diction or commit any other sacrileges. If you miss one night the man in the office wants to know why, wants to know if you’re slipping away from the Confraternity or he might say to the other man in the office, I think our little friend here has taken the soup.That’s the worst thing you can say to any Catholic in Limerick or Ireland itself because of what happened in the Great Famine. If you’re absent twice the man in the office sends you a yellow summons to appear and explain yourself and if you’re absent three times he sends The Posse, which is five or six  big  boys  from  your  section  who  search  the  streets  to  make  sure you’re not out enjoying yourself when you should be on your knees at the  Confraternity  praying  for  the  Chinese  and  other  lost  souls. The Posse will go to your house and tell your mother your immortal soul is in danger. Some mothers worry but others will say, Get away from my door or I’ll come out and give every one o’ ye a good fong in the hole of yeer arse.These are not good Confraternity mothers and the direc- tor will say we should pray for them that they’ll see the error of their ways. The worst thing of all is a visit from the director of the Confrater- nity himself, Father Gorey. He’ll stand at the top of the lane and roar in  the voice that converted the Chinese millions,Where is the house of  Frank  McCourt?  He  roars  even  though  he  has  your  address  in his  pocket and knows very well where you live. He roars because he wants the world to know you’re slipping away from the Confraternity and putting your immortal soul in danger.The mothers are terrified and the fathers will whisper, I’m not here, I’m not here, and they’ll make sure you go to the Confraternity from this on out so they won’t be dis- graced and shamed entirely with the neighbors muttering behind their hands. The Question takes me to the section St. Finbar’s, and the prefect tells me sit over there and shut up. His name is Declan Collopy, he’s fourteen and he has lumps on his forehead that look like horns. He has thick ginger eyebrows that meet in the middle and hang over his eyes and his arms hang down to his kneecaps. He tells me he’s making this the best section in the Confraternity and if I’m ever absent he’ll break my arse and send the bits to my mother.There’s no excuse for absence because there was a boy in another section that was dying and still they brought him in on a stretcher. He says, If you’re ever absent it bet- ter be a death, not a death in the family but your own death. Do you hear me? 147