ens to drag me to the priest, the bishop, the Pope himself if he lived
around the corner. She cuts bread and waves the knife at me and makes
sandwiches of brawn and cold potatoes.
Take these sandwiches to Bill Galvin and if you even look cross-
eyed at them Ill skin your hide.
Of course she runs to Mam and they agree the only way I can make
up for my terrible sin is to deliver Bill Galvins dinner for a fortnight
without pay. Im to bring back the can every day and that means I have
to sit watching him stuff the food into his gob and hes not one that
would ever ask you if you had a mouth in your head.
Every day I take the can back Grandma makes me kneel to the
statue of the Sacred Heart and tell Him Im sorry and all this over Bill
Galvin, a Protestant.
Mam says, Im a martyr for the fags and so is your father.
There may be a lack of tea or bread in the house but Mam and Dad
always manage to get the fags, the Wild Woodbines.They have to have
the Woodbines in the morning and anytime they drink tea.They tell us
every day we should never smoke, its bad for your lungs, its bad for
your chest, it stunts your growth, and they sit by the fire puffing away.
Mam says, If tis a thing I ever see you with a fag in your gob Ill break
your face. They tell us the cigarettes rot your teeth and you can see
theyre not lying.The teeth turn brown and black in their heads and fall
out one by one. Dad says he has holes in his teeth big enough for a spar-
row to raise a family. He has a few left but he gets them pulled at the
clinic and applies for a false set.When he comes home with the new
teeth he shows his big new white smile that makes him look like an
American and whenever he tells us a ghost story by the fire he pushes
the lower teeth up beyond his lip to his nose and frightens the life out
of us. Mams teeth are so bad she has to go to Barringtons Hospital to
have them all pulled at the same time and when she comes home shes
holding at her mouth a rag bright with blood. She has to sit up all night
by the fire because you cant lie down when your gums are pumping
blood or youll choke in your sleep. She says shell give up smoking
entirely when this bleeding stops but she needs one puff of a fag this
minute for the comfort thats in it. She tells Malachy go to Kathleen
OConnells shop and ask her would she ever let her have five Wood-
bines till Dad collects the dole on Thursday. If anyone can get the fags
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