Lori had been raised Catholic, went to parochial grade school, public high school.
After she married and had a child, she began to tell people she was a "recovering Catholic", for she still remembered the Sisters whacking the kids, the boys mostly, with wooden rulers; she remembered watching a nun force one of her schoolmates to keep his hands still inside the desk while slamming the lid closed on his 6th grade fingers. She never forgot being told she was most likely going to burn in hell no matter how good she was.
One particular story stood out in her mind; a story her brother told she and her mother about a nun making one of his friends drink that God-awful green soap in the dispenser from the lavatory. Lori's Mother, who was non-Catholic, told her son that if a Sister ever tried to make him drink that swill to make sure he threw up on her shoes. It never happened, thankfully. Detention was the order of the day at that school, and it was a long walk home.
The end-of-the-year school picnics were a sight. Rides, games, raffles (can't forget those raffles), and the beer stand were the most popular sites. The priests stumbling from the rectory to the beer stand, back and forth till the picnics closed down for the night was a regular show in itself. After dark, the kids used to hide in the bushes and bet on who would miss the doorway, thereby smacking his head on the frame, as they giggled hysterically.
When Lori was in High School, she went back to the picnics every year, and after she married at 23 and had her son, she took him to them. She wanted to fully return to the Church, but could never bring herself to do it. Something deep down inside always held her back, until her marriage began to crumble.
Desperate, Lori went to see a new priest; one she had met while attending required classes so her son could be baptised. It was an odd feeling, breaking away from the Church and yet unable to completely sever herself from it. But this priest was different; he was younger, he had a better attitude, a more open mind, it seemed.
Father Mike was of Scottish descent, had a slight brogue, wild red hair and sparkling blue eyes. So it was on a hot summer day that Lori found herself sitting in his office, staring at him from across his cluttered desk.
"Lori, tell me," said the priest, "what's wrong? Let me help you."
"Well, it's about my husband...I don't know, Father, I just can't put my finger on any one thing. He's just not there anymore. I don't think I can take it another minute."
Lori swallowed hard, fighting back threatening tears.
Father Mike leaned back in his chair, straining it, causing it to groan in pain, it seemed, for Father Mike was a big man. Easily six-four, probably two hundred twenty or thirty pounds. He crossed his long legs at the ankles, folded his large hands in his lap, relaxing.
"What exactly do you mean he's not there anymore?"
"H...he's...he's...he works long hours. He comes home late and goes straight to bed or sits in front of the T.V holding the remote. He's gone before I wake up in the morning. We never spend any time together anymore."
"Do you have food on your table?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a roof over your head?"
"Yes."
She was getting pissed-off. Obviously this guy had no clue...
"Father," she sighed, "we have a roof and food, but there needs to be MORE. I mean, we've been married for 5 years now. Shouldn't there be...MORE?"
"Does he not come home to you every night? Is he out running around on you?"
Lori knew where this was going and that she was in too deep to back out now. Embarassed, searching for a temporary escape in order to gather her thoughts, sheturned her attention to the art on the walls. On the wall behind him, directly above the young priest's head hung a painting of the obligatory white dove holding an olive branch in it's beak, a dried palm frond from last Palm Sunday tucked behind the frame. On the wall to his right and to Lori's left was a beautiful painting of The Virgin Mary, smiling her Mona Lisa smile with a baby on her lap, framed in intricately carved oak brushed with gold. The wall to his left sported a print of saints and cherubs cavorting with rays of sunlight shining through gaps in the fluffy blue and white clouds promising everlasting salvation. She smiled at that one until her gaze lit on one more piece of art propped up on the bookcase behind Father Mike. This one was dark; bruised angry clouds covered the entire canvas over which was painted what was obviously the artist's rendition of hell. Nude, emaciated men and women struggling, sweating and laboring over bricks and wood, suffering clearly evident on their poor sad faces. A shadow crossed over Lori's eyes. She always remembered being taught that it was good to suffer, that you had to suffer in order to get to heaven. WHY did they teach that? WHY couldn't you just be a good person and get to heaven? WHY did they preach for everyone to live "poor in spirit"? Look at the Vatican! Solid gold everywhere! THEY weren't practicing what they preached! Who do they think they are anyway??? HYPOCRITES! ALL OF THEM!
Feeling the old anger and confusion return, Lori gazed steadily into Father Mike's blue eyes. Let him answer this one! Ha!
"Isn't it a husband's duty to please his wife, Father? Or is that just an option on his part?"
"A-hem! Er..." His eyes twinkled, fairly lit up. His Scottish complexion darkened a shade, and he leaned forward locking his fingers together on the desk.
"In what way, Lori?"
Dammit. He's going to make me say it! Respect that au-thor-ah-tah!
Lifting her head a fraction of an inch higher, trying to maintain some, any, dignity, she croaked "In...ah...in...bed..."
Looking everywhere but at Father Mike, Lori wished, prayed, for the earth to open up and swallow her.
"What experiene have you had, Lori? Were you sexually active before your marriage?"
Was the Pope Catholic?
Was she not a child of the seventies?
Christ! Here goes nothing, or everything, depending on how you look at it.
"I was."
"How many men have you had, Lori?"
"Err...ah..."
"Two, three....more?"
She never did learn the fine art of lying. Burning in Hell was a legitamate dissuasion. But she could fudge a bit.
"Ah..two."
The air conditioning kicked on, for it was 99 degrees outside in the Midwestern summer. Her sundress was drying from her sweat and goosebumps appeared on her sleeveless arms. Looking down in horror, she also noticed that her nipples were standing up. Crossing her bare legs in tandem with her arms, Lori saw Father Mike staring at her nipples as she tried to hide them.
"Father?"
'Oh, yes...two, did you say? And what is different with your husband compared to these other men?"
"Father, he's just not there for me."
Maybe she could get the conversation going in another direction. There was no way she could discuss sex with this man, this priest. What had she been thinking???
"Lori, is he abusive to you in the bedroom?"
No, she thought. A little spanking would actually be nice....
"No, Sir. He's just not interested, I guess."
"So what you're saying is that he won't make love to you as a husband should?"
Biting the inside of her lip in embarassment, Lori refrained from rolling her eyes. Is he deaf???
Nervous laughter erupted from her mouth, causing a lovely shade of rose to rise from her chest all the way up to her hairline. Father Mike was not immune to this turn of events..in fact, he was beginning to enjoy the reaction she was having to his direct questions.
"F...Father..yes, that is what I'm saying. My husband won't make love to me."
Mike rose, walked around to her side of the desk and leaned against it, crossing his huge arms, his feet inches from hers. Lori lowered her eyes, staring at those feet, wondering if the old saying was true...or was that the thumbs? Guiltily, she slid her eyes away from his thumb, looked at his huge feet again, then at the wall.
"Have you spoken of this to him?"