The Lie. A Novel from Malta by Friggieri Oliver

Author:Friggieri, Oliver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2012-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

C

hapter 16

Preparations for the village festa dominated the streets.

The mother wanted her house to look smart and proper in those festive days. "We have to do some decorating this year. The door is full of scratches and the paint is peeling off with the weather. The sun and the rain are too much for this door. And with the festa approaching there'll be people calling. We have to get a workman to plaster and paint the house to make it presentable like other people's."

The workman came, collected his wages and left. Some paint on the floor and some stains on the wall... and the job was over.

"They do know how to charge you, these workmen, don't they? Did you see what he charged us for a few stains with the brush?" she complained to her children.

Everyone took a cloth and brush and scraped and washed and cleaned, so that when the day came the visitors could gaze as much as they liked without embarrassing the household.

The mother would have liked Rebekka to stay with her for the two days of the festa. "Sleep here tonight. I have a double bed, much too large for me."

"No, mama. Forget it. I don't want to stay here for the night," said Rebekka, hoping that would be enough.

"Don't want to stay here... with your own family? That's why we have a festa, to keep us together, united."

"Leave me alone, mother. I'm not going to intrude on the life of my sister and her husband. This is their home, not mine, and I have my own home."

"Don't I count for anything with you?"

"Yes, mama, you do, and you count far more than you know, but it's not a question of that. In a matter like this, you don't count at all." Rebekka believed she was quite prudent in her speech and in her manner. "A married couple have a right to complete freedom in their lives. If they want to lead their lives in a certain way, they should do as they want, even if it doesn't please everybody. And nobody else should butt in. Too many cooks, mama, you know the rest... " she said, and immediately she realised that she had uttered some words that could not be easily forgotten.

The mother grasped more than her daughter expected, and Rebekka tried to defend her original meaning as best as she could.

"Klara! Klara, can you come here for a second?" the mother called.

Klara dropped everything and entered the room.

"Do you mind if your sister sleeps here with me for the night, and maybe tomorrow night as well, for the festa?" the old lady asked, using a tone that expected an affirmative answer.

"Of course not, mama! Your bed's big enough, and your room is well furnished. She can stay, why not?" Klara's tone was normal, as it should be, whether she liked it or not, when speaking in front of her sister, especially since it was their mother who had asked. Family tradition had elevated the old woman to the position of a matriarch.

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