New York - The Novel

Italian, though their children seemed to speak English. “My parents speak a little English,” Teresa said with a smile, “but they usually speak to each other in Tosca.”
    She led them through to the kitchen. “This is Salvatore and Angelo,” she said to a strong-faced woman, who gave them a quick, sharp look. “My mother,” Teresa explained. “And this”—she turned toward a tall man with a graying beard who had just entered the room—“is my father.”
    Teresa’s father moved with an unhurried dignity. There could be no doubt who was the head of this extensive family. He looked like the pictures of Garibaldi. He greeted the two young men politely, but said nothing more.
    Salvatore soon realized that, outside the family, he and Angelo were the only guests. Before the time even came to sit down for the meal, he had discovered that as well as owning some fields, Teresa’s father ran a fruit and vegetable store with one of his sons. His son-in-law was in the local shellfish business, and his two other sons ran a local trucking business.
    The table was arranged in a large T, so that the fourteen adults and half-dozen children could all be seated in the biggest room. Teresa was seated in between Salvatore and Angelo. Her brother-in-law, a thickset, rather earnest man of thirty, sat opposite Salvatore. Her father, at the head of the table, was just a few places away where he could keep an eye on them all. At the start of the meal, out of politeness, he addressed a few questions to Salvatore, asking about his family and where they came from.
    Salvatore answered that he was Italian and lived in the city, but that the rest of the family were out on Long Island now, and that his elder brother would inherit a farm. Teresa’s father nodded at this, and remarked that hehoped Salvatore and his brother would soon be able to leave the city themselves.
    “My father thinks the city is unhealthy,” Teresa explained with a laugh.
    Teresa’s father did not trouble him further, and the meal proceeded in a friendly fashion. Teresa was quite lively, and told him funny stories about her relations. As Salvatore looked around, it seemed to him that this was how the Caruso family might also have been, if they had been richer.
    Teresa was talking to Angelo during the dessert course when her brother-in-law quietly engaged Salvatore in conversation. He asked him about his work, and hearing that he was a bricklayer, he shook his head.
    “Manual work is not so bad when you’re young, but one must think ahead. Are you able to save?” When Salvatore nodded, he continued earnestly. “That’s good. One needs money to start a business. What will you do?” Salvatore had never thought of this. To him, his savings were to have something put by for clothes, or periods of sickness, or any of the other things one might need, especially if you got married. Seeing his uncertainty, the fellow carried on. “The old man”—he indicated Teresa’s father—“will want his daughter to marry a man with a business of some kind. Or at least some assets.” He helped himself to a piece of pie. “Very important to him.”
    Salvatore said nothing. After the meal, the young men all went for a walk while the women cleaned up. Since Teresa had guests, she was allowed to walk out with the boys. They went down to the water where the fishermen brought in the oysters and clams. Teresa told him that she’d like to come into the city to see a movie. “My father doesn’t like the city, but I do,” she said. So they arranged to meet again in two weeks.
    On his departure, he thanked Teresa’s parents for their hospitality, and though they were polite to him, they did not express a hope that he should return. And he might have felt a little awkward, if Angelo hadn’t suddenly appeared with a piece of paper.
    “A gift from me and my brother,” he said with a smile, handing it to Teresa’s mother, who frowned slightly as she took it. But then, as she saw what it was, she beamed and showed it to her husband. It was a drawing of their house, an excellent likeness to which he had cleverly added some seabirds circling overhead. Their parting was much warmer after that.
    All the same, when he got back to the city, Salvatore pondered. He had no doubt that Teresa’s brother-in-law had spoken the truth. Was therereally any chance that Teresa’s family would accept him? When it came to it, would she be happy with a poor fellow like himself? He wasn’t