. . .
Malachy watched them leave. Im in a desperate pickle, he told Joey
Cacciamani.
Bet your ass, said Joey. I see them babes comin at me I jump inna
Hudson River.
Malachy considered the pickle he was in. He had a few dollars in
his pocket from the last job and he had an uncle in San Francisco or one
of the other California Sans.Wouldnt he be better off in California, far
from the great-breasted MacNamara sisters and their grim husbands?
He would, indeed, and hed have a drop of the Irish to celebrate his
decision and departure. Joey poured and the drink nearly took the lin-
ing off Malachys gullet. Irish, indeed! He told Joey it was a Prohibition
concoction from the devils own still.Joey shrugged.I dont know noth-
ing. I only pour. Still, it was better than nothing and Malachy would
have another and one for yourself, Joey, and ask them two decent Ital-
ians what theyd like and what are you talking about, of course, I have
the money to pay for it.
He awoke on a bench in the Long Island Railroad Station, a cop
rapping on his boots with a nightstick,his escape money gone,the Mac-
Namara sisters ready to eat him alive in Brooklyn.
On the feast of St. Joseph, a bitter day in March, four months after the
knee-trembler, Malachy married Angela and in August the child was
born. In November Malachy got drunk and decided it was time to reg-
ister the childs birth. He thought he might name the child Malachy,
after himself, but his North of Ireland accent and the alcoholic mum-
ble confused the clerk so much he simply entered the name Male on
the certificate.
Not until late December did they take Male to St. Pauls Church to
be baptized and named Francis after his fathers father and the lovely
saint of Assisi.Angela wanted to give him a middle name,Munchin,after
the patron saint of Limerick but Malachy said over his dead body. No
son of his would have a Limerick name. Its hard enough going through
life with one name. Sticking on middle names was an atrocious Amer-
ican habit and there was no need for a second name when youre chris-
tened after the man from Assisi.
17