Author's Chapter Notes:
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“Rita…take Michael and Dahlia into the parlor please. Daddy isn’t feeling too well”Salomi said to her calmly. Dahlia started to pout and sniffle and Michael and Rita stared at their father in plain shock. If Daddy was crying it had to be something bad. However, Rita nodded and took both of their hands and led them away. Gabriel had collapsed onto the floor in the hallway and she helped him up and led him into the bedroom, she helped him lie down and closed the door. She laid next to him and hugged him as he sobbed, stroking his face, his hair, she tried to stay calm but he was scaring her. Something awful happened, something awful must have happened if he was acting like this. Was there a death? Was he fired? Thousands of thoughts raced through her mind but she didn’t dare ask until he seemed to have calmed down. She helped him sit up a little and then asked the question she was dying to ask for days,”Gabe? Huney whats wrong?”she asked soothingly
His bloodshot eyes looked into hers and Salomi could feel her heart break. “I was foolish Lomi. We have lost everything”he said and then started to cry again but through his tears he tried to the best of his ability to explain all about the crash. Salomi listened with wide eyes, not sure if she understood…or wanted to. “Shit…how could I have been so foolish?! What are we going to do?”
“Do you think that we should wait it out for a couple weeks? Wait til everything is back to normal? Maybe it’s a slight recession?”she asked him
Gabriel wished it were so and when they saw Dorothy and Jules, he made that same assumption but it was too late. He heard of people skipping town, jumping out of windows. He cringed remembering seeing a body falling from the sky in the distance a few days ago. No, this was like the end of the world. “No Lomi….its not as easy as that…”
“Well then we’ll sell what we have. I’ll get a job, you can do more theatre and maybe find something else to do on the side. We’ll make it work”she said calmly
But her calm tone annoyed him,”Are you crazy? What do you think I can do? Drive a cab? We’re ruined! The children will starve!”he shouted at her. He then gasped for air. The children. He had seemed to forget about them for a second, oh God, he has ruined their lives!
“Gabriel, we have to be calm. We wont starve, we both will just work hard. Harder”she insisted. This wasn’t going to happen not again. “Gabe, we’ve been through worse. When Leon passed, we were left with almost nothing, but we pulled through and look what we have now. We went from living in Dorothy’s one bedroom to our own luxury apartment, dining with the Roosevelts”she said,”We know people, we have connections, we’ll get through this”she said
Gabriel only nodded. He didn’t believe her but he couldn’t get upset at her. She really didn’t know what was going on. “We’ll have to sell what we have, things that we don’t need….we may have to sell their toys…”he said as tears came to his eyes. The children adored the toys that he bought them,”….your jewels….”he said and decided not to think about it anymore, it hurt too much
Salomi nodded,”Whatever we have to do. We’ll get through this”she said as they both cried. For the first time in a very long time, she was scared. Very scared.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
And things didn’t get any better…
Even though Gabriel didn’t want her to, Salomi decided to tell the children. Since they were going to sell their toys, they should know why. She remembered her father finally being honest with her about his illegal counterfeiting and she felt like a grown up knowing and helping him.
But these days, children were different. Dahlia screamed and cried saying it wasn’t fair that they had to give her toys away. “I promise I’ll be better. I promise!”she shouted at her.
“Lia Im not punishing you for the ballet lessons”she said.Dahlia didn’t hear her and ran off,”We wont be able to afford those either”
“You mean? I cant dance anymore?”Rita asked.Salomi shook her head,”Why!? I have to mother! I need to practice! I have been working so hard on my recital, you cant take it! How am I going to be a good dancer like father without lessons?!”
“You can still practice. Your father knows ballet, he can teach you if he has time”she said,trying to comfort her but Rita sat there and cried. She sighed and looked at Michael, he hadn’t said a word. He has been very quiet lately, upset about something even before they heard about the stock market. Like he knew it was going to happen,”Michael? Huney? I am very sorry, are you alright?”she asked him, knowing he will miss his trains. He only nodded. Silent. She didn’t know what was worse, Dahlia’s screams, Rita’s sniffles or his silence….
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
…it seemed that things were going downhill…
Rita felt a little better after her mother broke the news to her. Kit said she couldn’t afford ballet classes either. She and her family even had to sell their apartment. They decided to make their own dancing school but no one was excited about the idea. No one was excited these days. Madame’s school ended up closing days before the big Halloween recital. Halloween was no fun either, no one could afford candy.
The schools were starting to empty out. Day by day there were fewer students showing up
“Do you know where Abigail is?”Emily asked around, no one knew. She asked Michael and he shrugged. He didn’t care about Abigail, she stole his new friend as far as he was concerned. Though he did wonder where Nicky went to. Finally Sasha walked in,”Sasha!? Wheres Abigail?”
“Her family moved because of the crash. I still don’t know what a crash is”Sasha said sadly
“Is she coming back?”Emily asked. Sasha shook her head as tears came to her eyes.
Rita was also crying, she felt hopeless without Kit. She didn’t show up to school either and she hoped that she was just sick. However, when she and Michael came home, they found their mother crying. It seemed like that was the case these days. Every day someone was crying. “Mother?”she asked her. Michael decided to walk away, he just didn’t want to hear anymore.
“Rita?”Salomi asked as she faked a smile,”How was school?”
“Alright….Kit was not there. I think she is sick, can I go visit her?”she asked and noticed her mother making a basket, it had fruit in it and she was tying a bow on it. “Whats that?”she asked
Salomi sighed.”Its for Kit’s mother actually. I am going to deliver it to her”
“Can I come?”Rita asked,”Is it her birthday?”she asked her
Salomi shook her head sadly,”No huney…Im going to be honest with you. Kit, her mother and Nicky aren’t feeling too good right now”
“Why?”Rita asked
Salomi sighed,she might as well tell her, but how much more could her baby take? She knelt down and faced her and took her little hands in hers,”They are not feeling so well because…Kit’s father…he…the angels from heaven…they took him to heaven yesterday…”she tried to explain. Actually Kit’s father jumped out of a window when he heard that his family had nothing, turns out that they were worse off than they, and that was saying quite a lot. The stress got to him. Now Salomi was worried because she didn’t have a clue where Gabriel was, if he heard, if he had done the same thing?
“Hes…dead?”Rita asked. Salomi nodded as tears filled her eyes,”Why? Why did the angels take him?”
“It was his time to go. Hes better now wouldn’t you say? Things have been crazy around here with the crash…hes away from all this. I want you to remember that. I want you to be strong for Kit, she may not understand. Poor things”she said,trying to convince herself it was a good thing. But now all she thought of him was a coward. He left Kit’s mother with all the stress. “Lets go”she said to her as Rita nodded sadly. She found Michael in the hall,”Hey Michael….”
“Is Father going to the angels too?”he asked as tears rolled down his cheeks
Salomi choked on a sob and hugged him close to her,”No baby hes not”
“Where is he?”he asked
She decided to be honest,”He went to look for jobs"she said. However, she didn’t know where he was and she was hoping he would come home.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
….nothing was looking up…
“He left me….he left me alone….how could he?”Mary Andrews cried as Salomi held her. She didn’t notice the basket and ever since they got there all she did was cry. She led her away from the children and walked her into the parlor and closed the door. “My dead husband is a coward!”
Salomi couldn’t help but agree but she wasn’t going to admit it,”Shhhh Mary, you do not mean that do you?”
Mary shook her head,”I don’t know.I don’t know what I mean, feel, I don’t know what Im saying sometimes. I don’t know what to do….we are penniless…do you understand?”she said to her,”He left us with nothing….I miss him so much….I cant do this alone….”
“You wont be Mary, we are all in the same boat together”Salomi assured her
“Your family is better off. Gabriel is a superstar. John was a goddamned car salesman”
“That doesn’t mean anything”Salomi said sternly, she didn’t know how bad things were for them but if they had to sell practically everything they owned, it wasn’t good either,”Just sell everything you don’t need. Keep essentials. Move out of this place and find something big enough for the three of you. Do you have relatives anywhere that aren’t affected by the crash?” She just shook her head,”You cant give up now. Do it for your children”she said, but Mary only cried and Salomi tried to comfort her as best as she could.
Rita wasn’t getting any luck from Kit, she didn’t even want to talk to her. She just sat on her bed and looked at the floor, sometimes the wall. After awhile, Rita could only sit next to her and stare too. And surprisingly, Dahlia stayed silent as well.
Nicky talked but he acted like nothing ever happened.”You wanna play catch?”he asked Michael
“Alright”Michael said with a shrug,he wanted to ask him if he was alright, what it felt like, he wanted to see his own father now. But Nicky didn’t talk about it, but never smiled….
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
…..its just a downward spiral….
By the time Salomi and the children came home, they were exhausted. The Andrews family tired them out. Salomi made dinner and they all sat down to eat.
“Where’s father?”Rita demanded. Michael and Dahlia looked at her anxiously as well, like they were wondering the same thing.
Salomi tried to stay calm, he went looking for jobs, but that was hours ago. She tried not to think about it,”He’ll be home soon”she reassured her
“Where is he?”Rita demanded again and Michael started to cry. Dahlia threw her fork and started crying too.
Before Salomi could answer, the door opened and Gabriel walked into the kitchen, looking even more tired than they. A gasp caught in Salomi’s throat and tears came to her eyes, he was alright…..oh thank God he was alright! The three children ran to him and hugged him and he smiled for the first time that day.
“Whats wrong?”Gabriel asked her
“We were just worried about you”Salomi said, blinking back the tears. “We visited the Andrews’ today, we are all…just scared Gabe….”she said
“Come here”he said and Salomi got up and hugged him tightly and gave him a long kiss. He then faked a smile,”Well the food smells good. Lets eat”he said, because who knew when they could have a delicious meal like this again, he thought. “Lets not be so melancholy”he said to the children, at least for their sake.
Dinner went fairly normal. Fake smiles, talked about subjects and topics that didn’t mean a thing. The two put the children to bed and then they walked into their bedroom. “So?”Salomi asked
Gabriel sighed,”No luck. I even went to Ford to see if I could sell cars again…he had to fire a lot of people. No one is hiring”he said as he put his head in his hands,”Im sorry Lomi, Ive been so inadequate-“
“Stop Gabriel please”Salomi said as she took his hand in hers,”I made lists of things we can sell, we will make it work”
“And who will we sell it to? The same people who have lost everything too?”he asked her. He recognized a mother of one of Rita’s classmates selling her furs in the lobby of a hotel. She looked pitiful. “Its all so worthless….”
“No its not”Salomi urged,”We have been through this before Gabe. We can get through this. Think of what others have lost, who we have lost…my father, Adam, Uncle Vernie, Leon, they could be brave in the face of what they went through…there is nothing we cant face….”she said but he only cried in her arms again.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
…..when will it ever end?.....
“What?”Dorothy asked Jules as she sat at the dinner table.
“I want us to take a trip…I want to go to London”he said matter of factly
Dorothy shook her head,”Jules….we are broke. We cant afford a trip”
“Actually we can. I reserved tickets on the ‘Olympic’….2nd class, yes… but its better than nothing”
“Why? Right now? Why do you want to take a trip to London right now?”
“Because New York isn’t doing so well….we have to leave, that’s the only way. Luckily I didn’t put everything into stocks and bonds, we can survive. I can get a job in the London film industry. I can get my company on its feet again…you can do Shakespeare huney. You said yourself that you wanted to get back into theatre since….”he stopped,”And Broadway isn’t doing so well, shows are being dropped, cancelled, actors, singers, dancers all of them fired….”
“You want us to move? Just pack everything up now?”Dorothy asked
“No, we’ll come back. We’ll look around for places. I put the house up for sale”he said
Dorothy gasped,”Your selling it? But we practically just bought it! Its supposed to go to Salomi and Gabriel-“
“None of us can afford it”he interrupted,”Look Dorothy things are hard right now. I know…but desperate times call for desperate measures”
“You promise we’ll come back?”she asked him
“Yes once we find a place, we can come back. Maybe we can find something for Gabe and Salomi as well”he said, knowing that would make her feel better. He could see by the look on her face that she felt guilty about leaving them.
“When do we leave?”Dorothy asked
“At eleven, the ship leaves at midnight…”
“Jules!”
“I just got the tickets today Dorothy please…”Jules said as he kissed her forehead,”I know its fast but this crash is happening faster and is pulling everyone under.We have to act fast”he said. Dorothy only nodded. After they ate, they packed up everything. Jules packed up the car,”You ready hun?”he asked her
“Wait…I have to call Salomi. I’ll be quick”she said, noticing the urgency in his expression. Like they had to leave NOW. He nodded, she was finally connected to Salomi. She told her everything. Salomi was very confused at first but was very understanding. “I don’t want to leave you all. Not now, but its best….we even thought about finding something for you all. Theater is great over there, but Gabriel already knows that”she said,”Just know that I love you Salomi, oh so very much…”she said as tears came to her eyes
“I love you too”Salomi said with a shaky voice. The line soon disconnected and she walked out to their black Rolls Royce. It was raining pretty heavily.
“You alright?”Jules asked her. She only nodded. “I love you Dorothy, you know that right?”he asked her. She only nodded but she whispered that she loved him too.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
……will it ever end?.....
“What are we going to do?!”she screamed at him as he drove,”We have nothing! Oh I could just die!”
“Me too”he said as the tears fell, they had nothing to live for now.The tears blinded his view but he could see the cliff,”Do you love me?”he asked her. She said yes in a weak voice,”Would you die for me?”he asked her
“Yes”she said. Then she gasped as he made a sharp turn into the next lane, they were going over the cliff! In the heavy rain, she could see a black Rolls Royce coming their way,”Wait, we’re gonna-“but she couldn’t say anymore. The two cars crashed into each other and went over the cliff, he was thrown out of the car and she felt herself being thrown somewhere, then everything went black….
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*