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-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- Father Novick’s first Sunday at St. Rose of Lima went smoothly. His brief but carefully prepared sermon was well received, and his liturgical competence was praised. --------“We’re so proud of you,” his mother said. --------The Rector was pleased, and best of all he’d gotten on well with the altar boys and the Youth Group. He liked the kids, a good bunch, serious for teens but funny, too. That Charlie Armbruster was a hoot. And Annie saying her father wanted her to smoke because he thought she was too prissy! The kids had met with him for breakfast at Grunners after early mass, and they had a bull session. He could tell they looked up to him. -------- Mrs. Chew cooked a tasty beef roast with Yorkshire pudding for supper, and he and Father Healey put away a few scotches before he went up to his room. -------- -------- Father Novick was at Kirschner’s Stationary when they opened Monday morning. He had no trouble getting Dave Kirschner to okay an ad in the Saint Rose Quarterly. Dave handed him a check on the spot, but Father Novick sensed he wasn’t entirely happy about it. He got the same feeling from severalother merchants. The Quarterly didn’t amount to much. A couple of Father Healey’s sermons, a report on parish activities getting in as many names as possible, and a message from the Bishop. He could see that it was a shakedown in a way, but what the heck, it was for the Church. Even so, it made him uncomfortable. Getting new ads was another matter. The Rector had given him a list of possibilities, but he was putting that off until he had a better feel for the parish. -------- -------- He was at the hospital promptly at ten. There were only two parishioners in St. Mary’s, which was unusual in such a large congregation. One of them was Annie’s father, Dr. Cobb. He’d been in for a routine physical, and they admitted him for a heart scan. Not a big deal, Cobb said. His smoking wasn’t mentioned. They had a good talk and agreed on what a fine girl Annie was. He assured the doctor that she’d more than held her own with the other kids on Sunday. Dr. Cobb accepted a prayer with good grace. -------- Mr. Vargas was another matter. -------- “My waterworks are shot,” Vargas said cheerfully. Father Novick hadn’t known how to respond to that. He agreed the cancer sounded rough. They talked about Vargas’s dogs. Father Novick asked if he could say a prayer, and Vargas said okay. -------- Both Dr. Cobb and Mr. Vargas had seemed glad enough to see him, but what was he really doing for them? Well, it wasn’t what he was doing, of course, but still... -------- -------- There was a message on his desk when he returned to the office. Father Healey needed him to drive. -------- “Katherine Fall killed herself last night,” he said. -------- They talked about her in the car, and Father Novick sensed the Rector was unsure of himself. -------- It was as bad as could be imagined. The family were ready to explode with pain and anger. Mr. Fall was a tall, gaunt man who looked half dead himself. The daughters were surly, as if he and Father Healey were an imposition. --------“I’m Regan,” one daughter introduced herself coldly. Novick was sure Father Healey had said the daughters were named Ellen and Louise. Maybe the girl said ‘Ellen’. The only Regan he knew of was Lear’s daughter. -------- Father Healey said a few things that were neither dumb nor particularly brilliant, and they prayed with the family. They didn’t stay long. -------- “What can we do for them?” Father Novick asked. -------- “Not much, Don. We’ll have a mass for her.” -------- “They’re really rocked by this, Father. Those girls…” -------- “It’s in God’s hands, Father Novick.” Healey sounded impatient. “Maybe we’ll see them in church now. Wouldn’t hurt them to come to confession.” -------- “They have something in particular to confess?” Father Novick asked. -------- Healey looked at him. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said dryly. “Don’t take it too hard, son. You can’t fix it.” -------- -------- Mrs. Chew gave them broiled lamb chops and a nice salad for lunch. -------- “I’ll gain weight,” Father Novick said. He’d been going to say, “get fat”, but glancing at Father Healey he thought better of it. -------- “You could use a few pounds,” Healey joked. “Right, Mrs. Chew? None of these wispy fellows for St. Rose. You’re a good looking young man. You’ll have to watch yourself with the girls. They’ll flirt with you for fun, but it’s partly meanness, too. You’re a challenge for them. Be careful, Don. Spend time with the boys. You won’t get in trouble there, and some of their daddies aren’t much good to them.” --------Father Novick had two parish calls to make that afternoon. Audrey Kelly was a young mother. Her husband Joe was a fireman, and Audrey stayed at home with their two girls. They didn’t have much money, but Audrey kept her house neat and clean. She offered him coffee and cookies. Someone had told him cookies were a clergyman’s biggest problem. He could wish. -------- They talked about the town and the schools and the changing population. There were a lot of Negroes moving in. --------“I guess they have to live somewhere,” she said. That it was too bad it had to be here was left unspoken. “Up on the hill, they can send their kids to private school.” The hill was where the big houses were. “Not that I hold it against them. You’re not a red are you, Father?” -------- That had come up before. The previous curate’s liberal ideas hadn’t set well with Fr. Healy. There were a lot of southerners in the parish, most of them Republicans. He wondered if any of them would vote for Kennedy in the fall. -------- Father Novick smiled. “No, Mrs. Kelly, I’m not a red. The Communists believe things will work out without God, but they don’t. They’ve done the world nothing but harm. I’d like to see more social justice here, though. It’s a matter of fairness and generosity, not politics.” -------- “Joe and I aren’t complaining, Father. We wouldn’t want to live on the hill unless we’d earned the right. That’s the American way.” -------- “Sure,” Father Novick agreed. Maybe Joe would get to be Fire Chief, and he and Audrey could move halfway up the hill. -------- His last call of the day was Martha Adams. “She’s a character,” was all Father Healey would say. -------- Father Novick could tell the moment Miss Adams opened her door that he was in for it. She sat him on a straight backed chair, served him tea, and asked questions. He could feel the sweat under his collar. He thought he handled himself okay, though. He was polite and respectful, and he tried to be as honest as he could. In the briefest way he admitted his shortcomings. -------- When Miss Adams finished grilling him, he thanked her. He said a few prayers, and before he left he asked if there were anything he could do for her. -------- She smiled. “There may be hope for you yet, Father Novick,” she told him. “What you must do is try to forget about yourself.” -------- “Yes, ma’am,” he said. --------Father Novick stomped down the three flights of stairs. Damn the old woman. Didn’t she think he knew that? Didn’t she think he tried every day to forget his own troubles? Sanctimonious bitch! -------- He strode along angrily, his eyes on the sidewalk. Suddenly he stopped and reached down for a crumpled piece of paper. It was a twenty dollar bill, torn and muddy, worthless looking but still worth twenty bucks. The thought made him smile. --------He tore a page from his pocket notebook and printed, “YOU MUST HAVE DROPPED THIS.” He signed it “Fr. Don” and slipped the note and the bill under Miss Adams door. --------As he trotted cheerfully back down the stairs, Father Novick felt a weight slip from his shoulders. He wondered what Mrs. Chew had planned for supper. -------- 6 August 07 |