Chapter 4

On a rainy Saturday morning, I received my draft card in the mail with an official look about the envelope that made me a little nervous opening it up. It was kind of like finding out what a girl was hiding under her clothes with secret promise. I wasn't sure what the numbers meant but the idea was that my time was running out. Actually, I had already volunteered for the draft down at some drafty building near South Street and the weird looking doctors had practically put a stamp on my ass that said,

"USA Prime Grade A"

For some strange reason, I wanted to run down to the market and tell Ruth, my sort of girlfriend who I would love to marry except for the fact she was older than me and her Jewish parents would never allow it. Her mother gave me one of those older people looks that accused me of being mentally deficient and told me,

"She's been sent to her Aunt Sophie to get ready for meeting her new husband-to-be. He's a good Jewish boy from the Bronx."

I knew that Ruth was probably pissed at that whole affair because she swore to me she would never be part of any arranged wedding. I could have bitten off my tongue for not having the balls to ask her myself because I knew she loved me despite my terrible conduct with the nuns at school.

I had this shameful fetish with nuns that were a definite no-no for any good Catholic boy.

The church was open for Baptisms and the like but I didn't want to go in because I was feeling a bit guilty about what I did with Sister Mary's Bloomers the night before and I didn't think I could look the priest in the eye without him seeing my nasty thoughts written right on my forehead.

Fortunately, my best friend Lois was skating on the sidewalk right outside and I thought she might be receptive to a blow-job to help get me out of my sudden negative feelings. She was getting a lot better at that after we had practiced a lot in the tunnel connecting the church to the school on the next street. The very first time we had done that, she had given me more teeth than tongue and I had exploded inside without being considerate enough to at least given her a warning. The freckle-faced Lois told me,

"Jees, Patrick, you are one horny guy! I ain't in the mood but if you take me to the movie tonight, I will make it worth your while."

I was short on cash after blowing it on baseball cards and comics so I had to decline her offer. I looked at her angry backside vibrating with righteous distain as she wheeled away leaving me in the dust. Now, I was really down in the dumps. I was supposed to report in on Monday morning bright and early and I hadn't even had a chance to tell anyone I was going away and maybe never coming back ever again. I was certain my parents would not be in the least upset because with four other siblings in the house, they would see it as a blessing in disguise with one less mouth to feed.

Two nuns were out on the street in front of the flat-faced convent house with only a simple cross above the door to designate it as any different from the other houses on the block. When I got closer, I saw it was Sister Angela and Sister Mary. They were probably my two favorite nuns and I always felt good when I could smell their freshly washed with soap all over scent right next to me. I hoped they liked the way I tried to give them what they wanted and still respected them at the same time.

"Patrick, how come you are just wandering around? Shouldn't you be playing baseball or meeting some nice young girl on Saturday? The rain has stopped and the streets are a lot cleaner today. Go get a broom and help us finish the sweeping."

I ran to get an extra broom and soon the three of us had everything sparkling clean. They even wiped down the garbage cans that most people just ignored until they fell apart. Sister Angela told me that the other sisters were all on a special outing to the Cloisters to see the new blooms on the freshly planted flowers. I had been there on a field trip but there were no flowers just a lot of icicles and dirty snow melting in the afternoon sun on grey stone courtyards.

We all went inside and down to the basement kitchen where Sister Mary stirred hot chocolate to go with our broken cookies donated from the nearby factory that packaged them up with productive efficiency. It was funny how a broken cookie tasted just the same as a nice unbroken one but people didn't like buying the damaged goods.

I could tell from Sister Mary's eyes that she remembered how she lifted her skirts for me the last time she gave me some cookies and we had done it on top of the wooden barrel looking out at the passersby in the street outside from the iron-barred little window right at street level. The sense of doing something really sinful was just what I had needed to make my thing as hard as a rod of steel and I know the pretty nun appreciated it a whole lot better taking it like that. I never really told the priest who I was bonking even though I confessed everything I did with the various nuns in great detail. I know he appreciated the details and he never pressed me for names. For that, I was really thankful, because I am sure the Bishop would never approve of such behavior in one of his convents.

The hot chocolate was delicious and I was driven into an instant erection watching Sister Angela's tongue lick the frothy cream from her candy-red lips. Sister Mary was sitting right next to me and seeing the look on my face caused her to check out my lap with her inquisitive searching fingers. Thank goodness Sister Angela didn't suspect her fellow nun had her palm wrapped around my hard little fellow with playful mischief.

We all sat at the kitchen table that also served as a dining room table when they didn't want to mess up the other room. Usually, this was the busiest room of the convent but with all the others absent on the visit to the cloisters, it was strangely empty except for the three of us in close concert talking almost in whispers like we were afraid to be found out for some illegal conspiracy.