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Midnight Snack

12/27/2024

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sarah sat down.

Elka folded a napkin and fished out the teabag. “You know Mary the way Mary wants you to know Mary.” She placed the teabag on the napkin and slid it aside.

“Leo said something about how she created some kind of persona to help Murray.”

“Persona.” Elka savored that for a moment. “Yes, I suppose she did. Mary Murray is very different from Mary Katherine Gallagher.”

“I heard he had a terrible time growing up because nobody loved him but Mary.”

Elka sighed and took a sip of her tea. “Yeah, I suppose she’d romanticize it for them. It wasn’t romantic, Sarah. Murray was a mess.”

“How so?”

“He was a scrawny, unkempt ball of spite. He was a beaten cur, snapping at anyone for no reason.”

“Leo and Mary both said his parents were…”

“I don’t know about that. I never saw them. They didn’t come to school like other kids’ parents did.”

“Because they hated him. How’s a kid supposed to function if his own parents don’t like him?”

“Well, Staś was nothing but kind to him. He felt sorry for Murray.”

“I guess you didn’t.”

“That thing in the Bible about seventy times seven?”

“I heard someone mention it, but I don’t know.”

“Saint Peter asked Jesus how many times someone should forgive people who do them wrong. Maybe seven? Jesus said seventy times seven. Well, Murray could have easily gone over seven hundred times seventy times seven. Ugh, he was a spiteful little…” She swigged her tea and held the mug to her lips. “I don’t know what Mary Katherine saw in him, but she hadn’t always.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Kids teased him.” She shrugged. “He was an easy target. You know? He brought a lot of it on himself being an abrasive little toad. Mary Katherine was right in it with the rest of us.”

“When did that change? If she was picking on him like everybody else, why would she turn around and become his champion?”

“Champion? Is that what they told you?” Elka smirked. She stared into her mug a moment and set it down. “Children come to an age when things change. Frivolous girls become serious. Studious girls become artsy. Tomboys become pin-up girls. Interests, attitudes, feelings, everything gets stirred up and rearranged. Emma wanted to be a nun.”

“No.”

“Sure, she admired her teachers. Fair enough. Liked the whole idea of living in a girl-only world, worshiping God and gardening or something. Had this crazy fantasy in her head.”

“What happened?”

“She got old enough to be interested in boys.” She smiled. “Suddenly, Ronny wasn’t just a kid who came over for birthday parties and holidays.”

“So, that’s what happened to Mary? She got old enough to become interested in boys?”

“I guess.” She shook her head. “She was pretty enough to have her pick. She knew it and flaunted it. She’d lead them on and switch to another one out of spite, maybe.”

“That doesn’t seem nice.”

“Nice and Mary Katherine Gallagher were not friends. She was used to being the center of attention. Once she blossomed…” Elka shook her head and stood. She took her teabag to the trash and rinsed out her mug. “Nice was never part of the picture for Mary Katherine.”

“So, they were a match set?”

“Mary Katherine and Murray? I guess so.”

“Did her parents mistreat her? That’s not the impression I got.”

“No, just the opposite. Spoiled rotten. That’s what she was. Her father never said no. Once the boys started following her around, she came to expect it from them as well.”

“And because she was pretty–”

“And rich.” Elka wagged a finger. “Spoiled rich brat who could snare boys in her web like a pretty little spider.”

“But not Murray.”

“He was a boy. She was a pretty girl. He fell like the rest.”

“But something had to have happened. Why would she have made a project of him?”

“A project?” She smirked. “I have no idea what she saw in him or why she picked him. She tormented him more than most. Once she started liking boys, she teased him even more.”

“That doesn’t sound like a formula for what they became.”

“What Mary Katherine wanted, she got. Even Murray fell for her games over and over.”

“I guess kids trying to figure out weird new feelings…”

“Feelings.” She rolled her eyes. “Feeling her up is more like. Staś caught him with his hand in her blouse more than once. She was just shameless.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I tell you, she was a spoiled little rich girl who never heard the word no. Almost as bad as abuse to give children no guardrails. Murray had no love from his parents and she had no discipline from hers.”

“Maybe that’s what finally brought them together?”

“I don’t know why she picked him. She could have had any of them, even Staś, but she decided on him.”

“In high school?” Sarah sipped her tea.

“Middle school, if you can imagine. It’s just as well that she settled on him. She was starting to get a reputation.”

“What kind of a reputation?”

“Haven’t you been listening? She did anything and anyone that she wanted, and she wanted a lot. Staś told me they were calling her the Community Chest. She didn’t seem to care who talked about her.”

“So, what was it about Murray that got her to change?”

“Who knows? One moment, she’s the penny tray. Suddenly, she’s grafted to Mean Murray.”

“Mean Murray? That’s what they called him?”

“It was a shoe that fit. He was a miserable mess.”

“But she fixed herself and him.”

“That’s not the point.”

“That’s exactly the point. He was her missing part. Somehow, she realized it and it changed their lives.”

“Missing part.” She put her hand on her forehead. “Missing part? She’s just…”

“What’s the matter?”

“Staś isn’t the only one who caught her.” She huffed. “Missing piece. Do you know how puzzle pieces work, Sarah? Do you? Mary Katherine Gallagher definitely did.”

“What?” She put her hands up over her mouth.

“I left my chemistry book in the lab room one time. Never again. I never, ever, ever forgot my book again.”

“Oh, sorry. Wow, I’m sorry you had to… wow. Sorry.” Sarah winced. “They were really?”

“I didn’t even know what I was seeing.” She threw her hands up. “I thought they were trying to tip the lab station over. It was weird to me that they would vandalize the chemistry lab.”

“Yeah, but what made you think they were–”

“His pants.” She pointed down before she waved away the memory. “No, no.” She rubbed her temples. “Mary Katherine Gallagher.” She pointed toward the Murrays’ house.

Sarah tossed in the bed, unable to get comfortable. ‘Mary Katherine Gallagher’

She punched her pillow and tried to settle down to sleep, but her heart was pounding.

‘She’s never going to forgive me, either.’

Grace
Are you asleep?

She reached out for her phone. ‘Well, not anymore.’

What’s the matter?
Are you alright?

Grace yawned as she sat up.

She hates me
Your mom is never
going to forgive me

‘What?’ She rubbed her eyes.

She doesn’t hate you
Forgive you for what?

She looked down at her pillow with the feeling that she wouldn’t be putting her head back on it tonight.

She still hasn’t forgiven
Mary and that was the 80s

Grace yawned and got up. She itched her sides as she wandered down to Emma’s room. She knocked.

Sarah opened the door. “I’m sorry.”

Grace pushed past her and plopped down onto the bed. “Tell me.”

“We were talking about Chris and Mandy and your mom said the Murrays are all too immature to propose to anybody and then she told me she caught Mary back in high school.”

“Caught her what?”

“In the Chemistry lab with Murray.”

“In the Chemistry lab.”

“She thought they were trying to vandalize a lab station, but his pants were down.”

Grace gasped and jumped up off the bed. “Scarred for life.”

“I can understand why she would be.”

“No, I meant me.” She hopped in place and shook her hands. “Ew, why would you tell me that? I don’t want to think about Mary and MQM, ew, ew, ew!”

“I’m trying not to think about that. The point is that she still hasn’t forgiven Mary for something that happened in high school. How is she going to forgive me for what happened last year? She’s going to hold that over my head for the rest of her life. Isn’t she?”

“Probably, yeah. She’s not big on forgiving and even less on forgetting. It’s how she’s wired. Doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love you. People are complicated.” She yawned.

“She thinks Leo and his brothers don’t deserve to be happy. How can I believe that she wants me to be happy?”

“Because she said so.” Grace sat down and put her arm around Sarah. “Look, she may hold a grudge until the moon falls out of the sky, but she doesn’t lie. If she said she loves you, she loves you. If she said she’s going to help you through OCIA to become the best Catholic woman you can be, that is what she’s going to do. Maybe, when you guys are in classes together, she’ll learn how to be more forgiving. Who knows?”

Sarah hung her head and sobbed. Grace gave her a hug and helped her back to bed. She tucked her in and brushed her hair back. “Get some rest. Everything is going to be okay.”

“Really?”

“Pray about it. You’ll feel better.” Grace rubbed her shoulder and headed back to her room. She climbed back into bed, but sleep wouldn’t come.

“Well, great. Now I can’t sleep.”

She tossed around in her bed. She tried counting down, breath control, mental checklists and simply waiting. No dice.

Grace got up and wandered downstairs to put the kettle on. She fished around in the cabinet for the cocoa mix. She poured some into a mug and sat down to wait for the kettle to boil.

“Can’t sleep?” Mom wandered into the kitchen.

She traced her finger over the floral swoop patterns on her mug. “Sarah woke me up.”

“Poor kid. She’s so confused.”

“Especially by you. Your hypocrisy isn’t helping matters.”

“I’ll write that off to sleepiness. What do you mean?”

“She’s terrified that you’re never going to forgive her for what she tried to do last year because you told her you’re still holding a grudge against Mary from high school.”

“The thing in the Chemistry lab?”

“Ew! Yes, don’t say anything more.” She jumped up and held her fingers in her ears.

“Apples and oranges. I’ll talk to her about it.”

Grace opened the fridge and pulled out a pot and a platter of pirogies.

“Midnight snack. Good idea. Hand me the pirogies. I’ll fry some up for us.”

Grace handed the platter over and got a bowl for her soup. “Ladle?”

Her mom handed her the ladle and grabbed a pan. “It’s not hypocrisy.”

“Okay.”

“Well, it’s not.”

“I believe you. Just remember that when you’re in OCIA classes and they talk about seventy times seven. Learning to be like Christ usually focuses on forgiveness. You’ll have to explain to her how that allows for holding lifelong grudges.”

“Okay, yes, it’s something I have to work on. OCIA will be good for all of us.”

“This thing with her and Leo, that’s going to last.”

“I know. She’s crazy about him. It’s going to be a while until Easter, and it’s easy to let things get out of control. Maybe she thinks we’re too controlling and old-fashioned.”

“No, she respects what you’re trying to say. She wants that respect returned. She hasn’t done anything to warrant a chastity belt or a cell in the tower with eighteen locks on the door.”

“Grace, she tried to kill herself. There’s some part of her that doesn’t operate on an adult level.”

“That was an extreme situation.”

“Anything to do with emotions can become an extreme situation. If they have a fight or break up. If he gets a job and they have to move somewhere. All that is really stressful and she could wind up broken like before. Your dad and I are taking this seriously. We want to protect her from herself and the world.”

“She loves you for it, but she’s twenty-one. She is an adult. You’ve got to give her some credit.”

“I’m working on it, Grace. I’m trying.”