“Maybe we just become better people?” Corbin called after her.
“No, just more boring.”
Corbin and Penny sat on Corbin’s couch. They were kissing. Penny sat next to Corbin, with her legs draped over his lap and her left arm wrapped around his neck. She wore a sleeveless black dress which ended just above her knees. She’d worn this dress so they could go to dinner at an expensive restaurant downtown. They never made it. As they kissed, Corbin’s left hand wrapped around the outside and back of her right thigh, just below the hem of the skirt. He moved his hand along her thigh, but didn’t go further up her skirt than an inch. His right hand teased her back, just above the dress’s zipper, and up to her neck. He could hear her breathing heavily.
Penny’s right hand slipped in and out Corbin’s blue dress shirt where she’d undone a couple of buttons. She’d already removed his red and gold tie. As she ran her fingers across his chest, she leaned her head back, encouraging Corbin to kiss her neck. He accepted the invitation and tenderly kissed a spot she liked just below her ear. As his lips worked their way down to the top of her dress, she playfully ruffled his hair. Soon, his lips returned to hers and his left hand moved up her thigh another inch. She responded by undoing another button on his shirt, a lower button. There weren’t many left.
Penny stared into Corbin’s eyes. He still had that look with the soft sparkly eyes which made her feel so warm and comfortable. As she ran her fingers through his hair, he gave the zipper at the back of her dress a slight tug. She smiled. A moment later, she kicked off her heels. Then she pulled herself off of Corbin and rearranged herself on top of him, with one knee on either side of his legs. She could feel his excitement. He reached for the zipper with his right hand and pushed his left hand all the way up the back of her thigh. She slid her hands behind her back and helped him unzip the dress. Then she leaned over and kissed him, slipping her arms out of her dress as she did. As Corbin’s hands moved to explore this newly exposed area, Penny unbuttoned the last of his shirt buttons, before her hands moved lower.
Chapter 21
Though the church was ancient and small, it was also comforting. Beckett sat in the second pew, near the aisle. He waited patiently for the old priest to finish clearing the ornate altar. The priest moved slowly. He hadn’t noticed Beckett yet. When the priest finished with the altar, Beckett called him. The priest pushed his glasses higher up his nose with his wrinkled finger and squinted at Beckett.
“Do I know you, son?” He made his way over to Beckett.
“No Father, I’m not a member of your church. . but my parents were in their youths.”
The priest looked at Beckett, but didn’t ask his parents’ names. Instead, he sat down in the first pew, turning to look at Beckett over his shoulder. “How can I help you?” he asked in an old voice, though not a frail voice.
“Father, I’ve done something.” Beckett folded his hands as if in prayer.
The priest started to speak, but stopped himself and let Beckett continue at his own pace.
“I’ve sinned and I don’t know how to atone for it.” Beckett gnashed his teeth together and shook his head slightly. “I’ve allowed myself to be tempted by evil. I gave in to my fears,” he said quietly, unable to look the priest in the eyes. “I was weak. . I feared I couldn’t provide for my family. I didn’t know what to do. . and I allowed myself to be tempted by the promise of easy money, the promise that all my problems could be solved with one evil deed. I told myself it wasn’t wrong, but I knew better. I turned a blind eye to my own evil. . I betrayed everything I believe.” A single tear appeared at the corner of his eye.
“What did you do?” the priest asked softly.
“I stole a great deal of money and now it’s killing me. The money’s like a burning flame that haunts me day and night. I can’t sleep anymore. I see it in my dreams. I feel its presence during the days. Even when it’s out of sight, I know it’s there, reminding me of my failure, my betrayal of my family, my faith, myself.” Beckett paused, exhaling loudly and casting his eyes toward the ceiling. Another tear appeared.
“What happened to this money?”
“Nothing,” Beckett said, shutting his eyes tightly. “I can’t spend it. I tried. . I tried spending it. I told myself the deed was done and I could live with it. I went to buy my wife a new stove. She’d never ask for it, she never asks for anything. I wanted to surprise her. But all I could think of was that I was damning her with my crimes. How can I do that?” Beckett rested his head in his hands.
The priest remained silent.
“When I was young, I learned a poem. It’s stuck with me all these years. It’s about salvation, and it taught me. . it taught me that we make our own prisons.” Beckett began to recite:
“At length did cross an Albatross
through fog it came;
as if it were a Christian soul,
I hailed it in God’s name.
God save thee, counselor!
From fiends that plague thee thus,
Why look’st thou so? For with my cross-bow,
I shot the Albatross.
Ah, well a-day what evil looks
had I from mine own soul so young;
instead of cross, the Albatross
around my neck was hung.”
Beckett stopped and the two of them sat in silence for several seconds.
The priest spoke first. “You must atone. Return this money you’ve taken and confess your crime. Seek forgiveness. The Lord is ready to forgive. He is full of mercy for all who ask His aid. His compassion can blot out our transgressions.”
Beckett shook his head. “I. . I can’t, Father. If I turn myself in, I’ll implicate my friend. I can’t rectify a betrayal of myself by betraying another.”
“You must do the right thing. Your friend will understand.”
“Not this friend,” Beckett said with a hint of bitterness. Beckett seemed to deflate. “I don’t even know how to return the money. No one’s even missing it,” he said to himself.
The priest cleaned his glasses before responding. “Evil grows in fertile grounds and blinds us to the truth. A single evil deed will be returned tenfold.”
Beckett looked at the priest. He began to nod his head and sat up slowly. “You’re right, Father. I can’t condemn my family.”
“You must atone.”
“Thank you, Father,” Beckett said, as he rose to his feet. He zipped up his jacket and walked to the door of the church. Just before he reached it, he looked back to the priest one more time. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. He left.
The priest returned to his altar. He didn’t see the three duffel bags sitting on the floor where Beckett left them. He would find them later.
Chapter 22
More than a hundred people packed the bar, and it was only Tuesday night. The crowd was a mix of young professionals, college kids and a few old-timers, who sat mostly at the bar lamenting the youth invasion. It was deafeningly loud with that many people competing to be heard in such a small space. The new waitress Blue hired, a cousin of someone or other, scurried back and forth bringing a varied assortment of drinks to tables. She had little time to talk to anyone.
Corbin hung his thick wool coat on the rack and set his guitar on stage. The band was already checking their instruments. Corbin noticed right away that the band was larger than usual for a Tuesday and these players were
