"Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been one month since my last confession."
Father Mulroney recognised Tommy Reynolds' voice clearly and smiled to himself with the expectant sweetness of this innocent boys' latest confession. Would it be looking at a girl across the quad again? Perhaps he felt guilty for eating too many sweets before bedtime. The Father chuckled lightly and waited for the naΓ―ve eighteen year old to speak.
"F... Father?" Tommy said slowly. "I'm in desperate need of confession Father?"
"You sound troubled my son, would you prefer to speak in the rectory?" Father Mulroney said.
"I feel better saying it here, if that's ok."
"Very well, take your time and ask away." The Father settled in; he had a feeling this was going to be good.
"It all happened on Friday evening, after school. I'd stayed late after class to clean up the equipment room so by the time I got into the locker room everyone had already left.
"Like normal I stripped down and went to shower. Nothing out of the ordinary, I just did what I'd done all year. That hot water felt good on my body I can tell you that Father."
The priest coughed silently as he tried not to picture the petite young lad who, he himself had christened, under a torrent of water in the locker room showers.
"But then Father, just as I was soaping my hair, I realised I wasn't alone. I couldn't quite make out who was there with me. I must admit I was scared for a moment until he spoke; it was Coach Masters."
"'You're in late' he said 'Get the equipment room all sorted?'
"'Yes' I said as the soap began to cover my eyes. 'You scared me Sir.'
"'Oh I didn't mean to scare you boy, just getting in a little last minute training before my big race this weekend' he said
"'What race is that Sir?'
"'The annual Peninsula Marathon, tomorrow morning. I've been training for it for the past six months.' He said gargling water."
"At this point Father I didn't know what to say, you see I've never been very sporty and talking to someone like Coach was tough. So I kept quiet and let him continue."
"'In fact now I've got you here Tommy, you could help me with my last minute training.
"'Oh really?' I said, in truth I was just excited to help. 'What do you need me to do?'
"'Well Tommy, my body is so highly tuned right now.'
"'For your big race?'
"'Yes exactly, for my big race. Well, even the slightest awkward stretch could cause me to suffer a muscle pull, which could end my race before it starts.'
"'Oh no, that would be terrible. Just think about all those months of wasted work if that happened.' I said seeing his difficulty very clearly. 'Well you know best, just tell me what to do.'
"'Are you sure Tommy? I don't want to be a pain' he said"
"I think Coach was feeling a little embarrassed about asking, so I made absolutely sure that he felt more comfortable. 'Just tell me what to do and I'll do it Sir.'" I said
"'In that case, would you mind washing my back for me? I'm worried that the twisting might jar something loose in a shoulder or something, it's very easy to do when you're an athlete like me.'"
"He was right Father. I had never seen him without clothes before but when I stepped into his cubicle, I could see all the muscles in his back rippling as the water rolled down over each contour. I could see how easy he might pull a muscle if I'd not been there to help."
"Is that what you came here for today my son?" the priest said.
"Oh no Father, there's lots to tell you about." Tommy said.
"'Just take the soap and rub it in circles on my back. Make sure you cover every inch mind you.'"
"I took the soap from the tray and began to lather up his shoulders. I must have been doing it right because Coach began to sigh quite loudly. It must have been a relief to find someone who could help him with this awkward task."
"I bet it was" Father Mulroney said, if he had said that to anyone else the smile on his lips would have given him away, but Tommy plodded on with his story oblivious to the priest's sarcasm.
"I was determined to do a good job. As I said before I'm not too sporty, so I thought this might be a good way to get a good grade in Coach's class. I soaped up every inch of his back Father. I made sure my fingers covered every taut muscle and I even slipped under his arms. He was like a piece of stone, a shiny, polished piece of marble as I kept rubbing my hands over his back."