Chapter 9: Remember to Keep Holy the Lord's Day

Sunday morning. The passenger boat's moving out towards the waves and back to Johnston. This wouldn't be my first time skipping Mass. For Dixie however, she was frantic and fidgeting as the ship floated eastward.

"Mother's going to wring my neck," she said as her face began to grow pale.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," I said with a crooked smile.

"Easy for you to say..." She paused as she turned towards me. "I never see you at the Service. I've heard some rumors that you aren't actually Protestant."

I laughed. "I certainly don't behave like one. That's for sure."

"What do you usually do on Sundays?"

"Sleep."

Her eyes widened. "There has to be more than that."

"Well, yes. Eventually, I wake up."

There was a slight moment of silence between us. "And...?" She asked.

"After I wake up, I just treat the day like it any other weekend kind of day."

"Did you and your sister use to go to the Service back then?"

"She still does. I kinda stopped some time ago."

Dixie was about to say something but I shook my head. She let out a deep breath before turning to the window beside us. The air was rather humid so I had my coat and hardee hat off. Both were on the seat next to me. Speaking of which, there were only two other people in the boat. Neither seemed too chatty and were on opposite ends of the seating.

"Would it be okay for you come to Mass next Sunday?" She asked as she turned back to me.

"I guess it would be okay," I responded as I scratched my chin. "But it wouldn't be for the best. After all, I'm not Protestant."

"You're Catholic?"

I let out a small chuckle and look down. "Yeah."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Well, no, I suppose not."

"Would it be too much to ask you to come one time?"

I heaved a sigh. "Fine. What time's the Service?"

"9:30."

"That's..." I paused as I groaned. "That's a bit early."

"I know you can make it."

"You'll have to help me wake up then."

"That won't be too hard."

I continued to groan as I rested my head back.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to wake up before 11 on a weekend."

Dixie let out a giggle before resting a hand on my shoulder. "You'll survive."

I looked to her and for a moment, I felt like I wasn't there. I was back in that hospital room watching myself sit next to Little Clara as she was sleeping. I was whispering the Rosary as tears streaked down my face. All the other noises from back then did not make their presence heard, only myself and my sister's snoring. The years that have passed by since that moment made me feel an alien emotion that I have forgotten since then.

In a flash, I was back to being next to Dixie, I could feel a smile work its way on my face. She smiled back and turned away. Maybe it's not too bad. I do know that mom's gonna lynch me if she finds out I went to a non-Catholic Church. Well, she doesn't have to know. Somehow, I had a feeling that there's going to be a long list of secrets that started when Dixie and I spent the night at Clara's. Had no clue what would really come of this, for the first time in my life I was in uncharted territory. No matter if the road is smooth or rocky, I didn't mind it for once.

"Hey Dixie," I called out as boat came to a stop to allow the school ship outside the window pass.

"Yes?"

"You have any family you don't get to see often?"

"There's a cousin I used to see, Chris, but he's all the way in Alabama. He mainly does manufacturing work."

"That's nice."

"Yeah, apparently he's made a promise that he's gonna build a car for each family member."

"That include you?"

"No."

"I see."

"You don't have to worry about your sister," she said as she adjusted her sleeves. "She's only going to find a way to still keep in touch with you. No matter what."

"I know, I'm just worried how mom and dad are going to be about it going forward."

"You've got Clarabelle by your side when that happens. Don't forget about that. And besides, 'Lilah and I have your back if things don't go too well."

"Is that a promise?"

"Yes it is."

"Well, won't be too long before that."

"What do you mean?"

"My mother always said to me that I can't let things be too good for too long."

Dixie's smile faded away. "Do you really believe that?"

"I'm sure everyone makes mistakes at times. Mine just happen to be of grander scale."

"There's more than the car acci-"

I gave her an ear to ear grin while putting my forefinger to my lips and shook my head.

"Not until the next battle?" She inquired as the rising sun leaked through the windows.

"If that's what you ask."

We didn't say much after that, only felt the ebb and flow of the waves beneath us as our boat sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. The time flew by as the clouds lingered over and eventually rained on us as we made our way. Other than that, the ride back to Johnston was pretty much uneventful. It was when we set foot back to the campus that things got interesting. On our way back to the school, we were spotted by one of our tankery teammates.

"JOHNNY!" That scream could only have been made by Delilah. She did not sound happy.

We turned to her and saw her outside of her uniform for once and was in an orange dress with a few frills on the skirt. Even with her makeup off, she wasn't too hurtful for the eyes to look at.

"I can keep her occupied," Dixie said as we watched Delilah run to me with a glare that could cut the hills.

"I don't think that'll stop her," I retorted as I began running.

We were running for a good few feet. Even wearing a dress like that, Delilah's faster than a rat sliding through the kitchen floor. She pounced and tackled me by my knees, forcing me to fall over. I had to change the trajectory of my fall in order to save my spectacles from breaking but wound up sacrificing the back of my cranium as it hit the ground and I started hearing a high pitched buzzing.

"'Lilah! Johnny! You okay?" Dixie called as she sped towards us.

I was gripping my head as it began beating as though it had a second heart inside my skull. The pain grew dull in a matter of seconds however. Once I opened my eyes, both Dixie and Delilah were looking down on me. Delilah specifically. She was glaring sharp enough to cut the treads of the Stonewall and while Dixie had more concern in her eyes than anything else.

"You alright?" Delilah asked as she reached down and grabbed my shoulder. Dixie followed suit as they both helped me back to my feet.

"I'm fine," I said as I adjusted my spectacles.

"There's a lot of work you missed out on when you and Dixie ran off for your special cruise."

"It was a family thing, so I had to make sure not to be late."

"While holding Dixie's hand?"

After Delilah mentioned that, Dixie started blushing.

"Say what you want. You didn't need me to help with tank repairs. We already signed those requisition forms to have the automotive club help out."

"Those forms don't take effect until next week!" Delilah Growled as we started walking back to the school area.

"You were by yourself?" Dixie asked.

"Yes! And no thanks to our wonderful manager right next to us!"

"It's not my fault I drew that ballot," I said before I felt a tug on my left ear.

"You are coming with me to the garage!" Delilah then turned to Dixie. "You should also come, your mother's been wondering where you've been this weekend."

Only a second had to pass for Dixie's face to grow pale once more.

"Don't worry about it," Delilah said as she tightened her grip on my ear. "I can vouch for you about helping with tank repairs since we're so understaffed."

"What did you tell her?"

"You've been cooped up in the garage."

Delilah's eyes widened. "You lied in Church?"

"Outside the Church walls, technically. Come on, we need you to look like you've been working!"

And with that, all three of us made our way to the garage and while I was waiting next to the JEB, I saw both Dixie and Delilah out of their clothes I saw earlier and were both in shorts and tank tops as they put leather gloves on.

"Don't stare for too long," Delilah said with a wink.

This time it was my turn to blush as I turned away.

"I hope you've been reading up on your manuals," Delilah said as she opened up a toolkit to pull out a wrench.

I groaned as I rubbed my eyes. "I'm not exactly a fast reader."

"Hands on experience tends to be the best teacher," Dixie commented as she pulled out a grinder.

Delilah handed me an impact wrench. "I was able to do some repairs for my tank. So we can focus on Dixie's for today."

Throughout the next few hours we ended up doing our first ever repair job for the Stonewall. Not much could really be said about the ordeal. The spring sun that usually gave me a warm welcome when I wake up ended up making the garage into a humid hellscape that forced everyone to take water breaks every fifteen minutes. Both Delilah and Dixie were sweating a'plenty. I had to avert my eyes a few times whenever I looked to either of them since their shirts were white. It took a while for Dixie to realize while Delilah kept giving me a "You're not so slick," look in her eyes. It's wrong to think that there's some sort of malice going on, but I couldn't help but think Delilah was doing all this on purpose for some reason.

"It's fortunate that there wasn't much mud in Serbia," Delilah commented as she laid on a creeper and rolled underneath the Tog II. "Otherwise you'd see Dixie in a bikini!"

Dixie's already red cheeks began to grow to her ears. "'Lilah! That's enough!"

"Come on! It's not like we haven't been at the beach or in a pool."

"I never liked wearing those kinds of swimsuits, 'Lilah!"

During their conversation, I had to move to be out of their sight. Only Delilah would be fine with this kind of conduct. There's no knowing what exactly goes on in that woman's head. I was about to get started on the tank's screws or nails or whatever their called... Then it dawned on me, I have no clue what exactly I'm supposed to do with the impact wrench. It was there I was stuck with a crossroads, either pretend to work and hope that by the Grace of God, neither Dixie nor Delilah notice or I come clean and get mocked for my uselessness. If you know my history, you wouldn't be too surprised that I chose the former. The only issue was that the constant loud noise from the tool I was using ended up breaking the girls' conversation.

"Johnny, do you even know how to use that thing?" I heard Delilah ask.

"Uh, possibly."

"It's okay if you don't know," Dixie said as she came to my side of the tank.

I was then given a lecture on how to use the impact wrench and what I should do with the lug nuts as well as other screws involved with the tank. Throughout the entire time Dixie was teaching me the basics... I couldn't help but notice a weird grin that was on Delilah's face.