Chapter 14: A Fight for the Right

Supper arrived at five. At least the hospital idea of supper did. Someone had forgotten to tell the kitchen I was allowed solid food again.

Wendy, my savior, arrived at six with real food!

Okay, so it wasn't really real food, it was Rotten Ronnie's, but I happily devoured the cheeseburger and fries and sucked on the chocolate shake till my lips turned blue.

Father Ed had driven her over. He was so cool about it. Said that he just wanted to see if I was okay, had been coming to the hospital anyway to visit some patients and thought Wendy might like to see me. I swear I thought I saw him wink at me!

He told Wendy that she could stay for two hours, and that he would be back at 8:00.

"Thanks, Father Ed," I said with a big smile.

This time I know he winked!

"I missed you so much last night, Pete," Wendy said. "I thought I was going to climb the walls today and then out of the blue, Father Ed comes up to me and asks if I want to come and visit you! Can you believe it? We're not even allowed off school property and here he is, just as calm as you please asking me if I want to see you! He's the one who suggested McDonald's. He and I ate there first and then picked up food for you to go!"

"He's a good man, Wendy," I said. "But I bet I missed you more last night."

Wendy blushed.

"We have got to win some volleyball games," I said. "I don't want to have to sneak back into bed every night, and I want to spend the night cuddling with you."

"Just cuddling?" she asked with a grin.

"Maybe a little more than that," I said and I could feel myself blushing.

Wendy then told me at length of how the school had reacted to my accident.

"Most of the rich kids were gone anyway, but Sister Elizabeth Ann told the ones who saw it that gossip 'will NOT be tolerated, '" her voice a fair imitation of Sister Elizabeth's tone. "Of course, it was all over the school in nothing flat!" she giggled. "I'm sure that everyone knew by suppertime."

Her mood changed, and she looked into my eyes, seriously. "When they heard who it was that hit you, I heard some whispers of stories of other girls..."

I took her hand. "It's over now, dear heart. He won't hurt anyone else," and I told her what Julie had said.

"That's too good for him," she said flatly.

"For me? Please?"

She smiled a little. "For you, yes!" and hugged me.

We separated and she lightly touched her fingers to the side of my face as a knock came at the door. It was a nurse coming to check on me, and I asked her for the package at the nurse's station.

She returned with it in two minutes.

This was the first time I saw it gift wrapped and I gave it to Wendy and said, "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart."

"Oh, Patti, you shouldn't have," she said as she tore at the paper.

"I'm just sorry I didn't have a chance to get you a card," I said.

She was ecstatic over the necklaces, and when I explained their meaning she didn't hesitate one second before she hung the missing piece of her heart around my neck.

She looked around to make sure we weren't being watched, and then gave me a deep soulful kiss, sliding her tongue into my mouth.

"Mmm," I said. "I could go for hours of that!"

"And I intend to give you hours of that and a whole lot more," she said.

Then I showed her the earrings. I thought she was going to scream when she saw them. She was so excited and wanted to know how soon we could see the nurse and get our ears pierced. I told her that we would have them done this week if the nurse was available.

"And then," I said, "we're going to see about getting our hair cut."

"Oh, Pete... You think they'll let us out for that?"

"Hey," I said. "It's a sports related necessity. We can't have our hair blocking our view, can we?"

Wendy laughed and agreed that Sister Gabe would probably clear the way.

I knew Wendy wanted to crawl right into the bed with me, but we both kept glancing at the clock. Father Ed was only minutes away.

"Do you think they'll let you come back tomorrow, Pete?" she asked.

"The doctor said there was nothing else they could do for me," I told her. "Another night of observation and that should be all, except for coming back in a month for follow up X-rays."

"I'm so happy, Pete. I wish it was tonight though."

"I know, sweetheart, but I can't move my head too quickly and this looking over our shoulders is hard on the neck!"

We were still both laughing when Father Ed came back.

It was Father Ed who picked me up Monday morning and drove me back to school. Instead of driving straight there, he took me on a tour of the city. It looked like he was in no hurry to get back and I knew that I probably wouldn't be in any classes today anyway. The funny thing was that as bad as I had been hurt, I was only taking a couple of Aspirin, and that was mostly to prevent any blood clotting.

Father Ed talked to me the entire time he was driving, pointing out various churches he had served at before settling in at St. Ursula's for service to the nuns.

After an hour he pulled over at Riverside Park and he bought us each a bag of dried bread pieces to feed the ducks. As we walked along the boardwalk that hugged the banks just before the dam that created the oversized waterway, he told me the police had been to the school and that they would be back later this afternoon.

"I don't want you to think that I am trying to influence you in any way, Patti," he said as he tossed some bread to some greedy squirrels trying to get a free lunch. "I'm only telling you so that you'll be prepared. I won't even be there. Sister Elizabeth Ann will be the one representing the school. It is after all her school."

"So what do the police want with me?" I asked.

Father Ed sat down on the concrete dam, took off his socks and shoes, and let his feet dangle in the water before he answered. That was just one of the things that endeared me to Father Ed. He wasn't quick to speak, but thought about what he was going to say, and he didn't let society tell him what he should or shouldn't do. Despite his age, he still took pleasure in the simple things in life.

I took my socks and shoes off as well and though the water was a bit cold, it was fun being a kid.

"Patti," he said. "What Father Bob did was wrong. I can't explain why he did it, and nothing can ever justify what he did."

"I understand what you mean, Father," I said.

"Be that as it may, Patti, but it was still morally and legally wrong. That's what the police want to speak to you about. One of the emergency room doctors called the police when he saw you. There was no way that was the result of an accident and he thought at first you had been abused by your father. By the time the police arrived we had explained who had attacked you, but now the police want to know if you will press charges."

I thought about that for a while before I answered. Father Ed let me think in peace and quiet and just continued feeding the ducks.

This could be my chance to really stick it to 'Bobby' but... was that really what I wanted to do? Start my new life off with a court case? Maybe have Father Bob do some jail time? It didn't feel right. Not with the way I was living my new chance, and I had to trust my intuition. Maybe I could have handled Father Bob better from the beginning but he and I seemed to have been destined to butt heads from the first time I met him. Even Father Ed had admitted that they thought Father Bob was near a breaking point. Maybe I was destined in this life to be his final straw.

"Father Ed?" I said to get his attention, "If I don't want to press charges, does that disqualify me from having any say in Father Bob's future?"

He turned and looked at me. "What do you mean, Patti?"

"I don't want to press charges. I mean... I'm okay. The doctor wants to take another X-ray in a month, but I think that it will turn out just the way it did yesterday. Maybe it was a miracle... I'm not the one to say..." I caught his eye. "But the doctors were surprised it wasn't worse. Much, much worse."

I saw him wince and turned my gaze back to where the ducks paddled waiting for more bread. "Anyway, the bruising will go away soon enough, and I don't want to hurt the school."

I looked at him again. "If you could give me an assurance that this would never happen again, and that Father Bob would..." how could I put this? "That Father Bob would get the 'help' he needs, I see no reason to involve the police."

He was silent for a while, as if marshalling his thoughts.

"Patti, I can assure you that Father Roberto will not be in contact with children again, ever, and his... exposure... to even regular parishioners will be a long time coming. He will get the help he needs, and the time to reflect on his vocation."

The way he said that last part sent a shiver down my spine, and I realized there was steel behind the kindly face he showed the world.

I emptied the last of my bread into the water and neatly folded the plastic bag to dispose of later. I shook the water off my feet and got up.

"Thank you, Father Ed," I said looking down at him. "I want our school name in the papers, but not for this. I want the papers to be talking about our volleyball team!"

He got up laughing. "A much more admirable thing to put in the papers!" he said.

We got back to the school and I told the police in front of Sister Elizabeth Ann that I did not want to press charges. They weren't satisfied with that and called Mike and Ann.

This was so frustrating! Being 14 had a lot of advantages, but so few people take you seriously at this age.

While we waited for my parents to show up, Sister Elizabeth -- she had told me to only use her full name in public -- had asked the novice who worked as her secretary to ring for a pot of tea. I asked if Father Ed could join us.

Half an hour later, much to my surprise, I was honest to goodness drinking tea with the Principal of the school and Father Ed! The police had decided to go outside to wait.

We were drinking out of fine china complete with saucers and biscuits. Wendy was never going to believe this. I wondered how Mom would react!

When Mom and Dad finally arrived, there was quite a bit of heated discussion since Mike was all set to send 'Bobby' off to jail.

I managed to get them aside. "Dad, I've talked with Father Ed. He told me that the Church would take care of Father Bob, and I believe him. He will never be in any position to do anything like this again, and I don't want the school to get any bad publicity out of this. Daddy, do you believe God watches out for us?"

He hemmed and hawed on that for a minute. "Honey, I'm the one supposed to look out for you."

"Daddy, the big guy is the one who's there when you can't be."

Reluctantly, he agreed. Ann was more difficult; her emotions split between what Father Bob had done to me, and the horror of future hurt he could cause. "Mom, the Church is sending him away. Right away. I think he'll be lucky to get more than bread and water for the next ten years."

"Honey, if that's what you want? But I tell you, if I ever see that man again, I'll swear out a warrant for his arrest."

"Thank you, Mom."

I could see that the police officers were doubtful and I wondered how much they knew, but I was more than adequately stubborn for the occasion. If Father Bob got into any more mischief it would be of his own doing and not at the hands of Patricia Johnson.

Mom and Dad stayed to have a cup of tea with us, and I looked at Mom with a question in my eyes. She nodded slightly and I realized she was accepting me more as an adult. I smiled at her and sipped at my tea in a lady like manner.

At a lull in the conversation, Sister Elizabeth cleared her throat to get our attention. "Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, Patricia," she began, "I'm glad you're all here, as I have something important to tell you all. I'm very pleased to tell you that the board of St. Ursula's has awarded Patricia a full scholarship for the rest of her High School education."

I'm sure my mouth fell open. Mike looked at me, and I could plainly read his thoughts. A bribe?

"Daddy, I did not know about this before!"

Sister Elizabeth saw Mike's brow clouding and hastened to explain. "Mr. Johnson, I can assure you this has nothing to do with this recent... incident. This was decided at the board meeting last Friday evening, and was awarded based on scholastic and athletic excellence. You should have a letter in the mail today or tomorrow."