The Anniversary of the Cambodia Bombings, and: Red and God

50 the minnesota review Eisner The Anniversary of the Cambodia Bombings Euclidian geometry dictated each beam of light travelled parallel to every other. The lesson was reinforced when the mathematics instructor swept the class' gaze out the window and said the snowflakes falling on that winter day were not only unique in their forms, but each had its own individual path to the ground. Students nodded. Some took notes. The teacher watched the snow. No one disturbed him. They were all plotting the same parabola on graph paper. A student asked in a voice a bit too loud: "Does anyone ever use this stuff?" Still staring out the window, the teacher said navigators and bombadiers try to be exact but they sometimes make mistakes just like anyone else. The assignment done, students doodled and watched the clock. The teacher watched the snow pile up and silence overtook the room until the bell exploded, signaling the end of the period. The students filed out quietly and entered the stream of other students headed for multitudes of destinations. Eisner 51 Red and God Red planked two hundred dollar bills on the counter and said he wanted a priest's costume. The clerk asked if it was for a party or something. Red said no, he just wanted to look like a priest. When the clerk hesitated, Red sweetened the deal with another hundred dollar bill. He was tucking in the cardboard collar ten minutes later. He heard confessions in the airport, the phone booths that only take credit cards that no one uses anyway. Executives confessed adulteries, the ones on that coast, and ran to catch flights, to rented cars. For serious embezzlement, he assigned prayer and acts of charity. Some slipped him tips as if he needed it. A line formed. Suits and briefcases waited to be absolved. Word spread. A Mob hitman confessed he was out to kill a man who had won the lottery, an old man named Thompson. Red stressed the seriousness of murder and its effects on the after life. What would the hitman's mother think? The torpedo left in tears. Red sighed. A CIA man came and said that he was FBI, there to eliminate an old enemy of the government. The story sounded too close to home for Red. He invoked the Holy Spirit and the agent said he would take this all into consideration. When a young couple asked to be married, Red blessed them and bowed out. He tossed the priest's habit into a Goodwill box on the way home to the mission. No, like a dog whose master has died, he sniffed the air for a new home. ...