Little Manny\u2019s mother was spooning out the stew when Manuel entered. He sighed, sat down at the head table. Little Manny went to get Elsie.<\/p>\n
Elsie was sitting with her ear against the speaker. \u201cDinner,\u201d he called. She looked up, her deep brown eyes glassy with being in another world. He reached over and shut off the radio.<\/p>\n
She blinked for a minute, coming back to the present. \u201cDinner?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Manny held a hand down for her to help her stand. She stood, wobbling a little. She went into the kitchen.<\/p>\n
There was only enough room for four, which was fine, because his mother never sat down to eat until after everyone else had eaten. His father grunted like a pig as he ate, stuffing stew into his maw while his mother kept telling Little Manny to keep his elbows off the table. Manuel held up his bowl for seconds, and Rose rushed to get it. She was not stocky like the other Portuguese women, but thin and with an hourglass shape that Alice emulated. Alice, Manny knew, used a corset; he wondered if his mother did, too.<\/p>\n
Manuel finished, sitting back, and looking over his brood of children, eating slowly and daintily, not slurping from the bowl, not sticking bread in the stew, but sipping from the spoon. \u201cYou gotta have manners in this world,\u201d he started to lecture the kids. \u201cMy papa, my vovo<\/em>, we never had any manners growing up. We milked the cows and came right in to eat without washing up.\u201d He picked at his teeth with the knife. He looked to Manny. \u201cI think it\u2019s time you start working like your sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n Manny looked to his mother. She was washing dishes that had suddenly appeared in the sink. \u201cPapa,\u201d said Little Manny, \u201cI have a job.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDelivering liquor to people too lazy to make it to the bar?\u201d Manuel said. \u201cHow much do you make?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMrs. Mendoza gave me a cookie. And Mrs. Alvarez gave me some masa.\u201d<\/p>\n Manuel snorted. \u201cDid you bring any of it home?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got a cookie,\u201d said Elsie.<\/p>\n Manuel said, \u201cI didn\u2019t get a cookie.\u201d<\/p>\n Alice snickered, but at a look from her father, she shut up. Manuel said to Manny, \u201cWe\u2019re going over there tonight and tell Mrs. Adele to pay you from now on. A penny a delivery. That seems fair.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, papa,\u201d said Manny, and passed his bowl to his mother, who promptly washed it.<\/p>\n After dinner, and while Rose went to feed Emma, Manuel and Manny went around the corner to Adele\u2019s. A man sat on the stairs of the speakeasy, looking like any other man, smoking and watching the street. He nodded to the father and son as Manuel pushed open the door.<\/p>\n Cigarette smoke assaulted them, making Manny cough. His father smoked, too, but in here, everyone smoked, all the time, so the air hung heavy with burnt tobacco. Adele was manning the bar with her brother Tommy, who caught Manuel\u2019s eye when they first entered. He ribbed his sister, who switched sides with Tommy.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd how\u2019s my best supplier?\u201d she asked in English.<\/p>\n Manny translated for his father. \u201cI need to get Manny a job. He needs to start pulling his weight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAren\u2019t the mills hiring?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want you to pay Manny a penny a delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA penny! That\u2019s robbery.\u201d<\/p>\n Manuel shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t have to give you the good white wine, either.\u201d He leaned forward on the bar. \u201cIf he gets enough pennies, he can get a bike, and deliver farther. Maybe to Lonsdale or Central Falls.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll get him a bike,\u201d said Tommy.<\/p>\n Adele looked like she was chewing on the idea. \u201cLet me think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Manuel said to Manny, \u201cNo deliveries until she pays you.\u201d Then he said to Adele, \u201cUma carveja.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n She racked up one beer. \u201cDon\u2019t want your own rotgut?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy should I buy my own booze?\u201d Manny translated it without the curse word, but Adele caught it, \u201cmerda.\u201d She laughed, and went back to her place at the other end of the bar.<\/p>\n They stayed for a short time, long enough to get the smoke smell saturated in their clothes. Mama Rose laid into both of them, saying that now she had to wash these clothes because they would stink up the apartment and the hamper.<\/p>\n Emma was sitting up in bed when Manny kissed her good night. All the kids lined up in her room and Alice and Elsie climbed into bed with her. Manny got to sleep at the foot of the bed, because he was getting older now and couldn\u2019t sleep with his sisters anymore. They didn\u2019t have enough money to get another bed, and they didn\u2019t have the room in the tiny two-bedroom apartment to put another bed.<\/p>\n The next morning, Manny helped his mother get together the lunches for the girls and his father. The girls would go work at the lace factory near the river, while his father worked a few doors down at the Bleachery. Emma was still asleep in bed. Said Manuel, \u201cYour mother and I talked last night, Manny. I\u2019m going to find you a job in the Bleachery or somewhere else in the mills.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo more deliveries?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlong with the deliveries. There\u2019s nothing wrong with two jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Little Manny\u2019s mother was spooning out the stew when Manuel entered. He sighed, sat down at the head table. Little Manny went to get Elsie. Elsie was sitting with her ear against the speaker. \u201cDinner,\u201d he called. She looked up, her deep brown eyes glassy with being in another world…. Continue reading