where, dripping from His head, His hands, His feet, and a big hole near His belly. Dad says I’ll understand when I grow up. He tells me that all the time now and I want to be big like him so that I can understand every- thing. It must be lovely to wake up in the morning and understand everything.I wish I could be like all the big people in the church,stand- ing and kneeling and praying and understanding everything. At the Mass people go up to the altar and the priest puts something into their mouths.They come back to their seats with their heads down, their mouths moving.Malachy says he’s hungry and he wants some,too. Dad says, Shush, that’s Holy Communion, the body and blood of Our Lord. But, Dad. Shush, it’s a mystery. There’s no use asking more questions. If you ask a question they tell you it’s a mystery, you’ll understand when you grow up, be a good boy, ask your mother, ask your father, for the love o’ Jesus leave me alone, go out and play. Dad  gets  his  first  job  in  Limerick  at  the  cement  factory  and  Mam is  happy. She won’t have to stand in the queue at the St.Vincent de Paul Society asking for clothes and boots for Malachy and me. She says it’s  not  begging, it’s  charity, but  Dad  says  it’s  begging  and  shameful. Mam  says  she  can  now  pay  off  the  few  pounds  she  owes  at  Kath- leen  O’Connell’s shop and she can pay back what she owes her own mother. She hates to be under obligation to anyone, especially her own mother. The cement factory is miles outside Limerick and that means Dad has to be out of the house by six in the morning. He doesn’t mind because he’s used to the long walks.The night before Mam makes him a flask of tea, a sandwich, a hard-boiled egg. She feels sorry for him the way he has to walk three miles out and three miles back.A bicycle would be handy but you’d have to be working a year for the price of it. Friday is payday and Mam is out of the bed early,cleaning the house and singing. 108