Two Weeks Since My Last Confession Author:Kate Genovese Molly O'Brien slid her frail body into the last pew of the Arch Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Several members of the congregation gave her critical looks as she knelt down to pray. She was late for Mass, the gospel had already started, and Molly had been told many times in her youth to never arrive after the gospel lesson had beg... more »un. Her mother had drilled that into all the O'Brien children at an early age; Mass wouldn't count, in God's eyes, if one missed the gospel. Molly leaned back in her seat after kneeling and saying a quick prayer. She looked around at the congregation and wondered what really brought her to church. Safety, she thought, and warmth. It was a blustery cold November morning. She was homeless, hungry and malnourished. She had bruises on the side of her face and an open gash on the top of her head that had finally stopped bleeding. Molly had fought with her boyfriend Charlie the night before. He had been drunk, hit her across the face and thrown a beer bottle at her head. He wouldn't let her leave the apartment to get help. But when he finally passed out, Molly grabbed her backpack and what little belongings she had and fled the apartment. It was the third time he had injured her, and she knew she had to leave before he killed her. Running out the door, feeling the blood trickle down the side of her face, she knew she needed an emergency room. But she didn't want anyone to see her in that condition.« less