Perilous Delivery

Chapter 1. A New (to us) Car

“Mi esposa,” started Vanessa, in the sweet accent she knew Caleb so adored, “you know your car is a piece of junk at this point, right?” Caleb just sighed, “I know honey, and we will, I’ve just been so…” he labored a moment to find the word, “busy, with everything, you know… but, hey, tomorrow we will okay, it’s a day off for me.” As he said the last phrase, he took a final sip of his coffee from his “Man of God” mug that had been a gift from Vanessa, and walked out, leaving behind an empty plate where his bagel and eggs with a bit of ham had been.

“Don’t forget we have class tonight with Father Mark!” Called his beloved as he slung his bag over his muscular shoulder. “Right, right, I will be home in time to take you.” He replied, “And we have a sitter for the welps?” He asked with a wink as he put on his favorite grey beanie, the beanie that he had gotten from Vanessa as a Christmas present the first year that they moved to Washington, “Es mucho Frio” she had said while mimicking a shuddering jitter and hugging herself tightly. Every time he put on that hat he remembered thinking how cute she looked saying that and doing that. She was pregnant at the time with Pedro Augustine O’Hara, their second child. But that was far from her thoughts now, she was much better at keeping in touch with the day to day things of life, “Yes my love” she responded, deliberately playing up the accent she knew her husband loved, “Just be home, we don’t want to be late... again.”

"Of course love. I learned my lesson last time." He said, in a playful tone.

She kissed Macrina, their daughter, on the head as she poured some Orange Juice into her cup, then looked over and said, “Hey, wait, aren’t you going to get your plate?” To which Caleb said, “I’ll be here on time to get you to evening mass and Father’s class. Don’t you worry!” Deliberately pretending he didn’t hear her about the plate, then he kissed her head, and ran out the door, as usual, he had selected his first delivery before walking out the door and now felt rushed.

Vanessa wanted to be annoyed with him leaving the dirty plate... again, but she just smiled. She loved him and his flustered, blustered nonchalance about life. So, just before he closed the door she called out one more time, “drive safely mi esposo” She then called Pedro to come down, got out the homeschooling book, and readied her mind for a days’ work.

Meanwhile, Caleb was already driving to his first delivery. It was a chilly November morning, this was a good time of year for Shoppersupport, at least before thanksgiving was. After that there would likely be a brief lull before the new year, but Caleb had learned some tricks of the trade, and the family never went hungry, nor did they fall behind on their bills, especially since he had started moonlighting with the restaurant delivery service. He worked hard, did what was right, and even tried to keep himself studying.

“Ugh, what’s that smell?” he said to himself, shaking his head as he drove his fifteen-year-old SUV. “This car has been such a loved car for so long, why does she have to give out on me now?” He thought as he heard an unpleasant rattling coming from under the hood. The smell was must, his car door had always had issues he hadn’t wanted to admit, which prevented it from fully keeping out the Pacific Northwestern elements. The rattling, well, only God, and the mechanics that Caleb couldn’t quite convince himself he could afford knew what in the good green earth that was. If only his car could have given him a couple weeks more of confidence Caleb may have avoided the fate that already was bearing down upon him, like a wolf that stalks the night, it howled a banshee shriek in the distance, looming it’s foreboding stare upon the O’Haras. Soon, he had pulled up to Mayor’s Grocer on Tenny Road in Salmon Creek. His first delivery was officially underway.

Walking through the store he danced up and down the aisles to the music. He liked working for Shoppersupport, he liked walking through the stores, dancing to their music, and just enjoying himself. He saw the usual cast of characters were already at their shifts. There was a young Russian girl, probably working her way through college, who looked up and giggled at the dancing fool she had come to see as a staple of the store. The Mexican young man who was already busily stocking shelves, the venders delivering their products, and of course, the little old people, who for some reason always show up at the store as early as Caleb did, and were usually there at the store still wondering about through at least two of his deliveries.

“Come and get your love” was playing on the speaker. Everything seemed so swell. Though they were not perfect, and though they were never rich in material goods, they had something better, they were a very happy family. They loved each other, they were devoted to one another, they enjoyed their jobs, they enjoyed each other. If they were to get through their coming ordeal, they would need to draw on these very resources in abundance. Moreover, as so often happens, they may even be able to keep a spark of that joy alive, even as providence would have them go through much less idyllic times.

After a long day of making deliveries, listening to music and audiobooks, and driving as safely as he could, Caleb pulled into the SubDrive parking lot to buy a couple sandwiches that he and Vanessa could eat on the way to their class that night. While in line, he started looking at his phone. He saw a couple of articles, and then an add. Why, right down the road at MOSTCAR Auto Traders they had a really nice-looking newer Cruz with just a few thousand miles, at a ridiculously low price. He was intrigued. “This car is younger than one of my kids, and so cheap…” He thought to himself, looking over the history he couldn’t see anything wrong with her. “I guess,” he pondered, “that this will have to be the first car I…” he didn’t have time to finish the thought before the slightly chubby, older woman at SubDrive said, “What kinda bread ya like?” And snapped him out of his introspections so that he could order Vanessa’s black forest ham, and his own sweet onion teriyaki chicken Subs. Rushing home, he had barely kept his promise from the morning, he and Vanessa happily walked out to drive to St. Anne’s for their evening class.

“You guys have fun,” called his brother Bob as they left. Caleb looked back and said, “You kids behave for Uncle Robby, okay?” Pedro smiled mischievously and said, “Oh daddy, when have we ever not behaved.” Caleb gave him a skeptical look and said, “We’ll be home in a couple of hours. Be good.” He was trying to be stern, but somehow Macrina and Pedro just seemed to giggle as he left. He smiled when the door was closed. Those little kiddos had never really had anything to fear in their short lives. They were happy. They had such peace; he would have done anything to keep it that way all their lives.

On the way to St. Anne’s the happy couple ate their sandwiches. Just before they arrived, Caleb looked over, “Flor Pequina” , he said, “I think I may have found a car we can look at.” She smiled, “Is it a Camaro?” He laughed, “you’re a funny girl,” he said, “No, but you’ll like it just the same. Well, maybe not just the same as a Camaro, but…” They both laughed a little. Then he parked the car and they got out to celebrate the evening mass, and then have their class.

That night the class was covering a chapter of a book that Fr. Mark had recommended. It was an interesting read, some book by a Roman Catholic Priest, it was about the Eucharist. Fr. Mark was teaching diligently. This particular chapter was discussing the effect of the sacrament on the demonic realm.

“Only the very most powerful demons,” read one paragraph, “can even be in the presence of lesser sacramental objects like the holy Rosary or Icons. Very few demons can be in the presence of the Eucharist, and even those have no power over a Christian who is partaking the Eucharist, for how can they. Even a legion of demons was driven from the demoniac before Christ in His incarnation. So, when our Lord appears before them in the Holy Supper, they can only tremble, flee, or, if they are very strong, put on a bold face while inwardly trembling with fear.”

Fr. Mark stopped as he read this passage, and he said, “Fear not the demons little flock. For you can defeat them by the word and the sacraments. We have been given power over the spiritual realms. I’ve cast out a few demons in my day, don’t let the worldly tell you that demons are not real, for this is merely the lies of Hell. However, we must also be cautious not to allow fanatics to make everything out to be demonic. Why, I know some people who have whole blogs about how demons and Jesuits hide behind every bushel, seeking out the souls of the faithful.”

As he said this everyone present chuckled. However, his good humor only helped secure his message in their hearts. He went on discussing the Church’s position on mental health, the fact that many good, God-fearing Christians had real struggles with mental health issues that should not be chalked up to demons. “However,” he said after a pause, “We must exercise great caution. For demons there are, and until our Lord returns, demons there shall be.” With these grave words, he moved on to discuss other matters which the chapter discussed. Then ended with a brief exhortation to remember the Sisters of St. Catherine, an order of Benedictine nuns who were loosely affiliated with St. Anne’s Church, in everyone's prayers.

As they departed, Caleb and Vanessa’s friends Stephen and Samantha Holman walked over to our main protagonists. “Hey there Mr, and Mrs. McMalley!” Stephen called out (He thought it was funny to say McMalley because I guess he thought it was more Irish sounding that O’Hara). “Hey Stevie Wonder,” replied Caleb jovially, “didn’t you hear the preacher man, no demons allowed in here, how did you scoundrels find your way in?” The four of them laughed, then the ladies discussed the upcoming retread that the Sisters of St. Catherine were planning, and Stephen patted Caleb’s old car. “Buddy,” he said, “When do you think you’ll trade in the old beater for something with a bit more panache?” Caleb laughed and said, “Yeah, she has been a good girl, but we’re on our last leg with her. I’m actually looking at taking her by MOSTCAR tomorrow afternoon. I might even know what I’d be getting.” Stephen joking dropped his jaw, “No kidding, I guess you finally decided it’s about time to join this decade then?” Caleb chuckled and said, “For some of us the only decades that matter are those on a Rosary. Speaking of which, did you go to the prayer Vigil for that girl about this time last year? I saw a white cross for her on the side of the road today while I was making a delivery.”

“Nah,” said Stephen, “I was working that day, but I said a quick prayer for her that night. It was a sad thing that, I remember she got hit by her own boyfriend. Said he never saw her, just slammed into her as he came around the corner. Odd thing is, I remember having lunch with a friend of mine at Shanahan’s. He’s a cop who was working closely with the detective on the case and said that something didn’t seem right.”

Caleb cocked his head slightly, and furrowing his brow said, “Didn’t seem right? How so Steve?” Stephen looked down and stroked his beard, “I dunno, he said that quite a number of the boys in blue were a little bit shook up with that one. Not just because of the young girl dying, but before that, she was off the rails. She got into the occult, and started doing off the wall stuff. Rituals at night, writing weird things in her diary about how she was going to… I don’t know, ‘take revenge’ on all the people she felt had wronged her. My buddy even told me that he thought that the accident might have been involved in all that, who knows though, car accidents happen all the time, just a freak thing when it happens to a freaky person I guess.”

Caleb’s jaw dropped, “What on earth?” He said with a look of confusion, “Why would she do that?” Steve looked over at the women, who were walking over, “Well,” he said, “I don’t know what exactly was said, but her diary said something about how she would become a ghost and get revenge on everyone. She had sold her soul to the devil in exchange for some obscure revenge, and now it was time for her to, well, ‘do her part,’ or whatever.” Samantha came up to Steven, and Vanessa hugged Caleb, “We have to pull the boys apart before they start talking theology and keep us here all night like last week.” She said with a smile. Samantha laughed and said, “Yeah, we should have you guys over though!” Caleb smiled, “Good idea, or we could go to a movie, I hear Otherworldly Prognosis is supposed to be good.” Then they discussed reviews of some of the movies they wanted to see and discussed the fun movies they all enjoyed, and just as they were starting to get into the books they were reading, the girls helped break the group apart so that they could return home.

The following day was a Friday, and Vanessa slept in a bit while Caleb got up and read a chapter of a book. Then they had worship together, prayed with the kids, and then they drove to take a look at the car.

At MOSTCAR they looked at a couple of options, but both Caleb and Vanessa found themselves inexplicably drawn to the Cruz from the ad. “What’s wrong with her?” Caleb asked the saleswoman, “I mean, that price is really low.” She looked over the history, “Nothing at all,” she assured him, “In fact, the car is in perfect working order. She was in an… accident, but it wasn’t serious and we at MOSTCAR ensure that there are no problems before selling any vehicle. In fact…” She then went into what was obviously a standard pitch about how there was a 26 point inspection, and their mechanics did x, y, z and, "sometimes, even more..." so that they could make absolutely sure that blah, blah, blah. At that moment though, Caleb and Vanessa could hardly hear her. All that they both were imagining was being able to buy the car outright, without getting stuck in any payment plans, and how much better it would be for Caleb’s work.

“Okay, I think I’m in.” Caleb said, to the elation of both the saleswoman, and his family, or at least Vanessa, the kids were probably just happy to be done and going home. “I just have one more question, what about the trunk space? I work for a delivery company, I need to know that I’ll have excellent trunk space.”

The saleswoman laughed and said, “Oh this,” she popped the trunk, “You could fit a body in here, maybe two!” They all laughed and Vanessa said something about this saleswoman having the same Macabre sense of humor that she and Caleb had. Then they had a test drive, and that very night they went home in their Cruz. They loved the car, and that was good, because they didn’t know it yet, but the car wasn’t the only addition to their lives that was made that day. And indeed that trunk did have some cargo stowed away that they didn’t even think to ask about. An unholy passenger who would crawl into the lives of this beautiful family, and test their faith, virtue, and devotion to God and one another.