The Carnival of Love

Watching her sleep

What Maria couldnt learn from from her mother's telling she learned from

She wasn't afraid of anything

Maria's mom having no nightmare meant that

That she was full of secret laughter that was always waiting to get out

Mom also had a whispering snore, which meant

She was always in the kitchen

And her body bore the faint smell of onions which meant s that

Acklins

Where was Maria's mother from

An L-shaped island plotted with countless bush thickets and carved by long, trodden dirt roads.

When Maria's mother described her island Maria pictured

All of its peculiar ways as well

When her mother left the island she harbored

"Caught the mailboat to Nassau, Bahamas"

"At nine years old, mom, along with her family......

We had no worries and violence was calmed by the breath of a prayer. We were all like one big family. "

"In Acklins," she would say, "people could go out and leave their house open and unattended......

When you find a lizard in the house, it means that someone is pregnant; if you find a snake in front of your doorstep, it means that an evil spell has been placed on you or someone in your household........

What were some old wives' tale that he mother believed in?

Heal whatever was sick or broken. On that island she learned herbal elixirs and remedies that made every type of pain go away.

Acklins gave her the insight to......

Kiss or a kind word other times it came in the form of bush Medicines

Sometimes healing came in the form of a

Mother was the most delicate creature Maria had ever seen, she had a flat, broad forehead. Moms hair was raven black. She had brown oatmeal skin and it was so soft. Her nose was thin by her eyes and broad at the tip. Her lips was brown and purple which looked much like smooth deflated plums. She was a natural beauty.

Describe mother

Attention from countless old and young men who fell in love with her.

The fact that she was from a "faraway" land. On her island she got a lot of_______

When she was yet seventeen years old he discovered her and stole her beauty from the rest of the world.

When did Maria's father discover her mom? And what did he do with her?

Her father was one who never wanted to share. He wanted to make her beauty a secret even to her.

No one could behold her radiant face because

Because he made her beauty a secret, even to her

How did Maria know that her father stole her beauty?

After cole, her fourth child turned two and Maria was still in the womb

Her mother married her father right.....

2

How old was cole when her mother married her father?

Into a bride, a mother, and an invisible creature all in the same lifetime.

Her father a city man made her mother.....

Fifteen years her mother's senior

Her father was ________ years her mother's _______

Three

Her father had _______ professed teenagers from a previous marriage that she wasn't initially made aware of

Almost the same age as mom

Adopt the title as step mom

Because Maria's mom was almost the same age as her fathers kids she did not

Mom went on to have about seventeen pregnancies

Dad had a firm belief in having lots of kids, so, I'm their eighteen years of marriage....

Eight children died. Nine survived

Out of the seventeen children......

Sustained the world from the empty pit of her stomach

Mom was a creature who often

Envisioned the land of her origin

I imagined that when mom dreamed she

Mom, Cole, Rachel, Travis, Benny, zoey and Maria

Who all lived in the two -bedroom apartment that was comparable to a concert box ?

Sadnesss

Pinewood was a place that brought mother great....

Because it was a constant reminder of all the poverty they were left to face after her and father separated

Why did did pinewood bring mother great sadness?

Her brother

Who is uncle Wally to mother?

In Carmichael

Before they lived in pinewood, where did they live?

Eli, Kenny, Jhon, Cole, Maria, Rachel, Travis, Benny, Zoey

Name all the kids in order from oldest to youngest

Child's Paradise

Carmichael was a......

Dad taught us how to respect each other while mom taught us to avoid quarrels that led to nothing but hatred

What did dad teach them and what did mom teach them?

Laughing

What was their fathers favorite hobby?

Bc seventeen years of marriage and their mother began sleeping on the east end of their house where six sons slept

What event marked the beginning of a dire separation and inevitable divorce?

Becoming homeless

It was a short transition from living in a nice house with two partners to

Eli, Kenny and Jhon

Who went off to college

Plain, routinely wore tan linen pants, buttoned down shirts and grubby Clark shoes

What was dad's appearance?

Hair: always short

-Blunt

-Simple

-Handsome

Eyes: deep set

Skin: brown

Describe dads features

Slow to become angry and show negative emotions; stoic; deep; thoughtful; interacting with others-always wore a small devilish grin, with two plump cheeks on each end of it; habit of laughing when conversing with others; predictable- awoke early and followed the same routine each morning.

Describe dads personality

Fed the horses es, took a bath, drank hot milo tea with bread.

What was dads morning routine?

Any time spent with them

Dad loved his children and enjoyed

The Bahamian marital downfall

However dad fell prey to

Quite a number of children outside of his marriage.

Dad had several girlfriends which resulted in

People saw him as being socially likable. They would say to the children about him "you see your dad, Mario, there; he's a good man. Oh yeah, we know your father from way back back when. You should be proud.

How people saw dad

Mario

What was dads name?

Mom saw him as an unfaithful husband, especially after they separated and eventually divorced. She thought he was prideful, conceited, utterly selfish, responsible for the devastation of their marriage.

How did mom see dad?

Carmichael home

Dad was the reason for mom leaving their

Kill her if she left him and found another man (he was jealous)

Dad threatened to

Disappointment

Maria saw him as a

There was still some good in him and that she needed him and wanted a pleasant relationship with him.

After a while, however she realized as she became older that

Her letter to him at the end of story

This is shown that she wanted to have a decent relationship with dad by

Always wore straw hats, flowery dresses and false teeth. Her voice was softly trembling like a dark cloud filled with rainwater. She was gorgeous. She was a tall, broad woman.

Describe grandmother

Was her extravagant garden

What was grandmothers greatest interest or hobby?

Garden

Her _____ was one of the few things that gave her a sense of purpose, especially in her age. (Grandmother)

Yes

If someone was to pick one of her flowers, would she miss it? (Grandmother)

Extremely colorful and demonstrated the happiness it produced in Grandmother's heart

Her garden was

In her beloved garden, in which she loved more than anything

Where did grandmother experience her greatest injury?

A neighbor had spitefully used witchcraft on her and caused injury to her right foot

Grandmother explained that

Confessed and apologized

Many years later, the neighbor, Miss Rosemary, (grandmother)

Attached and severely beaten and left for dead by two men who broke into her home

Grandmother was

Bed ridden and had to have someone take care of her.

She was hospitalized and when she came out, she was (grandmother)

No

Was grandmother happy about being bedridden?

Insulted and chased one caretaker after another

Grandmother (involving her bed ridding and the help)

Audience

Benny's presence always attracted an

To tell jokes and had the ability to make anyone laugh

Benny loved

Wore a smile

Benny frequently

Be a good angry person because he had too much laughter on the inside

Benny's siblings felt he could never

Laughter

What did Benny master?

Command happiness from his siblings even when they could not produce it themselves

Benny knew how to

That laughter could be a way of coping, a way of healing and a way of losing oneself

Benny discovered

Track and field

He was also good in (Benny)

Pray before races and they were good at succeeding but even better at handling the success with great humanity

Mom taught them to

Cole who had heart

Shortest of al the brothers was

Keepers from an early age

He was his brothers

Backed down from a fight

He never (cole)

He was their protector

His sibling understood that (cole)

Emotional madness

Mom saw his behavior as (cole)

Deep and loving heart

However she knew that under his tough demeanor there was a

A track scholarship by a school in Louisiana

Cole had been given

Business

What did Cole want to major in?

Stay home and help mom raise the other children

At some point cole decided to

The man of the house

Cole figured he needed to be

A job, his pay wasn't much but he was determined to help mom survive

Being the disciplined person he was he got (cole)

His great love with madness at times

What made cole unique?

One incident where he beat up three men at one time

Mom saw him as a dangerous force after (cole)

Kill a man, he wasn't afraid to go to prison and he wasn't afraid to die

Cole wasn't afraid to

Eli

Who was moms first born?

He was so beautiful that he looked fake, like a doll

Describe Eli

Well

Eli played his role as a big brother

He taught his brothers about girls and taught his sisters how to play new card games

He taught his brothers and sisters abt (cole)

Track scholarship

He went to American college on a (Eli)

Two

After ___ years Eli returned

Unsympathetic

Eli was ______ towards his mom for the separation of her and his dad's marriage

Handsome with piercing black eyes like mom and a small mouth like dad. When he talked, his mouth involuntarily smiled while he talked.

Eli was

Great leader among his brothers

Eli was a

Only brother mom had

Wally was the