“‘And also, Padre, in support of my sincere remorse, I want to do some charitable deed, to perform some feat.’

“‘A feat, you say.’ Father Bernard became deep in thought, focusing his stare at the blue dome vault. ‘You know what, ye warrior of Christ, firstly, take that pretty girl home,’ and the priest pointed to a young woman standing near us. ‘She’s in our church for the first time, her friend died and she’s come to find out how to order a prayer. She lives in Queens; she doesn’t have a car and I don’t want her to go home alone this late by train. That’s going to be your feat.’ The priest winked at me.

“‘That’s it? It’s simpler than anything,’ I replied, checking her out in the meantime. She was slender, beautiful, modestly dressed. ‘That’s the kind of woman I need! That’s what I was looking for!’ I thought.  

“She got in my car, and I took her home. On the way, of course, we got to know each other. We exchanged phone numbers. We said goodbye and I drove back. My intuition told me that she liked me, too. It would seem it was a chance meeting. And in fact, each of us sooner or later finds what his restless heart desires,” Antonio summed up.

“And that pretty girl was Sarah, your future wonderful wife, right?” One of the guests wanted to make sure. He was deeply moved by the story.

Looking at him, Antonio shook his head. “You’ll be surprised, but the answer is ‘negative.’  The life of even the most sane and careful person does not always go in a straight line, but is warped by unforeseen events and accompanied by bizarre zigzags. What is there to say about such a daredevil as I was in those years? Listen to how this story ended. The next morning, I called this girl and we met. We walked along the piers in Chelsea. I offered her to grab a coffee somewhere. I don’t know how it happened, but my feet took me to that club where Jazzy sang. Holy moly! As soon as I saw her onstage, and heard that siren’s sweet voice, I lost my head and forgot about my new girl and yesterday’s oaths!” Antonio fell silent for a long while. He just shook his head and sighed heavily. “A few months later an EMS brought me from that nightclub to the hospital with a bullet wound to the stomach. There, in the Trauma Unit, I met my future wife Sarah, who worked as a nurse.”

© 2020. Petr Nemirovskiy. All rights reserved.