El Loco (Part1) (Five minutes freewrite)

marie-jay (61)in #freewrite • 7 years ago

His reputation preceded him to the small town so the moment Don Tomasso got off the train in Santa Clara the few locals at the station started nudging each other: 'El Loco! El Loco!'
Cheap suitcase in hand, Don Tomasso smiled as he walked by, murmuring a barely audible 'God bless!'.
The town of Santa Clara had no need of a new priest, old Don Faustino being perfectly capable to take care of his parishioners' spiritual needs, despite the fact he moved as slowly as a caterpillar and his speech was a bit slurred, legacy of a stroke two years ago.
Truth is Don Tomasso was tossed around like a hot potato, from one remote parish to an even more distant one. The bishop had tried to have him hidden away behind the walls of the monastery in San Jose, but Don Tomasso was adamant he was too young to retire and it would be a sin not to be doing God's work while he was still able bodied.
The problem was not the body, however, but his mind - sharp, but way too unpredictable - a major issue for someone supposed to be imparting the wisdom of the Bible.

The people of Santa Clara were quite confused. Everybody was watching the new priest, looking for signs proving he was crazy, but they were involuntarily drawn to Don Tomasso, whom they found quite charming. Always in Don Faustino's shadow, yet outshining him.
Like the day they were called to impart the last rites to an ailing farmer. While the senior priest droned on the established litany of sacred words, Don Tomasso had comforting words for the prospective widow and spoke at length with the soon-to-be orphans.
'You must take on the responsibilities of a man' he told the eldest boy. 'Do not take these duties lightly, my child'. He barely knew the family, yet he managed to talk to them as if they were old friends and his eyes glistened with tears.

The children in the small town all liked him after they'd discovered he went easy on the young sinners who flocked to have him hear their confessions. Not like the old priest who asked a lot of questions and gave them so many prayers to say that many of them lost the battle for salvation on a weekly basis.
Don Faustino was so pleased with his conduct he put him in charge of the early morning Mass - even if he did or said something odd who'd know? The few widows who bothered to come to church at that hour were mostly deaf anyway.
In October, Don Faustino's sister fell gravely ill and he had no choice but to go be with her, leaving Tomasso in charge. The following Sunday was one the people of Santa Clara would not forget anytime soon.