The Complex Arms by Dolly Dennis

Author:Dolly Dennis [Dennis, Dolly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Literary
ISBN: 9781459746268
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2020-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

ADEEN

I told Payton he could live at the Complex Arms on the condition that he didn’t bother any of my tenants with his preaching. “Respect other religions,” I said. “I’ve got atheists living here along with your Muslims, Russian and Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, pagans, and your everyday generic Christian.”

Me, I’m an agnostic. Don’t talk religion to me. Just causes a lot of arguments and bad feelings all around. That, and money and politics. How can something so good like religion start so many wars and cause such hate? Don’t answer. It’s a rhetorical question. Oh, I am a spiritual person, don’t get me wrong. If there is one God, why are there so many religions? Answer that for me. No. Never mind. Don’t want to waste my day listening to pompous lies. Seems to me if you all honour one God, there should only be one religion, but then every church thinks theirs is the true one. Come on. It’s really about increasing the size of a congregation so more money in the coffers on Sunday.

Maybe if the Vatican sold off all that gold and distributed the money to all the poor, maybe if they paid taxes, maybe if they punished all those priests and nuns who abused altar boys and Native children in those residential schools, maybe if they weren’t such plaster saints, maybe, maybe, I might become a believer again. So I went against my rule and talked religion. What are you going to do? Burn me at the stake?

Since Irene was born, I stopped believing. Payton told me once that here, this life, this earth, is hell. We are all living in hell. He tried to get me to join the JWs and I almost fell for his prepared speeches, I mean propaganda. He can be quite persuasive, I tell you, but I’m educated enough and can think for myself. Don’t need anyone telling me how I should live my life. I’m a good person. Better than some of those Christian hypocrites. Am I disturbing you? Yeah, go get a hankie.

Anyhow, I never met Johanna. He was already divorced when he moved into the building. Said he wouldn’t bother anyone. One of the rules of his religion is to keep away from non-JWs as much as possible. So he isolated himself from the tenants as best he could, except for that bell ringing. Told him to give it a rest. Some of our tenants worked at night, so they slept during the day. I had complaints about Payton, but he was such a sad sack. He kept talking about the next Armageddon. The end was supposed to happen in 1975 and still there is no end in sight. Still waiting. Not much has changed. People are still miserable and wicked. Don’t look at me like that. Told you, get a hankie if you’re going to cry for me, Argentina. The date, as I understand it, has changed again. I let him clang his bell outside in the courtyard.

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