a disgrace? till they get upstairs to Italy.They tell Mam and Dad they’re sorry to disturb them but the Society has to be sure they’re helping deserving cases. Mam offers them a cup of tea but they look around and say, No, thank you.They want to know why we’re living upstairs.They want to know about the lavatory.They ask questions because big peo- ple can ask all the questions they like and write in notebooks, especially when  they’re  wearing  collars  and  ties  and  suits. They  ask  how  old Michael is, how much Dad gets at the Labour Exchange, when did he last have a job, why doesn’t he have a job now and what class of an accent is that he has? Dad tells them the lavatory could kill us with every class of disease, that the kitchen floods in the winter and we have to move upstairs to stay dry. He says the River Shannon is responsible for all the dampness in the world and killing us one by one. Malachy tells them we’re living in Italy and they smile. Mam asks if there’s any chance of getting boots for Malachy and me and they say she’ll have to come down to Ozanam House and apply.She says she hasn’t been feeling well since the baby came and she wouldn’t be able to stand long in a queue, but they say everyone has to be treated the same, even a woman down in the Irishtown that had triplets and, thank you, we’ll make our report to the Society. When they’re leaving Malachy wants to show them where the angel left Michael on the seventh step but Dad tells him, Not now, not now. Malachy cries and one of the men gives him a piece of toffee from his pocket and I wish I had something to cry about so that I’d get a piece, too. I have to go downstairs again and show the men where to step to keep  their  feet  dry. They  keep  shaking  their  heads  and  saying,  God Almighty and Mother of God, this is desperate. That’s not Italy they have upstairs, that’s Calcutta. Dad is telling Mam up in Italy she should never beg like that. What do you mean, beg? Don’t you have any pride, begging for boots like that? And what would you do, Mr. Grand Manner? Would you let them go barefoot? I’d rather fix the shoes they have. The shoes they have are falling to pieces. I can fix them, he says. 104