Reinke Faces Life

It happened in Church - October 19, 1962
Chapter Six - Huddle on the fallen

Marie arrived at John’s side a few heartbeats before Brother Kevin. She kissed John hard on the lips with all the passion she could muster. She didn’t care who saw. Brother Kevin came up and said not unkindly “I don’t think he needs mouth to mouth respiration for a leg wound”. It was with a little grin, not the rebuke she was expecting. Marie flushed. Brother Kevin ripped off the pants leg bottom at the wound near the knee and shoved the top up out of the way. He used the now freed bottom to wipe the blood away. “Through and through. He was very lucky.” He twisted the fabric tight around the wound and elevated it. He moved Marie down by John’s feet, then placed the ankle of the injured leg on her shoulder under the leg to hold it up. “Compression and elevation. Best I can do with what I got. He’ll be fine. No peeking.”

Brother Kevin stood up and saw children streaming out all three doors. He was bewildered. When the situation sunk in, there was really nothing to do but wait for the police. He was organizing how he would make his statement. It was illegal in New York City for minors to shoot guns. John could get jail time instead of a medal. He’d have to figure a way to say it so that neither John or he became Bubba’s girlfriend in Attica. Very careful wordsmithing required. They’d need lawyers galore for this one. Then, he heard the air raid siren. It had to be a drill. But in a strange way it made sense. A death squad finding out they had been written off by their command would explain the senseless violence. What else could possible go wrong? He went into the brotherhood to get away from all this! God must be punishing him personally.

Several of the younger children ran to Marie for safety. She “mothered” them by telling them they were “safe now”. It wasn’t just some Firsts and Fourths. I don’t know how they knew to come to her. It was a few girls from all classes. Followed shortly by some of the boys from various classes. She was a de facto leader now. The Nuns weren’t there; she had to fulfill her role. She began to pray. Out loud. And, one by one the children knelt beside her and joined in the memorized ritual. It calmed them.

Brother Kevin could hear the DI with instructions about heads and butts. He knew that if this was an atomic bomb warning, the procedure was to take shelter in the basement. Intellectually he knew that there was one in the school and one in the Church. He had no idea if help was coming. But, if he just stayed here and was wrong, they’d all die. Too many had died already. So, he’d move them to the shelter. If he was wrong about the air raid, he would at least get them away from the carnage.

“OK, children. We have to move to the shelter. You boys and girls have to help each other. It’s an EMERGENCY. Remember our drills. TAKE A HAND.”

All the training worked. Children paired up. He grabbed John by the collar and dragged the fallen boy … no, man … comrade … towards the door. Marie was the pied piper. Stepping over the dead intruders, he turned to a smaller door and flung it open. Flicked the light switch and heard fans kick in. He took one step down the stairs and leveraged John into a fireman’s carry. Dang the big fat kid was heavy. Down the steps to the church’s subbasement. It was below the regular basement which held socials. He put John in a bunk.

“Marie, get everyone seated here while I go get some things.”

Brother Kevin grabbed two of the biggest older boys — Sam and Matthew — and ran up the steps two at a time. He collected the weapons and ammo from the dead in vestibule. And had Matthew just stand there. He and Sam ran back in the Church and gathered all the rest of the weapons and gear from the two action spots. The carnage was bad. But he had the living to worry about. They brought all the guns back to the “guard” who reported seeing or hearing nothing. Nothing but the continued air raid alert.

Hoping for some more more time, Brother Kevin and Sam ran to the sacristy. He handed Sam two huge boxes of candles. He grabbed a big bunch of albs and bundled communion white linens. And, he also grabbed a bottle of sacramental wine and retreated back. He’d need a drink after all of this.

With the two boys, they dragged and threw everything down the steps. Did he dare make another run? To get what? Wasn’t like he was going find a grocery store, a doctor, or a psychiatrist anywhere near by. If this was a dream or a nightmare, it was a good one. He closed the shelter door and locked it. He didn’t plan to open it for two weeks. Voluntarily that is. Any late arriving refugees would have to find alternate accommodations. He could NOT lose control of the shelter and risk the children.

# # # # #

Previous chapter: http://tinyurl.com/5gutxg

Next chapter: http://tinyurl.com/4o624o

# # # # #

(Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.)