Meanwhile I had ten bags of cocaine beneath my seat! Holy Mother! I am thinking if they find it now, I am done. Shortly before, I already got caught drunk driving and got a DWI. Thankfully no one found out about this at work. Now, I think, they’ll find the coke, and I’ll never get out of this. They’ll take me to the police station, then to court, and I’ll get fired. They’re going to put me in jail. ‘Dear God,’ I pleaded, ‘Stand up for your sinful son.  If you save me now, I swear I will live righteously for the rest of my days!’”

“Did they let you go?” Antonio’s brother-in-law asked, torn by curiosity. He was even moved to hear his respected relative’s story of past prowess. “Wow,” he marveled mentally. “I saw myself as a hopeless party boy, and I always thought Antonio was a ‘goody-two-shoes.’ It turns out he partied better than I did—a night club singer as a mistress, cocaine, arrests. How poorly we think of ourselves, though!”

“Imagine, they let me go. The police checked my driver’s license. They did not find the coke in my car. Fortunately, I was sober at the time. They even apologized, and the sergeant shook my hand upon leaving. I got in the car and, having driven to the embankment in Chelsea, threw all the bags of coke into the river. I shook out my hands—that’s it, clean! And I headed directly to church.”

***

“I entered the church, just as the evening service was over and everyone was leaving. Before I could put a candle, the priest, Father Bernard, came over to me. He smoothed his white beard and asked, ‘Where have you, Antonio, the prodigal son, been all this time?’

“‘I fell in love, padre, with a lovely songstress. I lost my head because of her. I drank, got addicted to drugs, and fornicated. I did not even remember about God. My life revolved solely around night clubs, songs, and Jazzy.’

“The priest listened, shaking his head. He even wiped away a tear from his eye. He was a very emotional old man; he loved me. He loved all people very much and was able to find the right approach and choose the right word for each person. Basically, I repented. I confessed to God all of my sins and held nothing back. I was this kind of man—I didn’t have limits on anything, bad or good. I promised to forget the way to Jessy’s and to start going to church.