Felix Goes to Church (well, the convent...)

The Summer Solstice and Felix's birthday were approaching, turning Felix's thoughts back to when he was thirteen, when St. Sybian had revealed to him the sacramental side of carnal relations. Lately he had been feeling that both the saint and sexual relations had deserted him. Maxine remembers:

" It was late June in Chicago, really humid. Felix said Chicago in the summer smelled like a wet dog. The old wiring in Felix’s transient hotel could not handle air conditioning except in the lobby, and all Felix had was a single window fan. He called me at the theater. The school was performing his music the next night and he was anxious, plus he told me that lying naked on the bed only turned his thoughts to women. I told him to take Pedro up on his offer of a free night at his Casa de Amor. It was air conditioned, the cervesa was cold, and the girls young and pretty.(Many of them, including Francesca and Ramona, danced with me at the Admiral.)
(Francesca and Ramona outside the old convent)



Pedro rented the old convent from St. Joseph of Cupertino Catholic Church, which had closed its school. No Money. They had even agreed to rent a wing of the rectory to an Italian Cleric, the notorious Bishop Bassanni from Calabria. (We did not know this until later.) But it was Pedro’s generous monthly rent payment that helped balance their books. If the pastor knew what Señor Yarez used the convent for, he didn’t seem to object. If the pastor knew about the Bishop's past and how he had lost his ring finger, he certainly didn't care.Both brought in more money than bingo and bakesales.

(The convent gangway)

Felix showered, shaved, and put on clean clothes. Looking briefly at his new set of "Musical Humlets", he unchained his door and left for Pedro's.
It was about this same time that Bassanni, self-gratification not being that gratifying, also thought of Pedro's business and found the phone number on the back of a holy card in his breviary.