Sister Charlotte came back to me with the cake in a box tied with a red ribbon. “Open this when you go home, Gabriel, and share it with your family. Your mother will be happy, I’m sure of it! And a big happy birthday to you, Gabriel!”
Sister Charlotte turned to the class and asked the other boys to sing “Happy Birthday” to me. The classroom thundered with the sound. When the school bell rang she asked me to stay in my seat. She then walked up to me and wished me a happy birthday again. As I picked up my cake and was about to walk out of the classroom, she took my hand in hers.
“Gabriel,” she said and went silent for a moment or two. She looked down at my two feet as if to make sure I was wearing the shoes she gave me. She then looked in my eyes again.
I was consumed by shyness, fear and confusion. Since I first met her I believed she was my Guardian Angel with white wings growing out of her shoulders. Her magical presence made everything in my life bright and clear.
Almost at the exact moment when I felt I didn’t exist at all, she whispered, “Gabriel, in a few months you’ll be transferring to Saint Michael’s Christian Brothers School. The brothers are fine teachers. They’ll help prepare you for the day when you’ll be going out in the world looking for a job.”
The thought of me ever having a job was as far away as my entering Heaven. I’d have to be dead first to get there. My father and loads of other men were always looking for jobs.
“You’ll soon be gone from the convent here. You know that, don’t you?”
I was so shy I could only nod my head. Sister Charlotte continued to talk. What she had to say came close to erasing me from the page of life that my name was written on.
“I’m to leave the convent soon.”
I stood, feeling half paralysed.
Sister Charlotte continued. “I’m going away to Africa to join my fellow sisters there. My order has encouraged me to go and I’ve accepted. I won’t be in class when you come here next week. I wasn’t going to tell you or the class and I didn’t, until now.” Then she leaned towards me and kissed me on the forehead.
* * *
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I Dream Alone Page 26
