The Hayloft

The HayloftMy First Love was at the age of 11, in 1922, for Gina "the African," the young wife of old Hercules Santi, the image maker and sacristan of our church of San Rocco. Gina was called the African because her skin was a deep tint of greenish-brown hue, seeming of smooth lava or lignum vitae. Hardly more than a girl, she stood out among the Hoboken peasant women as a shining figure of precious substance. Her heavy hair, draping about her shoulders, was the bluest black. Her eyes...