Carmella Commands
Still Tommaso said nothing, nor asked Carmella for help in any conference. Leaving the house before she was out of bed, he came back at night too tired to talk. Sometimes he merely grunted when she asked permission to go to the movies with Nicolo, and she promptly went.
Vacation came to an end, and Carmella regretfully returned to school, carrying her promotion card into Miss Silva’s room—the last grammar grade. They began on Africa the first day, and Africa irked her. So did arithmetic, and so did the story of some early Indian war. All these were so infinitely less interesting than Greendale.
From Nicolo, whom she saw nearly every morning as she passed Mike Laudini’s place, she learned that affairs at Greendale were moving badly. Elm Heights was apparently winning the race.
“Old Man Barrington is getting fidgety,” said the boy. “I helped Mike deliver some stuff night before last. The old boy was half pickled and ugly. Must have paid graft somewhere and afraid he wasn’t getting his money’s worth. Your dad’s got to go some, or there’ll be trouble.”
That morning Carmella deliberately disobeyed Miss Silva. It began while she was thinking over what Nicolo had told her. When Miss Silva, less poised than Miss Kelly, scolded her for inattention, Carmella flared up. She could not have told why. It merely relieved her feelings.
[174]
