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Show 6,51 I could understand why C h a r l o t t e ' s c h i l d r e n had turned on Grandmother, just as we, Mama's c h i l d r e n , had turned against the family, defying my f a t h e r , supporting each other - s i l e n t ly A-and implicitly, if not v o c a l l y . We would stand together against any onslaught, for we came from the same p a r e n t s , the same experience. And so Danny must*know of my pain, of the confusions of my heart. Why would he make i t worse for me, why would he exacerbate my pain; He laughed at the f l i r t a t i o n s between Brian and Dierdre - almost as though he enjoyed them himself. Couldn't he see, couldn't he f e e l how i t cut, couldn't he remember the dark brooding look in my m o t h e r ' s eyes when my f a t h e r drove away with one of the other mothers, when he disappeared behind the door of Hunt Helga's bedroom? Couldn't he feel the way words stopped in her throat because she d i d n ' t expect to be heard or understood? Couldn't he feel that I was l i v i n g out her l i f e , her pain? Perhaps men do not know about pain. The thought came to me suddenly, explosively. I shook my head slowly, s t a r i n g at my hands. I remembered something t h a t Danny had t o l d me. When he was nine or ten- old enough to have been baptized, but before we l e f t the white touse, itft had been fast-Sunday, and none of those who had been baptized could eat u n t i l dinnertime. But Danny was hungry and he coaxed u n t i l my mother gave him a b i s c u i t l e f t o v e r from the "ight before. Danny had sauntered into the yard where my father ^ e d with some of the b r e t h r e n , a l l of them in grey or navy slacks Wd white s h i r t s with the sleeves r o l l e d to the elbow. Danny munched his biscuit, h a l f - t u r n e d so as to eavesdrop without seeming to do so *enmy father d e l i v e r e d a swift kick to the seat of h i s pantos. |