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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Long</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Storied</strong> <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jose</strong> <strong>Montoya</strong> 92Even the red parrot appeared to be cocking an eyebrow in the direction <strong>of</strong> the metaphor at thispoint, <strong>and</strong> Grayley was beside himself with laughter, but still <strong>Jose</strong> sat transfixed until, with a floodingsense <strong>of</strong> relief, he heard Papa pronounce his actual blessing on the actual marriage <strong>of</strong> his daughter to<strong>Jose</strong>. His shoulders relaxed, which briefly felt good until Eudora came flying at him full-bore throughthe kitchen door <strong>and</strong> leaped into his lap with such force that <strong>Jose</strong>’s wingback chair tilted precariouslyback on two feet.If anyone in the house smelled roses at that moment, no one mentioned it.If <strong>Jose</strong>’s <strong>and</strong> Eudora’s most important wedding stipulation was that it take place soon, beforethe baby showed, the most important stipulation made by Eudora’s mother <strong>and</strong> father was that <strong>Jose</strong> be aproperly baptized Christian before the wedding <strong>and</strong> not just some rogue heathen Catholic. Rockvillewas a very small town, after all, <strong>and</strong> people took very seriously the Biblical injunction to not be yokedtogether with an unbeliever; <strong>and</strong> even if Catholics were not quite unbelievers, their idol worship alonecertainly condemned them to hell. When coupled with the fact that Rockville’s only actual priorexperience with Catholics had been the burly Baltimore & Ohio railroad crew that laid the rails thirtyyears ago, <strong>and</strong> that the swagger <strong>and</strong> swearing <strong>of</strong> that crew were permanently singed into the memory <strong>of</strong>most <strong>of</strong> the village’s inhabitants, <strong>Jose</strong>’s conversion to a true believer – whether forced, not forced, orsimply near-forced – was a foregone conclusion.Fortunately the arrival <strong>of</strong> the pair in Rockville had been on a Saturday, which meant that after asleepless night spent so close to Eudora that he was sure he could smell her – even if he had beenbedded down in the wash room, a house <strong>and</strong> a l<strong>of</strong>t away -- it was <strong>Jose</strong>’s great good fortune to findhimself <strong>and</strong> his wild hair, still unbowed <strong>and</strong> unbroken, st<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> shuffling down the aisle to thefront <strong>of</strong> the First Church <strong>of</strong> Christ Rockville the next day as the congregation mournfully worked itsway through verses one <strong>and</strong> three <strong>of</strong> “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
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