she’d inquire from the man who delivered.We searched again every day till at last I found a raisin in my bun and held it up.The boys started grousing and said they wanted a raisin and Nellie said it wasn’t her fault. She’d ask the man again. Now the boys were begging me for the raisin and offering me everything, a slug of their milk, a pencil, a comic book. Toby Mackey said I could have his sister and Mr. Benson heard him and took him out to the hallway and knocked him around till he howled. I wanted the raisin for myself but I saw Paddy Clohessy standing in the corner with no shoes and the room was freezing and he was shivering like a dog that had been kicked and I always felt sad over kicked dogs so I walked over and gave Paddy the raisin because I didn’t know what else to do and all the boys yelled that I was a fool and a feckin’ eejit and I’d regret the day and after I handed the raisin to Paddy I longed for it but it was too late now because he pushed it right into his mouth and gulped it and looked at me and said nothing and I said in my head what kind of an eejit are you to be giving away your raisin. Mr. Benson gave me a look and said nothing and Nellie Ahearn said,You’re a great oul’Yankee, Frankie. The priest will come soon to examine us on the catechism and every- thing  else. The  master  himself  has  to  show  us  how  to  receive  Holy Communion. He tells us gather round him. He fills his hat with the Limerick Leader  torn into little bits. He gives Paddy Clohessy the hat, kneels on the floor, tells Paddy to take one bit of paper and place it on his tongue. He shows us how to stick out the tongue, receive the bit of paper, hold it a moment, draw in the tongue, fold your hands in prayer, look toward heaven, close your eyes in adoration, wait for the paper to melt in your mouth, swallow it, and thank God for the gift, the Sancti- fying Grace wafting in on the odor of sanctity.When he sticks out his tongue we have to hold in the laugh because we never saw a big pur- ple tongue before. He opens his eyes to catch the boys who are giggling but he can’t say anything because he still has God on his tongue and it’s a holy moment.He gets off his knees and tells us kneel around the class- room for the Holy Communion practice. He goes around the room placing bits of paper on our tongues and mumbling in Latin. Some boys giggle and he roars at them that if the giggling doesn’t stop it’s not Holy Communion they’ll be getting but the Last Rites and what is that sacra- ment called, McCourt? 121