Carmella Commands
dow, in gold letters, were the words “Drug Store.” All the storekeepers of Little Italy spoke two languages. Or, if they spoke only one, it was their native tongue.
But at least twice a year each Little Italy mother prided herself on going downtown to the big stores, at least to look at the piled wonders of merchandise, and always to stop in the five-and-ten for household necessities. On these trips their oldest boy or girl always attended them.
What puzzled Miss Kelly was how Carmella could be spared from the interview between her mother and the district nurse.
“Does the nurse speak Italian?” she asked.
“Oh, no! A few words. But not to talk.”
“And your mother doesn’t speak English, you’ve told me.”
“She understands some. But not to speak. Only with the nurse she say a little in English. The nurse, she is the only one.”
“If she can talk English with the nurse she can with others,” said Miss Kelly logically.
Carmella laughed.
“She don’t dare.”
“And why not?”
“She’s afraid of making mistakes. We laugh at her when she talk English so silly.”
“Who laughs at her?”
“All us kids,” said Carmella, chuckling.
[66]
