Carnival: You Should Have Worn Green

“Amen. May the Father watch over you on your journeys.” Father P’adraig said to the congregation.

“And to you, Father.” the congregation responded.

"Before you go please remember that today is the first day of Glas. Wear your light green." Father P'adraig said to the congregation as he made his way around the cathedral.

As everyone left, Father P'adraig sighed and muttered to himself. He reminded himself that he has to pick up Mary and Sam from soccer. He made his way to the car when he was stopped by a woman pleading to have a word with him. Saying she had a confession she must give him. He politely told her that he was needed elsewhere but Reverend Thomas lived at the end of the block. Only for the woman to plea and confess that it was about Reverend Thomas.

The soccer coach approached Mary and Sam as they were still on the bleachers two hours after practice ended. He questioned if anyone was coming or if he should take them home. Mary insisted that their dad promised to pick them up. A car pulled up to Mary's glee. But to Sam's annoyance, the window rolled down to reveal it wasn’t their father. It was the town drunk, their older brother, Rover.

Once finally home, Father P'adraig yelled at Rover for coming home drunk yet again. Rover continued to watch TV as he drank, despite his father’s yelling. Mary was curled up on her bed, fighting the urge to cry, as she wished for a happy family. Sam was sitting at the edge of his bed, trying to find the courage to defend his brother, but he just couldn't. Rover downed his drink holding his hand to his father, only maddening him more.

“Old man, you mind lowering your voice? You’re keeping the kids up.”

“Don’t pretend to care about your kin. You’re more worried about your drink being ruined.”

“That too. So why were you so late picking them up?”

“If you must know, I was doing the good Lord’s work and time escaped me. Nothing you would know about.”

“I don’t but they do.”

“I don’t like your tone, boy.”

“I don’t like your volume, da.”

After a short silent stare-off, Father P’adraig folded his arms, “I can’t keep letting you live here rent-free if you’re going to keep undermining me.”

“Yeah, okay. That threat is getting old. If you were with another woman, that’s not mom, just say so. Mary and Sam know that’s why mom left and never came back.”

Without warning, Father P’adraig gripped Rover by the collar and threw him out the door.

“Really?”

“Really. And don’t come back.”

In disbelief, Rover went to his regular bar to vent to the bartender again. The bartender did his best to comfort Rover. An hour in, Rover looked around and rolled his eyes at everyone wearing light green.

“Is everyone superstitious?”

“Isn’t everyone afraid of something?”

Rover looked over as a man in a light green suit and curly red hair sat next to him.

“I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Just passing through.”

“You’re even dressed for the occasion.”

“Heard this place has great drunks.”

“You heard right.”

“I just didn’t expect so many of my people here.”

“Your people?” Rover looked at the man confused before looking down at the countertop and going pale. The man continued drinking as Rover slowly looked into what was left of his current drink. "So... What's your name?"

"Liam Green, and yours?"

"Rover P'adraig...." he said nervously, swallowing the air.

Liam smiled, "P'adraig? You don't say?"

Sam and Mary were at their bus stop waiting to go to school when Mary looked to Sam, “Do you really think Rover won’t come back?”

“They argue all the time. Rover will get sober for like two days. Dad will let him back in. Rover will go see the bartender and comes back drunk. Dad pretends not to notice. Rover embarrasses dad in public. Rinse and repeat.”

“But when dad throws Rover out…. Rover usually comes by my window and cheers me up… He didn’t do it last night.”

“He was probably too drunk to remember to do it.”

“Okay… Hey. You're not wearing green today.”

“Yeah, so?”

“What if you get taken away, you know,” Mary looked around and whispered, “The green people.”

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes as they boarded the bus.

“Come on Sam. I don’t want you to disappear like mom.”

“Mom wasn’t taken away by some imaginary freaks that can’t see humans when they wear green. Grow up. Mom left because dad is mean.”

“The green people are real and you know it! How do you explain the people that disappear every year during Glas?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re drunks that wandered too far or people running away from gambling debts. Remember that one year we thought Rover was taken by green people? Turned out he just owed people money.”

“What about Miky from 5th grade?”

“His dad got a better job somewhere so they moved.”

“Oh…”

Sam and Mary went back and forth all morning. Lunch came around and Mary asked Sam if he wanted her green vest. He refused, claiming it was too girly. The intercom came on, calling Sam to the principal’s office. Mary told him that he should have known the teachers would notice. Sam made his way to the main office. The secretary sent him back without even looking. The principal made it clear that she wanted Sam to wear one of the green items from the lost and found. Sam made it clear that if she wanted him to do it she would have to fight him first. She tried to strike a deal with Sam. He wasn’t interested. She threatened to call his father. He jumped out the open window and ran away. She sighed but was relieved that the window was open this time.

Sam had taken refuge behind a candy shop in town. He began to hit on a dumpster to vent his frustration.

“You must be having a bad day, boy-o.”

Sam looked over to see Liam standing at the sidewalk in a slightly darker green suit than the other day. Sam spit in Liam’s direction. Liam chuckled, “A feisty kid you are. I would like to know why you’re beating on something that can’t fight back though.”

“Why do you want some?”

“Oh, you don’t want any of this.”

“Tough talk from a guy in a suit.”

“Big talk for a wee boy.”

“You’re not that much taller than me!”

“Small body and short fuse. Is everything about you underwhelming and tiny?”

Furious, Sam charged at Liam. Liam simply tripped Sam and pinned him down with his foot.

“Brute strength alone gets you nowhere. As much as I would enjoy tearing you apart, I am running late for the store.” Liam squinted thinking that Sam looked familiar.

“Boy! What are you doing bothering this well-dressed fellow?”

Father P’adraig walked up and demanded that Sam apologizes for causing trouble. Liam clarified that he saw Sam was angry and wanted to teach him a lesson. Father P’adraig told Liam that he will see to it that Sam learns that his behavior is unacceptable.

“Don’t be too hard on the boy. He‘s still young. Plenty time to learn from his mistakes.”

“I sure do hope so. Sorry again for the trouble Mr…”

“Oh, sorry about that, I am Liam Green.” he extended his hand.

“Mr. Green. I am Father P’adraig. The local…”

“The Father P’adraig?” Liam interrupted. “I have heard you are a man of great taste. But you look quite. Different from what I was told.”

“Oh why thank you. I don’t normally wear green. It looks good on you but it’s not my color.

Liam looked taken back. Father P’adraig took off his green scarf and it was as if Liam had just seen the man for the first time. “That’s. Something else.”

Sam thought Liam’s confusion was very strange. Especially noticing that Liam kept looking back every so often after they parted ways.

Sam slammed the front door and followed his father to the kitchen.

“Dad, I’m telling you there’s something weird about that Liam guy.”

“He is an adult, call him Mr.Green.”

“Did you see how he looked at you?”

“Sam! I am not going to humor you on this. Fighting students was one thing. But vandalism last week and now you forsake our culture and traditions? It’s like I don’t know you anymore.”

“You never knew me!”

“What did you just say to me?”

Sam seemed to shrink into his clothes.

“I spread the word of our good Lord every day. I put food on the table and a roof over your head. I have done everything for you. I changed your diapers. I taught you to walk. Not Rover. And here you are throwing his words in my face?”

“... well. It is true. You give us stuff but you are never around unless we make you look bad.”

“If I weren’t a holy man I would… Go to your room. You’re grounded.”

“What?!”

“No dinner. No TV. No sports or games. Nothing. School then home. Until you get your act together.”

Seeing he was on the verge of violence, Sam just went to his room where he proceeded to throw things around. Father P’adraig sighed and noticed that he had a wine bottle in his hand. He gripped it hard, tempted, but threw it against the wall. Not noticing he just barely missed his daughter’s face. Mary simply ran out into the night.

Sam woke up to his father frantically pacing while on two phones. Confused, Sam asked him what was going on. Father P’adraig explained that Mary had not returned last night and Rover was missing. He rationalized that Rover took her. Sam argued that Rover would never do that. Father P’adraig exclaimed that Sam refuses to accept it because he doesn’t want to accept that Mary was the favorite. Sam fired back claiming that Rover cared enough to have a favorite. Father P’adraig told Sam to make himself useful and help look for Mary and Sam’s brother.

Sam thought the best place to look was Rover’s regular spots. Behind the library, where he would catch Rover passed out. Empty. The bar on 7th. No Rover. The park Rover used to take him and Mary to before their mom left. Empty. The bar on 12th. Not open. The bar by the adult club. Under reconstruction. The bar with the bartender that grew up with them, only the bartender inside.

Sam asked the bartender if he had seen Rover. The bartender explained that the last time he saw Rover was two days ago, talking to “a weirdo in a green suit”. Sam starts to get worried, telling the bartender that he saw the “weirdo” and that now Mary was missing. The bartender was confused. He explained that Mary came to the bar last night with a cut on her cheek. He patched her up and told her to go straight home. Sam reiterated in a more panicked voice that Mary never came home. The bartender agreed to help look for her.

Hours had passed, nothing. Just as the bartender talked to Sam about regrouping with Father P’adraig, Sam shushed him. Sam was squinted at something in the distance that looked like a girl in a very girly green vest standing by the back of a house. “There!” Sam exclaimed as he ran for the figure. The bartender caught off guard didn’t get to see the figure and how it seemingly slinked away, hip first.

Father P’adraig sat in the confessional and began to weep. He asked God what went wrong. He questioned why things were falling apart. He questioned where his daughter could be. He questioned if he really was such a bad father that he had lost touch with his children. A question answered from the other side of the confessional, “I wouldn’t call you bad. Just blinded to their woes.”

Father P’adraig jumped out of the confessional and crawled a distance away. The confessional opened, Liam walked out. “To be honest, I am not the best judge of character though Father.”

“How did you get in here? The doors are locked.”

“Were they? I hadn’t noticed.”

Father P’adraig, looking for an exit, saw that in the mirror by the confessional, Liam had unnaturally haunting light green eyes. “What are you?!”

“I believe your people call us ‘green people’.”

“Us?”

“Yes, us.”

Father P’adraig struggled to run away, tripping over himself. Liam simply walked after humming a tune. Father P’adraig, in his panic, threw one of the iron candelabras at Liam. Once it hit Liam, he hissed. Father P’adraig looked at Liam as he heard a bubbling sound. Only to meet Liam’s eyes glowing green as his face seemed to have been burned by the candelabra. Liam growled as he went into his jacket pocket. Father P’adraig ducked into the pews.

“Don’t bother putting on that green scarf to hide from me again. I know what you look like now and we’re the only ones here. You can’t pretend to be one of us anymore.” Liam said with annoyance in his voice.

The cathedral doors began to open. Father P’adraig began to thank God as he raced to whoever was coming in. The bartender came in and immediately closed the door, calling out to the father. Father P’adraig called out to the bartender, begging him not to close the door. But it was too late. Just as the bartender closed the door, a clicking sound was heard. Both men turned their heads in the same direction. The bartender saw something shiny and yellow fly past his head. Confused, the bartender didn’t notice the sound of gargling or the thud that proceeded. He slowly turned his head to see a gold coin embedded into the wall with blood saturating it. As he hesitantly looked down, he felt a sharp pain in his head and everything went black.

The bartender slowly gained consciousness. Smelling meat and spices. Hearing the sounds of merry eating and laughter. He thought he was waking from a bad dream.

“There’s our man of the hour!” Liam exclaimed. “He can make one hell of a drink.”

The bartender’s vision started to adjust. He was in a room of people all wearing green. Either eating, drinking, or joking around. Looking down, the bartender began to scream. On the plate before him was soup with eyes in it and a carved-up arm.

“What’s wrong with you? Oh I’m sorry for nailing you back there. Slip of the wrist.” Liam joked. “Say you don’t look too good. Did we undercook the eyes?” Only then did the bartender realize that all the meat was human. He started to panic, looking around, starting to gain the attention of the other green people.

“You’re new to the area. My manners. I’m really sorry ‘bout all that gold to the head stuff but please eat up. The eyes are the best part. Come on, the Feast of Patricks is the best time of year to get together, let’s not ruin it with bad blood between brothers.”

Looking for a way out, the bartender looked up and saw the skin of humans hung up on the wall like trophies. Four of which he recognized as Rover, Mary, Sam, and Father P’adraig. “You lookin pretty flush there, brother.” Liam said as he approached, putting his hand to his head. A petite female green person leaned over the table and tasted the soup, “Tastes mighty fine. Maybe he’s shy.” A more robust male bit off the meat of an arm, “By the way, that’s a nice green vest you got there. I wish I had one that fancy but I can’t grow fancy greens like that. Just really dark shade, too much iron probably.. What's your name, brother?”

Liam paused for a second and looked the bartender in the eyes, “actually you look quite familiar. What’s your name?”