George and Joe each tried but failed. Behind the door Bob sobbed uncontrollably. Somehow the tumbler in the lock had moved when the door was slammed. It should not have happened but it did! The three older boys looked at each other at a loss as to what to do.
After exchanging expressions of fear - “Oh shit”, “What are we going to do now”, “Father is going to kill us”, Tim finally came up with a plan.
All three of them would go the rectory and tell Father Mullen that Bob had accidentally locked himself in the safe. Bob pulled the door shut to see what it was like in the safe, and somehow it locked behind him. The boys got Bob to stop sobbing long enough to hear the plan. They told him he had better go along with the story or they would get even with him. In between blubbering and gasping to catch his breath Bob said he agreed. The boys made him swear to it.
He sniffled, “I swear”.
Tom, George and Joe went to the rectory door on the other side of the sacristy and knocked quietly. After a few minutes they knocked again. The door finally opened to reveal Mrs. Connor, a kindly old lady who cooked and kept house for the priests.
“What is it boys?” she asked.
Tim spoke up, “We need to speak with Father Mullen.”
“Can I tell him what this about?” she said.
Tim looked around at George and Joe and said, “There is a problem in the sacristy that he needs to take a look at,” said Tim.
“Well I’ll see if he is available. Just wait here.” She closed the door. Her steps faded as she walked away.
A short time later Father Mullen opened the door and stepped into the doorway towering over them. He had a scowl on his face.
“What is it boys? I’m very busy.”
Almost in unison the three boys told the agreed story tripping over each other, repeating one another in disjointed phrases – “He wanted to see what it was like.” “He didn’t mean any harm.” “The door locked by accident.”
Father Mullen’s eyes grew wide and his face contorted in anger. He pushed past them almost knocking them down like three bowling pins.
Father strode quickly down the hall to the other sacristy. The boys followed at a distance. He walked up to the safe without saying a word to Bob inside and quickly entered the combination in the lock. He turned the handle and swung the door open. Bob cowered in the back of the safe about three feet in from the door.
Father reached in and yanked Bob out of the safe pushing him to the far wall of the sacristy where the three older boys stood in fear of what would happen next.
Standing within inches of the boys, Father walked from one boy to the next slapping each upside the head with his giant strong hand.
“I don’t know what happened, and I don’t care. Don’t ever let me catch you doing something stupid like this again.”
He turned and went back to the rectory.
The boys, sniffling and afraid, quickly changed and left the church. They wondered what punishment would await them Monday from Sister Mary Rose.
Monday came and went with no word from Sister. Days and weeks went by and still nothing. The boys kept their story to themselves. They decided that Father Mullen handled discipline issues his own way. He showed no recrimination but was not friendly either. He was just himself. Tim continued to serve masses, weddings and funerals with Father Mullen until he graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes and was no longer an altar boy.
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