One night I didn’t brush my teeth. Brother McCormack waited until I was undressed and ready to put on my pajamas, to remind me. He grabbed me by the ear and jerked me off my feet, dragging me like a hooked fish toward the sinks across the room.
      “We brush our teeth every night, and don’t you forget it,” he snarled, as he shoved me up against a cold porcelain sink.
      Standing naked in front of a dormitory full of curious boys, I brushed my teeth. Then suddenly he had me by the ear again, and off we went to my bed. I was sure my ear was going to rip right off my head. I was thrown to the floor where I said my prayers in a darkened room under the stare of the evil Brother McCormack. Had he heard my prayer, he would have beaten me to death, and had my prayer been answered he would have vanished in a vapor, to burn in the depths of hell. Finally, I lay crying in bed waiting to hear the train whistles from across the valley.