Before she was saved, Patricia Paiwonski was young, married, and «very happy.» She had one child, she looked up to and admired her much older husband. George Paiwonski was a generous, affectionate man with only one weakness — but one which often left him too drunk to show his affection after a long day. Patty counted herself a lucky woman — true, George occasionally got affectionate with a female client … quite affectionate if it was early in the day — and. of course, tattooing required privacy, especially with ladies. Patty was tolerant; she sometimes made a date with a male client, after George got to hitting the bottle more and more.
But there was a lack in her life, one not filled even when a grateful client gave her a snake — shipping out, he said, and couldn't keep it. She liked pets and had no snake phobia; she made a home for it in their show window and George made a beautiful four-color picture to back it: «Don't Tread on Me!» This design turned out to be popular.
She acquired more snakes and they were a comfort. But she was the daughter of an Ulsterman and a girl from Cork; the armed truce between her parents had left her with no religion.
She was already a «seeker» when Foster preached in San Pedro; she had managed to get George to go a few Sundays but he had not seen the light.
Foster brought them the light, they made their confessions together. When Foster returned six months later, the Paiwon skis were so dedicated that he gave them personal attention.
«I never had a minute's trouble from the day George saw the light,» she told Mike and Jill. «He still drank … but only in church and never too much. When our holy leader returned, George had started his Great Project. Naturally we wanted to show it to Foster — » Mrs. Paiwonski hesitated. «Kids, I ought not to tell this.»
«Then don't,» Jill said emphatically. «Patty darling, we don't want you ever to do anything you don't feel easy about. 'Sharing water' has to be easy.»
«Uh… I
Mike nodded. «Here on Earth we call it “water brother” business. On Mars there's no problem … but here I grok there sometimes is. 'Water brother' business you don't repeat.»
«I … I “grok”. That's a funny word, but I'm learning it. All right, darlings, this is “water brother” business. Did you know that
They examined it. «It is a kiss mark,» Jill said wonderingly, «like somebody had kissed you there wearing lipstick. I thought it was part of that sunset.»
«Yes, indeedy, that's how George fixed it. Because you don't show Foster's kiss to anyone who doesn't wear Foster's kiss — and I never have, up to now. But,» she insisted, «you're going to wear one, both of you, someday — and when you do, I want to tattoo 'em on.»
Jill said, «I don't understand, Patty. How can he kiss us? After all, he's — up in Heaven.»
«Yes, dearie, he is. Let me explain. Any priest or priestess can give you Foster's kiss. It means God's in your heart, God is part of you … forever.»
Mike was suddenly intent. «Thou art God!»
«Huh, Michael? Well — I've never heard it put that way. But that does express it … God is in you and of you and with you, and the Devil can't get at you.»
«Yes,» agreed Mike. «You grok God.» He thought happily that this was nearer to putting the concept across than he had ever managed before … except that Jill was learning it, in Martian. Which was inevitable.
«That's the idea, Michael. God … groks you — and you are married in Holy Love and Eternal Happiness to His Church. The priest or priestess kisses you and the mark is tattooed on to show it's forever. It doesn't have to be this big — mine is exactly the size and shape of Foster's blessed lips — and it can be placed anywhere to shield from sinful eyes. Any spot where it won't be noticed. Then you show it when you go into a Happiness gathering of the eternally saved.»
«I've heard of happiness meetings,» Jill commented, «but I've never known quite what they are.»
«Well,» Mrs. Paiwonski said judicially, «there are Happiness meetings and Happiness meetings. The ones for ordinary members, who are saved but might backslide, are fun — grand parties with only the amount of praying that comes happily, and plenty of whoop-it-up that makes a good party. Maybe a little real lovin' — but you'd better be mighty careful who and how, because you mustn't be a seed of dissension among the brethren. The Church is very strict about keeping things in their proper places.
«But a Happiness meeting for the eternally saved — well, you don't have to be careful because there won't be
«It sounds like quite a party,» said Jill.
«Oh, it is — always! And you're filled with heavenly bliss. If you wake up in the morning with one of the eternally saved brethren, he's there because God willed it to make you all blessedly Happy. They've all got Foster's kiss — they're
«I grok,» agreed Mike.
«But don't think,» Patricia said earnestly, «that a person can get into an Inner Temple Happiness meeting just with a tattoo mark. A visiting brother or sister — Well, take me. As soon as I know where the carnie is going, I write the local churches and send my fingerprints so they can check 'em against the file of eternally saved at Archangel Foster Tabernacle. I give 'em my address care of Billboard. Then when I do — and I always go Sundays and
She added, «But everybody is interested in my Foster's kiss … because, since he went back to Heaven twenty years ago, not many have a Foster's kiss that wasn't laid on by proxy — I have the Tabernacle testify to
Mrs. Paiwonski hesitated, then told them, in explicit detail — and Jill wondered where her limited ability to blush had gone? Then she grokked that Mike and Patty were two of a kind — God's innocents, unable to sin no matter what they did. She wished, for Patty's sake, that Foster had really been a holy prophet who had saved her for eternal bliss.
But
Suddenly, through her greatly improved recall, Jill was back in a room with a glass wall, looking into Foster's dead eyes. But he seemed alive … and she felt a shiver in her loins and wondered what
She shut it out of her mind, but not before Mike caught it. She felt him smile, with knowing innocence.
She stood up, «Pattycake darling, what time do you have to be at the lot?»
«Oh, dear! I should be back this blessed minute!»
«Why? The show doesn't roll until nine-thirty.»
«Well … Honey Bun misses me. She's jealous if I stay out late.»
«Can't you tell her that it's a Happiness meeting?»
«Uh…» The older woman gathered Jill in her arms. «It is! It certainly is!»
«Good. I'm going to sleep — Jill is bushed. What time do you have to be up?»
«Uh, if I'm back by eight, I can get Sam to tear down my top and have time to make sure my babies are loaded safely.»
