Chapter 5

“I’ll get us tickets some time, and we’ll go together,” he said and, of course, I couldn’t wait.

Carlin was different from O’Riley but more like me. He was small and could have passed for a third- or fourth-grader. He told me the reason he didn’t take gym was his little penis. He’d die before he showed it to anyone and, in this respect, we had an instant affinity and I commiserated with him completely. We were the three musketeers that semester—literally one for all and all for one. I think Carlin and I felt protected in O’Riley’s presence because of his size, which became a shield of sorts from the other boys who could be loud, boisterous, and full of self-confidence. What I remember most about Carlin was his goodness. He never gossiped about anyone. He saw the good in everyone and everything, even in those damned St. Sebastian rules. I didn’t get that at all.

“Sure. They can only make us better human beings,” he said. “It’s doing what’s right that counts.”