the time the twins came along, Kelly was a key member of the church; often taking up collections or assisting Clive by handing him different microphones on the stage.

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