We dressed. Mattia did not ask me if I had slept well, neither did I put the question to him. Once I caught him looking at me and I turned my eyes away.
We had to go to the kitchen, but neither my father nor mother were there. My grandfather was seated before the fire in his big chair as though he had not moved since the night before, and my eldest sister, whose name was Annie, was wiping the table. Allen, my eldest brother, was sweeping the room. I went over to them to wish them good morning, but they continued with their work without taking any notice of me. I went towards my grandfather, but he would not let me get near him, and like the evening before, he spat at my side, which stopped me short.
"Ask them," I said to Mattia, "what time I shall see my mother and father?"
Mattia did as I told him, and my grandfather, upon hearing one of us speak English, seemed to feel more amiable.
"What does he say?"
"He says that your father has gone out for the day and that your mother is asleep, and that if we like we may go out."
"Did he only say that?" I asked, finding this translation very short.
Mattia seemed confused.
"I don't know if I understood the rest," he said.
"Tell me what you think you understood."