in the wardrobe is Grandmas old black woolen dress.Youre not sup-
posed to wear your Grandmothers old dress when shes dead and youre
a boy but what does it matter if it keeps you warm and youre in bed
under the blankets where no one will ever know. The dress has the
smell of old dead grandmother and I worry she might rise from the
grave and curse me before the whole family and all assembled. I pray to
St. Francis, ask him to keep her in the grave where she belongs, promise
him a candle when I start my job, remind him the robe he wore him-
self wasnt too far from a dress and no one ever tormented him over it
and fall asleep with the image of his face in my dream.
The worst thing in the world is to be sleeping in your dead grand-
mothers bed wearing her black dress when your uncle The Abbot falls
on his arse outside Souths pub after a night of drinking pints and peo-
ple who cant mind their own business rush to Aunt Aggies house to
tell her so that she gets Uncle Pa Keating to help her carry The Abbot
home and upstairs to where youre sleeping and she barks at you,What
are you doin in this house, in that bed? Get up and put on the kettle for
tea for your poor uncle Pat that fell down, and when you dont move
she pulls the blankets and falls backward like one seeing a ghost and
yelling Mother o God what are you doin in me dead mothers dress?
Thats the worst thing of all because its hard to explain that youre
getting ready for the big job in your life, that you washed your clothes,
theyre drying abroad on the line, and it was so cold you had to wear
the only thing you could find in the house, and its even harder to talk
to Aunt Aggie when The Abbot is groaning in the bed, Me feet is like
a fire,put water on me feet,and Uncle Pa Keating is covering his mouth
with his hand and collapsing against the wall laughing and telling you
that you look gorgeous and black suits you and would you ever
straighten your hem.You dont know what to do when Aunt Aggie tells
you, Get out of that bed and put the kettle on downstairs for tea for
your poor uncle. Should you take off the dress and put on a blanket or
should you go as you are? One minute shes screaming,What are you
doin in me poor mothers dress? the next shes telling you put on that
bloody kettle. I tell her I washed my clothes for the big job.
What big job?
Telegram boy at the post office.
She says if the post office is hiring the likes of you they must be in
a desperate way altogether, go down and put on that kettle.
The next worse thing is to be out in the backyard filling the kettle
307