Authors: June Ahern
The nun pulled back and looked down in amazement at the child
’s innocent face. “You can see that?” she asked.
June grinned, happy that she was free to show off her ability to know things about people. Matter-of-factly, the girl said,
“You miss Meise, don’t you?”
“
I had a dog named Meise in Africa that I had to leave behind when I came here. Yes, I miss my Meise very much. But, tell me, how did you get that image?”
Excited to share her special gift,
June explained as though she were teaching Sister about her abilities. “Well, I can see it in my head like a picture. I know more. You’re going to fly back home again and have another Meise.”
Sister Noel sat quietly, no longer smiling.
Not wanting to lose their connection, June took the nun’s hand. “I wish I could fly with you,” she said.
Neither heard the Mother Superior approach, but there she stood, frowning down at them. She pursed her colorless lips and said, crisply,
“Sister Noel, aren’t you in charge of dinner tonight?”
The young nun
’s eyes widened in surprise at being caught hugging a student––especially one waiting for reprimands. Regaining her composure, she said, “Yes, Mother. I am, but June’s upset and I…”
Mother Superior
’s long thin hand slashed the air, ceasing further conversation with her subordinate. “Miss MacDonald, come along. Quickly now.” The principal turned swiftly on the heels of her black leather shoes and walked into her office.
The young nun laid a hand on top of June
’s mass of unruly curls. “Be brave.”
The colorful buttons at Cliff’s Variety store circled in front of Maggie when she turned on the conveyer belt that was used to display the huge assortment. Casually, she examined the buttons while waiting for her mother. The four large brick-red buttons coming toward her would be perfect for the black bandstand skirt her mother was making her for her upcoming thirteenth birthday. She wanted to wear it for her debut on “Dance Party,” the popular new television show for teenagers in San Francisco. For a moment she became lost in the variety of colors and styles, until she caught her mother’s disapproving look from across the room.
Cathy was annoyed at her daughter for coming
into the shop while she was working, not wanting her first job away from home to be a failure. She surprised Maggie by switching off the conveyer belt.
“
Why aren’t you at home getting dinner ready?” she asked in a hushed voice just as the shop owner, Ernie, walked by and merrily greeted Maggie. Nervous, Cathy started to apologize about her daughter being there but he walked on.
Maggie reassured her mother that everythi
ng at home was under control. Casually, she said, “Call the principal right away. It’s about June.”
“
Oh, for the love of God. Not again! Now what?” Cathy hissed through her clenched teeth. She looked down, smoothed out some material and grimaced as though she had an attack of indigestion.
Maggie had been unanimously voted the best one to present June
’s case to their mother. The girl’s convincing smile and confident attitude seemed to intone that all problems had an answer.
“Take it easy, Mom. We wanted you to
know before Daddy found out. Anyway, it isn’t June’s fault. It’s that old crabby nun.” As an afterthought, she added, “Even I got in trouble with St. Pius.”
“
That’s true,” Cathy murmured.
Maggie was a very well-
liked girl, both with the nuns and the students. The problem between Sister St. Pius and Maggie had begun when the nun accused her of being indecent for putting on lipstick at lunchtime. The girl denied the allegations. The Mother Superior had to intervene to stop the Sister’s unfair punishment of Maggie.
“
What’d she do now?” Cathy said, keeping her voice low and fidgeting with the lace doilies on the counter.
Making light of the situation, Maggie said,
“Oh, Mom, St. Pius made it sound like it was a mortal sin. June was just saying that in our family we pray to God’s Mother, too. Something simple like that. She’s just an old nutty woman.”
“
Be respectful of the nuns, Maggie,” Cathy said.
The nuns can be too strict at times,
Cathy agreed inwardly, although she still had an undying respect for the religious women. She shooed Maggie out of the store, promising to stop by to talk to the principal before coming home. She also promised to buy the big red buttons for Maggie’s skirt.
After her daughter left, Cathy went back to work, distracting her mind from June
’s problems at school. She wished she had never let June play with the tarot cards, which she felt were the beginning of the problems. If she had been a better mother, as Jimmy reminded her, she would have squelched June’s interest in the occult and demanded her daughter stop telling upsetting stories about her angel and dead people.
Nervously, Cathy rearranged a display while trying to work up enough con
fidence to ask to leave early and meet with the principal. Just then she looked up to see Mother Superior coming down the main aisle of the store with her hands folded inside her black robes. The nun’s long thin face with its high cheekbones and deep-set steely, gray eyes had a regal look. The patrons and salespeople greeted her warmly. Many of them had children at Holy Savior.
The Mother Superior paused to talk briefly with each person as she slowly made her way across the floor to Cathy.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. MacDonald. Do you have a moment?”
The two walked toward the back of the store as if seeking a particular item. When they reached an area out of earshot of everyone, the nun stopped and stood in front of several bolts of material. A rush of embarrassment spread across Cathy
’s cheeks as though she were the bad schoolgirl.
The nun spoke with a low, gentle voice.
“I didn’t want to inconvenience you in the evening at home. I am confident we can settle this matter about June without it escalating any further.”
As was customary for conversations with Mother Superior, this meeting was short and to the point. Mother told Cathy,
“If June is to continue at Holy Savior, she must learn to not challenge her teachers on Catholicism any more, for it is disruptive and disrespectful. For her punishment, June is to stay after school every day for the next week to clean the blackboards. She is to offer an apology to Sister St. Pius. She will also spend her recess time with Sister Noel for an extra Catechism lesson.”
The nun did not divu
lge that it was Sister Noel who had presented a convincing plea for June, arguing that perhaps the third grader was a bit confused about the teachings of Catholicism.
At the conclusion of the conversation, Cathy gave her word that her daughter would behave properly and do whatever was necessary to remain in
the school.
Mother Superior cupped Cathy
’s hands and happily shared the good news; Annie had been accepted at Girls Convent High School with a full scholarship. The nun knew the cost of tuition at the city’s most prestigious Catholic high school would have been an extra financial burden for the MacDonald family.
The rest of Cathy
’s afternoon breezed by. Her mind had been lightened due to the good resolution she had made for June, as well as the good news about her oldest daughter’s achievement. Feeling that good fortune had come her way, she said a quick prayer of thanks to Our Lady.
Stepping out of Cliff
’s Variety at five o’clock, Cathy breathed in the early evening air and prepared for the short jaunt up Castro Street. She checked her bag to make sure she had remembered Maggie’s buttons; they were next to the candy bars she had bought for the girls. Falling into step with the other people returning home, she noticed how warm and close the April air felt.
Removi
ng her wool jacket, she thought that it felt like earthquake weather. The panicky sensation churning in her stomach recalled the 1957 earthquake. It was her first experience with one of San Francisco’s infamous tremors. She hoped never to be in one again. She shuddered at her vivid recollection of that March day when their house shook so furiously that the refrigerator fell over and dishes, knickknacks and photographs crashed to the floor, shattering everything into pieces.
She had just set up the ironing board and was testing the iron
’s heat when a loud crackling sound whipped through the house. It sounded as though the house were coming apart at the seams. A split second later, the kitchen floor rolled up and down like a ride at Playland. Panicked, she scrambled over the collapsed ironing board and ran from the house screaming, “Mother of God, help!”
With apron strings flying behind her, Cathy had rushed down the hill alongside other parents toward Holy Savior to check on the children. Some nuns were trying to line up two rows of students in the schoolyard. The pupils were chattering loudly and some were crying. Even the nuns were talking amongst themselves and didn
’t try too hard to keep the students in line. They also didn’t prohibit the parents from going to their kids.
Cathy was soon joined with her girls. They talked all at one time, telling her how their teachers had them get under their desks. Annie had said her nun had led the class in prayer until a bell sounded for them to leave the classroom. Maggie had run off to be with friends, while Mary wrapped her arms around Cathy
’s waist and hung on tightly. Only June laughed, saying with excitement how much fun it was to be “all shook-up.” Mary had said, “You’re nutty, June.”
Mary’s words seemed to give voice to Cathy’s sentiments. She pondered the situation as she continued her walk home from Cliff’s. Maybe June isn’t all there, with her constant insisting she can see things that aren’t there. It’s caused a lot of problems. Cathy knew she’d have to hide the latest episode from Jimmy.
Hearing an engine climbing the hill behind her, she turned to see a green and yellow 24 Divisadero bus chugging up Castro Street, leaving
a trail of gray smoke behind it. The bus shuddered to a stop at Twentieth Street and a small group of people exited, including her neighbors, Sadie Callaghan and Bernice Kirkpatrick.
Sadie called out a cheery hello as she came across the street with
a light step, even though her arms were laden down with books and a bulging briefcase. She was about the same height and dress size as Cathy, although the latter felt dowdy next to the fashionably dressed woman. Sadie wore a tailored dove-gray suit, not with a skirt but with straight-legged pants and a red silk scarf tied loosely around her neck. It wasn’t common for women to wear trousers to work, but Sadie did, adding the brightly colored scarf for flair. She had recently cut her long chestnut brown hair into a pixie cut that made her dark eyes look even larger. Some of the neighborhood mothers spoke badly about her, saying Mrs. Callaghan was blunt and somewhat boyish. Cathy never contributed to the gossip. She admired Jeannie and Brian’s pretty, spunky mother. Besides, Sadie had an important job as a defense attorney, although Cathy was unsure of what that involved.
Cathy also liked the tall, soft-spoken Bernice who, like herself, wore simple neutral-colored clothing. She was a plain looking woman with striking violet-blue eyes hidden behind large horn-rimmed glasses. To Cathy, Bernice
’s most attractive quality was her kindness and her ability to listen attentively.
When the girls had first told their mother that Bernice was a doctor, Cathy nat
urally assumed they had meant a physician. It wasn’t until Cathy had asked for medical advice about June’s recurring headaches that she learned her neighbor was an anthropology professor at San Francisco State University. Cathy held both women’s educated positions in deep respect.
Seeing Bernice juggle two stuffed brown-paper grocery bags, Cathy insisted on helping and took a bag. The girls had said Bernice was a fabulous cook, better than Nancy.
“She cooks Mexican and Chinese food the best ever,” Mary had said. Annie tut-tutted and reminded Mary she couldn’t say it was the best because they’d never had that kind of food before.
Cathy felt a bit guilty when the girls raved about the fine food. With her job, she didn
’t have time to make fancy dinners.
Bernice smiled, showing her gratitude at her neighbor
’s offer to help carry the bags and asked how her job at Cliff’s was working out. It was because of Bernice and Sadie’s encouragement Cathy had taken the risk of going in and asking for a job. Both women had become her friends, more than anyone else in San Francisco since Mrs. G.
“
Good,” she answered quickly, then added, “but it’s hard on the girls. They have to take over for me with the cooking and cleaning. Jimmy’s particular about that, you know.”
“
Hey, life’s not easy,” Sadie said decidedly. “My ex-husband was always nagging them to clean-up their mess and I’ve finally got them doing it. Yeah, our kids toe the line, too.”
Bernice laughed.
“You’re dreaming,” she said in her Southern drawl.
The words
“our kids” caught Cathy’s attention. She thought how nice it was Bernice, who didn’t have any children of her own that Cathy knew of, took such a caring role with her roommate’s children. Still, although Jeannie and Brian were polite kids, they were a bit wild. Jimmy had said it was because there was no husband to supervise them. Cathy wondered if life would be easier if she had a friend to help raise the girls instead of Jimmy.