In the Unlikely Event (28 page)

Miri could not stop the hot tears. She covered her face.

“Hey, come on, don’t…” Mason said. “It’s okay.”

She shook her head. “It’s not okay.”

“Yeah, it is. Look, I’m here, aren’t I?” He kissed away her tears.

Then it was her turn. What could she possibly confide that was anything compared to his story? How simple her life was next to his. How easy. She had just one secret to share with him. “My mom was never married. The guy who got her pregnant with me…his name is Mike Monsky and the day I got my haircut I met him. My mom doesn’t know. No one does except my aunt, an aunt I never knew I had.”

There, she’d said it. She didn’t call him her
father
—because he didn’t even know her, had never taken care of her, had never even seen a baby picture of her. What kind of father would that be? Better than one who chases you with an ax, she thought. But it’s still cutting you up inside, isn’t it?

Give her something special for
Valentine’s Day

NIA’S LINGERIE

Featuring the Finest

In Sleepwear.

Elegance Is Our Motto.

Broad Street

Elizabeth

19

Christina

Christina was at the store, helping her mother and sister get ready for Valentine’s Day. They would soon be hosting a special evening for gentlemen only to choose gifts for their wives, even their girlfriends. Nia wasn’t crazy about the idea but Athena convinced her to give it a try. “Stop worrying, Mama. The merchandise can only be returned for store credit, so we can’t lose. But it won’t be returned, because a wife would never insult her husband, who went to all this trouble to please her. Believe me, she’ll wear it even if it’s something she wouldn’t normally be caught dead in.”

“Unless she dies of embarrassment,” Nia said. “Then she’d be caught dead in it.”

“Are you making a joke, Mama?” Athena asked.

“Of course she’s making a joke,” Christina said. “Isn’t that right, Mama?”

Nia just shook her head at her daughters.

Athena was counting on the gentlemen’s desire to see their wives in black negligees. The younger ones, especially, but also the ones whose old-world wives wore black every day, though never at bedtime.

“Black,” Nia screamed, pretending to faint, as Athena unpacked lacy black nightgowns. “Who would sleep in something black?” She blamed Athena’s bad judgment on the pregnancy.

On the day that Athena brought in a window dresser to prepare the store for Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Osner came into the shop for the first time.

Athena asked if she could help her.

“I need something to lift my spirits,” Mrs. Osner said.

“How about something red?” Athena asked.

“I almost never wear red. But maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m in a red mood.” She selected a lacy red nightgown and a matching peignoir to go over it. “I’m a small,” Mrs. Osner told Athena. “Do you have these in a small?”

“I’m sure we do,” Athena said. Then she called, “Christina…” in her best voice. “Can you find these in a small?”

Christina stepped out from behind the curtain separating the dressing rooms and the stock from the front shop. “Oh, my goodness, Christina,” Mrs. Osner said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“This is my mother’s store,” Christina explained. “My mother’s and my sister’s. Athena, this is Mrs. Osner, Dr. Osner’s wife.”

“I’m so glad to meet you,” Athena said.

Mrs. Osner smiled. “And I’m so glad you’re carrying these elegant underpinnings. Saves me a trip to East Orange.”

“Would you like to put something aside in case Dr. Osner comes in to shop for Valentine’s Day?” Athena asked. “We’re hosting a special night, for gentlemen only.”

“I doubt Dr. Osner will be coming in to shop for Valentine’s Day.”

“I could drop a hint,” Christina said.

“Yes, do that.” Mrs. Osner flipped through the nightgowns and held up a silky white one, cut on the bias. And while she was at it she chose half a dozen pairs of underpants, two bras, two half-slips, two full and six pairs of stockings. By the time she was done she’d spent a fortune, more than a hundred dollars.

“When are you due?” she asked as Athena wrapped everything in tissue paper.

“Mid May,” Athena told her.

“Lovely—a spring baby. My daughter Natalie was born in spring. Is this your first?”

“No, I have a little boy. He’s two. He’s home with my grandmother this morning.”

“Well, Athena, you’ll be seeing more of me. In fact, how about something for my daughter? She’s almost fifteen. Something with hearts for Valentine’s Day.”

Athena showed her pajamas. White with tiny red hearts.

“Perfect,” Mrs. Osner said. “Can you gift-wrap it?”

“Of course,” Athena said, trying not to show how thrilled she was by a new customer spending so much money all at once.

“I’d better stop at Bob & Betty, too,” Mrs. Osner said, “and pick up something for Fern. She’s too young for your shop. Maybe slippers with pom-poms.”

She wrote a check for her purchases and signed it
Corinne Mendelsohn Osner
. Christina knew plenty about Mrs. Osner’s bank accounts. The statements came to the office every month because Mrs. Osner was hopeless at balancing her checkbooks. Christina knew Mrs. Osner came from money. She could afford to buy whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. She didn’t have to ask permission, like the other wives. She didn’t have to save out of her household allowance every time she needed a new girdle. But Christina suspected the subject of money was often what led Dr. O to smashing one of the Seven Dwarfs. Christina remembered the last bill from Fishman’s, the most expensive women’s dress shop in the city, and how, after Dr. O had seen it, he’d exploded, smashing not
one, but two of the Seven Dwarfs. Daisy hinted that every time the Osners had a spat, a shopping spree would follow. So, given what she’d just spent, Christina suspected a whopper.

When Mrs. Osner left the shop, Athena said, “Very nice, Christina. You have the makings of an outstanding salesperson. You know how to present yourself. You know how to make helpful suggestions. Why not come to work here after graduation? We could be partners one day. I’m not saying right away, because I’m the one with the experience, but in time we could expand into accessories. Scarves, gloves, bags.”

“Thank you, Athena. I’ll consider your offer.” But Christina had no intention of working with her mother and sister, especially not her sister.

—

CHRISTINA DIDN
’
T DROP
the hint about a Valentine’s Day gift directly to Dr. O. Instead, she told Daisy that Mrs. Osner had put something away at Nia’s Lingerie in case Dr. O decided to go shopping. Daisy went to the shop on her own, bought the silky white nightgown for Corinne and handed the gift-wrapped package to Dr. O the next day. “A little bird tells me this is what Corinne would like for Valentine’s Day.”

“Valentine’s Day,” Dr. O said. “Is it Valentine’s Day already?”

“No, but it will be soon.”

“Well, thanks, Daisy. It’s very good of you to think of Corinne. Write yourself a check for the amount of the gift and I’ll sign it.”

Elizabeth Daily Post

KING GEORGE VI DIES

British Mourn Wartime Leader

20

Miri

The King of England died on February 6, and now Princess Elizabeth would be queen. She was twenty-five years old. Miri wondered how she felt knowing she’d be queen for the rest of her life. Was she sad that her father died but excited about being queen? Did she ever wish she were still a girl, a regular girl? Because Miri did. Sometimes she wished she were a little kid again. Everything was so simple then. Now she never knew when she was going to find out something terrible, something she didn’t want to know. Sometimes her jaw ached in the morning. She wondered if Princess Elizabeth’s jaw ever ached.

She wasn’t going to tell Rusty, or anyone else, about this. She wasn’t going to tell that sometimes she tossed and turned all night. Sometimes she woke up tired. Life felt harder than it ever had before. Sometimes she felt angry, frustrated, often sad. She thought being in love could cure anything but she was finding out that wasn’t always true.

She and Suzanne had chipped in to buy a big stuffed panda bear for Betsy Foster but Suzanne’s mother explained they couldn’t visit her at the hospital. Betsy was still in isolation because of the burns.
Maybe in a few weeks
, Mrs. Dietz had told them. Miri agreed to keep the panda, wrapped in cellophane, in her room. The problem was, every time she looked at it, it reminded her of what had happened. She tried putting it in her closet on the shelf but it didn’t fit upright, so she laid it on its back. Which in a way was worse, because then it reminded her of Penny in a coffin. Finally, she set it on its belly and covered it with a spare blanket.

And now—surprise—there was a letter from Mike Monsky. What was he thinking, writing a letter to her? She supposed she should be grateful he sent it in care of Frekki and Frekki put it in a plain envelope and forwarded it to her. Still, what if Rusty saw it? What if Irene did?

Dear Miri,

I’m back in Los Altos and I’ve shown your photo, the one Frekki took of you in front of the Paper Mill Playhouse, to Adela and the boys. All three are anxious to meet you and hope you can visit over the summer.

Yours,

Dad (Mike Monk)

Dad?
He had the guts to call himself
Dad
? And Adela wasn’t surprised? She didn’t get angry when she found out he had a secret child? Maybe she believed Mike
Monk
when he told her it was a surprise to him to learn he had a fifteen-year-old daughter. Maybe Adela believed whatever he told her. Or maybe they had a big fight over it. Maybe Adela accused him of being a liar.
Liar, liar, pants on fire
, the little boys would have sung, circling their father. Why did he have to go and write to her? Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? But was that what she wanted—for him to leave her alone? She didn’t know. She folded the letter into smaller and smaller squares, then shoved it into a sock. It could have been a piece of lint. Toe jam in the bottom of her sock. Rusty would never bother to unroll a pair of socks. As far as Miri knew, Rusty never snooped around in her room. She was pretty sure Rusty trusted her. She was just covering all her bases.

—

TODAY SHE HAD
a morning appointment with Dr. O and Rusty was going with her. “I need a pair of shoes,” Rusty said. “And Dr. Osner said he’d fix my chipped tooth at the end of your appointment. Two birds with one stone.”

The shoe store, Kolber Sladkus, was next to Three Brothers Luncheonette on the street level of the Martin Building, where Dr. O had his office. While Rusty was trying on shoes, black suede pumps with three inch heels and a peep toe, on sale to make room for the spring line, Miri slipped her feet into the fluoroscope machine, where she peered into the viewfinder to see her bones, eerily green inside her shoes. Seeing her bones that way made her think of something from outer space. The boys at school were all walking around like zombies with their arms outstretched, making the girls scream. Winky Herkovitz said a flying saucer was causing the planes to crash. You couldn’t see it. It was hovering above Elizabeth and when it wanted to cause a plane to crash, it did. What was it with the boys in her class? Was it that they liked the idea of spaceships and zombies? Was it too scary to think about what really made the planes crash?