Chapter 15: The Liking

'Ben, I need to ask you about this family you spoke about once, when we met in New York. The Galloways. Remember them?'

'The Galloways? Oh yeah...'

'They have a daughter. Audrey.'

'Oh yeah, pretty girl. Audrey, yeah. Tom, her fiance, died a few years ago. Remember Tom Scully?'

'Scully? No. Should I?'

'Nah, you wouldn't. He was much younger than us. Lonely guy. I remember him briefly. Had heart problems all his life.

'Well, you told me back then Audrey had been adopted by the Galloways. And that she had another brother who'd died...'

'Yeah... yeah... terrible tragedy. The Parsons. My dad knew them very well. You like Audrey, is that it?

'Yeah.'

'Yeah. She's a pretty girl.'

'You said her family had been cursed or something, but I can't remember the details for the life of me.'

'What happened is that the Parsons were very poor. Like poor-poor, you know. That was in the eighties, maybe even late seventies, I don't know.... They operated a small chicken farm, a few hundred yards behind the Parish of Father Mitchell. And there was this virus back then that'd wiped out all their chickens. Some cattle and poultry on other farms as well. For the Parsons, though, the chickens were their only source of income. I don't know all the details, but I think some of the money the church was keeping in the vault had been stolen and the Parsons were responsible for that. The priest had found out about it and cursed the Parsons and the children of the Parsons. I know a while back the Galloways tried to return the stolen amount but Father Mitchell didn't want to hear about it. Anyway, it's all some crazy bullshit, with the Parsons being killed in the accident, then Audrey's brother, and then Tom. There were other misfortunes happening to them but I can't remember much about it.'

'How do you know all this?'

'From my dad. The Parsons told him all that before they died. Anyways, all this is some bullshit voodoo, but heck! I don't know. Based on what happened, you gotta stop and ask yourself if there's any truth in it, after all. Go and talk to my Dad about it. He knows much more than I do. That is, if you're worried about it.'

And he anticipated my thought very well.

'But yeah... so you guys are together?'

'No. I like her but I think she's had it really tough. She's a bit wild.'

'She has had it very tough, yeah. I know she was struggling to maintain any serious relationships for a while. She's had a few boyfriends but they've all backed up, at one point. Like I said, go and have a beer with my Dad. He can tell you more about it.'

'Ben, gotta leave you now. I left my kids all alone in the classroom.'

'Give me a call later on. My wife is taking our kid to her parents for the day, so we can reminisce some more'. I wish I had the time or energy for that.

'Let's see how I get myself organized for the day.'

'Do that. I tell you, it's so good to hear your voice. How long has it been? Two, three years?

'More than five, Ben.'

'Fucking hell. That's way too much, Ricky. How life carries you like the wind, in all sorts of directions. Never thought I was gonna end up in New York. But hey, make the most if it, huh?'. He clearly missed his home town and his family.

'Stay strong, Ben!'

'Yeah, you too!' and he hung up. I wished I had a smoke right then. Just to be able to reflect on these revelations. My cigarettes were in my coat pocket and my coat was hanging on the back of the teacher's chair in the classroom. Luckily, I remembered I had an old stub in my wallet, which would service for a couple of smokes, and I had my wallet and lighter with me so I lit my half-cigarette in that space, but hid behind a plastered wall, by a tiny window which opened to a small pear-tree orchard. With all that mold, who cared if Principal Bale minded or not? I looked at the rain and how the county looked bleak and damp and thought about Ben, Audrey and the Parsons. Was that it? They were cursed because they stole some money from the church, while they had nothing to eat? What kind of cocked-up bullshit had Father Mitchell conjured up back then? In all honesty, I had imagined it was something worse than that, like the Parsons were involved in a cult or practiced voo-doo or some other dubious activity, but for the life of me I cannot understand how you can be angry with someone just because they're poor.