“Sister Mary Catherine and I have been tortured in a prison for over a year,” Angelina hissed through gritted teeth. “We were abused in ways you could not even comprehend. You will not handle me, Monsignor.”
Abaddon smiled at Angelina, his admiration plain. “Yes, Monsignor, be thankful my brother and I did not believe you to be a threat. Please take Sister Angelina’s advice to heart. Do not touch her again.”
“How…how dare you strike me,” the Monsignor stuttered out, eyeing the two Archangels as if for the first time.
“Another one who thinks he is invincible because of these surroundings.” Raphael shook his head. “Join us, Monsignor or leave. Allow this young man to take our order for food and drink. You are proving to be less entertaining than I had hoped.”
“Monsignor,” Catherine chimed in, “please sit down. I know we must have appeared to be overly boisterous in public. I assure you, Sister Angelina and I are truly nuns.”
The Monsignor looked from the nuns to the Archangels with doubt while rubbing his reddening cheek. “Very well, but…”
“But nothing,” Raphael cut in, pulling a chair from the table next to them. He urged the priest into it with a gesture for him to sit down. “Have a seat, Monsignor, we were about to have a little more wine and beer to go along with a large plate of appetizers. What would you like to drink?”
“A coffee please,” the Monsignor said to the waiter who had walked over at Raphael’s beckoning.
The waiter nodded his understanding and then looked at Raphael.
“More of the same for the rest of you, Sir?”
“Yes, please, and a large plate of assorted appetizers. Now, why not introduce yourself, Monsignor?” Raphael asked as the waiter left to fill their order.
“I…I’m Father Daniel Cassidy. I admit when I saw the two nuns from outside the restaurant, laughing and drinking, I thought perhaps they were a couple of these weird women around this city who ply their trade as prostitutes. They dress up in various costumes to fulfill some degenerate’s fantasy.”
“They what?!” Angelina exclaimed as the waiter reappeared with their drinks and appetizers.
Monsignor Cassidy paused until the waiter finished serving them and walked away from the table. He took a quick sip of his coffee. He reddened in the face a bit, wondering how best to describe the example he had given.
“There is a segment of our society which takes pleasure in the pretense of casting religious and authority figures into sexual situations for their gratification. Prostitutes dressing up as nuns, police officers, and even teachers act out sexually at the client’s behest. This aberrant behavior has grown far too popular of late.”
Angelina and Catherine exchanged glances before taking large swallows of their respective drinks. Abaddon and Raphael were intrigued with Monsignor Cassidy’s description of a popular pornographic fad. Raphael smiled at Abaddon as the Archangel of the Abyss began to speak but hesitated.
“Yes, Abaddon,” Raphael answered the unspoken question. “Concubines and prostitutes are similar in that they give sexual gratification for some form of payment or protection. You seem very knowledgeable of these lewd practices, Monsignor.”
“I am the pastor of St. Elizabeth’s in San Francisco,” Monsignor Cassidy replied, with a helpless shrug. “San Francisco is a haven for every perversion known on earth. The police do what they can but I doubt anything can halt this city’s slide into darkness. There are more dogs in San Francisco than children.”
“You paint a very bleak picture with your words,” Abaddon commented. “Perhaps things will change for the better soon.”
“I wish,” Monsignor Cassidy remarked with a sigh. “You probably think I’m a fool for getting so upset as to distrust even the real representatives of our church. I have grown weary of the battle.”
He looked at Raphael before continuing. “You were right to call me arrogant and condescending. I am losing my faith. I have nothing but the pretense of belief keeping me going.”
“Take heart, Father.” Angelina grasped the Monsignor’s hand on the table “My friends and…”
Angelina fell silent as Raphael shook his head warningly.
“What I meant to say is we all lose sight of faith periodically,” Angelina recovered from blurting out everything having to do with their mission. “Everyone, that is, but Sister Mary Catherine. She is the exception.”
“Is it really true you both helped this Father Joseph perform an exorcism?”
“We were imprisoned before we could help the child,” Catherine answered. “After our release we visited the child with our friends here. and managed to free the boy from…”
“Yes,” Monsignor Cassidy broke in excitedly, “I did hear of a bewildering hodgepodge of reports coming out of Palestine about winged demons and strange happenings. The eye witness accounts were of course all over the map. Did they have anything to do with the exorcism?”
“In a way.” Catherine enjoyed the look of consternation on Abaddon’s face at the mention of winged demons. “The child is fine now. We found him a new home.”
“What was it like to come face to face with evil?” Monsignor Cassidy asked almost in a whisper as if the mere mention of the word would conjure Satan himself.
“Incredible,” Angelina stated.
“Abaddon is a very uncommon name,” Monsignor Cassidy said after a moment’s silence. “It is mentioned in the bible relating to an angel who will guard the abyss after binding Satan there.”
“It is an uncommon name,” Abaddon reiterated simply. “If you mean by binding, this angel will hack Satan into a million pieces and…”
“What my brother means to say,” Raphael interrupted while glaring at Angelina who was laughing, “his name was picked because of its uncommon sound.”
“I haven’t heard the name Raphael very often either except for that kid’s movie about some kind of mutant turtles,” Monsignor Cassidy related conversationally. When everyone but Raphael lapsed into helpless laughter, he looked at Raphael questioningly. “What did I say?”
“Nothing, Monsignor - my companions need to put down their drinking glasses and begin eating, especially you, Sister Angelina.”
The Monsignor realized he had inadvertently triggered an inside joke at Raphael’s expense. He handed Raphael a card with his phone number on it and the address of his rectory at St. Elizabeth’s.
“I have to return to my parish now,” Monsignor Cassidy explained as he stood up from his seat. “Please accept my apologies for assuming what I had no business to assume. Call me if I may be of service to you.”
Raphael grasped the priest’s proffered hand. “You will do better now, Monsignor.”
“Yes…yes, I see,” Monsignor Cassidy replied, rubbing the hand Raphael released wonderingly. “I will be better. Goodbye.”
The Monsignor strode away with vigor, a strength in his demeanor not there before.
“I wonder who else will drop by for a chat.” Raphael scanned outside the restaurant, where throngs of people milled along the crowded corridor.
“Perhaps your buddies, Donatello, Leonardo, and Michaelangelo will drop by,” Angelina offered with a straight face.
“Maybe even Master Splinter himself might…” Catherine tried to add but lapsed into amused silence as Raphael glared at the two nuns.
“Who are these…” Abaddon began to question, but received the wave off from Raphael.
“They are the characters in this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie our two innocent Sisters cannot get enough of.” Raphael smiled at Abaddon. “I confess to enjoying this banter more than I should. Even being the butt of these jokes is very amusing.”
“I wish to see this movie.” Abaddon turned to Catherine. “I was the winged demon spoken of by the Monsignor, wasn’t I?”
Catherine nodded but held up her hands in a placating gesture.
“It has nothing to do with you, Abaddon, only the perceptions of your battle with the demon. I doubt the on
es speaking of it could tell…”
“Who was the demon, and who was the angel?” Abaddon finished for her. “It matters not. I cannot fight these creatures half way. I may indeed appear as a demon to some who see the battles ahead.”
“Perhaps if you were to hold on to your sword and shield you…” Raphael piped in, only to smilingly fall silent as Abaddon immediately reacted with a warning finger in his face.
“I must see this mutant turtle movie,” Abaddon stated.
Chapter 8
Holy Hummer
“We need a mode of transportation to get around in.” Catherine changed the subject as the two Archangels traded joking looks of menace.
“We could buy one of those large SUV’s,” Angelina suggested. “Abaddon and Raphael could fit into some of those comfortably.”
“Yes, and we could travel without as much interaction,” Raphael agreed. “Do either of you know how to drive?”
“We both had driver’s licenses,” Catherine answered. “Our work in the community required we be able to transport our parishioners who were handicapped. We also delivered groceries to many of the older people who could not get out on their own.”
“Let’s get a Hummer,” Angelina suggested excitedly. “I’d love to drive around in one of those.”
“A Hummer?” Abaddon questioned. “Is that one of those SUV’s you spoke of?”
“Suburban or Sport Utility Vehicle is what the SUV stands for.” Raphael chuckled over Angelina’s enthusiasm. “The Hummer Sister Angelina spoke of may be a bit too over the top for our travels.”
“We could get a Cadillac Escalade or a Lincoln Navigator,” Catherine said. “Sister Angelina and I have both driven a Lincoln Navigator which had been donated to our parish by a very generous dealership owner.”
“But I don’t think it has the head and leg room a Hummer does,” Angelina remarked, some disappointment in her voice.
“We can look at these Hummers,” Abaddon agreed. Angelina sought to launch herself at him, only to be restrained barely by Catherine.
“Very well, but no canary yellow color, Sister,” Raphael stated with a warning look at Angelina.
“How about green like Raphael, the mutant turtle’s shell?” Angelina countered, evoking laughter from even Raphael who fell victim once again to the quick witted Angelina.
* * *
“I’m so glad we decided to stay in a hotel last night before doing this,” Catherine said to Raphael as they walked through the dealership entrance.
“I believe you may have rested better than Sister Angelina.”
“What… oh...” Catherine met Raphael’s look. “I guess I slept through that, but how…”
“The adjoining rooms were a good idea,” Raphael cut in with a laugh, gesturing at the couple following them. “Our two companions simply adjoined to the bathroom.”
Catherine giggled, shaking her head in acceptance of the inevitable.
“Here comes the salesman before we even get a look at what is here.” Raphael indicated the clean shaven, young man, dressed impeccably in a light gray suit and tie.
“Hello, my name is Jim Stanforth,” the young man said, holding out his hand to Raphael first. The Archangel held onto Stanforth’s hand snugly.
Stanforth’s face went blank for a moment as his mind went into overdrive. He stopped smiling. He dutifully shook hands with Catherine as Abaddon and Angelina joined them. Stanforth gestured for the group to follow him.
“This way, Sir,” Stanforth said politely. “I have a large selection of Hummers over here in just the colors you prefer. During this economic crash no one is buying the Hummers. They’re priced very low.”
Angelina gasped as the group walked into the area of the showroom devoted to the Hummer models. She ran past the salesman to a jet black model of the largest dimensions. It incorporated the maximum cargo space and the most lavish passenger compartment. Angelina climbed into the driver’s seat, her eyes shining. Abaddon and Raphael exchanged amused looks of enjoyment. Angelina ran her hands lovingly over the steering wheel, peering intently at the nearly cockpit type dashboard.
Stanforth handed Raphael a card he had been writing on. “That is as low as I can go for the model your friend is in.”
“Thank you, Jim,” Raphael replied. “Leave us alone for a few minutes while my friends and I talk this over.”
“As you wish, Sir,” Stanforth turned on his heel. He walked away to another part of the showroom.
“Wow,” Catherine remarked, “what did you do to our salesman?”
“Nothing, other than instilling a conscience.” Raphael watched Abaddon step into the Hummer next to Angelina. “Do we have enough to buy this vehicle?”
Catherine glanced at the amount on the card. “Many times over - Ahmed turned your depository of diamonds into over a million dollars of liquid funds. I wonder why he’s even in the restaurant business with his talents for money.”
“Because Ahmed is excellent at what he does, not to mention being limited by his location. Sometimes, excelling at what one does best is much more important than anything to do with the acquisition of money. I am sure you and Sister Angelina could make much more money doing anything other than serving the church, yet here you are.”
“I see what you mean. A calling does not always have to do with religion.”
“Exactly, Sister Mary Catherine, there are a million things needing to be done in an advanced society. Their successful completion hinges on people of all levels of education and wealth taking pride in completing them.”
“In any case, you may write a check which they can validate today. If this were the weekend rather than Tuesday, we would be in some difficulty. With the right payment, the dealer can slide any deal through today with the hold you have over their salesman.”
“We will need to buy this vehicle soon before Sister Angelina decides to consummate the acquisition right on the front seat.”
Catherine looked up inside the cab of the Hummer. She let out a startled cry. Tearing open the driver’s side door, Catherine yanked on Angelina’s black robe. Pulling with energy, Catherine managed to dislodge Angelina from Abaddon’s lap, where she had been initiating the process of trying to couple with the Archangel.
“Sister Angelina!”
“My bad, Cat,” Angelina blushed, reaching over to run her hand longingly over Abaddon’s hand. “I…I was excited.”
“Did you just call me Cat? Oh… never mind… we’re shopping for a vehicle,” Catherine reminded Angelina, glancing over her shoulder at the salesman standing only fifty feet away. “This doesn’t look as big as the Lincoln Navigator inside we used to drive.”
“Please…”
“What about Raphael? If you’ll be driving with Abaddon at your side, Raphael will be in the back with me. The room for him to stretch is not as much.”
“I would be fine, Cat,” Raphael grinned at Abaddon who was enjoying the exchange between the nuns with obvious relish.
“Excuse me, did you just call me Cat?”
“I think it’s cute,” Raphael replied. “It’s better than being compared to a Ninja Turtle, Cat.”
Catherine tried to retain her outrage but lapsed quickly into a hand over the mouth suppression of laughter. After a few moments she nodded in agreement.
“You can call me Ange, Cat. We’ve been stiff enough with each other since we met. After what we’ve shared we can involve the use of nicknames.”
“I’ll consent to any vehicle as long as it doesn’t entail you fornicating with the Seraphim of Heaven in the front seat.”
“Agreed,” Angelina jumped down to hug Catherine. “It will be difficult.”
“I imagine so,” Catherine relented. She looked past Angelina at Abaddon. “Does this mean I can call you Abby?”
“Not if you want to live to fulfill your mission, Cat,” Abaddon replied.
* * *
Stanforth approached the two nuns and Archangels gingerly. He saw them laughing uncont
rollably at something beyond his understanding. The feeling since he gripped Raphael’s hand still surged through him as if all the cares of his world were behind him. In place of despair, Stanforth felt hope. In place of the mark, Stanforth now saw opportunity to sell what he had to people needing what he had to sell.
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