3 Chapter 2 The Rampage

Chapter 2 The Rampage Maria's father was not wealthy, but he was well-to-do. "We didn't live in a teepee," Maria often told people who asked about her life on the reservation. "And we were never hungry." Maria's father owned a movie theater and a pool hall on the main street in town, but those businesses did not earn much money for the family. Instead, her father depended for money on the oil companies. They paid him for the right to drill oil on his land. Often, when a check for hundreds of dollars arrived, he pocketed the money and disappeared for days. Ruth Tall Chief did not know where her husband was, but she knew what he was doing: drinking. As much as a week might pass before he returned home.

玛丽亚的父亲并不富有，但生活富足。 “我们没有住在圆锥形帐篷里，”玛丽亚经常对那些问起她在保留地生活的人说。 “我们从来都不饿。” 玛丽亚的父亲在镇上的主要街道上开了一家电影院和一个台球厅，但这些生意并没有给家里挣多少钱。 相反，她的父亲靠石油公司赚钱。 他们付钱给他以获得在他的土地上开采石油的权利。 通常，当收到一张数百美元的支票时，他会把钱装进口袋，然后消失几天。 露丝不知道她丈夫在哪里，但她知道他在做什么:喝酒。 他可能要过一个星期才能回家。

Maria remembered how frightened her mother became during those "binges." When Maria's father drank, he got mean. "The walls seemed to shake and the air seemed to fill with the thunder of his fury," Maria remembered. Her mother tried to reason with him. "You are throwing away the money your family needs to live!" How was she to feed her daughters? she asked. The giant towered over his wife. His dark eyes were not kind now. They were angry. "I'm tired of

玛丽亚还记得她母亲在那些“狂欢”中是多么害怕。 玛丽亚的父亲一喝酒就变得刻薄。 “墙壁似乎在颤抖，空气中似乎充满了他愤怒的雷声，”玛丽亚回忆道。 她母亲试图和他讲道理。 “你在浪费你的家庭生活所需的钱!”她怎么养活她的女儿们呢? 她问。巨人比他妻子高得多。 他的黑眼睛现在不和善了。 他们很生气。“我厌倦了

hearing about money!" he shouted. He swung his arm, sweeping a stack of books from the table. They crashed to the floor. Maria grabbed Marjorie's hand, and together the sisters ran down the hill to Grandma Tall Chief's house. Maria cried for her to come quickly and save her mother! Her father's "rampage," as Maria called it, ended without violence. She never once saw her father strike her mother. Still, a few months later when the next oil check arrived, her father disappeared again. Oil might have saved the Osage from starving, but it could not restore her father's lost pride. Maria did not know what dark thoughts clouded her father's mind during his binges. In time, however, she came to understand what her mother already knew. Her father was an alcoholic.

听说钱的事了!”他喊道。 他挥了挥胳膊，把桌上的一摞书扫了下来。 他们扑通一声摔倒在地。 玛丽亚抓住玛乔丽的手，姐妹俩一起跑下山，来到高酋长奶奶的家。 玛丽亚哭着要她快点来救她的母亲!她父亲的“暴跳如雷”，用玛丽亚的话说，没有暴力收场。 她从未见过父亲打母亲。 然而，几个月后，当她收到下一张检查油单时，她的父亲又消失了。 石油也许能使奥塞奇族人免于挨饿，但却无法恢复她父亲失去的骄傲。 玛丽亚不知道她父亲在酗酒时脑子里有什么阴暗的想法。 然而，随着时间的推移，她开始明白她母亲已经知道的事情。 她父亲是个酒鬼。

One day Maria would write a book about her life. "I idolized him," Maria wrote about her father. "But while we were growing up, he was often unbearable."

总有一天，玛丽亚会写一本关于她生活的书。 “我崇拜他，”玛丽亚这样描述她的父亲。 “但在我们成长的过程中，他经常让人难以忍受。”