And The Earth Did Not Devour Him

A boy tells the story of his first communion held in mid-spring. His mother placed a picture of hell at the head of his bed and papered the walls with pictures of the devil. A nun tells the children they must confess to the priest all of their sins without exception. She emphasizes “sins of the flesh” (107). If they do not confess, they will be guilty of sacrilege and go to hell. The nun has the children practice confessing. The narrator is especially afraid of hell because he “had fallen against a small basin filled with hot coals” a few months earlier and burned his calf (108). He could imagine burning in hell. The night before his first communion, he stays up late, fretfully taking inventory of his sins. He counts 150 but decides to confess to 200, just to be on the safe side.

He wakes up early the next morning and goes to the church. It is still closed when he arrives. Assuming the priest overslept, the boy walks around the church, passing a dry cleaner’s next door. He hears laughter and moaning and sees a man and woman lying naked on the floor. They see him and yell at him to leave.