Another Governess / The Least Blacksmith: A Diptych

Chapter 8

110 JOANNA RUOCCO A storm must have blown in from the ocean after dark. The sky is dense and black. In the flashes of lightning, the dark skin beneath my brother’s eyes looks burned. His lips look burned. He banks the fire for the night. In the house, he eats cold meat from the pan. I open the newspaper. I find the obituary for our father. I had not known the date our father was born. I say the date to my brother. My brother already knew the date. He says he has the same birthday as our father. My brother tells me the year he was born. I do the figures in my head. Our father was exactly the age my brother is now when my brother was born. I did not realize our father had my brother so young. My brother does not say anything more. I wonder if he is doing the figures in his head. I read our father’s obituary to my brother. I am not mentioned in our father’s obituary as a survivor of our father. My brother 8 111 THE LEAST BLACKSMITH says newspapers have limited space for obituaries. It is not practical to list every survivor. My brother is our father’s survivor . My brother says he is glad he is listed. The only difference between our father and my brother is the year they were born. The year my brother was born is not mentioned in the obituary. Only my brother’s name is mentioned. When they read my brother’s name in our father’s obituary, people will see that there is no difference between the deceased and the survivor . There has been no interruption in service at the forge. My brother does not recognize the address for the memorial service. I tell him it is the address of the doctor’s office. My brother has no interest in going to the doctor’s office for the memorial service. He says it is not appropriate for the survivor to be in the same place as the deceased. Before I go to bed my brother wants me to put him in my mouth. He opens his pants and turns his chair to the side. If he did not turn his chair to the side I would have had to crawl under the table to reach my brother. I rest one hand on the edge of my brother’s chair and one hand on the table. I wish my mouth were not so small and dry. My brother is patient with me, but he is disappointed. He has to use his hand while I crouch by the chair. Lying in bed, I cannot fall asleep. I took longer than I should have near the wharves and my brother had to use his hand. I do not know how to improve myself. If I had followed the doctor into his office perhaps he would have given me one of his capsules. The doctor would not have given me a capsule. Doctors only offer capsules to their patients. He might have given me a capsule for my brother. I decide to stay up all night so I will be awake before my brother in the morning. I will be ready to go to work in the forge. I wake up with a start when my brother shakes my shoulder. He has already fried the meat 112 JOANNA RUOCCO for breakfast. The air through the windows is salty and fresh with last night’s storm. ...