The Greatest Lie Part 12

I did really great there. When they asked me the name of God, I responded Zeus, Athena, and named the other ten of the Hellenic Pantheon. (NB: And of Wotan, Freya, and the rest of the Aesir? O Schmerz! O Schmerz! Solche Verge§lichkeit! Sorry, I’m just being facetious.]) The nuns whisked me straight home. After that, we only went, like, once a year on Easter, and after I was confirmed, we really went hardly at all." (NB: Let’s just assume Alex found time to take a confirmation class and memorize his catechism. It isn’t really necessary for the story.)

I thought about Tran’s priest. "Never!"

"Well, I have to go to keep the family happy. So what’s with your family?"

I replied "Dad was such a good Catholic that, last year, he just dumped my mom for one of his grad students. My parents got divorced, and I got in such a big fight with my Dad that he never wants to hear from me again. Now he’s in Switzerland with a big-money biotech job, and my mom’s back here with all the debts. She’s broke, so it’s just me and my scholarship that's keeping me here. That’s why I have to go study now. Can you pick up Tran and give us a ride home now?"

"Ah, er, I’m running a little late. You know, I can’t miss the offering plate. Both God and Mom would be displeased. Can I call you a taxi?"

"Forget it, I’ll take the bus. Remember, I’m poor. I gotta get a grant just so I can eat this summer." And, also, maybe so I can get myself back to Phuket for some more surgery, and wild times in Thailand, I added to myself.

"O.K. I’ll just have to hurry."

As he showered, I inspected his knickknacks: Alec in an extended family photo, lost in a sea of white faces in front of a secluded, tree lined lake cottage; Alec in golf clothes, clutching a gaudy trophy; Alec in a graduation gown, between his beaming mother and father; Alec on horseback, riding with a buck toothed, horsy-looking girl. Alec was the guy who had everything, born with a silver spoon stuck up his ass.