"And what kind of answer is that!" scoffs Carol, indignant. I am afraid that if she gets any angrier she will probably leave the room. Aaron still has that smug, wily smile on his face. I don't like it.
Carl says, "Carol, take it from someone who's worked in the sex trade. Father Griffin tried to feed me that line, and I will tell you how I answered him. "If sex is a divine gift, then so is taking a shit. It is a bodily function, a bodily appetite, primarily for propagating the species, since if it wasn't pleasurable, who would even want to bother with something so gross and messy. No, think about it."
"You mean to say you are anti-pleasure?" she snorts.
"I mean to say", Aaron continues", that it doesn't matter whether it's enjoyable or not. But the sex act, unless you happen to be playing with yourself, usually involves another person, and for the act to be appropriate, there needs to be at the very least mutual consent. It means not treating other people like food. And because of all the emotions involved, it had better be with someone with whom you are already in some kind of committed relationship. That kind of vulnerability requires a lot of trust, and a lot of faithful commitment."
"Oh, I suppose", she says with affected indifference. "But really, must you be vulgar?"
Carl interjects, "But you were talking about Father Griffin, right, Aaron?"
Yes, Father Griffin. We generally tried to avoid each other. Then one Saturday morning I noticed one of the rent boys I knew from Boys' Town, just leaving the clergy house. I had been at the church for early mass. He smiled, said hi and said, "Hey Greg (that was my name before I changed it legally a few years later)"
"Why did you change your name", Carol asks,
"Later, please", Aaron says chuckling patiently. "So this rent boy, says he has just been visiting overnight none other than our Father Griffin. He didn't need to go into any detail, but simply mentioned that the dear father was helping him out financially." So, the next day, Sunday, I took the good father aside for a little chat after mass..."
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