“Don’t go dat way! Come wit me!”
“What’s goin’ on?” I asked him. He picked up one of the twins and said,
“Dere’s a riot, dem white men are angry. Dey say we took their jobs.”
Looking closely, I could see something had hit him in the face and he was bleeding.
I picked up my other brother and the boy and I ran into a shop. The man at the counter told
us to hide in the storeroom.
“What’s de matter Maddie?” Peter asked.
“Some people are angry at us.”
“Are we going to be safe?” Paul asked.
“Yes. Don’t worry.” The boy said.
We sat down with our backs against the fridge, the boy smiled and asked,
“You’re name’s Maddie right?”
“Yeah.”
“Mine’s Kennedy.”
Suddenly shouts and the breaking of glass interrupted, Peter buried his face in my chest.
Angry voices came inside the shop.
“Will dey look in ‘ere?” I whispered.
“Let’s hope not.” Kennedy said. He looked as scared as I felt. The voices rose and fell, we
heard the sounds of someone being beaten then the shelves of canned food was pulled
down. Then there was silence; the mob was moving on.
“Thank you, Lord!” Kennedy said, and stood up. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I was beginning to sweat from the extra heat Peter gave off.
“Yeah.” I said. I got up also and we took the boys out of the storeroom. The shopkeeper was
on the floor, surrounded by the mess the mob had made, he was bleeding from his head.
“Go on kids, git out o’ here.” Kennedy said to me, “You go, I’ll help.”
I nodded unable to take my eyes away from the blood, “Thanks.”
I managed before hurrying out with my brothers. They did this to us. They killed, they beat,
they took away our rights. Just because our skin was black.
To be continued!
The Blessed Mother Saves a Sinner from Hell
The thought of hell - the stark, terrible reality of hell - is all but forgotten today. However,
like all truths, hell has not ceased to exist simply because mankind has ceased to believe it.
The following story is told by Richard of St. Anne, a Franciscan who was later martyred. He
was living in Brussels in 1604 when the incident took place. Two students living in the town
had the habit of pursuing together their pleasures instead of their studies. Together they
filled many precious hours of their lives with the empty excesses all too common to that
occupation. Typically, one night, these two were indulging in their sins of drunkenness and
impurity when one decided to head home. It was late, he was tired, but before he went to
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Children of the Rosary