on his lap. He says,This is a sad little fella, and makes funny faces and silly sounds. Malachy and I laugh but Eugene only reaches up to touch the blackness of Pa Keating’s skin, and then when Pa pretends to bite his little hand, Eugene laughs and everyone in the room laughs. Malachy goes to Eugene and tries to make him laugh even more but Eugene turns away and hides his face in Pa Keating’s shirt. I think he likes me, says Pa, and that’s when Aunt Aggie puts down her teacup and starts to bawl,Waah, waah, waah, big teardrops tumbling down her fat red face. Aw, Jesus, says Grandma, there she is again.What’s up with you this time? And Aunt Aggie blubbers,To see Pa there with a child on his lap an’ me with no hope of having my own. Grandma barks at her, Stop talkin’ like that in front of the children. Have you no shame? When God is good and ready He’ll send you your family. Aunt Aggie sobs, Angela with five born an’ one just gone an’ her so useless she couldn’t scrub a floor an’ me with none an’ I can scrub an’ clean with the best and make any class of a stew or a fry. Pa Keating laughs, I think I’ll keep this little fella. Malachy runs to him. No, no, no.That’s my brother, that’s Eugene. And I say, No, no, no, that’s our brother. Aunt Aggie pats the tears on her cheeks. She says, I don’t want nothing of Angela’s. I don’t want nothing that’s half  Limerick and half North of Ireland, so I don’t, so ye can take him home. I’ll have me own someday if I have to do a hundred novenas to the Virgin Mary and her mother, St.Ann, or if I have to crawl from here to Lourdes on me two bended knees. Grandma  says, That’s  enough. Ye  have  had  yeer  porridge  and  ’tis time to go home and see if yeer father and mother are back from the hospital. She puts on her shawl and goes to pick up Eugene but he clutches so hard at Pa Keating’s shirt she has to pull him away though he keeps looking back at Pa till we’re out the door. We followed Grandma back to our room. She put Eugene in the bed and gave him a drink of water. She told him to be a good boy and go 73