Longings Are Purple Black

The Devil under the August Moon

The moonlight was brilliant as it should be in August. The island’s suffocating heat and the sea’s musky smell left everyone exhausted. The sea roared furiously against the cliffs, and like belligerent lovers, the sea slowly kissed the sand on the small beach of Saint Carlos. The sea of the islands was like that – temperamental and treacherous.
The crickets were barely singing in the gardens, the dogs didn’t bark, and the cats lay on the warm roads and terraces, utterly uninterested in the small critters teeming under the full moon.
At the Saint Carlos villa, preparations for the Episcopal retreat were underway. One bishop, one archbishop, two monsignors, five priests, and five seminarians ready to be ordained were gathering to reflect on the crisis of Christianity. The retreat received generous coverage in the media. Hawk Island had never seen so much sanctity together for such a long period reflecting on such a pungent subject. Villa Marisol would soon be replete with saintly men. The housekeeper, Dona Serafina, demanded the bishop hire help for the retreat’s two weeks. The bishop was taken aback by Dona Serafina’s biting tone. She was always quiet and efficient, sometimes a little dry and often unfriendly, but never demanding. But demand she did, and the halls of Marisol were full of women anxious to be interviewed. The paper’s advertisement was simple: “Woman needed to clean, cook, wash clothes, and anything else asked of her during the Episcopal Retreat at Villa Marisol. The job will end by August 31. Applicants must be over thirty-five and devout Roman Catholics.”
Luciana looked critically at the advertisement and considered that one didn’t need to be a Roman Catholic to clean and cook for a house full of priests. But she wanted that job, and the only way she could get it was for Monsignor Inocente to intercede. She went to church and waited for the last sinner to leave and for the monsignor to step down from the confessional.
The monsignor let out a heavy sigh of relief that everyone in Two Brooks had been confessed and penanced adequately with a minimum of drama. Lately, the world had mellowed, and he was grateful. He looked at Jesus Crucified, and Jesus, with big, round, wide eyes, stared him down from the cross. The monsignor found more comfort with Jesus’ mother, Our Lady of Lourdes, with flaming red hair and milky white skin. She also looked down at him, but there was a smile on her face, and the monsignor almost smiled back.
“Monsignor,” Luciana said softly, “I need to talk to you.”
A startled monsignor looked at Luciana as if she had poked him. “Child, I didn’t know you were here!” he said irritably.
“I need a favor from you,” she said.
And Luciana told a stupefied monsignor that she wanted the work at the Villa Marisol.
The monsignor had listened many times to Luciana’s confessions about her demons and dreams. He knew that Luciana was much hurt and damaged by mindless acts of uncharitable men and much worse by irreverent, irresponsible, and selfish parents. She was carrying a burden too heavy for such a young heart. And here she was, asking him to help her heal.
And so he did. The monsignor called the bishop and asked him to hire Luciana.
The housekeeper had interviewed many women but hadn’t found anyone suitable for the position. Some women looked too young, others seemed too old, the majority didn’t look Roman Catholic enough, and the rest didn’t seem obedient. Dona Serafina was disheartened. She was looking through the applications when the bishop stood in front of her, looking down at her desk. He told her that he had found a woman to help her.
She wasn’t surprised. A bishop could do whatever he wanted. This was his villa and his retreat. She had worked for him for 15 years since he became a bishop, and although he was kind and considerate to her, he was pretty much a monarch – his wishes were law.
Dom Aurelio was a tall and handsome man. He came from a family of wealth and influence, from Seven Cities, the largest island of the Atlantis archipelago. He was used to commanding attention and respect. He was quiet and intelligent but had a deceitful demeanor about winning. Winning was everything to Dom Aurelio – even small arguments. So there was no need to argue about the merits of this woman he wanted to hire.
Monsignor Inocente was the one out of the three monsignors on the island who wasn’t invited to the retreat. This was Dom Aurelio’s way to let the monsignor know about his displeasure with the Holy Ghost's dispute in Two Brooks. In Dom Aurelio’s view, the monsignor had been negligent and let the whole process slip out of his control. Dom Aurelio hadn’t forgiven Monsignor Inocente for going to France to look after a troubled nephew, precisely when the village needed his guidance.
This punishment from the bishop hurt Monsignor Inocente more than anyone else knew. After he decided to shut the monsignor out of the retreat, the bishop felt somewhat remorseful. Monsignor Inocente was a dedicated and loyal man, but a bishop, just like a king, never goes back on his decisions. So when Monsignor Inocente asked the bishop to hire a lonely and troubled girl from Two Brooks, the bishop took this opportunity to be magnanimous, and he said yes.