diction or commit any other sacrileges. If you miss one night the man
in the office wants to know why, wants to know if youre 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.Thats the worst thing
you can say to any Catholic in Limerick or Ireland itself because of
what happened in the Great Famine. If youre absent twice the man in
the office sends you a yellow summons to appear and explain yourself
and if youre absent three times he sends The Posse, which is five or
six big boys from your section who search the streets to make sure
youre 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 Ill 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 theyll see the error of their
ways.
The worst thing of all is a visit from the director of the Confrater-
nity himself, Father Gorey. Hell 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 youre slipping away from the Confraternity
and putting your immortal soul in danger.The mothers are terrified and
the fathers will whisper, Im not here, Im not here, and theyll make
sure you go to the Confraternity from this on out so they wont be dis-
graced and shamed entirely with the neighbors muttering behind their
hands.
The Question takes me to the section St. Finbars, and the prefect
tells me sit over there and shut up. His name is Declan Collopy, hes
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 hes making this
the best section in the Confraternity and if Im ever absent hell break
my arse and send the bits to my mother.Theres 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 youre ever absent it bet-
ter be a death, not a death in the family but your own death. Do you
hear me?
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