In the Unlikely Event (26 page)

“Since when does Nat bowl?”

“She's our scorekeeper.” Natalie couldn't take the chance of dropping a ball, or having someone else drop a ball on her foot.

“Ah, the scorekeeper,” Dr. O said.

AT THE BOWLING ALLEY
that night, Mason was tender, making sure her shoes fit, squeezing to check for enough toe room, just like Mrs. Kolber, choosing exactly the right bowling ball for her weight. She'd always been hopeless at bowling but now, with a few pointers from Mason, she was improving. Robo was the best in their group, gliding to the line, right foot behind her left, with a follow-through every time. Miri was paying attention to Robo's form, keeping a picture of Robo in her mind when it was her turn and it was starting to pay off. But soon Robo would be moving and Miri would have to find someone else to follow.

When Mason stopped by their station he ruffled Miri's hair, making the other girls sigh. Mason called her new haircut “cute” but Miri knew he didn't really like it. She assured him it would grow quickly, an inch a month, she'd heard, and just to be sure she'd already started to gently tug it, the way she did a pair of dungarees that had shrunk in the wash. She expected to be halfway there by summer, by the time of Henry and Leah's wedding. She was waiting until invitations went out to ask if she could invite Mason to be her date.

Mason pointed to a barrel-chested man, bowling in the next lane. “Joey Politics,” he said. “He knows everybody and everything.”

The girls looked over for a minute but really, what did they care about somebody called Joey Politics.

She told Mason about meeting Polina at Dr. O's office. “My mother's going to ask Ben Sapphire if he can find her and Stash a place to live.”

“That'd be good.” And just like that, he leaned in and kissed her, the first time they'd kissed in public, in front of Suzanne, Eleanor, Robo and Natalie. Then he kissed her again, until his boss called, “Enough, lover boy. You got a line waiting for shoes and I need a pin boy in lane six.”

The girls teased her, humming the wedding march. “Have you set the date yet?” Robo asked.

“Stop!” Miri shouted, louder than she'd meant to, and they laughed, all but Natalie.

“It's freezing in here,” Natalie said, wrapping a wool scarf around her neck. She was swathed in sweaters, and had her coat draped over her shoulders.

“If you bowled you'd be boiling,” Suzanne told her, stripping down to a cotton shirt with her name embroidered across the pocket, like the ladies who played in leagues.

Miri threw her first strike that night, which she took as a sign that every day something good can happen. And today was a bonanza—new shoes, Mason's kisses and a strike.

Later, before Eleanor's father picked them up, Natalie took her aside. “Come to my house tomorrow morning. I have something to show you.”

“Is it the surprise your father talked about?”

“He told you about the surprise?”

“Only that you have one. So what is it?”

“If I tell you it won't be a surprise. And don't say anything to the other girls, okay? I'm not ready to tell them yet.”

Miri remembered the last time she'd gone to Natalie's, just her, and it turned out to be the worst day of her life.

THE SURPRISE WAS
the finished basement. It had been transformed into a dance studio, with a mirrored wall, a barre and a wood floor. The jukebox still stood in the corner but instead of Nat King Cole and Patti Page, it held the kind of music you hear in movie musicals.
Blue skies smilin' at me…

“Isn't it fabulous?” Natalie asked. “The floor is genuine maple, the best for tap.” She hummed and did a couple of warm-up steps, then stopped and looked at Miri. “Say something.”

“All the furniture is gone.” Miri knew that wasn't what Natalie wanted to hear but she couldn't hide her disappointment.

“That's it?” Natalie asked, annoyed.

“No…I mean, it's great. But…”

“But what?”

“I'll miss the parties.” This is where she and Mason met and danced for the first time. She'd been hoping Natalie would host another get-together soon. Maybe for Valentine's Day.

“We can still have parties,” Natalie said. “The furniture is in the garage. Daddy and Steve can bring it back in anytime. Not that I have time for parties these days.” Natalie pulled off one sweater, then another, and tossed them across the room. She stepped out of her dungarees and kicked them to the corner. Then she stood in front of the mirrored wall, in her long-sleeved black leotard, black tights, white little-girl socks trimmed in lace and black tap shoes with small heels and a Mary Jane strap. It had been ages since Miri had seen her without layers of clothing. The size of her took Miri's breath away.

“Why are you staring that way?” Natalie asked.

“What way?”

“Like you're in shock.”

“Well, I am, sort of. You're so thin.”

“I know. Isn't it great? Ruby's been coaching me. I eat green grapes and drink a ton of water. Dancers have to stay hydrated.” Natalie posed. First position, second position, fifth position. “You know what I see when I look in the mirror?”

Miri was almost afraid to hear her say it.

“I see Ruby.” She didn't wait for Miri's reaction. “I'm never alone now. She's given me the greatest gift a person can give. She's given me her life.”

Miri felt something roiling inside her. She looked away, angry at Natalie for not eating, angry for acting crazy, angry for throwing away their friendship. But she was scared, too. Scared there was something really wrong with her. Scared that she and Natalie would never be friends again. That they'd never know what the other was thinking, that Natalie would never rest her head in Miri's lap while they watched television. Inseparable. That's what everyone said about them back in seventh grade.
Come back!
she wanted to shout.
Come back and be my friend
.

Natalie misunderstood Miri's expression. “You're jealous of Ruby?”

“Why would I be jealous of Ruby? She's dead.”

“She's not dead,” Natalie said. “Why can't you understand? Why won't you even try?”

“I don't like the way she's changed you.”

“You've changed, too, since Mason. And just so you know, you're not the only one in love. I'm in love with this, with dance. Dance is my life. There is nothing else.”

“Yes, there is. There's school and friends and your family. Some people would give anything for your family.”

Natalie shook her head. “You don't know anything.”

Miri didn't like the way Natalie said that, as if maybe there was something Natalie knew that she didn't. It hurt to think she had a secret she couldn't share with Miri. Not that Miri had shared her secret about Mike Monsky, but there was a difference between having a secret no one suspected and having one you dropped hints about, wasn't there?

“Maybe you should tell your parents about Ruby,” Miri said. “Maybe they can help.”

“Help? I don't need help. I've never been happier.” She pressed the
play
button and the jukebox came to life. She snapped her fingers a few times and began to tap as Judy Garland's voice sang,
“Forget your troubles, come on, get happy.”
She tapped across the room and
back, then paused, looked at Miri and smiled a smile Miri didn't recognize, a hard smile—maybe it was Ruby's, maybe not, but it sent shivers down Miri's spine. She took a couple of slow turns around the floor, then began to turn faster and faster until she was spinning, spinning like some kind of whirling dervish right out of their social studies book.

“Stop…” Miri called. “Stop!” But Natalie didn't stop. Her eyes glazed over, as she twirled faster and faster, until her face turned almost purple.

Miri ran upstairs, found Dr. O and Corinne in the kitchen eating bagels. “What is it?” Corinne asked, reading Miri's face.

“Natalie,” Miri said.

They both jumped up and followed Miri downstairs, where Natalie was still spinning to Judy Garland.
“Get ready for the Judgment Day…”

Miri pressed the
off
button on the jukebox. The room fell silent, except for Natalie's taps. Dr. O grabbed her. “Natalie…sweetheart…” He lifted her into his arms. “My god. She's light as a feather,” he said to Corinne.

Natalie's feet kept moving. Somewhere she or Ruby was still tapping.

“Call Harry Reiss,” Dr. O said to Corinne. Dr. Reiss was a doctor, but also their friend. He was at their New Year's Eve party, in the conga line.

“It's Sunday,” Corinne said.

“Call him at home,” Dr. O said.

“No.”

“Call him, Corinne, or I'm taking her straight to the hospital.”

“You have no idea what's going on in this house, Arthur. You're too busy solving everyone else's problems to see that your son is in despair and your daughter is losing her mind. You think giving her a dance studio at home is going to fix this?” She swept her arm around the room. “Don't you see…” Corinne began to cry. “I'm utterly alone. I don't even have Mrs. Barnes to help and she's never coming back.”

“You have friends.”

“I wouldn't tell my friends one word about what's happening to us. Not one word.”

Miri didn't want to hear this, didn't want to witness the end of the perfect family. The end of her fantasies. Now Natalie was slumped against her father like a rag doll.

Miri snuck up the stairs and out the back door while Corinne's and Dr. O's voices rose and fell and rose again. She rode her bike home and collapsed into Irene's arms. “What's wrong, sweetie pie?” Irene asked, holding her. And for once, she didn't ask any more questions.

Florida

From the Northwest tip to the Romantic Keys
,

You'll Find Infinite Variety
.

That's Why So Many Thousands Come Down and Enjoy

the Glorious Sunshine

Outdoor Sports

and Scenic Wonders

Get in the NATIONAL Habit

Fly National Airlines

Airline of the Stars

Finest Aircraft! Finest Service!

21

Gaby

Gaby Wenders always wanted to fly. She'd wave to the planes as they flew across the wide-open fields behind her grandmother's house on their approach to Vandalia Airport between Dayton and Springfield, imagining the exciting lives of the passengers inside the silver ship—all of them rich and good-looking, all of them dressed in the stylish travel clothes she'd seen in her older sister's fashion magazines.

At thirteen, she'd stand in front of the mirror and practice.
Welcome
aboard, ladies and gentlemen
, she would say in her new, well-modulated voice.
I am your lovely and perfectly groomed air hostess, Miss Gabrielle Wenders. Your pilot today is Scotty Champion
. She'd smile ever so slightly, her fingertips touching the silver wings on the lapel of her suit jacket. Captain Scotty Champion would be so handsome the female passengers would swoon at the sight of him. She might marry Scotty Champion someday, but not for many years, at least three, because she'd worked hard for her career and wasn't about to give it up for marriage.

In high school Gaby sent away for a brochure. She'd memorized it in the first week but she still liked to see it in print before closing her eyes at night.

Girls Wanted to Enter Flight Stewardess Training Group

Here is the Career Opportunity for Which You Have Been Waiting!

If you are interested and feel that you can meet all of the qualifications below, please write in detail and attach a full length photograph.

HEIGHT: Between 5′2″ and 5′6″

WEIGHT: 135 pounds maximum

ATTRACTIVE: “Just below Hollywood” standards

Plenty of Personality and Poise

GENDER: Female

MARITAL STATUS: Single, Not Divorced, Separated or Widowed

RACE: White

AGE: 21–26 years old

EDUCATION: Registered Nurse or Two Years of College

VISION: 20/20 without glasses

Must be a US citizen and available for training within 6 months.

If you feel you qualify—

If?
Gaby thought.
Come on!
She qualified with a capital
Q
. To get her parents' blessing she showed them a line in a magazine about how being a stewardess was a career for “Wives-in-Training.” She knew they'd approve of that.

Getting her RN degree at the local hospital took two years, and
Gaby worked for a year after that, until she could apply, which she did, on her twenty-first birthday. At the time she was still living at home with her parents and her younger brothers, her older sister long married, with four-year-old twins, another on the way and a husband who operated a forklift. They lived in a little white house near her grandmother's place. “You'll be able to wave to me,” she told her young nieces, “the way I used to wave to the planes.”

“Will you wave back?” one of the girls asked.

“Of course I will.”

Gaby chose National Airlines, in part because she'd read that American received 20,000 applications the year before, for just 347 stewardess positions. Not that she doubted her qualifications, not for a minute, but Gaby went for National anyway, and was accepted, the only applicant out of 29 being interviewed on the same day. She was jubilant. Hard work and a positive attitude paid off.

She'd been careful about dating after high school, not wanting to get serious with some local boy who'd expect her to give up her dreams for his, produce two babies, preferably one of each sex, wear an apron over her shirtwaist dress and have dinner on the table every night at 6 p.m. No thank you. There was a young doctor at the hospital but he was almost as dangerous as the others. If she confided her dream to him he'd drop her like a hot potato. Still, she went out with him, not that he had much time off, but she never told her mother. And sometimes, when their breaks coincided, they'd get into his car and kiss until the windows steamed up. She'd stop him when he tried to get his hand under her skirt. “Please,” he begged. “Just this once. I'm a doctor. Doesn't that count for something?”

Ha! Gaby had a goal, and no doctor or anyone else was going to dissuade her. She knew there would be plenty of nurses for him to flirt with once she was out of the picture. Nurses who would let him get under their skirts. She couldn't worry about that. If some other nurse got him to put a ring on her finger while Gaby was flying, well, so be it.

“Oh, Gabrielle,” her mother cried as she'd packed her bag to head for training in Newark. “I'd hoped you'd meet a handsome doctor at the hospital and give up this crazy idea of flying.”

Now, eighteen months later, she had no regrets about leaving Dayton or young Dr. Larsen. She loved her job. As far as she was concerned it was the best job in the world. In the stewardesses' dressing room at Newark Airport Gaby applied her makeup as she'd been taught in her program. A good base over the face and throat. Heavy enough to hide imperfections in the skin but light enough to look almost natural, a hint of color to the cheeks, brows penciled in, mascara to upper lashes only, no more high school lipstick. This month she was using Revlon's Love That Red.

She brushed out her hair, cut in a becoming style that never touched the collar of her suit jacket, and fastened her jaunty cap, which she had to leave on for the duration of the flight, not that she minded. She loved wearing her perfectly tailored and pressed suit, with the crisp white blouse and navy-blue heels, the leather bag swinging from her shoulder.

She wouldn't need her London Fog overcoat, with her name stitched inside, a detail that made her proud, in Miami. But she'd take the London Fog raincoat, just in case. She swore she would save these two coats, part of her uniform, forever. She pulled on her white gloves, as required.

A quick look in the full-length mirror proved her uniform was smooth over her posterior. You never knew when the chief stewardess might show up to run a checklist, observing the dress and work habits of the girls, an evaluation procedure most of them dreaded. Gaby could have done without the required girdle but understood it was part of the whole package, and it served her well whenever some passenger in the aisle seat, usually a smoker ordering a drink, let his hand, accidentally on purpose, run over her backside as she was serving him.

Some of the girls flirted with passengers, hoping they'd meet a rich guy to marry, but not Gaby. True, she sometimes went to dinner in Miami with one of her regular passengers, but she didn't call that dating. He was older, still very handsome, a real gentleman. He had a place in Miami on one of the private islands, and another in New Jersey, and was starting a business in Las Vegas. He sat in first class, always in the bulkhead seat, where he had more room to stretch
those long legs. She'd heard his companions call him “Longy.” But she called him “Mr. Zwillman” and he called her “doll.” Oh, sure, he was probably married, but so what? She wasn't interested in marrying him. Or being his girlfriend. But dinner at the best restaurants in Miami Beach, ringside tables at the best nightclubs—that was something else. Vic Damone had joined them one night after his show. He'd signed her menu—
To Gaby. Your a nice girl
. Okay, so he'd forgotten
you're
is a contraction. With his voice and looks, who cared about contractions?

She didn't believe the girls who'd tried to tell her Longy was a gangster, that he'd killed people. That was malicious gossip. He was a businessman, a very successful businessman. And so polite. Always asking about her family. She enjoyed riding in his baby blue Cadillac convertible, looking up at the stars over Miami Beach.

“Has he given you jewelry yet?” Cleo, another stewardess, asked.

“No, why would he give me jewelry?” Gaby said. “I'm not his girlfriend.”

“Then what are you?”

Gaby wasn't sure how to respond, so she just shrugged.

“Honey, you might as well get something out of it,” Cleo said. “Ask him to take you shopping.”

Later, Gaby realized that Cleo thought she was sleeping with Longy. What a revolting thought! Or was it? She was no fool—she noticed the way he looked at her. And hadn't he once asked if she could find him attractive? She began to imagine a romantic weekend in Havana. He was always flying to Cuba on business. Maybe next time he was on her flight, next time she went to dinner with him in Miami.

But Mr. Zwillman wasn't on her flight list tonight.

In the departure lounge, where music was piped in, “I'll See You in My Dreams” was playing. Gaby had seen the movie twice, once in Miami, and once in New York at Radio City Music Hall. She'd written her mother about the plush red seats, the stage show, the Rockettes, to prove how glamorous her life was compared to what it would have been if she'd stayed in Dayton. Her mother wrote back,
Just be careful
. That was her mother's standard response to everything.
Be careful of what?
she wanted to ask, but she never did. She already knew the answer.
Be careful of life
.

Christina

Christina and Jack went to the early Valentine's Day party at Twin City Roller Rink. All the girls wore something red and the boys were given red bow ties to clip onto their collars. Christina's friend Gina told her she looked sexy in her clingy red jersey top when they went to the ladies' room to freshen their lipstick and comb their hair. “God, I wish I had your boobs.”

Christina blushed but she knew it was true. She felt sexy tonight. She'd never worn anything red, let alone anything that clung to her body.

Later, when she and Jack were in his room, on his bed, kissing, she knew this would be the night. Not that she'd planned it. She just didn't try to stop it this time. On the bedside radio Tony Bennett was singing “Because of You.” The volume was turned down so as not to disturb Mrs. O'Malley or the boarders. Between Tony Bennett's sexy voice, and Jack's warm breath as he nibbled her earlobe, she was lost in another world. Somewhere a cat was purring, which struck her as odd because Jack didn't have a cat, but who cared? Who cared about anything?

He unbuttoned her blouse, not for the first time, reached around and unhooked her bra, something she'd let him do before, even though she knew what that could lead to, she knew very well. He groaned when her breasts spilled out of her full B cups.
I dreamed I was bewitching in my Maidenform bra
. Moonlight streamed through the window. His hands were warm as he gently stroked her breasts, his fingers passing over her nipples, pausing just long enough to make them hard, then his breath was on them, as he kissed one, then the other. He pulled off his shirt so he could feel them against his naked chest. She closed her eyes, giving in to the rush between her legs. When he reached under her skirt, he hesitated for a second. She wasn't wearing a panty girdle tonight, just a garter belt, stockings and nylon undies. This was where she always stopped him, whispering,
No Jack, we can't
. But she didn't stop him tonight. If he was surprised she couldn't tell. Her undies slipped off, then he was getting out of his trousers.

She kept her eyes closed. He was naked next to her and she was naked, though she didn't remember stepping out of her skirt or pulling down her half-slip—what did it matter…
sweet Jesus
, nobody told her it would feel this good to have his hands stroking her there. Someone else was singing now and the cat was purring louder, the cat was moaning, or wait—was it her? Yes, those sounds were coming from her. She felt something pushing against her, then slipping inside her. And she wanted it, she wanted it. Then a short, quick pain—did she cry out? Maybe, but she didn't say
stop
. She didn't say
no
. Her body tensed…
what if, what if…
But soon he stopped moving and let out one deep groan, and something warm was on her belly. Warm, like a dollop of thick sauce. He wiped it up with his underwear then kissed the spot where it landed as if it were sacred ground.