The Konkans by Tony D'Souza

Author:Tony D'Souza [D'Souza, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

My uncle Sam shaved in the morning, put on the same white collared shirt and black tie that he wore to show houses, picked up a bouquet of carnations at the Dominick’s supermarket on Cumberland, and went to my parents’ church in Ridge Lawn. He arrived late and watched from the doorway as the priest poured the holy water over my sister’s forehead at the altar. This woke my sister, who let up a cry from my mother’s arms, and my mother smiled and hushed her as my father dabbed her forehead dry with the white cloth. My uncle came and stood beside me in the pew where my parents had left me.

“Uncle Sam!”

“Shh,” he said, touching his finger to his lips. Then he petted my hair. “Afterward, give these flowers to your mother.”

The priest said, “And so we welcome Elizabeth D’Sai to the family of our Lord, and into the community of our church. Amen.” Everybody in the church said, “Amen,” and then it was the next baby’s turn, and my sister was baptized like that.

After the service, the priest shook my father’s hand, and people came to peer at the baby in my mother’s arms. My mother was in a hat and veil, and people told her how nice she looked. Then the crowd went to their cars and there was no one left but us, my parents on the steps of the church with my sister, my uncle below them with me, holding my hand.

“Come and look at her,” my mother said and came down the steps in her heels. “Isn’t she pretty?” she said and cooed at my sister. “The prettiest girl in the world.”

“Like her mother,” my uncle said.

My mother looked at him and said, “That’s nice of you, Sam.”

We walked my uncle to his car. My father jingled his keys and was happy. He said, “Coming to lunch with us today, Sammy?”

“I have to show some houses, Babu. We’ll talk another time. Very important Patels straight from Gujarat. You know how it is: ‘Cheapest price only, thank you very much.’ Today is for you to enjoy. Let me go and deal with these people.”

“The Patels are coming every day,” my father said to no one.

“Uncle Sam, I want to go with you.”

My uncle pulled his hand from mine. “You should be with your family today, Francisco.”

“Aren’t you also our family?”

“One more Konkan,” my father said, and smiled.

“Yes, one more, Babu,” my uncle said.

“I will call you soon to talk, Samuel.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Then my uncle Sam put on his sunglasses, got in his car, and drove away. My sister stirred and my mother quieted her by putting her finger in her mouth. What could I do but throw the flowers on the ground and stomp on them?

My father cuffed my ear. He said, “Why did you do that, Francisco?”

“Because I wanted my uncle Sam.”

My father picked me and the flowers up. I wrapped my arms around his neck, lay my head on his shoulder.

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