Priest, pot, pedophile and payback

Have you ever found yourself caught between the allure of youthful rebellion and the stern gaze of authority? Journey with me, John Baby Boomer, as I recount an episode from my own teenage years, where the conflicting cultures of a Catholic high school and the freedom-seeking spirit of the 70s collide at a school dance with an ounce of pot at stake. I'll take you through the unforgettable confrontation with Father James, a man whose mysterious motives left an indelible mark on our band of high school misfits. No guests share the mic with me this week, but the memory of Father James and the lessons from that fateful night stand in testimony to a time when trust was a currency as valuable as the contraband we carried.

As we peel back the layers of growing up Irish Catholic in America, I offer a prayer for Father James and ponder the peculiar traditions that shaped the Strangest Generation to which I belong. It’s a snapshot of a subculture steeped in strictures, a reflection on the rites of passage that come with navigating the treacherous waters of adolescence. So, pull up a chair, lend an ear, and get ready for a tale that bridges the gap between the sacred and the profane, all within the hallowed walls of a Catholic school dance.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

So I'm taking you back to 1975-1976. I'm 16. I'm shipped out to a Catholic high school out of my neighborhood for disciplinary reasons. Think I need to get some hard-ass discipline. Plus, they kept telling my parents that I was smart, even though I did not even try at all at school, never got good grades, never took any standardized tests seriously. Me and my buddy Suki, when we had those standardized tests in the big auditorium we would race to see who could finish first and we never even read a question. We would just circle with a number two pencil every bubble till the end of the test and not read one question. And not read one question. Somehow somebody said that I could be smart and somehow I got accepted into this college prep Catholic disciplinary high school. So I go there against my will.

Speaker 1 1:30

But let me cut ahead because it's a lot of detail. So I'm there for a couple years and they have a dance. I'm going to school. These kids are rich, they got money, but they don't know shit about drugs. So they have a dance. So I decide I'm going to go to this dance. We're going to get out there. I had to take like three buses to get out there. Hitchhiker, my dad had to drive me. I'm going to take a couple of guys, public school guys from my neighborhood, and I'm going to go out to this dance and I'm going to bring an ounce of pot and I'm going to, you know, sell some joints, smoke some pot, meet some girls, drink a little bit.

Speaker 1 2:21

The auditorium in the high school and there's a priest at the door and I'm going to tell you his name right now Father James. And he's like security Big dude, always busted my balls. He taught English, always had a peculiar interest in me. I don't know what the what it was, but so he says to me, before I go on the dance, he says look, I'm going to tell you right now. I know who you are, I know what you do. I want you to give me whatever you're holding. Give it to me. I don't want it coming in the dance and I promise you I will give it back to you. I got an ounce of pot, 75, 76, this could be a big deal. So I'm like I got nothing, father, what are you talking about? And he's like look, I know you got something. And if I find out, when you get in, pass this door. And you get in there and I find out you got it, the cops are coming, but if you give it to me now, I'll give it back to you and you won't have sold any of it. You won't have sold any of it, you won't have smoked any of it, you won't have endangered the Catholics in our dance. Just give it to me.

Speaker 1 3:56

So I'm like geez, I don't know what to do. Can I trust this dude? I know I owe somebody this money for the spot. I didn't pay for it. They got front. What to do? Can I trust this dude? I know I owe somebody this money for this pot. I didn't pay for it. They got fronted to me.

Speaker 1 4:12

So I make a decision. I go okay, I'll give it to you and I give him the pot, and he lets me in, he lets my buddies in and we meet a few chicks, we have some fun. We, you know, dance a little bit, but it really wasn't our thing. My guys didn't fit in. We're out in, like the suburbs where we don't belong. So it's time to leave.

Speaker 1 4:48

So I say to Father James, we're going now, you going to give me that stuff back. He's like yeah, I'll give it back to you, but not now. I'm like what are you talking about? I owe money on this stuff. You got to give it back to me. This was a mistake. He said no, I'll get back to you. I'll get back to you on Monday when you come to school. And I'm a kid, I'm perplexed, I don't know what to do. Is he going to call the cops? Why is he doing this? Why did he, he ask? Why did he take it? Why did I give it to him? So I sweat it out over the weekend.

Speaker 1 5:31

I go to school on Monday and I go to English class and he says to me I want you to come up to my office after class and we're going to talk about this pot. I'm like, father James, you've got to understand something. You know, this is serious business. I've got to get that shit back. I owe money on this stuff. He's like well, you get it back, but you got to come up to my office.

Speaker 1 6:03

Now, this was a school that had dormitories where kids lived. It was a big athletic kind of school where they recruited athletes and had dormitories and the priests, the Franciscans, lived on campus and you know, know, it was really some Catholic shit big time. So I'm like alright, I'll come up to your office and his office was like his bedroom where he lived. So after class I go up and this dude's a big guy, I'm a little kid, tough kid, but little kid. So he says have a seat, I sit down. He sits down, we're in chairs, downward cheers across from each other, and I said you're gonna give me that stuff back? He's like yeah, I'm gonna give it back, but first of all I wanna teach you a little lesson. I'm like okay, go ahead, teach the lesson. What is it? The Bible, what is it? Did Jesus talk about pot? What is the lesson?

Speaker 1 7:29

Father James, I owe this Italian dude like 60 bucks. What's the lesson? And he looks at me and he says this is going to sound really weird, but I promise you there's a point to it and you'll understand the point. But I want you to take your clothes off. Hey, my name's John. This is Baby Boomer. It's the Strangest Generation episode, I think six, and thank you for all your support, all the people that listen, and if you want to hear the rest of this one, I'm going to tell you. It's like there should be a disclaimer, because it's a little weird.

Speaker 1 8:25

So the guy says take your clothes off and when you're done, you'll understand why I asked you to do this. I'm like Father James, I ain't taking my fucking clothes off. He's like, well then, you ain't getting your pot back, so we go at it for 20 minutes. I'm not taking my clothes off. He's like nothing's going to happen, I'm not going to touch you. Blah, blah, blah, going on and on. He's got the pot. He's showing it to me, saying, here it is. But you'll see, I'm making a point About you and your body. Dude gets up, friggin' locks the door. Right, I'm a skinny little kid, I don't know what the frig to do.

Speaker 1 9:23

So he goes go on in the bedroom, take your clothes off, come back out and sit down. I'm like shit man, what the fuck? What am I going to do? You know, shit man, what the fuck? What am I going to do? Yeah, what am I going to do? So I get up, I walk by him, I go into the bedroom, I close the door, I'm sweating it out and I decided I gotta take my fucking clothes off, right? But I notice MF-er is not gonna touch me, right, I'll go this far, get this shit back. And as I'm in the bedroom, I notice this box on the dresser, this like wooden, like, say like a cigar box or you know humidor or something. I open up the box, open the lid and I I see it's full of friggin' money, right, Full of money. Just put that in your back pocket, it'll come back. Take my clothes off. I walk out.

Speaker 1 10:50

I walk past the dude. He says sit down. I sit down on this leather chair. I'm freaking 16 and naked in front of a grown-ass Catholic freaking priest who's extorting me in some kind of way and I need that bag back. And I need that bag back. So I say okay, what's your freaking point? What's the point? What is the point of me sitting in front of you naked?

Speaker 1 11:27

And he goes into this fucking complete bullshit story about how my body, if you break it down into all the essential elements and it's only worth $12.58. And I'm like what the fuck are you talking about? What are you talking about? At this point I realize this is just bullshit. This guy ain't got no lesson to teach me. He's got no biblical banter to talk about. He wants to see my friggin' ass. That's it Right. So I've had it. He sees I've had it. I said that's all you got, that's it. He says yes, I just wanted to tell you that your body is a sacred temple and you shouldn't pollute it with the drugs that you're taking marijuana. So I I'm putting my freaking clothes back on. I walk by him. I saw, I turned back, the son of a bitch was looking at my ass when I walked by. I go in the bedroom, I put my clothes on, all right, I come out, I go give me the weed. He gives it to me, I put it in my boot, I walk out. Now you know, if you listen to like Oprah or Dr Phil, this should have been a traumatic experience in my life that would cause nightmares and PTSD and all kinds of stuff. But in reality it wasn't anything like that. I wasn't raped. This dude was a weirdo freak, except that I wanted revenge. He gives me a pot. I leave Next day.

Speaker 1 13:49

I'm in math class or whatever, and I know where he is. He's teaching an English class class or whatever, and I know where he is. He's teaching an English class. So I raised my hand. I said teacher, I gotta go to the bathroom. Teacher, teacher goes, okay, go on.

Speaker 1 14:04

And I go down to father James's English class and I knock on the door and he's in the middle of a lesson, teaching these kids, and I say in front of everybody, really like inappropriately loud, I say, father James, remember when you called me up to your office yesterday and gave me a lecture? He's like yeah. He's like yeah. Now he's getting nervous. I said well, you know, I think I left a notebook there and it had some homework in it that is due right now. So you need to give me the keys to your office, to your, and I'm gonna go up and grab my notebook. That is too new, right away that I was fucking with him. He knew right away. But he had no choice. He's in front of 30 students. I could say whatever I wanted, but but I'm getting a darn key or I'm going to start talking loud. So he's half-shaking. He gives me the key. I said I'll be right back with the key.

Speaker 1 15:34

I go up there, unlock the door, head right to that cigar box and clean that friggin' box out of money. Took every friggin' cent, every dollar, every 20, every 10. Forget how much it was. You know back then if it was 200 or 300 bucks. It was a lot of money. But I don't want to say I robbed him because I didn't. I just got revenge and I knew he couldn't say anything about it because the son of a bitch was trying to rape me. But I wasn't having. It Came back, my pockets are stuffed with money. I got no notebook, no, nothing. He knows what I did. I give him the keys, I give him a smirk, I said thank you, father James, thank you so much, and I walk out. So I got this money. I go back home, back to my neighborhood. They tell my buddies the story and we are laughing. We're laughing so hard at this guy.

Strictly Raised Irish Catholic

Speaker 1 16:51

And as the years go on, I'm in high school, I start hearing from other dudes, young kids, that they got called to Father James' office and I'm like, well, I got called there, what did he do? And they would tell me the story. But there was no box. After I got that one, there was no box of money and I don't know what happened to these kids. But I know the history of what's happened, what's come out about the Catholic Church and priests and young boys, and I can't imagine what happened to some of these kids that didn't have the kind of street savvy I did and maybe could have been pushed around. Like I said, they were rich kids, they weren't exposed to weirdos and guys that I was exposed to in my neighborhood. So I knew how to handle this cat. But I don't know if they got raped or what happened. But I know that I got my money, I got my revenge. I don't have nightmares. I don't need a therapist, I'm not suing the Catholic Church, and I graduated out of that school barely. I wasn't even allowed to go to the graduation. I was suspended at the time, but I stayed Catholic for a long time and then when this bombshell hit about maybe 10 years ago with all the Catholic priest rapists, I had it, I was done.

Speaker 1 19:07

I was raised really strictly Irish Catholic, which is a whole friggin' culture unto itself that exists in America that a lot of people don't even recognize as a subculture. But it is a really really strange way to grow up. And you know what? Father James, god bless you. I pray for you. You are a sick MF-er and I hope to God you never hurt anybody. And that's it. Check in next week. I'm John Baby Boomer. It's the Strangest Generation, thank you.