CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 69: EUCHARIST

The next week, I still hadn't seen or heard from Birdie but I attended church, or Mass as the Catholics called it. The church my parents had attended taught that Catholics aren't real Christians so I thought it would be safe for me to go. I really didn't want to hear about or encounter God or Jesus, but I figured this Catholic church would stray from sin and guilt. After all, if mafia members attended regularly, it couldn't be all that moral.

Boy, was I wrong. It was similar to the church I was used to but at Mass, they had holy water for members to wash and they kneeled for prayer and said certain words like a chant everyone would say at certain times. During the sermon part, the priest read from the bible and talked about sin. At that point, I tried to zone out, but as it turns out, it's difficult to zone out on purpose.

I looked around to see if anyone was doing anything that could distract me from the uncomfortable topic of sin, but everyone was quiet and focused. Even the children were quiet and relatively still. I grabbed a paper on the back of the pew in front of me and read through it. The paper outlined the order of events for Mass and had the reading from the bible typed out so you could read along.

At the end of the sermon, the priest said another prayer and then they brought out the bread and wine for the Eucharist and everyone kneeled, but I stayed seated.

The priest explained the Eucharist, or communion as I knew it, and said another prayer, blessing the sacraments. He explained how the wine was now Jesus' real blood, and the bread his actual body. I thought it was weird they really believed the wine had turned into blood and the bread was flesh. I was pretty sure that would be cannibalism if it were true.

The priest stressed to us the importance of only participating in the eucharist if you truly believe in the Catholic teachings, and you shouldn't take it if you had recently committed a serious sin, in which case you should take this time to confess your sin and ask God for forgiveness.

I thought about how many times I had taken communion with my parents. Back then, I truly believed in everything the bible taught. Now I realized how naive I was. I only believed those things because that's what my parents taught me when I was young. I knew better now. There was no god and no miracles. If God existed and he could do miracles, he wouldn't have let my parents die the way they did. He wouldn't let evil reign. He would do something about it if he were truly good.

"Jesus is now here in this room," the priest said. "He is right in front of you along with his saints and all your loved ones who have passed."

I looked up. How could he say such a thing? Nothing had changed and no one else had entered the room. I didn't see anything. He was making it up. Jesus wasn't there and my parents were buried in the ground.

As they began passing out the bread and wine, I stepped out of the room. I had heard enough. It was all foolishness. Anyone who believed anything that priest said was deceived.

Even though I wanted to leave and never return, I waited so I could talk to Spiney.

When I saw him in the crowd of animals coming out of the chapel, I approached him.

"Crypto, I'm glad you decided to come back," he said. "Did you attend Mass?"

"Yes. It's not really for me," I told him.

"You didn't like it?"

"No. I'm surprised you do. Doesn't it bother you to hear about how bad your sin is every week?"

"That's kinda the point, Crypto. We need to ask for forgiveness or we will never be forgiven."

"You think God would forgive us?"

"Of course. He loves everyone no matter how bad they are."

"Now I see why you like it here. You think attending Catholic Mass makes up for all the bad things you've done. Well, I don't buy it. They probably just want your money."

"If you have questions, you could talk to the priest. We're good friends."

"Of course you are." I sneered.

"Do you have beef with me, eight?"

"No, sir. I'm just annoyed that I wasted my time here."

"Well, maybe I can cheer you up with some good news," he said. "Diesel has agreed to go on a date with you on Wednesday."

"What time?" I asked.

"7:31 at The Scarlet Macaw."

"Why not 7:30?"

"He said he has a phone call and he doesn't want to risk being late."

"Okay. I'm pretty sure I'll be available. Does he have a phone number I can call in case I can't make it?"

"You can call Rockie and he'll tell him. I don't give out his number. He has to give it to you himself."

"Okay. Maybe if the date goes well, he'll give me his number."

"Don't blow it. Remember, the main goal is to help him relax a little and take his mind off work. If you don't interest him, he won't give you another chance."