Drunk with Love: a Book of Stories by Ellen Gilchrist

Author:Ellen Gilchrist [Gilchrist, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635762204
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2017-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

Kenny was waiting at the curb when she came out. Leaning against the cab, his Raybans pushed up on his head. Annalisa was surrounded by people. “Well, that’s really awfully kind of you,” she was saying, trying to get away. “I’m sure I’d love to read it. Send it to me at the paper. Oh, of course. I’m so glad you approved,” she smiled at Kenny. He smiled back and whisked her into the cab.

“Jesus Christ,” she began. “You won’t believe what that woman has going on in there. A lute player instead of an organ. Not even an altar boy. The oldest Episcopal church in Manhattan. Can you believe it?”

“Didn’t look like much of a crowd to me. Maybe they can’t afford nothing else.”

“Altar boys are free. Well, take me home. I need to change shoes before the nine o’clock.”

“What’s wrong with the ones you got on. They look nice.”

“The heels are too low. You don’t think I have time to change?”

“I think you ought to get you a bite to eat instead. You seem mighty high-strung to me this morning. I’d eat a bite if I was you.”

“All right. Run by a deli then. Get some coffee and a roll. Some mornings I wish I’d never started this, Kenny. Some days I think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Oh, don’t say that, Annalisa.” He turned around in his seat. “You the church critic. You got folks out there counting on you. You can’t give up now.”

“I know,” she said. She sighed and leaned back against the seat, considering her destiny. Kenny returned his eyes to the road. His hands gripped the wheel, his wide shoulders swayed with the car. He considered it too, Annalisa’s mission, and his role as her protector. They cruised in peace for a few blocks. Annalisa imagined the car she would get for him to drive someday. A Citroën. Or a Peugeot. He would always wear his regular clothes, never a uniform. Her best friend is her black driver, they would say. Yes, a very black man, not a mulatto. Yes, she lives her Christianity. It’s what makes her what she is. Not the jewel-like paragraphs and dazzling insights. No, it’s the pure heart that drives the pen.

Annalisa leaned back in the seat, thinking of pieces from her columns.

Concerning the single most presumptuous trespass I have ever had the misfortune to witness or hear. First Baptist has rewritten the words to “The Church’s One Foundation.” A Mrs. Sue Gay Trillium is credited with the new lyrics, which include such images as “the eyes of life are upon you,” and “clean blood of new Christ battens death.”

I left during the second verse but the strains of the organ pursued me into the parking lot and have haunted me for days.

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