Koesler, tall and standing in the elevated sanctuary immediately facing the middle aisle, had the best of vantages for what was happening. Which was all to the good, since he would be called upon many times to testify as to what did happen.
As Koesler saw it:
An imposing figure at the opposite end of the church, having entered the outer door, had exploded through the inner door, simultaneously wailing in some foreign sound or tongue.
The new arrival wore an oversize hat above a cloth coat over a dress. Its cry was in the mezzo-soprano range. Thus Koesler settled on female.
Just inside the church, she cried out again. She swung her right arm in a lateral arc. Her hand caught Father Reichert at the temple. His glasses flew to his right as he tumbled head over heels into the empty pew behind him.
Father may have made some sound. If he had, it was well covered by the woman’s unrelenting shrieks.
She headed up the middle aisle in a vaguely serpentine movement. Though in constant motion, she made slow forward progress.
Her near lethal-right hand now covered the unlikely expanse of her left chest, which, in turn, may have contained her heart.
The congregation’s reaction reminded Koesler of a scene from The Producers, wherein, at the conclusion of the first act of Springtime for Hitler, the audience sat silent in open-mouthed shock.
He glanced at the family. David and Judith looked at each other. Koesler could not actually hear the words, but it was easy to read their lips. “Aunt Sophie!”
Who would have thought it? Saved by Aunt Sophie!
The figure was now no more than thirty or forty feet from the sanctuary and Father Koesler. Either this was a woman or a burly teamster in drag. But, then, she had already been identified by her nephew and her niece.
She paused momentarily and regarded Koesler. “Goy!” At least that’s what he thought she said.
“My brother!” she wailed. Whatever tongue she had been using, she was in English now. “My baby brother! What have they done to you?”
She stood at the side of the open casket and addressed the dead man.
“Look where you are, Moe!” She turned her head back and forth, this way and that, looking at his surroundings.
Koesler studied the remarkable movement of her neck. Was she going to do a 360-degree turn, a la Linda Blair?
“See,” she continued, “you wear the shroud. But where are you?! Look at these statues. You should be where only a Star of David is hung. Oh, Moe, your widow”-she all but spat out the word-“did this! But I’ll make it right. Oh, yes, I will!”
In one significant step, she closed the gap that separated her from her niece and her nephew. She bent at the knees, put her arms around David and Judith, and picked them up. Their feet no longer touched the ground. Effortlessly she carried the two to the spot she had just abandoned. She did not put them down as she explained to her brother that it surely could not have been the doing of his children that caused him to be lying here in the enemy’s camp.
Meanwhile, David and Judith, faces buried in Aunt Sophie’s cushiony breasts, were struggling for air. Fortunately, her bosom was firm enough that their faces had not disappeared entirely. Gradually, they worked their heads around enough so that they could breathe out of the sides of their mouths.
As Aunt Sophie continued her exculpation of Moe’s children, she began to sway back and forth. As this motion increased apace with her deepening emotions, her body began to bump the casket repeatedly until it began to rock gently-almost like a cradle.
David was the first of the two smothering youngsters to clear his profile from Sophie’s nonsuckling bosom. What he saw caused him to do a doubletake.
Pulling his head back far enough to see that his sister also had freed her air passages, he nodded toward the casket. “Look!”
Judith chose only to breathe again. It had become a luxury.
“Look!” David insisted.
Judith pulled her head free of Aunt Sophie’s hold. She looked. “His eyes are open!”
Their faces were only inches apart, so they had no trouble communicating.
“That’s right,” David, stunned, affirmed.
Judith tried to stay calm. She thought for a few moments. “Doesn’t this happen sometimes? I mean, people die in a certain position. Then, later, the body snaps back to that position. I never heard of one opening its eyes … but … it is possible, don’t you think?” Even with her own rationalization, she could not force herself to look again at those open eyes.
But David continued to observe. “Did you ever hear of a dead man blinking?” Fear was evident in David’s voice.
Judith, finding a strength she did not know she had, pushed herself totally free of Aunt Sophie’s grasp. “He’s alive!” she shrieked, drowning out even Sophie. “He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s alive!”
Others, with no real knowledge of what they were shouting about, took up the cry. “He’s alive!” “He’s alive!” So far only Judith and David had witnessed the marvel of the blinking eyes. Even Sophie didn’t know what this was all about. She was busy looking around at everything but her brother’s body.
Koesler, bewildered, stood rooted to his central location. He could not see what Green’s children saw.
Sophie, her niece, and her still-captive nephew, stood at the sanctuary side of the coffin. Everyone else occupied the body of the church.
At the crescendoing shouts of “He’s alive!” the crowd surged forward. As they moved, they began to press against the casket. The wheeled bier, along with its cargo, inched sideways directly into Sophie.
Slowly, Sophie slid down, with the casket inexorably pressing upon her. As she hit the floor, the bier tipped over and the body tumbled out of the casket and onto Sophie.
Moe, still in his shroud, and Sophie, still in her hat, were chest to chest, eyeball to eyeball. Moe blinked.
“He’s alive!” Sophie screamed. “He’s alive! He’s alive!”
And Moe, shroud and all, rolled off Sophie onto the floor.
By this time there was no possible way Koesler could get close to the scene. The pileup of bodies steadily increased as those in the rear continued to press forward. Those who had been in front were now mainly on the floor at the bottom of the pile.
Koesler stood rooted, murmuring, “Wow …! Wow …! Wow …!”
Pat Lennon extracted herself from the pile. She took a cellular phone from her purse and placed a brief call. She then made her way to Koesler’s side. “I called 911,” she said. “Don’t you think we should get these people out of this pile? Somebody’s liable to get hurt.”
“Yes, yes … good idea.” Koesler regained leadership.
The reestablishment of order became the prime concern. Those at the rear backed away and began peeling people from the pile. Eventually, everyone was upright. By general unspoken consensus, the crowd was giving way to the family and Koesler.
“Moe!” Margie said.
“Pop!” David said.
“Daddy!” Judith said.
“Dr. Green!” Koesler said.
“A miracle! A miracle! My eyes have seen the glory! A miracle!” Father Reichert said.
Koesler looked over his shoulder. The crowd had deferred to the only other priest present. Father Reichert’s wire-rimmed glasses were bent out of shape and sat askew on his face. His wispy hair was mussed. There was a wild look to his eyes. He was on his knees as he repeated, “A miracle! Now you may dismiss your servant in peace! A miracle!”
As fascinating as was Father Reichert’s reaction, especially considering his earlier attitude toward this wake, Koesler had weightier matters to consider. But before he or any of the family had time to make heads or tails of what had happened, the EMS crew arrived.
Paramedics generally claim that within a few weeks-months at most-after joining EMS they will have seen everything. But this evening, every one of them agreed this was new territory.
One of the crew had attended more than one Jewish funeral. He recognized the burial shroud, especially since the coffin, lying on its side, was right there. Obviously, the casket had tipped over. And obviously the corpse had spilled out. That was unusual. But stranger still, the corpse was alive. It was blinking its eyes and making sounds.
The paramedic explained the situation to the others, concluding, “… so what in hell do we do?”
A second crew member offered, “Take him to Receiving, I suppose.”
“Maybe we should take him to the morgue?” the first asked.
“He ain’t dead.”
“Well, he was. They were getting ready to bury him.”
“Just think of what you’re saying!”
“Well, it ain’t up to us. Doc Moellmann can say whether he’s dead or alive or something in between.”
“N-n-n-n …” Dr. Green said.
“What?”
“N-n-n-n …”
“He’s trying to say something,” the crew member said. “Cut the shroud so he can move his mouth better.”
The shroud was slit.
“No!” Green said, with as much insistence as he could muster.
“No what, Moe?” Margie asked.
“No … hospital.”
“You really ought to go to the hospital, Pop,” David said.
All things considered, thought Koesler, the family was holding up very well. At least no one had fainted; that was a mercy. Taking care of someone seemingly dead but now alive was quite enough without anyone else’s needing attention.
“No … hospital!” It was evident that speech was extremely difficult for Green. It seemed to take every ounce of effort for him to produce just the two words.
Considering the difficulty he had in speaking, it seemed safe to assume he really did not want to be taken to the hospital-for whatever reason.
“Where to, Pop?” asked David.
Green tried to talk. His lips trembled, but nothing escaped.
“Where do you want to go, Moe?” Margie asked. “We can’t stay here. We’ve got to take care of you.” She looked deeply into his eyes. He seemed to be attempting some form of communication. Perhaps ESP. “Home?” Margie asked.
Green appeared to relax. He nodded.
“Then it’s home,” Margie said.
“I don’t think so,” said the EMS crewman.
“What?”
“We don’t take people home. Just to the hospital.”
Margie was annoyed. “Then we’ll get an ambulance. Young lady …” She addressed Pat Lennon. “… would you please call an ambulance service?”
“Sure.” And Lennon did.
“Lady,” the EMS man said, “takin’ him home might not be your smartest move. This guy needs some attention …. I mean, he was gonna get buried.”
“He’s a doctor, a physician,” Margie said angrily. “He wants to go home. Any law against that?”
He shrugged. “You’re the boss.” The EMS crew gathered its paraphernalia and left.
While giving the family and the two priests room to breathe, many in the crowd continued to jockey for a better vantage. Some few stood apart, feeding on the rumors and sightings of those up front. At least no one was shouting or shoving now.
Aunt Sophie, by this time, had regained her feet and was regaling a captivated audience with her essential role in these truly extraordinary events. It was, she insisted, her voice that had penetrated her brother’s lifeless ears and called him back from the dead.
As the EMS crew packed up to leave, Sophie became aware that decisions were being made-decisions that lacked her input. This was not acceptable. By anyone’s measure, she was the moving force in this drama; but for her, Moe would be proceeding toward his grave. “Why,” she demanded, “is Moe not being taken to the hospital?”
“Because,” Judith said, “he doesn’t want to go.”
“Doesn’t want to go! Then where-?”
“We’re taking him home,” Margie said testily. “That’s where he wants to go.”
Sophie pondered that for a very few moments. “Okay, that makes sense. He’ll be hungry. I’ll fix him some soup. You got any chicken, Margie? Never mind; there must be a butcher shop in this god-awful city. It won’t be kosher. But that’s okay … I’ll fix it.”
Margie chewed on her lip. She wasn’t going to say what she felt like saying. Finally she said firmly, “David, make sure your Aunt Sophie has a place to stay for tonight. One of the downtown hotels should be all right. And arrange for her air transportation back home tomorrow. That’s a good boy.”
“What?!” Sophie exploded.
David winced. The battle was joined. And he was monkey in the middle.
Father Reichert was oblivious to this or any other distraction. He had his miracle and it had driven him to his knees in silent awe.
Father Koesler moved far enough apart so that while he could not shut out the angry voices entirely, he was at least not pulled into the dispute. Pat Lennon crossed to his side. With him, she stood staring at Sophie and Margie. “Who’s going to win this one?”
“No doubt whatever,” said Koesler. “Mrs. Green.”
“I don’t know; that aunt seems like a pretty dogged dame.”
Koesler smiled briefly. “You are not acquainted with Mrs. Green, then.”
“Only at various celebrity functions. You have a different experience with her?” She flipped open her notebook and stood with poised pen.
Koesler looked pointedly at her reporter’s tools. “This is just what I most feared would happen.”
“Father,” Lennon said reasonably, “face it: This is a major news story. This could be the greatest thing since Lazarus. There’s nothing you can do to stop it; it’s going to be reported.”
“Oh, I know that. That isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“Oh?”
“I was on a bit of thin ice when I agreed this afternoon to permit the wake in church. The understanding was that everything would be low key, brief, to the point and, most of all, over speedily. The considerable size of this crowd was a major surprise. But this …” He gestured toward the central scene, where, with Margie cradling her husband, it was beginning to resemble a secular Pieta… marred, of course, by the angrily contesting women.
“I know this is going to be reported,” he said. “I suppose we’re only minutes away from being invaded by a whole slew of reporters-TV and radio people. That will complicate things for me. But the reporting of this incident is not what I meant when I said I was scared of what might happen. The incident-any incident that would call attention to what I kind of reluctantly consented to-that’s what I was afraid might happen. And it has-in spades.
“But …” Koesler smiled at Lennon. “… I really couldn’t ask for a better reporter to be first with this story than you.”
He meant it. As the first reporter on the scene and the only one actually present during the event, it was Lennon’s story. She knew how to run with it.
Her record spoke of her professionalism and capability. If there was more than one side to a story, she covered each side. She would not exaggerate for the story’s sake. On top of everything else, she could write correct English. Koesler was fortunate this would be her story. And he knew it.
Without including any detail he judged to be of a private or privileged nature, Koesler gave Lennon the basic facts. The reason for the request for the parochial wake. The Catholicism of widow and children. That none but the redoubtable Aunt Sophie, from the deceased’s side of the family, was likely to attend. The search for direction from Church law.
And the agreement to keep it simple.
Koesler watched as Lennon scribbled. He knew just enough to know that what she was writing was not standard script. Nonetheless he envied her ability to use any form of shorthand. That, coupled with a good ear for speech patterns and dialects, added to her accuracy.
As if on cue, the ambulance arrived just as Koesler concluded his account. Lennon thanked him and, in parting, added, “Now, let’s see if my calling EMS and the ambulance gets me a ride with the family.”
She entered the inner circle and said a few words to Mrs. Green, who hesitated briefly, then nodded.
The ambulance and two cars sped off. The ambulance carried Dr. and Mrs. Green and Pat Lennon. One car contained Judith, the other, David and Aunt Sophie, whose pride was sore afflicted.
The thought occurred to Koesler that he might lock up the church and take refuge in the rectory before the media arrived. The thought died aborning. There was no sign that the spectators were anywhere close to leaving the scene of tonight’s circus. Especially since no sooner was the ambulance out of sight than the TV crews arrived and headed directly for Koesler as the figure in charge. The TV crews had actually been preceded by members of the print and radio media. But the pecking order was established and pretty much followed.
Koesler did his best to answer their not-well-phrased questions. None of them seemed to know exactly what he or she was looking for.
As the reporters spread out through the church interviewing eyewitnesses, the word “miracle” was uttered with abandon. Later, on the ten and eleven o’clock newscasts, some anchors would tease their way into the story by labeling it “The Miracle on Jay Street.” The tag would be copied by some of the newspapers and radio stations.
Eventually and mercifully, the media as well as the crowd began to thin. At last Koesler could lock up after an evening he would never forget. He wanted to believe that somehow his role in all this was close to over. He knew this was wishful thinking.
He passed among the pews-empty. He searched the nooks and crannies-empty. The only other person still in the church was Dan Reichert, who stood, head bowed, where earlier he had knelt to do reverence to the “miracle.”
In truth, his constant reference to it as a miracle was the major source of the media’s loose use of the term. In the news reports tonight and tomorrow morning, Father Daniel Reichert, a senior priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, would be quoted as stating that this was, indeed, a miracle. Over and over the statement would be attributed to him.
But Koesler was unaware of the media’s glomming on to Father Reichert’s buzzword. Right now Koesler’s principal aim was to clear the church and lock up. “How about it, Dan … let’s call it a day. We need some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be hectic.”
Reichert wheeled on Koesler. “You bet it’s going to be hectic,” he barked. “We’ve got an appointment with the Cardinal tomorrow morning at nine in the Chancery. You’d better be there. You’ve got a lot to answer for.”
“What!?” Koesler was amazed. “After what happened here tonight? Why, you were the one who said this was a miracle! Besides, nobody informed me about a meeting.”
“They probably left a message-you’d know if you took your calls or checked with your answering service. I talked to the head of the Curia. He agreed that the Cardinal would want to clear this up personally. Monsignor is the one who set the meeting.”
“You mean after what happened here tonight, you want to rehash all this stuff about having the wake in church?”
“You should never have agreed to it. Never! You were wrong, and the fact that a miracle came of it doesn’t justify your decision. You’re going to pay for that!” He stormed out of the church.
Koesler, shoulders slumped, stood in the sanctuary. He had been counting on the only rainbow he could find in this storm: At least he would be spared the confrontation with Dan Reichert. Now …?
Now he would lock up and retreat to his room. He was so exhausted he would have retired well before the late newscasts. But tonight he would be the star of the show.
Tomorrow morning that star had a very good chance of being drawn into a black hole.