#174 A Bit of Broken Glass

by Jane Volker

Father Aiden scratched his head and looked at the damage.

“It’s not so bad. We can replace that pane easy. At least the stone didn’t hit the stained glass window. That would’ve cost a fortune to fix.”

“Little vandals! If I get my hands on the feckers who threw that rock I’ll make their ears bleed, I tell ya.”

Ida O’Brien had been the Priests’ housekeeper for forty-seven years. She’d terrified him when he was an altar boy and nothing had changed since he’d become her boss.

“Is that any way to treat the man ran this parish for fifty years? And him lying there in the church in his coffin, not buried yet?”

“It’s just a bit of broken glass Mrs. O’ Brien. Nobody got hurt.”

“They wouldn’t have dared to throw a stone while he was alive. Father John commanded respect around here!”

Father Aiden couldn’t help but laugh. “Respect? The man was a Class A fucking bully. He beat, intimidated and abused half the kids who set foot in this church—me included. He was a sadistic fucker and he should have been locked up years ago. Can you honestly blame them for throwing a few rocks?”

“Lies! All lies! He was a gentleman. I never once heard him utter a profanity—unlike his feckin’ successor.”

Father Aiden smiled as the woman stormed off. Picking up a stone he hurled it at the stained glass window.

“And that one’s from me you prick.”