Adam, One Afternoon
The new gardenerās boy had long hair kept in place by a piece of cloth tied around his head with a little bow. He was walking along the path with his watering can filled to the brim and his other arm stretched out to balance the load. Slowly, carefully, he watered the nasturtiums as if pouring out coffee and milk, until the earth at the foot of each plant dissolved into a soft black patch; when it was large and moist enough he lifted the watering can and passed on to the next plant. Maria-nunziata was watching him from the kitchen window and thinking what a nice calm job gardening must be. He was a young man, she noticed, though he still wore shorts and that long hair made him look like a girl. She stopped washing the dishes and tapped on the window.
āHey, boy,ā she called.
The gardenerās boy raised his head, saw Maria-nunziata, and smiled. She laughed back at him, partly because she had never seen a boy with such long hair and a bow like that on his head. The gardenerās boy beckoned to her with one hand, and Maria-nunziata went on laughing at the funny gesture heād made, and began gesturing back to explain that she had the dishes to wash. But the boy beckoned again, and pointed at the pots of dahlias with his other hand. Why was he pointing at those dahlias? Maria-nunziata opened the window and stuck her head out.
āWhatās up?ā she asked, and began laughing again.
āDāyou want to see something nice?ā
āWhatās that?ā
āSomething nice. Come and see. Quickly.ā
āTell me what.ā
āIāll give it to you. Iāll give you something very nice.ā
āBut Iāve got the dishes to wash, and the signoraāll come along and not find me.ā
āDo you want it or donāt you? Come on, now.ā
āWait a second,ā said Maria-nunziata, and shut the window.
When she came out through the kitchen door the gardenerās boy was still there, watering the nasturtiums.
āHello,ā said Maria-nunziata.
Maria-nunziata seemed taller than she was because of her high-heeled shoes, which were awful to work in, but she loved wearing them. Her little face looked like a childās amid its mass of black curls, and her legs were thin and childlike, too, though her body, under the folds of her apron, was already round and ripe. She was always laughing, either at what others or she herself said.
āHello,ā said the gardenerās boy. The skin on his face, neck, and chest was dark brown, perhaps because he was always half naked, as now.
āWhatās your name?ā asked Maria-nunziata.
āLibereso,ā said the gardenerās boy.
Maria-nunziata laughed and repeated, āLibereso . . . Libereso . . . What a funny name, Libereso.ā
āItās a name in Esperanto,ā he said. āIn Esperanto it means āliberty.ā ā
āEsperanto,ā said Maria-nunziata. āAre you Esperanto?ā
āEsperantoās a language,ā explained Libereso. āMy father speaks Esperanto.ā
āIām Calabrian,ā exclaimed Maria-nunziata.
āWhatās your name?ā
āMaria-nunziata,ā she said, and laughed.
āWhy are you always laughing?ā
āWhy are you called Esperanto?ā
āNot Esperanto, Libereso.ā
āWhy?ā
āWhy are you called Maria-nunziata?ā
āIt is the Madonnaās name. Iām named after the Madonna, and my brother after Saint Joseph.ā
āSenjosef?ā
Maria-nunziata burst out laughing. āSenjosef! Saint Joseph, not Senjosef, Libereso!ā
āMy brother,ā said Libereso, āis named Germinal and my sister Omnia.ā
āThat nice thing you mentioned,ā said Maria-nunziata. āShow it to me.ā
āCome on, then,ā said Libereso. He put down the watering can and took her by the hand.
Maria-nunziata hesitated. āTell me what it is first.ā
āYouāll see,ā he said, ābut you must promise me to take care of it.ā
āWill you give it to me?ā
āYes, Iāll give it to you.ā He had led her to a corner of the garden wall. There the dahlias standing in pots were as tall as the two of them.
āItās there.ā
āWhat is?ā
āWait.ā
Maria-nunziata peeped over his shoulder. Libereso bent down to move a pot, lifted another by the wall, and pointed to the ground.
āThere,ā he said.
āWhat is it?ā asked Maria-nunziata. She could not see anything; the corner was in shadow, full of wet leaves and garden mold.
āLook, itās moving,ā said the boy. Then she saw something that looked like a moving stone or leaf, something wet, with eyes and feet: a toad.
āMamma mia!ā
Maria-nunziata went skipping away among the dahlias in her high-heeled shoes. Libereso squatted down by the toad and laughed, showing the white teeth in the middle of his brown face.
āAre you frightened? Itās only a toad! Why are you frightened?ā
āA toad!ā gasped Maria-nunziata.
āOf course itās a toad. Come here,ā said Libereso.
She pointed at it with a trembling finger. āKill it.ā
He put out his hands, as if to protect it. āI donāt want to. Itās so nice.ā
āA nice toad?ā
āAll toads are nice. They eat the worms.ā
āOh!ā said Maria-nunziata, but she did not come any nearer. She was chewing the edge of her apron and trying to watch out of the corners of her eyes.
āLook how pretty it is,ā said Libereso, and put a hand on it.
Maria-nunziata approached, no longer laughing, and looked on, openmouthed. āNo! No! Donāt touch it!ā
With one finger Libereso was stroking the toadās gray-green back, which was covered with slimy warts.
āAre you mad? Donāt you know they burn when you touch them, and make your hand swell up?ā
The boy showed her his big brown hands, the palms covered with a layer of yellow calluses.
āOh, it wonāt hurt me,ā he said. āAnd itās so pretty.ā
Now heād taken the toad by the scruff of the neck like a cat and put it in the palm of his hand. Maria-nunziata, still chewing the edge of her apron, came nearer and crouched down beside him.
āMamma mia!ā she exclaimed.
They were both crouching down behind the dahlias, and Maria-nunziataās rosy knees were grazing the brown, scratched ones of Libereso. Libereso cupped his other hand over the back of the toad and caught it every now and again as it tried to slip out.
āYou stroke it, Maria-nunziata,ā he said.
The girl hid her hands in her apron. āNo,ā she said firmly.
āWhat?ā he said. āYou donāt want it?ā
Maria-nunziata lowered her eyes, glanced at the toad, and lowered them again quickly. āNo,ā she said.
āBut itās yours. Iām giving it to you.ā
Maria-nunziataās eyes clouded over. It was sad to refuse a presentāāno one ever gave her presentsāābut the toad really did revolt her.
āYou can take it home if you like. Itāll keep you company.ā
āNo,ā she said.
Libereso put the toad back on the ground, and it quickly hopped away and squatted under the leaves.
āGood-bye, Libereso.ā
āWait a minute.ā
āBut I must go and finish washing the dishes. The signora doesnāt like me to come out in the garden.ā
āWait. I want to give you something. Something really nice. Come with me.ā
She began following him along the gravel paths. What a strange boy this Libereso was, with that long hair, and picking up toads in his hands.
āHow old are you, Libereso?ā
āFifteen. And you?ā
āFourteen.ā
āNow, or on your next birthday?ā
āOn my next birthday. Feast of the Annunciation.ā
āHas that passed yet?ā
āWhat, donāt you know when the Feast of the Annunciation is?ā She began laughing.
āNo.ā
āThe Feast of the Annunciation, when thereās the procession. Donāt you go to the procession?ā
āMe? No.ā
āBack home there are lovely processions. Itās not like here, back home. There are big fields full of bergamots, nothing but bergamots, and everyone picks bergamots from morning till night. Iāve got fourteen brothers and sisters and they all pick bergamots; five died when they were babies, and then my mother got tetanus, and we were in a train for a week to go to Uncle Carmeloās, and eight of us all slept in a garage there. Tell me, why do you have such long hair?ā
They had stopped.
āBecause it grows like that. Youāve got long hair, too.ā
āIām a girl. If you wear long hair, youāre like a girl.ā
āIām not like a girl. You donāt tell a boy from a girl by the hair.ā
āNot by the hair?ā
āNo, not by the hair.ā
āWhy not by the hair?ā
āWould you like me to give you something nice?ā
āOh, yes.ā
Libereso began moving among the arum lilies, budding white trumpets silhouetted against the sky. Libereso looked into each, groped around with two fingers, and then hid something in his fist. Maria-nunziata had not gone into the flower bed, and was watching him with silent laughter. What was he up to now? When Libereso had looked into all the lilies, he came up to her, holding one hand over the other.
āOpen your hands,ā he said.
Maria-nunziata cupped her hands but was afraid to put them under his. āWhat have you got in there?ā
āSomething very nice. Youāll see.ā
āShow me first.ā
Libereso opened his hands and let her look inside. His palm was full of multicolored rose chafers, red and black and even purple ones, but the green were the prettiest. They were buzzing and slithering over one another and waving little black legs in the air. Maria-nunziata hid her hands under her apron.
āHere,ā said Libereso. āDonāt you like them?ā
āYes,ā said Maria-nunziata uncertainly, still keeping her hands under her apron.
āWhen you hold them tight they tickle. Would you like to feel?ā
Maria-nunziata held out her hands timidly, and Libereso poured a cascade of rose chafers of every color into them.
āDonāt be frightened; they wonāt bite you.ā
āMamma mia!ā It hadnāt occurred to her that they might bite her. She opened her hands and the rose chafers spread their wings and the beautiful colors vanished and there was nothing to be seen but a swarm of black insects flying about and settling.
āWhat a pity. I try to give you a present and you donāt want it.ā
āI must go wash the dishes. The signora will be cross if she canāt find me.ā
āDonāt you want a present?ā
āWhat are you going to give me now?ā
āCome and see.ā
He took her hand again and led her through the flower beds.
āI must get back to the kitchen soon, Libereso. Thereās a chicken to pluck, too.ā
āPooh!ā
āWhy pooh?ā
āWe donāt eat the flesh of dead birds or...