Carmella Commands
watched him go through to the kitchen, and glance in surprise at the table. Maria turned to him.
“Do you need Carmella’s help today in your work?” she asked.
“Of course not,” he answered. “Why?”
“It is la vacanza.”
Tommaso waited.
“She is thirteen years old,” Maria went on. “It is time she learned really to help, and in vacation I have told her to wash the dishes. She replies to me that she will work with you instead of with me.”
Maria pointed to the unwashed dishes with a gesture to indicate that she had left the matter to her lord and master to judge. Tommaso turned to his daughter.
“It is vacation?” he asked.
“Si, padre.”
“You have not helped your mother so much because you go to school. When I was thirteen I worked all day. This vacation you shall wash dishes when your mother says so.”
“But, padre caro⸺”
“You shall wash dishes. These dishes here you shall wash before you eat dinner.”
T o the vast delight of her younger sisters, Carmella toiled at the breakfast dishes, washing and wiping them, while they enjoyed dinner with Tommaso and Maria.
At last, to Maria, this new world was proving to have a few old world customs.
[125]
