screws up her face.You, she says, that’s your dinner an’ I’m not bringin’ you any books. The dinner is delicious, turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, jelly and cus- tard, and a pot of tea.The jelly and custard dish looks delicious and I can’t resist it so I’ll have it first there’s no one there to notice but when I’m eating it the girl in the blue dress comes in with bread and says, What are you doin’? Nothing. Yes, you are.  You’re atin’ the sweet before the dinner, and she runs out calling, Sister Rita, Sister Rita, come in quick, and the nun rushes in, Francis, are you all right? I am, Sister. He’s not all right, Sister. He do be atin’ his jelly an custard before his dinner.That’s a sin, Sister. Ah, now, dear, you run along and I’ll talk to Francis about that. Do, Sister, talk to him or all the childer in the hospital will be atin’ their sweet before their dinner an’ then where will we be? Indeed, indeed, where will we be? Run along now. The  girl  leaves  and  Sister  Rita  smiles  at  me.  God  love  her,  she doesn’t miss a thing even in her confusion.We have to be patient with her, Francis, the way she’s touched. She leaves and it’s quiet in that empty ward and when I’m finished I don’t know what to do because you’re not supposed to do anything till they tell you. Hospitals and schools always tell you what to do. I wait a long time till the girl in the blue dress comes in for the tray.Are you finished? she says. I am. Well, that’s all you’re gettin’ an’ now you can go home. Surely girls who are not right in the head can’t tell you go home and I wonder if I should wait for Sister Rita.A nurse in the hallway tells me Sister Rita is having her dinner and is not to be bothered. It’s a long walk from Union Cross to Barrack Hill and when I get home my family are up in Italy and well into their pig’s head and cab- bage and floury white potatoes. I tell them about my Christmas dinner. Mam wants to know if I had it with the nurses and nuns and she gets a bit angry when I tell her I ate alone in a ward and that’s no way to treat a child. She tells me sit down and have some pig’s head and I force it into my mouth and I’m so stuffed I have to lie on the bed with my belly sticking out a mile. 213