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He didn’t know what that meant, but he was told that he and his brothers and sister were not allowed in her bedroom because “she needs to rest”. Alphy remembers seeing his youngest brother, Cyril, going to the bedroom door with his little arms extended towards his mother,

however he was not allowed to enter the bedroom. Alphy didn’t under- stand why he could not go in to see her.

Alphy would hear his mother coughing a lot, more at night. He would see her sleeping more during the day. He would come home from school and the neighbour, Marie, was there to look after his brothers and sister. Alphy could see a change in his mother; she even sounded different. When she spoke, the softness of her voice was not there. Instead there was this ‘raspy’ wheezing sound which sounded like someone else’s voice. It surely didn’t sound like his own mother.

A school boy of seven does not think about death — Alphy went to school every day as if there was nothing wrong.

Alphy was sitting at his desk when he saw the neighbour, Ben, come into the school. Ben spoke to the teacher. Alphy noted that he had a serious expression on his face. Alphy remembered seeing this same serious expression on the faces of the adults at Uncle Alphé’s funeral. Then Ben told Alphy that he had to come home. Alphy didn’t ask why, he instinctively knew-his mother had died. Alphy dashed out of school, running as fast as he could. It seemed like a very long time before he arrived home.

When he reached the house, Alphy went to his mother’s bedroom door. He couldn’t see his mother’s face, but she was lying under a white sheet on the bed. Marie, the neighbour, was kneeling by the bed and she was crying. Alphy looked at his father. He also had the same serious look on his face that Alphy had seen in church. Alphy could

not tell if his father was crying or not. Alphy wanted to cry but he couldn’t.

After his mother’s funeral, a lot of people came to the house. Some of the adults told Alphy that he was a big boy now and that he

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