JOHN AND MIRIAM
Chapter Six
That evening, the Calverts ate dinner with
Mary's new friend and her mother. Both John and Miriam were mildly surprised
that no man accompanied the Arab woman, but didn't know how to ask her about
this.
Mary and her friend communicated through a
few words, some gestures, and funny facial expressions. Occasionally, when the
two grew too boisterous, one of the adults would speak to them or fix them with
a stern look that calmed them down, if only for a moment. It was at one of
these times that Miriam heard the mother of the other child use a word from the
French language. Surprised, Miriam, who had learned French in school as a
child, turned to her.
"Parlez vous Francais?" she asked,
trying to hide her surprise.
The other woman nodded and explained in
heavily accented French that she had learned the language from her husband, who
had been a trader.
Miriam nodded; French was a very common trade
language. After a moment, she remembered her manners and asked what the woman's
name was.
In response, she learned that the woman's
name was Kiran, and that her daughter's name was Nadia. Miriam introduced
herself, John, and Mary, translating Kiran's words into English. John nodded to
Kiran absently, trying to understand the conversation without much success.
French wasn't generally part of the education of a working class English boy.
Kiran and Miriam spent the rest of the meal talking, leaving John to watch over
the two rambunctious children.
Kiran explained to Miriam that she was
traveling on her own. This was unusual for women of her culture (and, Miriam
replied, for women of most cultures, since it was felt that a woman needed a
man's protection and guidance). She and her husband had been planning to come
to America, as business had not been good, but before they could leave he had
caught smallpox and died. She pointed to a few small scars on her face,
evidence that she had also come down with the disease but had survived. Nadia
had remained healthy.
Kiran had returned to her parents' home,
where she cared for her mother during the last few months of her mother's life.
After her mother had died from tuberculosis, her father had tried to arrange
another marriage for her, but neither she nor the young man her father had
chosen were particularly interested. After his attempt to marry Kiran off had
failed, her father had agreed to allow her to travel to America, providing that
her brother accompany her. He had traveled with her through Europe to France,
where they were to board at Cherbourg. He had changed his mind about going to
the United States at the last moment, however, and, after escorting Kiran and
Nadia on board the ship, had left. Kiran hadn't realized what he had done until
she had seen him waving at her from the dock as the ship was pulling away.
Miriam was shocked. How, she wondered, could
a man show so little consideration for a member of his own family? She had seen
a number of less-than-wonderful things done in the time she had spent on her
own in Europe, but she had yet to meet a man who would callously abandon his
own sister in a strange place. She realized, of course, that such things did
happen, but she had assumed that such things were rare, and had never expected
to meet someone who had experienced such a thing.
Kiran admitted to being a bit frightened,
having never been on her own before, but said that she had heard so many good
things about opportunities in America that she felt quite certain that she
could find a way to live.
Miriam held her tongue, not wanting to make
Kiran more nervous, but she had learned a few things about
"opportunity" in America. In the two years that she had been a
Socialist, she had taken advantage of her wealth and education to investigate
the way that these "opportunities" actually worked. She had viewed
sweatshops, including one owned by her own father, and had realized that
"opportunity" was severely limited for those who did not have money
and education. Kiran, she realized, was in an even worse position, not speaking
English, and hoped that some of those businesses that made a practice of hiring
immigrants at very low wages would give her a chance. Most of these businesses,
however, hired mainly European immigrants, and work could indeed be hard to
find for one of another race, even hard, dangerous sweatshop work. Miriam
mentioned none of this, but she did tell Kiran that, if she wanted, Miriam
might be able to help her find a job. She mentioned that her father was a
wealthy businessman, and might well know where jobs could be found.
Kiran brightened considerably at this, and
Miriam winced inside, hoping she had not given her false hope.
As the meal ended, John asked Miriam to come
outside with him for a while. Miriam translated this to Kiran, who offered to
watch both children if they wanted some time alone. Miriam translated this to
John, who smiled and nodded at Kiran, then bent down to Mary to explain that he
and Miriam were going out for a little while and she could play with her friend
until they got back. Mary grinned happily and ran after Nadia, heading towards
a large group of children. John and Miriam nodded their thanks again, and
headed for the deck.