Daddy's Wings by Milena Agus

Author:Milena Agus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Published: 2011-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

18. Daddy’s wings

Maybe it’s because Daddy left that at fourteen I still don’t have my period.

When I was in Mamma’s belly, Daddy lost the first house gambling, and all the amniotic fluid emptied out of Mamma’s belly, leaving me all dry.

One night, Madame dreamt that my teeth were dropping out of my gums and that I’d lost my hair, though I was still pretty. The dream was heart-breaking for her, so she dragged me to Doctor Giovanni, a doctor who people had told her was very good. We can never remember his surname, so that’s what we call him — Doctor Giovanni.

The doctor listened closely to Madame’s bad dream and asked her, had I really had pyorrhoea and was my hair falling out? No — we’d come to him for prevention. My only real ailment was that my period had fled, along with Daddy. He examined me and said that for now there was nothing to worry about, apart from my period, and that would come as soon as I was a bit more relaxed. He sent me for some tests, and booked me in for another appointment. Two weeks later, he saw me with Madame once again, and he asked a few discreet questions about my family. So we told him about Mamma, how she’s almost always in bed and sometimes she’s so tired she can’t even hold the book she’s reading, and about all the others.

Madame took the opportunity to talk to him about her fear of menopause, and she asked him whether it was true that women going through menopause lose their waistlines as well as all desire.

The doctor wrote everything down, using a different sheet of paper for each of us. He asked Madame to explain in more detail this business about losing your waistline, and once he understood he couldn’t help laughing. He said that menopausal women just need to make sure they don’t stuff themselves with food, and that way their waists will remain distinct from their thighs. As for desire, that’s a psychological thing. Doctor Giovanni, who must be about Madame’s age, has clearly developed a soft spot for our cause because we only had to pay for one appointment, even though we outlined to him the ailments of everyone we love. He suggested we bring them in for an examination, especially Mamma, who the doctor suspects has a disease that’s still rather obscure, a neurological thing called ‘fatigue syndrome’, rather than damage to her spine, as her own doctors think.

Afterwards, Madame said she thinks the doctor will bring me luck — me and my family — because all the luck we’ve missed out on must surely descend on us somehow. An avalanche. She also said that Doctor Giovanni would be a handsome man if it weren’t for that badly cut fringe, and that he has ‘something special’ about him. She really liked the way he rummaged around in the medicine cupboard; it reminded her of the neighbours’ eldest son when he’s looking for some music, a bit like the way squirrels send dirt flying when they’re digging a burrow.

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