Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Gabriel sighed with relief when he finally approached Memphis. He took the train all the way from New York City to Nashville. He hitchhiked and walked all the way from Nashville to Memphis. He walked down the familiar streets. He passed the little soda shop where he and Adam used to hang out. The playground where they used to play and where he got his first kiss. The huge field where the Cavaliers used to pitch their tents when they came to town. He turned down the street where he and his grandmother lived. He was so tired, but now his strength was coming back. He just wanted to be in her arms again.
He walked up to the door and saw an unfamiliar toy laying in the yard. Must be the neighbors. He smiled and tears of joy welled in his eyes as he tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. He started to knock on the door,”Grandma! Its me! Its Gabe! Im back home Grandma! Open up!”he shouted as he pounded on the door.
Soon the door opened and a strange man was on the other side. Gabriel frowned, who the hell was he?
“Who is it Charles?”a woman asked as she held a baby.
“I don’t know”he said to her,”Can I help you son?”
“Im not your son”Gabriel said confusingly,”What are you doing here? This is my house, this is my Grandma’s house. What the hell are you doing here?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about. This house went up for sale a few months ago. We have been living here for a month now”the man said
Gabriel stood there, confused. Why would Grandma sell this house? She loved this house. She has lived here all her life! “Well do you know where Midge Brewster is? She is my grandmother”
“Im sorry. The realtors didn’t tell us anything about the previous owners”he said to him.
“Would you like to come in? Have something to drink?”the woman asked,”Looks like you have had a rough day”she said. The boy’s clothes were dirty and torn.
“No”Gabriel said and turned around and left. He had to find her. Where could she be? He ran next door, hoping that Mrs. Jennings still lived next door. He reached her door and pounded on her door,”Mrs. Jennings! Are you there!”he shouted
“What is all that racket!-“Mrs. Jennings said and then stopped,”Ohmygoodness Gabriel! You are alive! You’re back!”she said as she hugged him
“Of course Im alive. Why wouldn’t I be!? And yes Im back”Gabriel said with a smile, finally a familiar face.
“Look at you, you are so much taller and older! How old are you now?”she asked him as she stepped back and looked at him.
“15”he said,”16 next year”
“My goodness, looks like you have been through it. Why don’t you come in?”
“No, I gotta get to Grandma. I went home and this new family lives there now. Can you believe it? I don’t know why Grandma would sell the house, she loves that house. Is she ok? Did she run out of money? Where does she live now?”he asked her
“Gabriel…..ohmygoodness….you don’t know?”Mrs. Jennings asked him
“Well yes I know now that we don’t live there anymore. I need to know where she is. Did she move downtown? She once said that she wanted to live there so that she could be close to the drug store-“
“Gabriel!”Mrs. Jennings interrupted him. She hugged him,”My God…..my God I don’t want to be the one to tell you sweetheart”
“Tell me what?”Gabriel asked her,”Can someone tell me where she is? I took two trains, hitch hiked in three different automobiles and walked 50 miles to get here! Where is she?”he demanded
“She…..she’s gone to the Lord Gabriel. She passed this past December. She’s buried at the Baptist church. I am so sorry. We all wanted to find you but you were overseas with no address-“
Gabriel stepped back,”Don’t lie to me like that”
“Gabriel….I wouldn’t lie about that. You know Midge was like a mother to me-“
“She cant….she wasn’t sick. I mean she took medicine-“
“She passed in her sleep. We found her the morning after-“
“No!”he shouted as tears came to his eyes.
“Gabriel, come on, you have had a rough day. Lets sit you down”she said trying to pull him inside
“NO!”he shouted as he ran away.
“Gabriel! Gabriel! Lets talk about this please! Gabriel come back!”Mrs. Jennings shouted after him. But he didn’t listen, she watched as he ran off down the street. She shook her head as tears came to her eyes. She dreaded this day for months now. Someone had to tell him when he came back and she knew that it would be her.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Gabriel ran as fast as he could. He ran to the lake where he and Adam used to fish, it was also where he used to just sit and think. He ran to the shore and stopped and fell to his knees into the dirt. He sat there as he tried to catch his breath. He couldn’t believe that his life was falling apart. Months ago he had a dream job traveling and performing with his best friend and he had his grandmothers support. Now he had none of that. He was all alone. The Cavaliers were gone, Adam was gone, Grandma was gone…..was Salomi gone too? He never saw her on the Starline. He didn’t want to think about that. He sat there and looked out at the water. Grandma loved this lake, they used to have picnics here.
He got up. He couldn’t stay here. There were memories of her and Adam all over the place. If he stayed, he would go crazy. He got up and walked away from the lake as fast as he could. He walked toward town and passed the Baptist church. The church where he was baptized, the church that he, Adam and Grandma used to attend every Sunday. He stopped, remembering that Mrs. Jennings said that she was buried there. He walked to the back of the church and toward the graveyard.
He saw her grave right away. It stuck out like a sore thumb. It had the newest grass and flowers. He got closer and read what her tombstone said:
Midge Brewster
A true saint and a mother to all
1835-1911
“Grandma”he whispered as he hugged her tombstone. He sat there as the first tear came down his cheek and more followed. He sat there for hours hugging her tombstone and crying.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Salomi tried her best to go to sleep but she couldn’t. The sofa was very comfy no doubt but nothing helped. Everytime she closed her eyes she saw her father, or Uncle Vernon or Gabriel. They were all gone. All three of the men that she loved were gone. She sighed and sat up. She walked slowly and carefully through the dark as she made her way to Dorothy’s room. Then she heard a sound. She turned around and gasped and instantly started to cry when she saw her father standing there.
“Lomi….my little Lomi”he said to her
“Daddy?”she asked him
“Yes its me sweetheart…”he said as he nodded his head,”You arent going crazy ok? Im not a ghost, just a spirit. I just wanted to see how you were doing”
Salomi shook her head as she walked toward him,slowly,”I cant sleep Daddy”
“I couldn’t sleep when your mother passed. But the other part of that is due to the fact that you never stopped crying”he said and smiled,”And that’s why Im here. I just wanted to let you know that I love you and Im always there for you. I wanted to see how you are doing”
“Its hard Daddy….Im all alone”
“You’re not alone. Dorothy offered to take you in. Have you accepted?”
“Not yet…”
“I suggest that you do….unless you want to go back home”
“Theres no point. Home isn’t home without you there”
“Is there something wrong with Dorothy?”
“No….Im just scared Daddy….why did you have to leave?”
“Baby I didn’t want to…”he said,”It was God’s will”
“Why does he keep taking people away from me?! He took Mom, you, Uncle Vernon….Gabriel….who next!? Who next Dad? I hope its me…..I hope its me”
He came over to her, he wanted to touch her, hug her, but he couldn’t,”Don’t wish that. Keep living your life. Make me proud. Keep learning all of those math skills. I know you love this city, if you stay here you can have so many opportunities, more than I ever had. Baby, I don’t want you to think that your life is over because mine is. I’ll live on…in you”he said to her
“I just want you to live….is that so much to ask?”
He nodded,”I understand….me too, I wish I was there on earth. But…Im happy. No more crying….no more troubles….your mother says hello. I get to be with your mother again”
Salomi smiled through her tears,”Well at least that much is good”
“Don’t worry Lomi. I see good things in sight for you. There are going to be some hard times but you are just like your mother-“
“A fighter”Salomi finished for him
“Just make good decisions and learn from your mistakes. That’s all I ask”he said. “I love you”
“Dad….don’t leave….”she said but he was gone. Surprisingly, she didn’t cry. She actually had some closure seeing him, whether she was crazy or not. She felt a breeze brush past her wet cheek and she knew it was him. She turned and walked into Dorothy’s room and slowly climbed into her bed.
Dorothy stirred and looked up,”Salomi?”she asked her
“Sorry. I didn’t want to wake you”she whispered to her
“Are you ok? You cant sleep? Did you have a nightmare?”she asked as she turned on the gas lamp next to her
“I cant sleep….but that’s because I have been thinking”
“About?”Dorothy asked as she sat up in bed. She pulled the covers back so Salomi could slide under.
“Staying here with you. I think that’s what is best for me. If you will still take me?”
Dorothy smiled and hugged her close to her, she kissed her forehead and then pushed her dark hair out of her face.”That’s great actually. That is alright with me”she said to her
Salomi smiled,”Thank you….oh and one more thing?”she asked her.Dorothy nodded,”Can I sleep with you tonight?” Dorothy nodded again. She fluffed her pillow and Salomi laid back on it. “Good night”
“Good night Salomi”Dorothy said as she laid back and turned off the gas lamp. They laid there in silence and soon Salomi’s steady breathing let her know that she was finally asleep. That soon helped her go to sleep as well.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
The Olympique arrived the day after the Starline. It also had survivors from the Titanic, as well as other passengers and some survivors that needed to be rushed to doctors.
Doctors were on call all night and all day for survivors of the Titanic that were in critical condition. Most were suffering from hypothermia due to the freezing water that they had to endure for hours. Soon there was chaos at the local Manhattan hospital as many bodies were wheeled in. Doctors from all over were called to help treat these patients.
“Damn it….we lost this one”a doctor said as he checked the pulse on one body. He ran some tests and the person couldn’t be revived. The person didn’t have any ID on him. They covered the body and wheeled him to the morgue.
“Hey we have another doctor in”a nurse said as she walked in with another doctor,”Here you go”she said as she showed him the room full of bodies.”Help yourself”she said to him
“Thank you”he said
“You can help me. Hello, Im Dr. Clark”a man said as he walked up to him
“Dr. Livingstone”he said as he followed him,”Whats the status so far?”
“30 dead so far, 45 in critical, 29 in stable and many more that we haven’t even looked at. We are trying all we can but we can only do so much you know? The more help the better”he said as they approached a man laying on a stretcher.
“Lets get to work on this one”Dr. Livingstone said. He frowned as he saw the man’s face. It was closer to blue than any other color. These poor people. “He has a very weak pulse”he said to Dr. Clark and then he got a closer look at his face as Dr. Clark set up some IV’s.
“Lets wheel him into a room. Is there any ID on him? Just so we can let his family know that he is alive?”Dr. Clark asked him
“No ID…..but I know him”Dr. Livingstone said as he put many heated water bottles on him,”He’s a patient of mine….his name is Vernon Greene”
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Weeks past and soon Dorothy was used to having Salomi in her life. Salomi was used to it as well. They both started to sleep better and they both were slowly overcoming the recent deaths. However, there was one more thing for her to do. Go back to New Jersey, her hometown, where she and her mother used to live. She had closure with Abraham and needed closure with her mother as well. They took the train to New Jersey and soon they were at Turnpike Episcopal Church. Her old church. She approached her mothers grave and set down a full bouqet of daisies in front of her tombstone. Her mother’s name was Maisy. She loved daisies because they rhymed with her name.
“Maisy Marie Gibson…..”God makes no mistakes”…….September 17th 1859- January 13th 1912….”Dorothy said as she read her mother’s tombstone aloud.
“My dad used to say that”Salomi piped up
“What?”Dorothy asked her.
“God makes no mistakes”Salomi said.
Dorothy nodded as she kissed her mother’s tombstone. “I love you Mom”she whispered and stood back up. She looked at Salomi,”Yes,we may never understand why or the reason behind it….but he never does”she agreed with her.
They soon left and were back in New York City later that night. She had another telegram waiting for her. Lots of directors knew she was back in town. They all wanted her to be a part of their silent films. But her heart wasn’t in it anymore. She sighed and threw it away.
“Why don’t you want to act anymore?”Salomi asked her,”Its not fun anymore?”
Dorothy nodded,”I just cant do it anymore. I did it for my mother but shes gone now. Its time to live life my own way”
“And whats that?”Salomi asked her. Dorothy smiled a little as she remembered a conversation she had with Abraham.
“So if you didn’t have to act in any film or stage play, what would you do? Run away from entertainment altogether?”he had asked her
“No….I would love to be more behind the scenes. I would love to have my own theatre filled with acts that you would never see on any other stage. Out of this world, raw. I also love to paint. Maybe I could sell my paintings….”
He smiled,”Sounds like you have a back up plan. I would love to see one of your paintings”
“Im sure you will”she had said to him
Dorothy looked at Salomi. “From doing all these movies over the years, I have almost enough to retire. But Im young, Im not ready to do that. I have been shopping around for spaces. For a type of vaudeville theatre where there would be different performers every night or a place like an art gallery. I would love to head my own performance space or my own art gallery”
“You paint really well”Salomi said.
“Thank you. And that’s what I have decided on doing. I just signed for a space outside of Manhattan, more towards Harlem and I will start fixing the place up. During the day it would be an art gallery for my art and others. At night Harlem’s favorite vaudeville acts will take the stage, on my stage. That’s my plan”
*_______________________*