Shed love a cup of tea but theres no way of boiling the water till Malachy
pulls a loose board off the wall between the two upstairs rooms.Mam says,
Well, tis off now and we might as well chop it up for the fire.We boil the
water and use the rest of the wood for the morning tea but what about
tonight and tomorrow and ever after? Mam says, One more board from
that wall, one more and not another one. She says that for two weeks till
theres nothing left but the beam frame.She warns us we are not to touch
the beams for they hold up the ceiling and the house itself.
Oh, wed never touch the beams.
She goes to see Grandma and its so cold in the house I take the
hatchet to one of the beams. Malachy cheers me on and Michael claps
his hands with excitement. I pull on the beam, the ceiling groans and
down on Mams bed theres a shower of plaster,slates,rain.Malachy says,
Oh,God,well all be killed,and Michael dances around singing,Frankie
broke the house, Frankie broke the house.
We run through the rain to tell Mam the news. She looks puzzled
with Michael chanting, Frankie broke the house, till I explain theres a
hole in the house and its falling down. She says, Jesus, and runs through
the streets with Grandma trying to keep up.
Mam sees her bed buried under plaster and slates and pulls at her
hair,Whatll we do at all, at all? and screams at me for interfering with
the beams. Grandma says, Ill go to the landlords office and tell them
fix this before ye are all drowned entirely.
Shes back in no time with the rent man. He says, Great God in
heaven, wheres the other room?
Grandma says,What room?
I rented ye two rooms up here and one is gone.Where is that room?
Mam says,What room?
There were two rooms up here and now theres one.And what hap-
pened to the wall? There was a wall. Now theres no wall. I distinctly
remember a wall because I distinctly remember a room. Now where is
that wall? Where is that room?
Grandma says, I dont remember a wall and if I dont remember a
wall how can I remember a room?
Ye dont remember? Well,I remember.Forty years a landlords agent
and I never seen the likes of this. By God, tis a desperate situation alto-
gether when you cant turn your back but tenants are not paying their
rent and making walls and rooms disappear on top of it. I want to know
where that wall is and what ye did with the room, so I do.
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