‘Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been one day since my last Confession. I have been impure.’
‘In thought or deed?’
‘Thought and deed.’
‘Alone or with others?’
‘Alone and with others.’
‘How many others?’
‘One. Singular.’
‘How many times?’
‘Three times alone and once with the other. In deed.’
‘Two Our Fathers and three Hail Marys. Send in the next boy.
Beyond the next boy – the next of many boys – on a pew far from the Confessional and smiling beatifically, was the other. He never bothered to go through this morning ritual – though he had often managed four alone and at least three with others. And that was definitely others plural.
***
