Saint Mazie: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

spend your life alone.
    I pulled my hands back.
    I said: I got company whenever I like.
    Rosie shushed me. I don’t care, I don’t need anyone telling me about my life.
    Jeanie said: Now me.
    She shoved her hands in the gypsy’s. Gabriela smiled at Jeanie like she loved her. The warm glow of a con artist. She told her she had a strong love line, and she pointed to something on her head. She told her she will marry well. A rich man. She asked if she liked rich men. As if she wouldn’t want a rich man! I watched Jeanie’s face. She was considering it, though she didn’t answer. But she smiled. Maybe she smiled like it was funny. I would have said, Who cares? But nobody was asking me. Nobody was telling me I was going to marry someone special.
    Gabriela turned to Rosie, and Rosie slid her hand in hers so easily it was like they were husband and wife.
    Rosie said: You already know what it says.
    Gabriela said she did. Rosie asked her to look again. I didn’t know why it was so serious.
    Rosie said: Now that you’ve met them, look again.
    Gabriela said: They are strong these two, as you said, but who they are will not change what will happen to you. They love you. I don’t need to look at their palms to see that. They’re going to be who they’re going to be.
    Then she brought Rosie’s hand to her lips and kissed it. It was a sweet vision.
    She said: I still think it can happen, Rosie.
    Rosie started crying and then Gabriela swept herself up into the back room, and came back with a handful of bottles. She smacked each bottle down in front of Rosie.
    She said: I’ve asked everyone I know, and they’ve asked everyone they know too. I went uptown, I went downtown, I went across the river, and I gathered these for you.
    She handed Rosie a piece of paper.
    She said: I wrote down instructions. How much, how often. And there’s an address on there, a Chinaman. He sticks needles in you and they say it lights a fire within your womb.
    She held Rosie’s hand again.
    She said: I lit candles for you, my friend.
    Now Rosie was sobbing, and then we held her. So our poor Rosie can’t have babies. I never knew, but how could I? We were her babies all along, I thought we were enough for her. I didn’t know she wanted anyone but us. She watched over us better than our own mother ever did. She’s our sister and our mother. Oh, all this time her heart was breaking and we didn’t even know.

George Flicker
    Oh you want to know about the gypsies? What do you think you know about the gypsies? That they’re a bunch of criminals, probably. That’s what people always thought about them. My mother swore they spoke the truth. My friends from Little Italy, they wouldn’t go anywhere near them. They’re superstitious, and they were afraid of the curses. I have only ever been afraid of what I could see right in front of my face. Because I have seen enough. I don’t need to imagine anything worse.
    But the gypsies were just the same as you and me. They lived here just like everyone else. They walked the same streets. It’s true that some of them were criminals. But you can’t judge a whole people by the actions of just a few. But that’s what we do here in this country. We do it in this world. I’ve lived such a long life. I thought things would be better by now. Every day I still watch the news. I listen to people talk. Things are not as bad as they once were, but not as good as I had hoped they would be someday. It’s the year 2000 already, and there’s still all kinds of messes in this country. I had higher hopes for this world. Eh, but what are you going to do about it anyway?

Mazie’s Diary, June 16, 1917
    Rosie’s sick on the couch again. Hands on her belly. She swings from happy to sad in a heartbeat. We wrapped her up in blankets. I told her to stop taking whatever the gypsy gave her. Rosie, please stop, I was begging her.
    She told me I was a fool and didn’t know what I was talking about, that things take time, life