Cheeks, Skulls, & Bones
OLeif, Collette, and Puck visited Journey with Carrie-Bri that bitterly cold sunny Sunday morning. Bing decided to also come. After a cramped ride to Missouri Baptist, they entered the auditorium and sat for the worship service from 10:00 till 11:30. OLeif and Collette took their half-turns watching the Puck who decided to utilize his vocal cords early on in the hour.
Afterward, they discussed the service on the car ride home. Bing left upon return to the house for Annamaria’s birthday breakfast which was being held three days before the actual birthday. There would be sausage and bacon and potentially Krispy Kreme or Heaven Scent donuts. It sounded good. Collette hadn’t had a Krispy Kreme donut since… was it 2006 or 2005?
Meanwhile at their own lunch, morality was the topic of conversation:
“Lying’s only alright if you’re doing it to keep someone from feeling bad,” Carrie said, grinning.
“That’s the Biblical take on it,” said OLeif.
“Yeah, it’s in that verse right next to the one on ‘turn the other cheek’.”
“Carrie!” Mom explained.
“What?”
A moment of silence around the table.
“Ohhhhh,” OLeif realized why Mom had been surprised. “I don’t think she meant it in that way. Of course, I do have to admit that half the time the word ‘cheek’ has been mentioned in this house, it has to do with the other kind of cheek.”
Joe laughed.
The rest of the day was a toss-up. OLeif was supposed to go to the Hi-Pointe with Louis and Carrie. That didn’t work out. They were supposed to run through the Barberini dance for Frances’ sake with OLeif playing violin. But that didn’t work out either. It ended with Collette and Carrie working on making arrangements for Detroit, which would possibly be her next trip that week. This included a trip to the library as well. Their check-out was unusual, as usual. This time it was: readings from the Koran, a country Elvis CD, and Nancy Drew on tape for Linnea. Sometimes Collette wondered what the librarians thought about them as they checked out. She currently had on her reserved list: arguments for atheism, ancient coin catalogs, and a pie recipe book.
Meanwhile, Rose had been hit with the same thing that had already taken down Collette, Puck, and OLeif. Her voice was deep and raspy.
“Ah!” Carrie cried. “I can’t take it! Quit talking; it’s driving me crazy!”
Rose laughed a deep raspy laugh and went into the living room to watch a documentary on secret societies from Harvard on her laptop.
“Okay, OLeif,” she said, while she was watching it, “here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to go to Harvard, get into the Skull and Bones society and tell them all the secrets about it.”
“But it’s a boys’ club,” said OLeif.
“Well, then I’ll pretend I’m a guy,” she said. “Here, everyone, want some vanilla sugar wafers?”