Carmella Commands
could—well, until—until once more she, the mother, should be able to command.
Carmella, meanwhile, was busy. There were weeks when she attended school faithfully. There were weeks when she went as she chose. Usually she chose to be there in the morning. When she was absent in the afternoon it was usually because Nicolo was free to take her to the movies. Because much of his work was now after dark, he had much free time in the afternoon.
One day she got her father’s laborious signature on an excuse for absence. This she copied and recopied until she could sign his name almost better than he could himself. Her problem was to avoid writing it too well.
This was useful, although Mr. Carroll, to whom all excuses were turned in by the teachers, noticed that excuses which formerly came scrawled by Carmella’s mother now came convincingly signed by her father. He asked Miss Silva to inquire the reason.
“Well, you see, Miss Silva,” said Carmella confidentially, “it used to be that I had to help mother mostly. Now I have to help both. And mother doesn’t like to write, so I get dad to do it. My dad, you see, is growing up faster than mother is.”
“Growing up?” queried Miss Silva.
“Isn’t that what they do when they learn to be like us Americans?”
[199]
