“You mean Mrs. Deoguardi? Who she ever protected but she own kind?”
“This place much bigger than Mrs. Deoguardi! She just like to make we think she still queen of the castle. But this place only standing because of Outside money.”
“So Abdul run from one Outside organization to another?”
“What can I say. Nothing make much sense in a place where the water never run clear.”
“Mrs. Armstrong will show you where the babies are,” I hear Paper Man say.
House Mother straighten she-self up and make the spider-thing stop bouncing up and down. Then she tell Outside People to come in. “They sleeping now so it best we leave them be,” she say, though she not trying too hard to keep she voice down.
“We can’t hold them?” Outside Lady ask.
I can see them better now. She have long gold hair like the doll no one play with no more. Tracy, Becca and Cat-Face pull on it so hard the arm-leg-head come right off. Cat-Face wail because she only come away with the doll arm, and Becca come away with the boobies part, but Tracy get the head and she comb the doll hair till it fall out from all them little holes. No one try to patch it up or play with it after that.
House Mother scrunch up she face and sing the little song she sing whenever Outside People come: “Well-if-you-pick-one-up-you-have-to-pick-all-them-up-and-if-you-wake-them-now-they-won’t-sleep-through-the-night-and-if-you-hold-one-now-they-cry-and-cry-till-they-held-again-and-the-good-Lord-only-give-we-two-arms-to-hold-his-treasures.”
“Of course, I don’t want to upset the children or their routine. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for you,” Outside Lady say.
The lady have a nice voice and she smile a lot when she talk. Most of them Outside People don’t smile. They just make face like Becca make when she have to eat soursop. But Outside Lady lose she smile when she see Paw-Paw. When Mrs. Armstrong see Outside Lady going to Paw-Paw, she look like she about to say something but she turn and leave the room even though Paper Man tell she to stay with Outside People.
“What race and age you looking for?” Miss Benedict say.
Outside Lady turn away from Paw-Paw. “Oh dear, we haven’t really thought about that, but we’ve been approved for an infant. Zero to twenty-four months. We can’t have a child of our own, you see.”
“Boy or girl?”
“Either,” Outside Man answer this time. He place one hand on Outside Lady back while she look into the bed where House Mother put the spider thing: “Look how cute this one is! He’s so small. He can’t be more than six months old.”
“Oh, not Mrs. Armstrong boy—” Miss Benedict start to say and then bite she lip hard-hard, same like when we know we done something what can never be undone.
“You mean she’s going to adopt him?” Outside Lady ask, pulling the spider-thing and making it tinkle again.
“No, I mean … that one been here almost since the day he born. It hard not to think of them as we own. Besides, none of them babies ready for adoption.”
“And why is that?” Outside Man ask.
“Because we don’t know if they mother or father be coming back for them.”
“You mean to say the children aren’t abandoned? Then why are they here?” Outside Lady ask.
“Sometimes they parents just got nowhere else to leave them. Sometimes they come back for them; sometimes they don’t. Like Constance, our oldest.”
Miss Benedict talking about me! I turn to push Tracy and Meena away but they already bored by the Outside People and move far from the gate that separate we room from the baby room.
“Constance been here too-too many years—so we call her we oldest.” Miss Benedict stop to look over she shoulder. Outside People facing Miss Benedict, but they eyes look like they searching for someone and no one at the same time.
“People been flying to your country like bees to a honey pot for a long time now,” Miss Benedict continue. “There are probably more of us up there then there are down here! I got family there too, you know—in Toronto. Is that where you from?”
“Ottawa,” Outside Man say.
“I hear all about Ottawa from my cousin Samuel. He say it get so cold there the river freeze up every year and become a big long road and playground all winter long.”
“It’s a canal,” Outside Man correct Miss Benedict.
Miss Benedict don’t seem to notice. “Well, Constance mother is one of them bees. But she only get visa for she-self, not for she daughter. The day she leave, she take Constance to the airport and tell she child to wait where them sell sweets and things. The poor thing just stand there for two-three hours before the man at the counter ask what she doing there—not because he care but because he think the child making ready to steal something. That how Constance remember it … what she tell the police when the man call them to take she away.”
“You mean her mother left her at the airport? How cruel!” Outside Lady say, wiping something from she eye.
“She been waiting for she mama to come back ever since.”
“This is outrageous! Surely the State can assume legal guardianship of an abandoned child! Why in God’s name hasn’t she been adopted or fostered, at the very least?” Outside Man say, using big word and looking impatient like Paper Man.
“People don’t get too much help for that sort of thing here. If the child got family, the family usually take them. But is much more complicated when plenty family live outside. And not many people willing to feed another mouth when they got so little to survive on. Still, as hard as things are now is not like before when Constance mother leave. Those were some real bad days. People standing in line for bread, for rice, for soap, any little thing they could get, and too-too much trouble because nobody know if it’s freedom from ‘outside’ we get or freedom from ‘inside’ we need. With half we people living up there where you come from—living everywhere but here—the Ministry trying hard to stop the country from losing more of its own, trying hard to keep we pickney down here….” Miss Benedict not able to finish her thought because House Mother come back and say something to Outside People.
“Oh no! We were hoping to spend some time with the girls! And give them some of the toys…” Outside Lady say. She try to smile again, but she face look like Meena face the day the small-small woman leave her with us without saying so much as a good afternoon. It raining hard-hard that day and the woman float into the house with a river of water dripping from she clothes and hair. When House Mother put Meena in we room, we couldn’t tell if she wet from the rain or wet from she tears. Like someone rip open she sky.
“Maybe another day,” I hear House Mother again. “The Ministry not supposed to treat we like some open house … I mean send visitors so close to suppertime, after the babies settle down for the night.”
Outside People not come back the next day nor the next day after that. Tracy laugh and say the jaguar steal they shadow. She say same thing happen to Mama too.
What Tracy know about that? What she know about Miss Benedict stories?
GLOSSARY
AIR RAIDS
(French words and phrases)
Métro — the subway system in the city of Montreal
dépanneur — corner store or convenience store
VIVE LE QUÉBEC LIBRE POUR TOUS — long live Quebec for everyone
Qu’est-ce que tu t’en souviens de notre première rencontre? — What do you remember of our first encounter?
Que nous avons oublié nos destinations. Tu as manqué ton arrêt, et moi, le mien — That we forgot where we were going. You missed your stop and I missed mine.
Et quand tu as vu ce pendentif tu as pensé que je suis, comme toi, Arabe — And when you saw this pendant, you thought I am, like you, an Arab.
Donc, nous sommes d’une seule famille — Then we are part of the same family.
beau corps — beautiful
body
tu fumes trop — you smoke too much
peut-être — maybe, perhaps
rien — nothing
LA DIVERSITÉ EST UNE RICHESSE — diversity is a resource
ÉTAT LAÏC, INDIVIDUS LIBRES — secular state, free individuals
QUÉBEC JE ME SOUVIENS — Québec, I remember
comme tu peux voir — as you can see
Alors, c’est possible de me retrouver aussi — then it is possible to find me too
(Arabic words and phrases)
surah — a chapter from the Quran; a Quranic verse
ayat al-kursi — The Verse of the Throne (Surah 2-255), in the Holy Quran
iftar — the communal meal served at sunset during the month of Ramadan
hijab — (literally, ‘cover’ in Arabic) headscarf or head covering worn by some Muslim women
halal — (literally, ‘lawful’ or ‘permitted’) foods deemed permissible for consumption under Islamic law; or the dietary set of guidelines practiced by Muslims
niqab — a face covering the mouth and nose worn by some Muslim women
Wahabi — a member of the religious movement or sect founded by Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century, and the official state-sanctioned form of Sunni Islam practiced by the vast majority in Saudi Arabia
(Urdu words and phrases)
Shalwar kameez — traditional outfit worn by women in South Asia, consisting of long loose pants, a knee length or hip-length “kameez” or tunic, and a dupatta (long scarf)
CHICKEN CATCHERS
(Spanish words and phrases)
Ándale, amigo! — let’s go, friend!
No solamente un pollo por mano, hermanito! Cuatro pollos por mano! — not just one chicken per hand, brother! Four chickens per hand!
Hasta luego! — see you later!
Comprendes? — do you understand?
Vámanos! — Let’s go (imperative)
esperame! — wait for me (imperative)
muy cansado — very tired
todo el tiempo — all the time
cómo se dice — how do you say it?
Digame — tell me (imperative)
dinero — money
Discúlpame — excuse me; forgive me
Como la ciudad — like the city
Aqui, muy extraños — here, very strange
Lo más sabroso — the tastiest
mi hija — my daughter
el patrón — the boss
no puedo! — I cannot!
(Jamaican Creole words and phrases)
callalloo — a popular Caribbean soup of mixed leafy greens originating in West Africa
cha! — expression of disapproval, frustration
me cyaan lef yuh deh — I can’t leave you like that
nuh jus one way fi heng dog — there’s more than one way to get things done/achieve a goal
naah mean — you know what I mean (Jamaican slang)
bredda — brother
bakra — the white slave-master
CORAZON’S CHILDREN
(Tagalog words and phrases)
Maganda — beautiful
hindi-po — no (formal)
salamat-po — thank you (formal)
Mahal kita — I love you
Toronto’s Dominions
(Hindi/Urdu words and phrases)
abbu-ji — term of endearment for father (using the affectionate suffix ‘ji’)
hungama — quarrel or commotion
beti — term of endearment for daughter
haldi — turmeric
Chana masala — (literally chick peas and mixed spices) a popular Indian/Pakistani vegetarian dish consisting primarily of chick peas
Vindaloo — originally a Goan meat dish popularized in Indian restaurants in the West
naan — traditional baked flat bread in North Indian and Pakistani cuisine
khana — food
haramzada — a jerk
mandap — the altar or dais where Hindus perform their wedding rites
Patak’s — a popular British-Indian brand of chutney, pickles and South Asian curry pastes
SUNSHINE GUARANTEE
(Spanish words and phrases)
Dios mio — my God
Siete Mares — seven seas
no hay lluvia — there is no rain
no seas tonta — don’t be silly
mira — look
pueblos — towns
la iglesia — church
la misa — mass
dulces de guayaba — confectionary made from the guava fruit
plátanos fritos — fried plantains
enamorada con la muerte — enamoured with death
pórtate bien cuatito, si no te lleva el coloradito — behave yourself my friend, or the devil will take you (pithy proverb used in the Mexican lottery)
con respeto — with respect; respectfully
por dios! — goodness! (oh God!)
papas fritas — French fries
quetzal — a tropical bird native to Meso-America
Madrecita — mother (using affectionate diminutive suffix ‘ita’)
pendejo — idiot; jerk
Que fufurufo es — what a show-off he is
Los pueblos originales — native peoples
La brujería — witchery
gringos — foreigners
turistas — tourists
dìme — tell me (imperative)
hijo — son
nuevo mundo — new world
abuelita — grandmother (using affectionate diminutive suffix ‘ita’)
El Papa — The Pope
tamarindo — tamarind fruit
Sopas — a colloquial expression of frustration
Casados — married
negritas — colloquial racialized term for women of African origin
telenovela — generic term for Latin American soap operas
Inglaterra — England
Sudamérica — South America
Explicame — explain it to me (imperative)
campesinos —peasants
esclavos — slaves
mestizaje — mixed race
la mariposa monarca — monarch butterfly
babosa — airhead
Créeme — believe me (imperative)
Sol, solo te quedaste, de cobija de los pobres — alone, only you remain to protect the poor (pithy proverb used in the Mexican lottery)
BREAD AND ROTI
(Urdu words and phrases)
roti — a generic term for bread
Ammi — Mother
maulana — a scholar of Islam
bhai — brother (also used colloquially for males, as a show of affection or respect)
khuda ke fazal — by God’s grace
masjid — mosque
sahiba — Ma’am or Mrs. (female equivalent to “Sahib” for Mister or Sir)
bibi — lady/wife (used colloquially for females, as a show of respect)
itni dur-dur — so far
bhain — sister (also used colloquially for females, as a show of affection or respect)
Bhookh laghe hai! — we’re hungry
Mein bookha hun — I’m hungry
chapati — a flat bread made on a hot cast-iron pan
tawa — a flat pan
ghee — clarified butter
roti-makhan-chini — bread-butter-sugar (part of a child’s nursery rhyme)
gora — white person
karó (channel change karó) — an imperative of the verb to do
haram — something that is prohibited under Islamic law
gunha — sin
B
icahri — poor thing
Ammi, sab kuch samji — did you get that (understand everything)
Wo parinda kahan gaya hai — where did the bird go
mithai — sweetmeats usually made from sweetened milk
biryani — elaborate rice and meat dish served on special occasions
haleem — a rich barley dish served on special occasions
haji — one who has completed “haj” or the pilgrimage to Mecca
Imam — prayer leader or the head of a mosque
bachiyan — children (female)
izzat — concept of honour, respect or reputation
Acha—jaldi batao — okay, tell me quickly
Apka mian — your husband
gori ke sath — with a white girl
sath — with
manat — a pledge, in Islam, to give charity as a show of gratitude for God’s blessings
lunghi — a fabric wrap worn by males
Ammi, mein bahar ja raha hun — Mother, I’m going out
Nahin jao — don’t go
Fikur nahin — don’t worry
shalwar kameez — traditional outfit worn by women in South Asia, consisting of long loose pants, a knee length or hip-length “kameez” or tunic, and a dupatta (long scarf); the three pieces together are often referred to as a “suit”
Bhookh laga hai, chota parinda? Bhookh laga hai? — Are you hungry, little bird? Are you hungry?
Mein ab sab-kuch samajti hun. Apka Abba ke pas jaraha hai — I understand everything now. You are going to your father.
Bhathiye! — sit down (imperative/command form)
Bilkul Abba ke jaysa hai — He’s just like his father
THIRTY-FIVE SECONDS
(Haitian Kreyole)
Bondye bon —God is good
Bondye beni ou—God bless you
Woch nan dlo pa konnen doulé wòch nan solèy —The rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun
Si mwen menm ki ta dwe mande padon — it is I who should ask your forgiveness
Bondye nou an Fidel — God protects us; God will never give us up
CROSSING OVER
(Hindi/Urdu words and phrases)
As-Salam Alaikum — (Arabic: peace be upon you) traditional Muslim greeting
W’Alaikum Salam — (Arabic: and unto you peace) the customary response to as-salam alaikum
Outside People and Other Stories Page 15