Author's Chapter Notes:
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.
October 1935
Rita stood center stage and belted out the last note of her song. Her silver dress sparkled in the stage lights. Then the song ended and the audience stood up and applauded and she bowed as the curtain closed. The rest of the cast joined her and then the curtain opened again and the audience continued to applaud as the whole cast took their bows. Rita smiled as Michael threw her a bouquet of roses and she caught them and blew her family a kiss and they blew some back, all except for Dahlia who stood there jealously. She wanted to play dress up too and of course she couldn’t.
Rita auditioned and was accepted into the Upper East Side School for Performing Arts on a scholarship in May and she started her first semester a month and a half earlier. She has been busy ever since with her acting, singing and dancing classes as well as their special “Howloscream” show, which was dedicated to Halloween. Rita played a fairy who was obsessed with magic, in good ways.
Gabriel shook his head in disbelief as he clapped and whistled for his daughter. It seemed like she looked older every time he saw her. “Where did she get those breasts from?”he asked Salomi
She laughed,”Gabe! Why you are even thinking about that now is the real question!?”
“She’s only 12! Look at her! She looks like a grown woman!”
“She’ll be 13 in a month and a half. What do you expect?”she asked him. “You met me when I was 12…. I was well endowed in some parts”
Gabriel nodded, remembering their rendezvous on the Titanic and being shocked that she was only 12 because she acted and looked like his age, which at the time was 15. He used to tease her and he would ask who she stole her breasts from. “Oh so its your fault”he said
“I guess it is. But she gets those blue eyes from you”Salomi said as Rita came over to them and hugged them all. “Congratulations, sweetie. You were great up there”she said to her
“Your voice is stronger. I can tell. Those voice lessons make you sound better than before”Gabriel said as he hugged her close. “Come on Mikey, Lia. Give your sister a hug”
“You were great, Rita”Mikey said proudly. Dahlia gave her a half hug and pouted.
“Can we get ice cream now?”Dahlia asked. Since she couldn’t get dressed up and she couldn’t get all the attention, could she at least have that?!
Gabriel looked at his pocket watch. “Oh we should hurry. I got to be at the station in an hour”he said to them. He spoke with Ariel and the other heads of the school and let Rita congratulate her friends and then he rushed them to a soda shop and got everyone their favorite cones. Rita getting a double scoop, which pissed off Dahlia. “Don’t pout so much, Lia. Behave”he said to her. What was wrong with her? “I gotta go you all. I’ll see you when I get home”he said as he kissed each child on the head and kissed Salomi on the lips.
“Break a leg huney”she said to him. “Are we going to find out if Greta is having twins? If Hawthorne killed Carla?”
“I’ll never tell”he said,”You’ll have to find out just like everyone else”he said and winked. “Love you”he said to them and then rushed out the shop. He hopped onto a trolley and traveled downtown to Manhattan and walked into the RFK Radio Station.
Gabriel auditioned for the dramatic radio soap opera, “The Legacy”, this past June and got the part of “Randall”. He was a man who worked in an apothecary to make ends meet but even though he was poor, he still had a heart of gold. Lack of money didn’t stop the women of the fictional town of “Pleasantville” to pass him by. It seemed he had a new affair every month. Gabriel was truly happy where he was. Theatre was still desperate to stay relevant and even though many people did see it, no one could make a living off of it due to the economy. Everyone had a radio these days and you can ask any female about “The Legacy” and a squeal would always be a part of their reply. It was the second most popular soap opera drama on the radio right now and Gabriel was happy to be a part of the cast. It wasn’t Broadway but it was just as good…and it paid great too!
“Gabe! There you are”one of the assistants said as they approached him as he walked into the green room. “Changes to the script. You got 30 minutes”she said as she handed him a new script.
He smiled, there were always changes to the script. At least he had 30 minutes this time, last time he had 5. Soon it was show time.
“In a town called Pleasantville are families who live not so pleasant lives. Lives filled with drama, tragedy and passion. Ones actions affect another and will go down in history. This is “The Legacy”the radio announcer said. The theme music started to play. “Tonight’s story begins at the apothecary…”
Gabriel stood behind one microphone and his fellow cast member, Mary, stood at a microphone next to his. The director cued her and she walked in place wearing really loud high heels to let the audience know that she was walking. An assistant counted her steps and then opened a door and shut it to let the audience know that she walked inside and then closed the door. Mary walked a few steps and then Gabriel performed his line. “Good afternoon Clara-“
“Oh Randall, did you hear!? The trial is today. We will finally know who killed my poor sister!”Mary said dramatically. “Please give me some aspirin! I don’t know how I can deal with this pain!”
Someone moves around jars and shakes pills as Gabriel performed his next line. “Now, Mary, I told you that all your answers do not lie in these prescription bottles. You need plenty of rest-“
“Your right, Randall”
“I am?”
“Yes, what I don’t need is in those bottles. I need you”Mary read dramatically and then romantic music was cued to let the audience know that Randall and Clara were sharing a passionate kiss.
Salomi, Rita and Dahlia gasped as they listened to the radio in the living room, surprised at the new romantic turn in the storyline. Salomi covered Dahlia’s ears, the kissing wasn't appropriate for her, and she squirmed in her seat and sat next to Michael on the floor. He smiled triumphantly,”I knew she liked him”. It was a game that he kind of played with himself, it was satisfying that he could figure out the plot before his older sister and mother could. By the end of the show, the audience found out that Carla's death was by suicide and Hawthorne was set free. No one was expecting that. Not even Michael.
Salomi smiled, she was proud of Gabriel. The writer’s on the show were great and they really knew how to make a storyline interesting and it was all the more greater that Gabriel was a part of it. The phone rang. “Hello? Did you hear?”
“My God, Lomi, yes I did”Ruth said. “I cant believe Carla killed herself. I mean why? She had everything!”she said. Ruth no longer lived with them. She moved out a couple of months ago and was living in a small housing development with some other psychology majors from NYU. She needed space after Robin died. She worked at the Pub still but she was taking a few classes during the day. She was slowly getting her life back after months of lonely nights and overworked and bitter days. She was also a fan of “The Legacy”. She became a fan since Salomi made her listen to it and after awhile she was sucked into the story. Now that she moved out, she always called her to discuss what happened. She didn’t want to lose Lomi as a friend and that was one of the things that they could talk about that reminded her of months past without making her cry. “You have to ask Gabe”
“You know how Gabe is. He doesn’t give me any special treatment. Im just an audience member to him”Salomi said with a dramatic sigh. She then signaled Rita to help Michael and Dahlia wash up and go to bed. “But I’ll ask”
“One day he’ll cave. Ask while you’re on top of him”Ruth suggested
Salomi laughed out loud,”Harlet! Not a bad idea”she said with a laugh,”What do you think about Clara and Randall getting together?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing”Ruth said
“I don’t care. She’s not after Gabriel, that’s the man I'm in love with. Randall is nothing like him. He’s got a different woman every episode. I bet you 5 cents that he will move on to another girl three episodes from now. Exactly”
“That’s not fair. He probably already told you!”
“I told you, he doesn’t tell me anything!”
“That’s what you want me to believe!”Ruth said with a laugh. “Fine, I’ll raise you another 5 and I bet it's going to be Victoria three episodes from now”
“It’s a bet”Salomi said. Then Dahlia started to cry. Salomi sighed, her little moment as a gossiping housewife was over. Back to motherhood. “That’s my cue. I have to go”
“Discipline that child, Lomi. She’s gonna get control over you and it will be too late to parent her”Ruth said, her playful voice turned into serious psychological mode.
“Alright, good night, Ruth”Salomi said cheerfully and hung up. Ruth was still the same sometimes. She was the same girl that freaked out because she walked in on her losing her virginity at 14. “Alright what is it?”she asked as she walked to the bathroom.
“Lia isn’t listening to me as usual”Rita said with a sigh as she washed her face. Salomi saw that her breasts were getting too big for the brassiere she bought her.
“I don’t want to go to bed”Dahlia said
“Well if you’re not in bed by the time your father gets home, you’ll get a spanking. If you don’t wash up, you have to go to bed now”she said to her. Dahlia sighed and decided to wash herself slowly so she wouldn’t have to go to bed just yet. Salomi sighed. Rita did as well. She remembered what Gabriel said to her at her performance today and it now hit her. She lost her virginity at 14. Rita wasn’t too far off from that age… “Rita? Remind me to take you to the department store on Saturday, you’re going to need a new brassiere”she told her.
Rita blushed. “I know. I figured it just shrunk in the wash pan”
“No, you’re growing up….”Salomi said as she handed Rita some blankets. Rita had the living room now that Ruth was gone. “…into a beautiful young woman, I might add. Your performance was wonderful today. That school is doing you wonders”
“Thank you Ma”Rita said with a smile as she laid down on the couch and settled in
“So, any boyfriends I should know about?”she asked her
Rita laughed. “I have no time, Ma”
“There’s always time for love, sweetie. It may hit you at the busiest of times”
“I get up and help you get Mikey and Lia ready. I'm at school all day until 2 and then I'm at Upper East Side until 6. We always eat dinner at 7 so Pop can eat with us and then I do homework and listen to ‘The Legacy’ with you until its time for bed at….”she glanced at the clock,”10:00”she said. “I don’t have time, Ma”
“I see”Salomi said with a smile. Nothing to worry about, for now. “Well when you do, I want to meet him”she said to her
Rita rolled her eyes playfully and rolled over on her side,”Good night Ma”she said to her
Salomi kissed her on her head,”Night sweetie. I love you”
“Love you too”she replied.
Michael and Dahlia continued to fight and it was almost 11:00 when they finally fell asleep. Salomi laid down in bed and soon drifted off to sleep by the time Gabriel came back home from the station. He smiled as he kissed his paycheck and put it on the nightstand. He was going to deposit it first thing in the morning. He laid down next to Salomi and kissed her cheek. She smiled in her sleep. He snuggled close to her and turned the light off. “I love you, Lomi”he said,”I told you we’d be ok”he said,”We are going to be alright”he said with a happy sigh and soon drifted off to sleep.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
October 1939
“Daddy? How can Hitler be good and evil?”17 year old, Rita, asked her father randomly as they drove home after her rehearsals at Upper East Side.
Gabriel paused as he tried to digest why she would ask such a question after they were talking about her triple pirouettes and also how to answer it. “Can you be more specific sweetheart?”
“Well were talking about it in class today. Mrs. Combes wanted us to learn about Hitler as a person so we can further understand why he’s at war with the rest of Europe. She said that when he was elected he was only doing everything to help his people get out of a recession, which is what Roosevelt is doing…but now she says he has gone power crazy. He was good at first, now he’s not…how?”
“Everyone has good things about them and bad things, but its all perspective”Gabriel said uncomfortably. He didn’t like talking about Hitler without a cigarette but he promised Lomi that he would give it up. “Helping your country out of a recession is a good thing but its your duty as president or Frau or whatever they call them over there. However, its another thing to persecute your own people for being different. I believe he is evil, Rita. Just like the people that wont let you and your mother eat at the same restaurants as whites. No one has that right. He needs to protect all of his people and instead he is putting them all in danger”
Rita nodded, she hated how people treated her mother and then looking at them with pity because she was related to her. “Yes there’s nothing good about that”
“Whats with all the Hitler talk?”Gabriel asked, more to himself than her.
“This war is making everyone crazy”Rita said,”Do you think we will get involved?”
“Roosevelt has been firm in his decision to keep out of it, we can only hope so”he said as he continued to drive.
A lot has happened over the past 4 years. The family finally saved some money and moved out of the two room apartment they had been living in and moved into a nicer apartment in Harlem with 2 bedrooms and its own bathroom. They didn’t have to share the bathroom with 6 other families anymore. Gabriel was still playing Randall on “The Legacy” and Rita was still on scholarship at the Upper East Side. She was a senior and was set to graduate and she was still trying to figure out if she wanted to go to college or pursue performing full time. They soon arrived at home and walked in to the usual. Salomi was making the finishing touches on dinner while scolding Dahlia while she in turn yelled or whined about why she was justified about doing whatever she did. However, the conversation was more heated than usual. “Keep talking like that and you will go to bed with no dinner tonight!”Salomi said
“I cant believe that you would believe them over me! I'm your daughter!”14 year old, Dahlia, screamed at her mother
“Hey! What’s going on here?”Gabriel said with wide eyes as he and Rita walked in. Rita did her usual. She put away her things and started setting the table as she listened to whatever drama was going on today.
Salomi looked at Gabriel with relief. “An anonymous source told the principal at school that Dahlia was smoking in the girls restroom”she said. Gabriel glared at Dahlia in shock
Dahlia got defensive, she always did when Daddy gave her that look. “Its not anonymous! It was Bernice who told on me, I just know it! She only said that because I called her a self centered bitch, she’s trying to get back at me!”
“Watch your language!”Salomi said
“Your not even listening to me!”Dahlia said
Gabriel sighed. Dahlia was always getting in trouble these days and it was never her fault. It seemed that every student didn’t like her or she was actually doing these things. “Go to your room. You will be eating there tonight. Calm down and I will be up there with your plate soon”he said to her firmly. She scoffed and stomped to her and Rita’s room and slammed the door…twice. He shook his head,”Everyday its something new”he said. Salomi nodded in agreement. Gabriel made a plate for himself and then made Dahlia’s. “Where’s Mikey?”he asked and they all stood there surprised. He was always on time…
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Michael, I have to go”15 year old Emily Hubbard said breathlessly to Michael between kisses. “Ma will surely kill me”she said. “What time is it?”
“Shit, it’s a little past 7”Michael said as he looked at his new watch that Pop gave him. He was late for dinner. He grabbed Emily and kissed her again. “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow”he said and kissed her hand.
Emily looked at him confused, she didn’t know what that meant! “Ok see you tomorrow, Mikey”she said with a smile and then ran off down the street.
“I love you!”Michael called after her but she just waved back. He smiled as he ran home. Emily made him want to quote “Romeo and Juliet” endlessly. Emily made him want to write love poems for her, spend his small allowance on roses and candy. He was in love and he couldn’t stop showing his love for her. He ran all the way home, high off the energy her kisses gave him and threw open the door. “Im home!”he said with a smile
“We were getting worried about you, your never late”Salomi said to him. “Make yourself a plate, how was your meeting?”she asked him
Michael smiled, he’d rather talk about Emily but she didn’t want anyone to know. Maybe someday he can tell the world.
*______________________________*