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The Confession
In third year high school, our Social Science teacher, Mrs. Carasco, encourages us to go to church every Sunday. She is adamant that we go to confession on Fridays to prepare us for Communion during Sunday Mass. Our school is a privately owned school but not a Catholic school; however, the owners being devout Catholics permit Mrs. Carasco to integrate religion in the course.
That aside, my classmates and I look forward to Fridays – early dismissal, closing flag ceremony, volleyball practice, and just hanging out with friends. Today, Social Science is the last class and Mrs. Carasco reminds us about going to confession. Darn! I have to think about what sins I have committed during the week.
I am one in a closely knit group of six all-girl students and we go to confession together – Rosaida, with her dreamy eyes and long silken hair, is the muse of the class. Lourdes is the opinionated type; she hangs around Rosaida because Rosaida is boy magnet. Edna, while not very bright, has a bold personality and supplies us with stateside chocolates. Zeny, being my neighbour, just follows around and does whatever we tell her to do. Carmencita is the smartest in our class but she thinks I am the smartest in our class. During Fridays, we deliberate and compare what sins we committed during the week and make fun of them. Truth be told, we "invent and recycle" our sins just so we have something to confess. Edna always flirts with the boys; Carmencita has gone to kissing with her “secret” boyfriend; Zeny has gone to the movie with her midget boyfriend Rufino (he is not really a midget but Zeny is unusually tall for our age) and let him touch her breast inside her blouse. Lourdes is forever envious of the girls who have boyfriends. Rosaida says she swore at her sister.
“Me?” I ask when they all look at me. I throw a peanut up in the air and catch it with my open mouth. “I don’t know, how many pencils and pens can one person covet?"
Edna scoffs, "Yes, Father O'Shea must think you have a stash by now!"
I tell the girls I have read a pornographic magazine which I found in Erick’s, my older brother, cabinet. They drool at the mention of Erick’s name. I tell them to stop their “lust” and they should confess it as it is one of the deadly sins. Then I produce a folded sheet and wave it to the girls. "Look, I took a page!" They make a collective gasp of excitement and try to grab the piece of paper from me, then a disappointed sigh when they see there are no pictures in it.
Lourdes and Carmencita suggest that we pool our sins by writing them down on a small piece of paper then draw lots as to who would confess which sins. They are excited to see who would get to draw my pornographic sin and confess it. But I tell them, “No, I will confess this to Father O’Shea.”
“But why?" they ask, their faces a collective picture of incredulity.
“Because he already told me last week that I take too many pencils and pens he didn’t believe me anymore. So today, I have something special for him.”
So we started the draw. Rosaida, the most demure, the most soft spoken, the most shy of all people, draws the pornographic sin. Her beautiful eyes blinked rapidly, she's nervous and tells us the priest would not believe her. Edna offers to exchange with her -- she has drawn Carmencita’s “watched my German shepherd dog mount the neighbour’s poodle.” We know Carmencita just invents the most ridiculous things as she or her family don’t own a dog. I draw Rosaida’s “I swore at my sister behind her back.” Zeny, fortunately for her, is absent today.
We walk to church, giggling and teasing and practicing our confessions. Rosaida balks at the last moment. She holds the paper by its corner as if it was some dirty diaper or something, "It's too long!" she complains.
"Here," Lourdes says. "Let me make a summary for you." She writes hurriedly on her notebook, tears off the page and gives it to Rosaida while she puts my magazine page inside her bag. Edna elbows her and tells her that she wants to read it, too.
"No," Rosaida says, "I think I will stick with my “I swore at my sister”.
Before anyone could take the little piece of paper, I pull it from Rosaida’s hand and put it in my pocket.
Rosaida goes in the confessional first. When she comes out, I go inside the confessional while the other four try to memorize their "sins" from the draw.
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.” Father O’Shea and I go through the preliminary blurbs of the confession process. Finally, he says, “Confess your sins.”
I start to read from the piece of paper that Lourdes wrote for Rosaida. On the third sentence, I stammered at a word. "Niple?" I unconsciously mutter then quickly scanned the piece of paper. Father O'Shea gives a small cough. "Damn spelling mistakes!" I say. My hand automatically reaches for the pen in my pocket and I start to correct Lourdes' many spelling errors.
Then I notice the white priest garb and feel an intense stare. I look up at Father O’Shea standing with his hands on his hips as he shakes his head.
“Oooops!”
“In my office,” he says.
I hear muffled giggles in the ante-room, a door opening, and shuffling of feet as the girls storm out onto the church yard, then the faint sounds of laughter and shrieking. Meanwhile I keep stopping on my way to Father O’Shea’s office as I continue to edit “my sins”.
The photo goes perfectly with it!