Mary Jane was a good Catholic girl. She obeyed the Ten Commandments and said her rosary daily. She attended mass every Sunday and volunteered for many church programs and fundraisers. She generously gave money and she gave more than any other parishioner.
Mint Julep was a good girl too. She danced hard and performed long. She brought in the most customers and pleased them more. She excessively earned money and she earned more than any other girl.
Mary Jane was good by day and Mint Julep was good by night. Both girls good, both girls giving, both girls one and the same.
Since Mary Jane worked nights, she could devote her days to the church, a poor church in a poorer section of town. Even with her contributions and support, it struggled to remain above water. Without her, it would have dissolved several years ago. With her, unfortunately, doom was still possible.
The whole parish knew it had Mary Jane to thank for its survival, and it did. They loved her dearly. To them she was a sweet, innocent young lady who loved God and church.
Father Anton knew he had Mary Jane to thank for its survival, and he did. He admired her devotion. To him she was a sweet, innocent young lady who loved God and church.
Both Father Anton and the parish were also under Mary Jane's spell. She had a gift for words, a beauty seldom seen, and a charm to beguile the most irritable creature.
Let it be noted that both Father Anton and the parish also knew that Mary Jane had another life, but because of her steadfast duty and loyalty to their church and because of her steady and hefty monetary donations, they both chose to believe that she came from old money and to leave it at that.
Besides, people will believe what they want to believe, so Mary Jane continued to let them believe exactly that: she was a sweet, innocent young lady who loved God and church. The fact that she also was a sweet, delightful dancer and luscious lady of the night mattered not to them or to Father Anton, for Mint Julep and Mary Jane were careful to keep the two separate.
However, Father Anton's homily during Sunday mass brought the two together.
Mary Jane, like most parishioners, always sat in the same seat. Her place, several pews deep, was located to the right of the altar, in front of the devotional votive candles.
Mary Jane found a serenity, a peacefulness, in the flickering flames and used them to clear her mind while listening to the weekly sermons. That morning was no different except for one thing.
Aware that she concentrated on the candles, Father Anton stared at Mary Jane as he preached. She watched each flame glimmer and sputter. Then his forceful voice brought her eyes to his again. He fixed his piercing eyes on her and her only. He directed his powerful words to her and her only.
As Mary Jane's meditative mind began to drift and her tense body started to relax, Father Anton's soothing voice mesmerized her. She alternated from the hot flames to his burning eyes, back and forth, back and forth. Soon her eyes lost focus and the many flames blurred into one with a soft dance all its own. Mary Jane became so clear and empty that Father Anton's parting sermon words entered the deep recesses of her mind.
With a purpose intended for Mary Jane's ears specifically, Father Anton's unassailble voice commanded, "Let this be a reminder to you that confessing your sins brings you closer to the loving and forgiving God that you serve. In His forgiveness you are able to receive from others and give of yourself more abundantly."
"Receive and give" stayed with Mary Jane for the rest of the mass. It echoed in her ears, it took shape on her silent lips, and it saturated her desire to serve. Receive and give. She would visit Father Anton's confessional on Monday.
The small semi-transparent door slid open and Mary Jane confessed, "Forgive me Father for I have sinned."
Father Anton's ears perked at the familiar voice and his eyes strained at the shadowed silhouette for recognition of Mary Jane. She had never come to confession, but expecting her, he asked the obligatory question anyhow, "How long has it been since your last confession?"
"Father, I have not confessed in years, but I must now. I have danced Saturday night and many nights before that."
"It is not a sin to dance." He knew full well what she meant, but he had to behave objectively.
"No Father, I have danced on stage wearing a very flimsy costume."
Father Anton's pulse quickened and somewhat ashamed of his reaction, but somewhat eager for more, encouraged, "Continue."
"I strip my costume slowly to entice the audience."
He shifted in his seat.
"I dance nude and I accept their gratitude."
He inhaled deeply.
"I dance for money, Father."
He cleared his throat, shook the dreamy thoughts from his head, and rationalized, "It is a job, your job, your means of support. Say three Hail Marys and three Our Fathers."
Father Anton blessed Mary Jane; she exited the confessional, and kneeled in the pew to do her penance.
A sense of submission filled her as she recited the prayers. A wave of forgiveness fell upon her as she spoke the last amen. Mary Jane left for work that evening with an energetic outlook on her future while silently repeating receive and give, receive and give.
With a power from within, Mint Julep performed a sultry striptease like none she had done before. Cheers and whistles drowned out the music. Bills of fives, tens and twenties covered the wooden floor. Shouts of "encore" rang throughout the club as she exited behind the curtain. Her take that night had exceeded any amount she had received previously.
Two days later, the small semi-transparent door slid open and Mary Jane confessed, "Forgive me Father for I have sinned."
Again Father Anton's ears perked. He knew the answer, but asked, "How long has it been since your last confession?"
"Two days Father. Please hear me."
"Yes, I will hear you."
"I have danced again Father. I have danced like never before."
Father Anton couldn't imagine how much different a striptease dance could be. Taking one's clothes off to music and dancing nude was just that. What could she have done so differently?
"I accentuated every move. My eyes pierced the audience. My hands seductively caressed my body."
He visualized her description.
"I wiggled my rear. I thrust my hips."
He squirmed with a mild arousal.
"I danced slowly at first, then more passionately as I became completely nude."
He rearranged his pulsating excitement.
"I completely enraptured them and I made much money Father."
He tried to find his voice, cleared his throat, and swallowed hard. Then he said, "We have determined that this was your means of support. You don't need to confess your dancing anymore."
He cringed with that last statement. He wanted her to confess again and again.
"I am not confessing my dancing Father. I am confessing my enjoyment. I soaked in the praises lavished on me. I bathed in the desire poured on me. I swam in the arousal created in me."
Father Anton could not stifle his apparent indulgence. He quickly blurted, "Say four Hail Marys and four Our Fathers," and then he blessed her.
Mary Jane kneeled and prayed and submitted. His forgiveness washed over her with more energy than before. Upon exiting the church, Father Anton witnessed Mary Jane deposit a wad of cash into the poor box, her lips mouthing receive and give.
That night Mint Julep's striptease surpassed her last. Word of mouth produced a larger crowd with louder cries for more. The hungry pleas persuaded her into a longer performance, which demanded unrehearsed moves. And as would follow, Mint Julep's stimulating dance brought in an extravagant take that also surpassed her last.
Two days later, the door slid open and Father Anton heard, "Forgive me Father for I have sinned."
His ears didn't perk this time. He knew who was seated opposite him before she even entered the confessional. He had been watching, no waiting, for Mary Jane to appear. His preoccupation with her arrival nearly drove him mad for two days.
"How long has it been since your last confession?"
"Two days Father, but please listen to what I must confess."
Please listen? Please listen? His sex was already hardening from the anticipation of what she would say.
"Yes, go ahead."
"I have danced again Father. I have danced like never before. I had to improvise and give them a show like no other. I fondled my breasts, Father, and presented them to the men."
His blood rushed to his manhood with a heat that made the rest of him like ice.
"I playfully posed and pushed myself closer. I bent seductively in their faces and spread my full lips for their hopeful fingers."
His brain chilled with wanton thoughts because his heart robbed more blood as it pumped the heat to his hot rod. He found his hand pressing on the tip, trying to suppress the mounting urge. Maybe he was trying to relieve the mounting tension.
With a voice that was hard to find, Father Anton reminded, "Yes, we have come to the understanding that you dance for a wage and you enjoy your work. That doesn't warrant a confession anymore."
Again he silently winced, because one, it was not true; she should confess her sin. And two, God forgive him, he wanted to hear her confession, every hedonistic word. His original purpose was merely to bring Mary Jane to confession. He never intended for her to draw strength from prayer enabling her to enhance her performance. And he certainly never intended himself to become caught up in this obsession.
"But Father, it does. I need to do penance. I need to be forgiven. I lusted for attention and luxuriated in the power I attained from it."
Father Anton, fearing this confession had gone too far, abruptly blessed Mary Jane and required, "Five Hail Marys and five Our Fathers."
With a deep breath and a smile of relief, Mary Jane kneeled, prayed, submitted and basked in His forgiveness before she pranced past the poor box and dropped in two huge wads of cash, whispering receive and give.
As for Father Anton, luckily black clergy pants hide wet spots very well. When he retrieved the cash from the poor box, double the amount of two days ago, he quickly calculated that if her donations continued at this rate, the church would not only be looked upon favorably by the diocese, but it would also have enough funds to distribute to worthy and needed causes. Mary Jane's gifts amounted to nearly a thousand dollars in less than a week. Father Anton also recognized a pattern; Mary Jane came to confession every two days, on the morning preceding that night's dance.
That night Mint Julep rocked the house and Father Anton rocked the bed. At the club, her provocative and provoking moves drew money like a magnet. Wolf calls and rebel yells filled the smoky and liquor-stench air. Her enticements drove the animals wild and a few lucky ones actually touched skin as their fifties were given to her. Mint Julep's exorbitant take was far beyond her previous earnings.
Back at the rectory, in his mind, her beautiful image and descriptive words recreated her dance. The extreme arousal that Father Anton managed to stifle for the past few days came to a climatic release. He agonized over the guilt of utilizing her confessions as some type of perverted foreplay, but finally rationalized that this fantasy was no different than the others he had drawn on to pleasure himself. The fact that it produced an orgasm that matched no other was beside the point and not given a second thought.
The next morning was Saturday. Mary Jane awoke chanting receive and give, receive and give, receive and give. When her mind cleared, she phoned the club and informed the manager that she would be in to dance that night. Because the profits had risen so much that past week, he had asked her to consider dancing every night. At first she refused, but upon reconsideration that morning, she decided that Saturday night should be a profitable one for both her and the church.
She hurried to Father Anton's confessional. When he slid the door open and heard, "Forgive me Father for I have sinned," his heart pounded so hard he felt the throbs in his temples. He wasn't expecting her since two days had not passed. But after last night's episode, he was overcome with joy to see her.
"How long has it been since your last confession?"
"One day Father, but please listen to my sin for I need to do penance."
His eyes lightly closed, his breaths grew deep, and his hopes swelled in anticipation as he anxiously said, "Yes, I will listen."
"I danced last night Father. The club was packed wall to wall. As the other girls danced first, I could hear shouts 'Mint Julep! Mint Julep! Mint Julep!' I grew more excited as the minutes passed until my turn."
Father Anton grew more excited also. This was going to be some confession.
"The money flew on stage before I even stripped completely. When I caressed my naked body again, I paused longer at my breasts. I pinched and tweaked my nipples. I licked them Father. A wave of money poured on stage."
The deep arousal in his groin made Father Anton squeeze hard into his seat and rearrange his bulge.
"The shouts and yells grew louder. I danced with more wiggles and shakes. I bent my rear to the eager mass. My hands traveled from my ankles, to my knees, then to my thighs, and when they reached my, um...my...well, you know Father."
He swallowed hard and squeaked out a hoarse, "Yes." He tried to continue with, "You don't need to be so detailed," but he either couldn't find the words or he didn't want to. It hadn't mattered; Mary Jane's confession interrupted the quarrel in his mind.
"I quickly turned to face those crazed beasts and spread myself wide open to expose what their hungry eyes and lapping tongues wanted!"
Father Anton impulsively grabbed his throb and held on tight!
"Their yowls and wails rang in my ears like hymns Father! I became obsessed myself! I allowed my fingers to seduce me! I drew circles, I probed, I pinched and I pulled! The money started flying!"
He tried to stifle her, but the words were as stuck in his throat as his glued hand was stuck on his staff.
"I was lifted into a realm off the stage and everything became distant. My body burned, my heart raced, my hands worked with a mind of their own! My ears fell deaf and my eyes grew blind. My awareness spiraled and pointed to one reality, a risen peak between two valleys."
He envisioned her mountain of love rising from the moist fertile basin.
"Father, I shook with a madness never known to me before. It radiated from that sensual summit with such fiery spasms and flaming throbs until every inch of my being tingled with tiny tremors. I slowly descended, panting and sweating and quivering. My ears finally heard the uproar. My eyes finally saw the spectacle. Arms waving, mouths wide open, and money...money! It was floating in the air! It was falling all around me! It was ankle deep on the floor!"
Father Anton, spellbound, caught himself before he too had deaf ears and blind eyes. He embarrassingly removed his stroking hand and mustered the words for forgiveness. Aware that the church and the much needed services which it provided could only continue with the generous support of Mary Jane, he told her what she wanted to hear, "Say six Hail Marys and six Our Fathers." Then he blessed her.
But before Mary Jane could leave, she felt the need to confess one more thing to Father Anton; a confession that would justify to him that her sinful behavior was in the name of the church. She almost inaudibly stated, "Father, I am a virgin."
Father Anton almost shouted "Sweet Jesus!" because somehow he found relief. Perhaps he felt her sin of dancing lewdly for money was not so decadent. Perhaps his own indulgence seemed less sinful. Perhaps he felt she belonged to him.
Then she stood up to do her penance, the penance that she believed absolved her of her sins, the penance that enabled her superlative performance, the penance that allowed her to receive and give.
She kneeled, she prayed, she submitted, and she felt His forgiveness wash over her with a driven energy to perform. Mary Jane stuffed the poor box so full, she could barely squeeze in the last bundle of bills as she conditionally voiced receive and give.
That night, Mint Julep displayed another stunning performance to a mob more ravenous than the previous.
At the same time, Father Anton fantasized about her next confession as he buried his face in his pillow and pumped his hips into the mattress.
There is no telling how long this tangled love affair between a forgiving God, a celibate priest, a beautiful virgin, and a sex crazed mob existed, but the church is still serving the needs of the parish and community.