Kathleen: The Celtic Knot

Polly

Polly laughs when she hears what happened. Polly is supposed to be called Aunty Mary because she’s Mam’s sister, but she won’t answer to “Aunty.” She says it makes her feel too ordinary. When Kathleen thinks about it, she’s sure Polly is Kathleen’s best friend and Kathleen is Polly’s, too. Angela and Nell are good pals, but they’re only twelve, like Kathleen. Polly is nearly twenty—the height of sophistication, glamorous and full of fun. She wears bright red lipstick and silk stockings and smokes up the chimney so Mam doesn’t get the smell. Polly flies around the place, always singing and cracking jokes and cheering everybody up. She drops into the Murphy house most evenings on her way home from Jacob’s, the biscuit factory where she works, and some days she brings a bag of broken biscuits with her and they have a feast.

In general, employees aren’t allowed to take the biscuits out of the factory. They can eat as much as they want at Jacob’s, but they can’t take any home. Polly told Kathleen that there’s random searches of the workers as they leave in the evenings, and if they’re caught, they’re fired. But, an employee can buy a bag of broken biscuits very cheaply. The thing is, they never know what’s in the bag. It can be Lemon Puffs or Café Noir or Toytown Iced or Kerry Creams, or a mixture. But everyone gobbles them up regardless.

Everyone loves to hear Polly’s laugh. She always keeps everyone entertained with gossip about the people she works with and little incidents that happen. Rows between the workers and bosses, pigeons flying into the biscuit dough, and practical jokes that the workers play on the newest staff members.

Polly says that Kathleen will be amazing at Irish dancing. She’ll be flouncing and bouncing and kicking up her feet like a hen with fleas. But Kathleen doesn’t feel like laughing. She’s afraid of the snobby girls, Tess and her friends. They’ll show her up and make Kathleen look like a fool. It’s all just a big embarrassment. To change the subject, Kathleen asks Polly about Shamy Macnamara. Shamy is “after” Polly. He has his heart set on marrying her, but Polly will have none of it. She says there’s not a man in Dublin that’s good enough for her and that’s a good thing. Otherwise, she’d have to marry someone. Instead, she can be her own boss all her life and have her own income and won’t be worn out having millions of babies.

Polly and Kathleen conspire to be old maids together. They’ll live without men, they’ll paint their toenails red, and they won’t have to darn anyone’s socks. They’ll be ladies of leisure. They’ll have brandy flips for breakfast and colecannon for tea and they won’t call the king our better. Except on Saturdays.

But even if Polly was going to get married, she wouldn’t marry Shamy Macnamara. He’s not very handsome, and has an annoying way of hanging his head and looking at his feet at the first sign of trouble. Polly is seeing a different man named Bill, with broad shoulders and dark eyes, as handsome as Rhett Butler. Rhett Butler is from a book: Gone with the Wind. Polly says she got it out of the circulating library. The main character is named Scarlett O’Hara. Da points out that O’Hara is an Irish name, even though the characters are all American.

And just as quickly as the conversation about the book started, the conversation changes again. This time to Da’s chance to work with the nuns. Polly warns Da that the nuns will have him crawthumping all over the place. Devotions and missions and novenas and the Lord knows what. Da will be destroyed going to church. Listening to the conversation, Mam says that going to church never hurt anyone.

Just then, Polly tells Kathleen that she brought something. She slips a small gold tube into Kathleen’s hand. She says it’s only half-used. She got a new one, a color that suits her better, but this one is still good. And it’ll look terrific on Kathleen with her red hair. Kathleen looks down. It’s lipstick. She’s too young for lipstick, but she’s dying to see what she looks like with it on.

She whispers to Polly to go to the bedroom with her. When they get there, Kathleen watches as Polly mimics putting a coat of lipstick on her lips. Polly stretches her lips and pretends to apply a coat on herself. She doesn’t bother with a mirror. Then, she chomps down on a scrap of newspaper, leaving bright red lip marks like kisses on the margin from the layer of lipstick she applied earlier that day. Now, it’s Kathleen’s turn. But she’s changed her mind. She says Da will kill her if he sees it. She’ll have to try some other day.