“Habla español? Italiano?”
Tony switched to Italian.
Aside from not going to mass, the only sin he co
uld think of was one that had been troubling him since he was thirteen years old.
“Father, I have been having impure thoughts. About a specific girl.”
Priestly interrogation brought out that he had also been guilty of the sin of Onanism in connection with his impure thoughts about the specific girl. He received a brief lecture on forcing impure thoughts from his mind and the harm that self-abuse inflicts on the body and the soul; and then he was given absolution and a relatively minor penance.
He left the confession stall and dropped to his knees before a larger than life-size statue of Saint John the Baptist, lit a votive candle, and asked God to make it easy for his mother and his father and his brothers to understand if he didn’t come through the business with the Reine de la Mer. And he asked Him not to let them mourn so badly. And then he stood up.
When he turned around, he saw Maria-Teresa standing by one of the enormous pillars. Her head was covered with a shawl.
Jesus Christ, she’s beautiful!
“I saw you come in,” she said.
“I was looking for you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you, I was looking for you. Then I went to confession.”
“I thought you would come,” Maria-Teresa said. “But not here.”
“Excuse me?”
“What do you want, Anthony?”
“I want to talk to you for a minute. Can we go get a cup of coffee or something?”
“To the ristorante?”
“Not to the ristorante.”
“There is a café near here.”
He took her arm on the street. She didn’t shrug it away, but she didn’t seem to like it much, either.
They took a tiny table in a small, crowded café, and a waiter came and took their order. Tony was going to order coffee, but changed his mind and asked for a glass of vino tinto. He asked Maria-Teresa if she wanted a cake or a dish of ice cream or something, but she said no thank you, all she wanted was coffee.
“Do you want me to come with you, Anthony?” Maria-Teresa asked.
“Come with me where?”
She shrugged. He understood.
“Jesus Christ, no! Nothing like that.”
“Then what do you want?”
He reached inside his jacket, came up with an envelope, and handed it to her.
* * *
2nd Lt A.J. Pelosi, 0-538677, CE