anything. Shell go now and tell on us and before we know it well have
the priests of the world banging on the door and disturbing us.
Theres the banging on the door already. But it isnt a priest, its
Guard Dennehy. He calls up, Hello, hello, is anybody home? Are you
there, Mrs. McCourt?
Michael knocks on the window and waves at the guard. I give him
a good kick for himself and Malachy thumps him on the head and he
yells, Ill tell the guard. Ill tell the guard. Theyre killing me, guard.
Theyre thumping and kicking.
He wont shut up and Guard Dennehy shouts at us to open the
door. I call out the window and tell him I cant open the door because
my mother is in bed with a terrible disease.
Wheres your father?
Hes in England.
Well, Im coming in to talk to your mother.
You cant.You cant. She has the disease.We all have the disease. It
might be the typhoid. It might be the galloping consumption. Were
getting spots already.The baby has a lump. It could kill.
He pushes in the door and climbs the stairs to Italy just as Alphie
crawls out from under the bed covered with marmalade and dirt. He
looks at him and my mother and us, takes off his cap and scratches his
head. He says, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this is a desperate situation. How
did your mother get sick like that?
I tell him he shouldnt go near her and when Malachy says we
might not be able to go to school for ages the guard says well go to
school no matter what, that were on the earth to go to school the way
hes on the earth to make sure we go to school. He wants to know if we
have any relations and he sends me off to tell Grandma and Aunt Aggie
to come to our house.
They scream at me and tell me Im filthy. I try to explain that Mam
has the disease and Im worn out trying to make ends meet, keeping
the home fires burning, getting lemonade for Mam and bread for my
brothers. Theres no use telling them about the marmalade for theyll
only scream again. Theres no use telling them about the nastiness of
rich people and their maids.
They push me all the way back to the lane, barking at me and dis-
gracing me on the streets of Limerick. Guard Dennehy is still scratch-
ing his poll. He says, Look at this, a disgrace.You wouldnt see the likes
of this in Bombay or the Bowery of New York itself.
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