He sees small children with fair hair like Oliver.He doesnt say Ollie
anymore. He only points.
Dad says Eugene is lucky to have brothers like Malachy and me
because we help him forget and soon, with Gods help, hell have no
memory of Oliver at all.
He died anyway.
Six months after Oliver went, we woke on a mean November
morning and there was Eugene,cold in the bed beside us.Dr.Troy came
and said that child died of pneumonia and why wasnt he in the hospi-
tal long ago? Dad said he didnt know and Mam said she didnt know
and Dr.Troy said thats why children die. People dont know. He said if
Malachy or I showed the slightest sign of a cough or the faintest rattle
in the throat we were to be brought to him no matter what time of day
or night.We were to be kept dry at all times because there seemed to
be a bit of a weakness in the chest in this family. He told Mam he was
very sorry for her troubles and hed give her a prescription for some-
thing to ease the pain of the days to come. He said God was asking too
much, too damn much.
Grandma came over to our room with Aunt Aggie. She washed
Eugene, and Aunt Aggie went to a shop for a little white gown and a
set of rosary beads.They dressed him in a white gown and laid him on
the bed by the window where he used to look out for Oliver. They
placed his hands on his chest, one hand on top of the other, bound in
the little white rosary beads. Grandma brushed the hair back from his
eyes and forehead and she said, Doesnt he have lovely soft silky hair?
Mam went to the bed and pulled a blanket over his legs to keep him
warm. Grandma and Aunt Aggie looked at each other and said nothing.
Dad stood at the end of the bed beating his fists against his thighs, talk-
ing to Eugene, telling him, Och, it was the River Shannon that harmed
you, the dampness from that river that came and took you and Oliver.
Grandma said, Will you stop that? Youre making the whole house
nervous. She took Dr. Troys prescription and told me run over to
OConnor the chemist for the pills, that there would be no charge due
to the kindness of Dr.Troy. Dad said hed come with me, that wed go
to the Jesuit church and say a prayer for Margaret and Oliver and
Eugene, all happy in heaven.The chemist gave us the pills, we stopped
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