Upon the Head of the Goat Read Online Free PDF Page A

Salánk and would come separately.
    Babi was in a frenzy all of the next day. While preparing the bedding she explained, “Your mother and father can sleep in the spare bedroom, and you children will sleep on the floor. We’ll stuff some straw mattresses. Rozsi can sleep in your bed so that Lilli and Lajos can have Grandpa’s bed.”
    â€œYou mean Rozsi’s bed.”
    â€œTo me it will always be your grandpa’s bed.”
    The next day we kept bumping into each other, as we stopped in the midst of our chores to go out and look for our arriving family. In the late afternoon I spotted them and dashed off the porch. Mother and Father walked together. Father bent over his bicycle, which was loaded down with a large suitcase and several packages. He was wearing an ugly flannel uniform. Mother had changed—her usually smooth skin all puffy. I pulled away from her.
    â€œDidn’t you miss me?” she asked, sounding hurt.
    â€œWhat about me? Will I get a kiss?” Father asked as he bent down to me. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. He still had his bushy sideburns.
    Iboya put down the packages she was carrying and hugged me tight. When she let go, I picked up Sandor. He had grown from a baby into a little boy and kept repeating, “This is my sister Piri, this is Piri,” as I held his chunky body in my arms.
    Babi and Rozsi came up to us. Rozsi took Sandor from me and kissed him over and over again. Trying to put her short arms around Mother, Babi sobbed, “Why didn’t you mention anything in your letters?”
    â€œI didn’t want you to worry,” Mother answered.
    â€œSo how far are you? It looks close.” She looked Mother up and down. “And you walked all that distance; I could have sent someone with a wagon, but I didn’t know which train you would be on. You just said Friday in your letter.”
    â€œWe walked slowly,” said Father, trying to move us in the direction of the house.
    Mother released Babi and put a heavy arm around me. “You have grown prettier. Wait until your friends see you.”
    â€œAm I going home with you?”
    â€œDon’t you want to?”
    â€œI’m not sure. You said everything changed. Have Ica, Vali, and Milush changed? Will they still like me, even though I am Jewish?”
    â€œYou were always Jewish.”
    â€œI know, but everything is different.”
    Mother kissed me and told me not to worry. She looked tired, and when we got to the porch, she sank down on the bench. “I must sit for a while.” Rozsi put Sandor down and told Mother she would bring her a cool drink. As Rozsi went into the kitchen, everyone began to speak at once. When Rozsi returned, she handed Mother a large glass of water, which she drank down. Then Mother took off her shoes, and remained sitting on the porch while we took in all the packages.
    â€œWhat happened to Mother?” I asked Iboya when we got inside.
    â€œShe is going to have a baby.”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œIn June. Maybe on your birthday.”
    Later in the afternoon, Lilli, Lajos, and Manci arrived. Mother called, “Here they come,” and we all ran out to meet them. Lilli walked beside Lajos, and Manci clung to her father’s back. It seemed so long since I had seen them. Like Sandor, Manci had grown up. When she saw Sandor running toward her, she urged Lajos to put her down. Lajos lowered her to the ground just as Sandor came up and they immediately started chattering. We all stood in the road for a moment watching them.
    I was puzzled by Lajos’ Hungarian officer’s uniform and turned to Iboya to ask, “Why is Lajos wearing that kind of uniform when Father has to wear such an ugly one?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she answered in a hesitant tone.
    â€œYou’ve grown so, Piri,” said Lilli as she put a long arm around me. “Wait until you see the globe Lajos