Sugar House (9780991192519) (13 page)

"We had pretty groves of trees growing on the
hills behind the town. I'd play there with my older sister, Anna.
For hours and hours we'd have tea parties with acorns and leaves on
a large tree stump and pretend to invite the animals to join us.
Anna would climb the trees and get so dirty. My mother would get so
mad and say that Anna came home looking like a forest imp. I was
frightened of climbing so high, so I'd climb just high enough for
Anna not to tease me. Near suppertime, we would both sit on a thick
limb and stare out at the water to see who could spot our father
returning from his day of fishing. Then we'd climb down and run
back home to greet him." Matka looked thoughtfully out ahead as if
she could see her father walking toward the cottage with the sea
behind him.

"Did you eat fish every day?" Joe asked.

"Almost. Sometimes we had to eat seagulls in
the winter, when the sea would freeze and he couldn't catch any
fish. Father would lay a seagull trap behind the house with a piece
of bread lying on it. When a bird flew down to scavenge a bite, the
brass trap would snap shut, killing it. My mother would soak it in
salt water for two days; this would help remove some of the fish
taste. Sometimes Anna and I would hunt the beach for seagull eggs,
and she would bake cakes with them. Food could be scarce, but we
had buttermilk to drink every day, and I never remember going
hungry as a child."

The streetcar was quiet as the few riders
were reflecting on lost loved ones; busy with their inner thoughts,
they were not listening to Blanca. Frank was unusually quiet, and
Matka continued her story.

"The church in my village was also very
beautiful. Not as large as St Josaphat's but just as pretty. The
pulpit where our priest would speak his sermons was made to look
like a ship riding the waves. Imagine Father Gatowski preaching
from an elaborate brown ship just above your pew! Two sculpted
angels looked down from above to symbolize God protecting our
fishermen. Each end of the wooden pews was carved into the shape of
a rolling wave. The towering walls were painted the same blue as a
calm sea with gold trimmings embellishing the arches and domes of
the ceilings.

And the organ! Such melodious songs it would
play. Hundreds of organ pipes driving out thunderous notes; the
melody could be deafening. Then, when your ears felt they were
going to bleed, the organist suddenly softened the music and played
so sweetly and delicately tears would gather in my eyes.

When there was a wedding in our village
everyone would attend. The kapela—that's a group of musicians,
Joe—would bring their instruments and play long into the night.
Anna and I would wear bright red costumes adorned with a pretty
white apron that our mother had embroidered. We would braid
colorful ribbons into our hair and dance to the Maruszka and
Krzyznik songs of the kapela for hours.

There were violins, clarinets and accordions
along with special instruments that only Kashubes play. One was
called a burczybas
.
It's a sort of double bass wooden barrel
without a bottom. Horsehair is attached to it and wetted down by
one player as another pulls it to make a low rumbling sound. And
they played devil's violins, which are not really violins at all
but a percussion instrument in the form of a long stick with
un-tuned strings and jingles attached. It's decorated with the mask
of a devil and many ribbons at the top. And the strongest man in
the kapela would play the bazuna, a trumpet three feet in length,
made of maple."

A few small farms dotted the scenery as the
streetcar drove back toward the city. The rocking of the car had
lulled Frank to sleep, and Matka laid his head on her lap. Thick
gray clouds rolled in and hid the sun. Joe listened intently to the
tale of his mother's childhood.

"But life for the people of my village was
not as peaceful as the scenery. Prussia took over our land almost
two hundred years ago, and Poland was not even a country anymore.
The Prussians tried to erase our culture and traditions. Decrees
were passed outlawing the use of the Polish language in our schools
and in public life. Poles could not hold political office, and any
one resisting the laws was arrested and imprisoned. A Prussian
bishop was even installed to be the leader of all the Polish
Catholics!

"Such indignities were far too much for my
father. The Polish language was as important to him as was his
faith in God. When I was twelve years old, he left with a group of
men from Jastarnia who wanted to rebel and fight for our right to
live as our ancestors had. He never returned. We heard reports from
a few of the men who came back that he had been jailed, and then
later we heard he was dead. We never received notification from the
Prussian government."

Tears welled in Blanca's eye's and she
squeezed Joe's hand. Taking a deep breath she continued.

"After my father was gone we had trouble
getting by. My mother would make Kashubian embroidery and give it
the men who were going into the interior of the country to try to
sell. She was very talented. Her embroidery was quite
extraordinary. Kashubian embroidery uses just five colors—green,
red, yellow, black and blue. Green represents the forests, yellow
the sun, black the earth, red the fire and blood that has been shed
in defense of our homeland and three shades of blue to represent
the sky, the lakes and the sea. But no one had money to buy her
beautiful work. All the Poles that were being persecuted were dirt
poor, and the Prussians wouldn't buy any Polish goods.

"Then the Prussian army decided they needed
to have power over the Baltic Sea to control trade routes and take
new territories. They came in great numbers and occupied our
village. They threw out families who had lived in their homes for
hundreds of years. Luckily, the soldiers were not interested in our
small cottage, and we were left alone at first.

"My mother tried everything she could think
of to help us get by. But without the living my father had
provided, we were going hungry. Anna went to work as a maid for a
lieutenant in the Prussian army. My mother cried and begged her not
to take the position, but we were starving and Anna felt she had
to. She was always headstrong, my sister. Shortly after she began
working at his home, the lieutenant fell in love with Anna. I was
not surprised. She was very beautiful. Tall and strong with wide
blue eyes. You have her eyes Joe; did I ever tell you that?"

Joe shook his head. His mother rarely spoke
of her life in Poland because the memories always upset her. He
tried to remember her mentioning her older sister and could
not.

"The lieutenant was becoming angry at Anna's
refusals and became more persistent every day. She decided she had
to run away to escape his advances. She left in the middle of the
night, stealing one of the fishermen's boats, but the lieutenant
ordered his men to sail after her and bring her back. When she was
brought before him, he told Anna he would have her tried for
treason unless she married him. She knew that she would be found
guilty and imprisoned or put to death as our father had been.
Despondently, she agreed. My mother died of a broken heart on the
day of Anna's wedding. There was nowhere for me to go to live. I
could not live with Anna, because the lieutenant had too many
soldier comrades that were eager to force their hand with the life
of a young girl, just as he had done to Anna."

The houses outside the streetcar windows were
closer together now, as they came upon the outer edge of the city.
Joe inhaled, and the smell of hot tar and burning rubber made his
eyes water. He coughed into his hands and felt better. "Are you all
right, Joe?" Matka asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Please tell me the story," he
replied.

"This is where your Ojciec comes in, Joe.
He'd been a neighbor of ours, and our families had been friendly. I
was too young to pay attention to him before the soldiers occupied
our land. After they came, all we did was try to find ways to
survive. He came to my cottage the night I buried my mother. He
knew my impossible situation. He felt my fate would be similar to
Anna's, and he was worried. I was fifteen and very vulnerable. He
was leaving on a ship for America the next day and wanted to give
me his ticket. His family had saved for many years and finally had
enough for the passage for him and his two brothers.

"I refused his offer. I could not take such a
gift. There would be no way for me to repay his family. He
insisted, telling me he had spoken to the sailors on the ship, and
they had agreed to let him sail in exchange for working on the boat
during the passage. Finally, I agreed, as there were no other
options for me and he wouldn't leave until I took his ticket. I
didn't not know until I boarded that he'd lied about the agreement
with the ship's sailors and had actually agreed to become an
indentured servant to work off his passage to America. Ojciec would
have to work in the copper mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
for five years to pay off his debt.

"During our two week voyage, I stayed near
him on a bunk in the bowels of the ship. He protected me from the
thieves and thugs on board. Before we arrived in America, I asked
if I could accompany him to the Upper Peninsula. Uncle Alexy and
Uncle Feliks were going with him and were going to find work there
also. It was bold of me to ask such a favor, but I knew no one in
the new country and I was falling in love with your father. He
asked instead if I would marry him and I agreed. The captain
married us before we reached Ellis Island. The passengers on the
ship were our wedding guests. They all laughed and clapped when we
kissed and said it was fitting for us to start a new life together
as we came to our new country."

Matka had been looking off into the distance
as she'd been telling her story to Joe. She paused now and looked
down at his face.

"When you saw me asking for forgiveness in
the cemetery, it's because I left Anna. She's there without her
family and cannot even speak our language in her own home. I miss
her so much every day, but am powerless to help. I write to her but
never get a reply. I am sure the lieutenant destroys my letters
before she sees them."

The streetcar stopped on the corner of
Woodward near their house. They paid their fare and walked home.
Joe put wood in the kitchen stove, and Matka put Frank to bed
upstairs. Then she sat on a small wooden chair near the stove,
warming herself. Joe put the warmed up supper on the table and sat
down. He looked over at his mother as he took a bite of kielbasa.
Again she was looking not at him but out the window of the kitchen.
A tear rolled slowly down her cheek. Joe walked around the table
and gave her a hug. Surprised, she looked down at Joe and hugged
him back.

"Perhaps now that Germany and Russia are
fighting on our land the lieutenant will become distracted with the
war and my letters will reach her. Or maybe he has joined the
fighting. But I don't know if she will be able to write back. Every
day I read how horrible the battles are in the newspaper. So much
human loss and destruction of our lands… I worry how my village is
faring. It is in such a remote part of the country, and it seems
there are no reports about the Kashubian region. Both Germany and
Russia have offered pledges of an independent Poland in exchange
for loyalty and army recruits. Every day my hope increases that I
will hear from her, now that Poland has a fighting chance of
becoming its own country again. And every day I hope she will
forgive me for leaving her and not saying goodbye."

"I hope Aunt Anna can get a letter to you
real soon, Matka," Joe said.

"I hope so too, Joe. That is my perpetual
prayer," she replied, another tear rolling down her soft cheek.

Two weeks flew by. The Feast of St. Josaphat was upon
them. The children had practiced singing "Veni Creator Spiritus"
for hours and hours, until the Latin words rolled off their
tongues. Joe knew he would never forget the lyrics for as long as
he lived. Unfortunately, he had no idea of their meaning, as Sister
Mary Monica had not felt it necessary to translate the song for the
class. The class would sing this song for the bishop at the end of
the dedication ceremony.

Matka and Aunt Hattie spent hours cooking for
the festival. Ojciec and Uncle Alexy wouldn't be able to attend the
festivities until Saturday because of work, but Ojciec took Joe
aside before heading out the door that morning.

"I'm going to skip dinner today and practice
my curve ball, Joe. Hope I get a chance to pitch in the game." Joe
laughed and was about to reply when he had a small coughing
spell.

"You all right, Joe?" Ojciec asked.

"Yes, Ojciec, just a little cough. I feel
fine."

"All right son, drink some water then and
I'll see you tonight." Ojciec grabbed his hat and walked out the
front door.

Joe got a drink from the kitchen and said
goodbye to Matka. "I will see you at the church," she said, kissing
him lightly on the top of his head. "Walk with your cousins to the
corner of Canfield and Dequindre and look out for them," she called
as he was heading for the door.

Great
, he thought.
Now I will be
late waiting for those ninnies, and then Sister probably won't even
let me play in the game tomorrow.

But he was wrong. Marya and Pauline were
waiting for Joe at the end of the walkway leading to their
house.

"Well, hurry up Joe!" said Marya, bossy as
usual.

"I'm here, Marya. You in a hurry to meet your
boyfriend, Tall Paul?"

Marya's faced turned a bright red. "Joe, you
are a despicable boy! If I didn't want to be tardy I would turn
around and go tell your mother what a horrible son she has!"