Chapter 14

I received a phone call from Mama later on in the week, "Jim, Allie told me about her worries, Bruno and I soon put her mind to rest. She's a lovely girl Jim and we are only too happy to have her and Joey together."

"Thank you Mama, I told her the same thing, Allie thinks that because she is an orphan that she's worthless, that's not the case at all. I know that both her and Joey will make a great couple."

"The only thing we asked of her is that they wait until after she graduates before they do anything more than getting engaged. Allie and Joey agreed to wait although they do want to sleep together, Bruno thought that was OK, I'm a bit reluctant to give my consent though."

"Mama, is it just you not wanting to let the apron strings go? After all, Joey is a grown man now and today's morals are a lot different than your's and my generation's. As you know, Annie and I aren't married but we live together."

"Yes, I suppose you're right Jim, Bruno and I talked about it a lot last night, maybe I'm a bit old fashioned. I'll give it a bit more thought."

Allie called me later and told me how the meeting went. "Thank you for suggesting I talk with Joey's parents Jim. We had a long talk last night and I feel a lot happier now. We agreed that it was wise to wait until I graduated before we thought about marriage, although getting engaged was OK. Mama was a bit reluctant to allow Joey and me to sleep together but this morning she told me it was alright as long as we took the necessary precautions."

"That's great Allie, I hope Annie and I get an invite to the engagement party."

"You are at the top of the list Jim, you've done so much for me that I would never be able to repay you. An invite would be the least I could do."

"As I said before Allie, you do your best and you will be repaying me in full."

We talked for a little while longer, mainly about how the course was going and her visit with Erin and Ed.

The two Sisters moved in with Agnes, a move that took a lot of worry off her mind. One Sister would stay at Pebble Beach and the other would assist in settling in the relieving Sisters at the orphanage. Once the transition period was over both of them would become permanent residents. When the kids came over they would help out around the cabin, something they both were looking forward to. As Sister Mary said, "Once a fire horse, always a fire horse."

I was getting ready to go fishing when Sister Teresa passed by, "Going fishing Jim?"

"Yes Sister, do you and Sister Mary want to come?"

"Sister Mary's going into town with Agnes but I would like to go out with you if you don't mind me tagging on."

"You're always welcome Sister, you had better change out of that penguin suit though."

"OK Jim, I'll go change, won't be long."

By the time I had the tinnie in the water Sister had returned in jeans and a check shirt. Hmm I thought, not bad looking for an old bird.

We pushed the boat out into the channel and started to do a drift, hoping to snag a few Flathead. Soon there was a good feed in the fish keep.

After the tide turned we dropped anchor and cast out using sinkers and sand worm for bait. As always the turn of the tide was pretty unproductive. I had brought a few home brews and some sandwiches with me so we sat and enjoyed the peace. After we had eaten Sister Teresa made the comment.

"You're not of the faith Jim." A statement not a question.

"No Sister, I was brought up as a Catholic but I found as I became more aware of things, that religion in any form didn't sit too well with me."

"Do you want to talk about it, I don't want to seem like I'm pushing the Bible bit Jim, but I'm always interested on other people's point of view."

"That's OK Sister, as long as it's only my point of view. I'm not one to 'sell' my ideals, but yes I'm quite happy to discuss it."

"What doesn't sit well with you then for a starting point?"

"As you know, I'm an accountant, accountants deal with facts, we have to if we are going to do our work properly. That tends to make us ... or should I say me, very critical of life in general."

I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. "Religion ... and I don't just mean RC, I mean all religions, they all have the one thing in common. They want to control people."

"Yes that's true to a certain extent Jim, keep in mind though they do a lot of good work, the orphanage is a case in point."

"That's the 'bells and whistles' Sister. Take a look back through history, the religious bodies weren't always as benevolent as they are today. If you were to take away all of the trimmings you would still find that they seek to control you."

"Control is good to a point though Jim."

"I agree, a Jewish friend of mine tried to explain his faith and the reasons the Jews did certain thing. Eating pork was forbidden for a very good reason, the pig was an unclean animal and disease could be transmitted to humans. Today the pig is free from those diseases yet the Jewish people still shun it because of their religious beliefs. They are still being controlled."