1929 (10 page)

“I don’t have any damned candy,” he grumbled,
swinging open the door.

An older, slightly pudgy woman with beady
eyes and short, gray hair started talking before Jonathan had a
chance to acknowledge her.

“Would you mind turning your radio down? If
you haven’t noticed, these walls are terribly thin.” She spit the
words at him and he simply stared at her. “It’s all nice and fine
that you’re well off enough to own a radio but just because you own
one doesn’t mean we all want to listen to it, and I hope you don’t
plan on blaring that thing late into the night. My husband has
enough trouble sleeping with the arthritis, and I don’t sleep well
for long stretches anyway. I suffer from the anemia. I’m prone to
taking naps throughout the day from weakness and that causes spotty
sleep at night. It’s the draft that runs through these apartments.
We’re always taking sick with that draft carrying sickness from one
apartment to the next. I hope you’re clean people. I don’t want any
sickness floating across the hall. You got a wife?” she asked,
trying to peek past him. Ava was hiding behind the door, trying to
suppress her laughter. “If you do, I hope she’s good at keeping a
clean home. I could come over and help her, I suppose. I know how
to clean proper and could give her some pointers, make sure it’s
done right. And I hope she don’t cook with a lot of spices. Strong
smells and spices tend to make my stomach turn–”

Jonathan slowly closed the door as she
continued to ramble. “Dear God.” He couldn’t help but laugh. “Avoid
that one at all costs.”

“Did she even take a breath?” Ava asked.

“I have no idea. But if there’re folks on our
other side, too, I’m almost afraid to meet them now.”

∞∞∞

“Wow, that was . . . .” Aryl fell back on the
bed, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Yeah, I know,” Claire replied
breathlessly.

“A hell of a way to start off the memories,”
Aryl said, grinning. They stared at the cracks in the plaster
ceiling, listening to the unfamiliar noises of the new building.
When the idea came to Aryl, he sat straight up in bed. “That’s
perfect! Claire, I need your help,” he said as he got out of bed
and began digging through her bag.

“What on earth are you doing?” she asked,
slipping her dress over her head.

“You’ll see,” he said, grinning.

∞∞∞

“Didn’t you tell those brats we didn’t have
any candy?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell them again,” Caleb said,
opening the door and immediately doubling over with laughter.

“Trick or Treat!” Aryl yelled. He stood
before Caleb dressed entirely as a woman. He wore one of Claire’s
dresses with the top stuffed to create a hefty bosom, a strand of
pearls, pink curlers snapped into his short hair and a full face of
makeup. Claire stood behind him, giggling. Caleb laughed for
several minutes and every time he got control of himself, he would
look up at Aryl and begin laughing again. Even Arianna was smiling
and soon began laughing at Caleb, who couldn’t stop laughing at
Aryl. After a while, they all regained composure.

“Sorry, Aryl, I don’t have any candy,” he
said and started laughing again.

“Rum?” Aryl asked.

“That I might have,” Caleb said, and got an
idea of his own. He pulled Aryl inside.

“Wait here. I’ll be right back,” he said and
dashed out the door and downstairs to the deli and bought a roll of
sausage, a half-pound of cheese, a loaf of sourdough bread, three
candied apples, and a small pumpkin. He dashed back to the
apartment, out of breath.

“Okay, Ahna, you gotta do the same thing to
me. Then we’ll go over to Jon’s,” he said, holding up the bag of
groceries he bought.

Arianna shook her head. “I’ll do my best, but
I don’t know if I can make you look as good as Aryl.” She laughed
as she set to work dressing Caleb up. “He’s pretty cute,” she
admitted.

∞∞∞

“What are you reading?” Ava asked, sitting
closer to Jonathan. She looked at the title before he could answer.
“I haven’t read that yet.” Jonathan’s mind flashed back to the
conversation in the alley the day before.

“Better yet, why don’t I read it to you?”

She nodded and curled up next to him, her
head on his shoulder, and watched the fire as he read.

Just as he started the second chapter, hard
rapping on the door interrupted him.

“This is getting ridiculous,” he groaned.

“Don’t answer it. It might be that woman
again,” Ava whispered.

“And if it is, I’m going to tell her exactly
where to take her problems,” he said, pushing himself off the
worn-out couch.

“Trick or Treat!” Aryl and Caleb yelled
together, as Jonathan opened the door. He took a step back and
shook his head, then laughed.

“You’ve lost your damn minds,” Jonathan said
when he stopped laughing.

“It’s Halloween! Don’t tell me you're turning
into Scrooge,” Caleb said through beautifully painted, red
lips.

“Don’t you have your holidays confused?”
Jonathan asked.

Caleb shrugged. “Same difference. Here, I
brought party food,” he said, holding up the bag of groceries.

“And I brought Caleb's rum!” Aryl said,
holding up the bottle.

“For what party?” Jonathan asked,
confused.

“Our party,” Caleb said, pushing past him and
handing the bag to Ava. “However,” Caleb started with one eyebrow
cocked, “all of us are not properly dressed for the occasion,” he
said and smiled at Jonathan.

“What exactly do you mean?” he asked
cautiously.

Arianna handed him a balled up wad of fabric.
He held it up to see that it was one of Arianna’s dresses.

“Oh, no. I think not,” Jonathan said, tossing
it back.

“Party isn’t starting until everyone is in
costume,” Caleb said matter-of-factly.

“Forget it,” Jon countered.

Aryl held up the bottle. “No party, no rum,”
he said, shrugging.

“C’mon, Jon! It’ll be fun,” Ava said, hugging
his arm. He covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head.

“I can’t believe this.”

Arianna clapped her hands. “I’ll help you
with the makeup,” she offered as they dragged him off to the
bathroom, still protesting.

Claire cut up the sausage, cheese, and bread.
She set the pumpkin in the middle of the table, turned off the
glaring, overhead bulb in the living room, lit some candles, and
stoked the fire. Aryl went to fetch more chairs from their
apartment.

Finally, they shoved him out of the bathroom,
and the whole room roared with laughter.

“Damn, you’re beautiful!” Aryl yelled. He
stood there patiently while everyone laughed and complimented him
on his make-up and curlers, which barely clung to his short black
hair.

“Where’s my drink?” he said when the laughter
died down. Caleb handed him a glass then held up his own.

“To six of the most beautiful gals in the
world!” he toasted.

Jonathan looked over at Aryl. “I don’t even
need to ask whose idea this was.” He relaxed a little and smiled.
“This has you written all over it, Aryl.”

For the next few hours, they talked, ate, and
spontaneously erupted with laughter. The soft candle and firelight
combined with copious amounts of rum masked the dreary apartment
somewhat, and Jonathan’s mood lightened considerably. Caleb glanced
at his watch, walked over to the radio, hiked his dress up and
squatted in front of it to adjust the tuner until he found a
Halloween special. They moved to the living room and sat on the
couch and floor near the fire, listening to the show, which turned
out to be more funny than scary. When it was over, Caleb stretched,
straining the seams of Arianna’s dress.

“We better get going. We’ve got a big day
tomorrow, fellas.”

Jonathan’s heart sank as this brought him
back to reality. He didn’t want to think about tomorrow. He was
perfectly content to stay in the present moment, where the mood was
light, the drinks were plentiful, and his friends surrounded him,
no matter how strangely they were dressed.

November 1st 1929

Jonathan stared at the ceiling as the shrill
ring of the alarm clock sounded at six-thirty. Glancing at the
annoying noise, he wished he had brought a different clock, any
other clock. He preferred the soft chimes of the ornate grandfather
clock that used to sit just outside his bedroom door. But that was
his old life. In this new life, he silenced the clock and tried to
stretch out his sore back and neck muscles. Ava stirred and
stretched, wincing as she woke to protesting muscles as well.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked her, rolling over
to give her a quick kiss.

“Horrible. It feels like I slept on a pile of
rocks.”

“I might have slept better on a pile of
rocks.”

“Maybe we should move to the floor. At least
that would be a flat surface.” She poked at the lumps and divots in
the mattress. “Or maybe this weekend we can try to stuff the holes,
even it out a bit,” she said.

“Or we can buy a new mattress.”

“I don’t know if we should spend the money.”
She walked to the bathroom, rubbing her lower back. He dug through
a pile of clothes to find the pants he wore the day before and
pulled on a wool sweater.

“Hey, I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab
us something to eat,” he called to her. While he was gone, she
needed to take a quick bath but hadn’t had the forethought to bring
soap, so she simply rinsed off and made a mental note to buy some
when she went out. Dressing for the day was also somewhat
challenging. She was accustomed to dressing her best when she left
the house, but now she had to dress simple, so as not to stand out.
But even her plainest dress was nicer than what other women in this
neighborhood were wearing. She settled on a pink dress, which had a
low ribbon waist and a three-tiered skirt. She covered it with a
long, cream-colored sweater. She heard Jonathan return as she was
buckling the straps on her shoes.

“Did Maura pack the percolator?” he called
out. “I picked up a pound of coffee.”

“I think so,” she said. “I’ll make some while
you clean up,” she said, taking the small bag from him and giving
him a passing peck. He grabbed her before she could pass him and
hugged her tight. He let go of her after a moment and turned
without a word to get ready for the day.

She found two sweet rolls and four large
breakfast sausages wrapped in butcher paper. She set to frying
them, after struggling with the pilot light of the gas stove.
Jonathan emerged from the bathroom in a dress shirt, tie, and black
pants. She poured their coffee and set the sizzling sausages and
sweet rolls on the small table. They ate in silence, not quite sure
what to talk about. He dreaded the day before him, and she had no
idea what she would do with herself once she bought soap and a few
groceries. A knock on the door interrupted the uncomfortable
silence.

“I figured as much,” Caleb said, glancing
over him as Jonathan opened the door.

“Figured what?” Jonathan asked.

“Here.” He handed him a blue work shirt. “You
don’t need a shirt and tie for what we’re going to be doing today.
The pants will do, I suppose, but they’ll get ruined,” Caleb
warned.

“I don’t really have anything suitable for
manual labor,” Jonathan said, irritated. Caleb pointed to the shirt
in Jonathan’s hands.

“That’s why I brought you that.”

“Thanks,” Jonathan muttered and went to the
bathroom to change.

“Would you like some coffee, Caleb?” Ava
asked.

“No, thanks. We’re going to have to get a
move on, or we’re going to be late.” Ava nodded and started
clearing the table. A few moments later, Jonathan appeared in the
blue shirt, which didn’t look right with the dress slacks or black
shoes.

“Did you pack a lunch?” Caleb asked.

“No.” Jonathan hadn’t packed a lunch since
high school. He wasn’t sure why, but he found the idea utterly
demeaning.

“We’ll buy something today, but from now on,
we’re going to want to bring lunch. It’ll save money. Aryl’s
waiting outside so we better get going,” he said, smiled politely
to Ava and turned, leaving them to their goodbyes.

“Don’t go out alone today,” Jonathan said,
walking over to Ava. “Make sure you girls stick together when you
go shopping. And don’t wander too far. If you need to go more than
a block or two away, I’ll take you after I get home,” he said,
pulling money out of his wallet. “This should cover whatever you
need to pick up today,” he said and laid a ten-dollar bill on the
table.

“That will more than cover it,” she said. She
straightened his collar and smoothed down the shoulders of the
thick shirt. “Try to have a good day,” she added sympathetically.
She could see the toll the week had taken on him. The normal
brilliance of his blue eyes was dulled, his face sullen, his brow
furrowed, dark circles shadowed his eyes and his rounded shoulders
sagged; the picture of an entirely defeated soul. He nodded, unable
to promise an effort aloud and simply pulled her close.

“If it wasn’t for you, Ava,” he whispered in
her ear. She didn’t want him to finish the sentence, already having
a vague idea of what he meant. She pulled her head back and
smiled.

“I’ll make a nice dinner tonight, all right?
What would you like?”

“Hmm.” He looked up at the ceiling while he
thought, his hands still laced together on the small of her back.
“Steak and lobster.” She laughed, shaking her head at his
ridiculous request.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, rising up
on her toes. A kiss goodbye quickly turned fervent. It was the
first decent kiss they had shared in a week, and he savored every
second of it. Lifting her at the waist, he took two steps forward,
pinning her against the wall and continued to kiss her with growing
intensity.