Jeez. Polite kid, eh? Where ja loin dat?
My father told me to say thanks, sir.
Your father? Oh, well.
Dad sits at the table reading the paper. He says that President Roosevelt
is a good man and everyone in America will soon have a job. Mam is
on the other side of the table feeding Margaret with a bottle. She has
the hard look that frightens me.
Where did you get that fruit?
The man.
What man?
The Italian man gave it to me.
Did you steal that fruit?
Malachy says,The man.The man gave Frankie the bag.
And what did you do to Freddie Leibowitz? His mother was here.
Lovely woman. I dont know what wed do without her and Minnie
MacAdorey.And you had to attack poor Freddie.
Malachy jumps up and down. He dint. He dint. Dint try to kill
Freddie. Dint try to kill me.
Dad says,Whisht, Malachy, whisht. Come over here. And he takes
Malachy on his lap.
My mother says, Go down the hall and tell Freddie youre sorry.
But Dad says, Do you want to tell Freddie youre sorry?
I dont.
My parents look at one another. Dad says, Freddie is a good boy. He
was only pushing your little brother on the swing. Isnt that right?
He was trying to steal my Cuchulain story.
Och, now. Freddie doesnt care about the Cuchulain story. He has
his own story. Hundreds of stories. Hes Jewish.
Whats Jewish?
Dad laughs. Jewish is, Jewish is people with their own stories.They
dont need Cuchulain.They have Moses.They have Samson.
Whats Samson?
If you go down and talk to Freddie Ill tell you about Samson later.
You can tell Freddie youre sorry and youll never do it again and you
can even ask him about Samson.Anything you like as long as you talk
to Freddie.Will you?
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