Page 177 - What They Did to the Kid

What They Did to the Kid 165

over his palmetto fans, dodged him to grab my cassock, and beat it
out the door. That was two hours ago.”
The smell of sin was fresh. My breath came short. I wanted to
plunge my body like a hot poker into the cold pond.
“What a scandal!” Lock said.
“Why did you tell me, Mike?” I said.
“Finally,” Lock said, “we see the tip of the iceberg.”
“I hate stuff like this,” I said. I walked away.
“God, Ryan,” Lock said. “You’re such a damn baby.”
“Sure,” I said, “and you’re Lochinvar Roehm, Vatican Detective.”
“Dryden admitted,” Mike said to Lock, “there are others. A lot
of boys try...”
“Don’t say it!”
“...expressing themselves and if they feel guilty, he hears their
Confession.”
“Uuh,” I said.
“Absolutio complicis,” Lock said. “If a priest in Confession absolves
his accomplice’s sin, he violates Canon law.”
“And commits a mortal sin,” I said, “so they both require forgive-
ness from yet another priest. It’s endless! I...don’t...understand...this!”
“I can’t tell Father Gunn or Rector Karg,” Mike said. “I’m
trapped. I can’t lie. I actually dropped my pants.”
“They have to be told,” I said.
“But Mike can’t do it,” Lock said. “Don’t you see? They’d suspect
him, because he went so often to Dryden for private conferences....”
“You dropped your pants?” I said to Mike.
“I can’t lie.”
“...It would be Dryden’s word against his...”
“You dropped your pants?” I said. “You can’t tell the truth either.”
“...It can’t be Dryden’s word against his.” Lock turned to me.
“Why not?” I said.
“Because,” Lock said, “this is Byzantine, Roman, and maybe
very Vatican II.”
“We need someone who was never alone with Dryden.”
Both Lock and Mike turned to me.
“Oh, no,” I said. “Not me.”
“You qualify, don’t you?” Lock asked.

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