Sometimes, when he saw me passing by with a basket of clothes, he’d say “Ah, Ramona, going to do the laundry, are you? Want a peach? They’re all sugar and honey. They’ll cure your thirst.” Still raining, Virgin Mary, and like a simpleton I left my umbrella and I get all flustered when I reach Barcelona, ’cause since I don’t know how to read I’m all agitated when I go to catch the tram and I always have to ask what name’s on the side. Want another one? Make you healthy, eat up. Well, you got to realize they said Mass right there in the house, and I still don’t know why they didn’t kill them all when the revolution came, and the priest, who was a friend of the family and helped the senyora’s mother to die good, he was spared too. I never saw his face, I only saw him twice when he was crossing the hall and he was hurrying like a rat, but he was small. Where are we? Ah! Cerdanyola. Fancy that. Talking and laughing away we already got to Cerdanyola.

Not long before, my husband went on strike and I asked my senyora, she was tall and slim too like her husband and was always wearing silk and she spoke in a low voice, all calm-like, and I’d get sleepy just listening to her, well I asked her if she knew about more houses where I could go and clean ’cause we were having us a bad stretch and everything was getting more costly, and she asked me did I want to take charge of the cleaning of the China room. Everything was from China and broidered in fine gold that didn’t turn black, with these creatures that looked out at me when I dusted them, ’cause Carmeta was kind of careless and she was always knocking off the mother-of-pearl, cleaning so hard, you know, slap-bang. I told her I’d clean real slow and we reached an agreement. Well, when my husband was in mid-strike, Carmeta found herself a man, but she was real proper-like, and the day she found out he was married she said “enough,” but he would hang around the house and spy on her when she went to buy the milk, since she was the lady’s maid they only made her buy the milk in the afternoons, and there he was following her on her day off when she went out and her not even giving him a look and he was going mad.

A vegades, quam em veia passar amb el cove de la bugada, em deia: "Apa, Ramona, cap a fer la roba blanca, eh? ...vol un préssec? Són tot suc i tot mel. Li faran passar la set." Encara plou: Ai, Senyor!, i jo que m’he deixat el paraigua com una bleda i m’atorrollo quan arribo a Barcelona, perquè com que no sé llegir per agafar el tramvia pateixo molt i sempre he de preguntar quin nom porta al costat. En vol un altre? Això fa salut, mengi, mengi... Doncs ha de pensar que deien la missa a casa mateix, que encara no sé com no els van matar tots quan va venir la revolució, i el capellà, que era amic de la casa i que havia ajudat la mare de la senyora a ben morir, també es va salvar. No li havia vist mai la cara perquè només el vaig veure dues vegades que travessava el corredor i anava de pressa com una rata, però era molt menut. On som? Ah! Cerdanyola. Miri què tal. Tot rient, rient, ja som a Cerdanyola...

...feia poc que el meu marit havia fet vaga i jo vaig dir a la senyora... també era alta i prima com el seu marit i sempre anava de seda i parlava baix i amb molta calma, que a mi em venia son quan l’escoltava, si em sabria més cases per anar a rentar perquè passàvem una mala tongada i tot s’anava fent més car, i ella em va dir si em voldria cuidar de la neteja de la sala de Xina. Tot era de Xina i brodat amb or fi que no es tornava negre, amb unes bèsties que em miraven quan les espolsava, perquè la Carmeta era una esbojarrada i li feia caure l’encrostonat del nacre fregant fort i barrim-barram. Jo vaig dir-li que ja l’hi fregaria a poc a poc i vam quedar enteses. Doncs quan el meu marit estava a mitja vaga la Carmeta va trobar xicot, però ella era molt formal, i el dia que va saber que era casat li va dir prou, i ell vinga rondar la casa i vinga espiar-la quan anava a comprar la llet, perquè ella era cambrera i només li feien anar a comprar la llet a la tarda, i vinga seguir-la els dies de festa que tenia sortida i ella sense ni mirar-se’l que ell es tornava boig.