Changing Habits Read Online Free PDF Page A

immortal soul in jeopardy.” Without absolution from a priest, her sister was headed for eternal damnation.
    â€œI’ll go to confession on Saturday, same as always,” Maureen said, casting Kathleen an exasperated look. “Don’t you want to know what it was like?”
    God help her, Kathleen longed to hear every sordid detail. “Did it hurt?”
    Maureen shrugged. “Some, at first. I thought we must bedoing it wrong because Robbie couldn’t make his…you know…go inside me.”
    Kathleen could no longer breathe and closed her eyes, mentally fighting off the image of Robbie squirming on top of her sister, pushing into her.
    â€œWhen he did, I thought he’d ripped me wide open.”
    â€œWas there blood?”
    â€œJudas Priest, I hope not! We were in the middle of the living room carpet… Anyway, if there was, Robbie took care of it. He’s the one who’d have to explain it to his parents.”
    Kathleen’s head started to pound. She was horrified that her sister had been so careless. “What happened after he put it in?”
    Maureen looked away, but not before Kathleen caught a glimpse of her disappointment. “Nothing. Robbie kept saying how sorry he was and how he never meant to hurt me. Then he grunted a little and started to pant and before I knew it, he was finished.”
    It all sounded rather disgusting to Kathleen. “You’d better not wait until Saturday to go to confession. What if you get run over by a bus before then?”
    Maureen rolled her eyes. “I can’t go any earlier,” she said.
    â€œWhy not?” She couldn’t understand why her sister would take risks with her salvation, especially when Father Murphy heard confessions every morning before eight o’clock Mass. Maureen could slip into church on her way to school.
    Kathleen was about to remind her of that when Maureen announced, “Robbie wants to do it again tonight.”
    â€œYou can’t!” Kathleen was aghast that her sister would even consider such a thing.
    â€œHis parents are going out of town and he said he’d pick me up at the pub once I’m finished cleaning.” Maureen defiantly flipped her thick red hair over her shoulder. “I already said I would. There’s just got to be more to it than what we did.”
    â€œAre you nuts? You can’t take this kind of chance,” Kathleen cried. “What if you get pregnant?”
    â€œI know, I know… But Robbie said he’d use something so I wouldn’t end up with a baby. And even if I did get pregnant, Robbie said he’d marry me.”
    â€œYou’re not even eighteen. What about college?” Her sister received top grades. She could get a scholarship; Kathleen was positive of that. No one in their family had gone to college yet. Sean had joined the Army when he graduated and Mary Rose was married and the mother of a two-year-old. Joyce and Louise shared an apartment and worked at the pub. Joyce was a waitress and Louise made sandwiches back in the kitchen. They split the tips. After they’d moved out, Kathleen had a bed of her own for the first time in her life.
    â€œYou’re only seventeen,” Kathleen wailed. “How do you know you want to marry Robbie?”
    â€œHow do you know you want to be a nun?” Maureen flared back.
    That shut her up. “Just be careful,” Kathleen cautioned.
    â€œYou won’t tell Mom, will you?”
    Kathleen promised she wouldn’t.
    Late that same night, Maureen woke her out of a deep sleep. Moonlight shimmered in through the sheer drapes, and the sound of the television traveled up the stairs like distant whispers.
    â€œAre you awake?” her sister asked, putting her hand on Kathleen’s shoulder and lightly shaking her.
    Kathleen propped herself up on one elbow. It sounded like Ben Casey playing downstairs, which would keep her mother distracted.