Author's Chapter Notes:
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Salomi couldn’t sleep that night. She was very concerned about the fact that Jules and Dorothy decided to up and leave. London. That was so far away, and you would have to take a boat to get there. After the Titanic, she would never get one again, never. She confided to Gabriel about it and he thought it was a good idea. He thought Jules a smart man and if he had the money he would have done the same. He then described the London theatre scene the last time he was there, which was days before they both boarded the Titanic. 17 years ago. Even though he didn’t like Shakespeare, he said he would be willing to learn just so he could perform again. There was a flicker of happiness when he talked about the what if’s. What if they all moved to London? What if he did Shakespeare there? What if he was more famous there as Hamlet, instead of performing vaudeville here? Soon the what if’s died down and they were sad again.
“I hope they come back soon”Salomi said,”I hope they find something”
“I hope they can afford it”Gabriel said. They both laid there and stared at the ceiling. Restless, not being able to sleep but not having the strength to do anything else. Gabriel fell asleep before she did. She heard the first few morning birds chirping when she was swept away towards dream land. But that wasn’t any better. She had a dream she was back on the Titanic, the boat was sinking, but it wasn’t sinking into water. The boat was sinking into a pile of money. She woke up with a start and the sun had just finished rising. It was Sunday. She decided to make breakfast and even thought about going to church, at least to pray or maybe hear an uplifting sermon. The last time they all went to church was Easter, which was months ago. She washed up and put on her coat over her nightgown and went outside and got the morning paper. Not noticing the front headline. She put it on the kitchen table and proceeded to cook. She had just finished scrambling the last of their eggs when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
All she could hear was sniffles and sobs,”Mary?”Salomi asked. Mary sometimes called just to cry and talk and Salomi would listen.
“No Lomi, its Ruth”
“Ruth! How are you?...wait..whats wrong?”she asked her. She and Ruth fell out of touch a little. Salomi was always busy with the kids and Ruth was married and going to school and taking every class imaginable while helping Dorothy with Maisy’s. Since the crash, they both fell further out of touch. She wondered how she was doing.
“What do you mean? Whats wrong? I was calling to comfort you….you must not have seen the paper”
“No I haven’t”Salomi said as she turned to the kitchen table. Gabriel was sitting there looking at the front page, with a look of shock and horror. She didn’t notice him walk in. “What is it?”she asked Gabriel
“I don’t know if I want you to read it for yourself or if I should tell you…”Ruth answered
“Well one of you better tell me”Salomi said as she started to panic
“Lomi, Im so sorry….its Dorothy….”Ruth tried to explain and then started to sob
“Give me the paper”Salomi demanded. Gabriel shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks, but she snatched the paper from him. She stared at the headline and couldn’t utter a sound, she couldn’t gasp, cry. She just read the sentence over and over again.
DOROTHY GIBSON & JULIAN BRULATOUR KILLED IN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT
It took her awhile to digest and both Gabriel and Ruth asked if she was alright. Then it hit her. She dropped the phone, then dropped to the floor and let out the loudest and most anguished scream known to man.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Abraham?”Dorothy asked in shock as she saw him standing there with a woman who looked exactly like little Salomi.
“You couldn’t stay away from me, could you?”Abraham said sadly as tears rolled down his cheeks
Dorothy started to cry. Jules stared at her in confusion. Salomi frowned sadly, knowing who she was and what happened. “Oh no, I used to dream….wish that I could see you again. But now, its too soon. Im not ready to see you right now….”
“I feel the same way”Abraham said sadly. “But we have no control over that do we?”
“I wasn’t supposed to leave yet….I promised I would take care of her….I promised you….I cant leave her….not now….not when the world is practically ending”she sobbed as Abraham held her. Jules slowly but surely came to understand what was going on and started to cry. If he never convinced Dorothy to leave, they wouldn’t be here.
“The world isn’t ending. Not for little Salomi anyway. Its going to be hard. But she’ll pull through. Shes a fighter like I was”Salomi said calmly.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Unfortunately, it was going to take a little longer for Salomi to pull through. She went back into the state of depression she was in when she and Gabriel lost their first child. She didn’t speak to anyone. Ruth and her husband came by more often to help with anything, especially taking care of the children. The funeral service didn’t help either. Dorothy and Jules’ bodies were burned very badly in the crash and they weren’t a sight to see. So it was a closed casket ceremony for the both of them. Many film stars from the new talkies and the silent films attended as well as many others. Salomi just smiled sadly as she greeted everyone and you could barely see her face under the black veil she had on. When the choir sang ‘Ave Maria’ she lost it and collapsed. Dorothy was like a mother to her, more of a mother than anyone and now she was gone.
Gabriel tried his best to comfort the children and tried to explain that Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jules went to heaven. Rita, Michael and Dahlia didn’t understand. Michael cried as much as Salomi did. Dahlia seemed to act up more for no good reason and Rita was always afraid. She was thinking, who’s next?
However, Dorothy and Jules’ home was sold the day after the crash. A rich couple from Oklahoma wanted to be the ones who owned the house that the famous Dorothy Gibson lived in. They even had a room that had many photos and movie posters of Dorothy and many newspaper clippings about anything and everything about her. Everything from her first movie review, to the Titanic, to the clippings about her death, funeral and anything else they still wrote about. The house didn’t sell for much since the agent had told Dorothy and Jules to not expect much due to the economy. The money went to Salomi and Gabriel luckily, but unfortunately 80% of it went to pay their debts. The couple told them they could visit whenever they wanted but Salomi didn’t want to ever go back. It just hurt too much.
Dorothy and Jules’ will wasn’t much. Jules’ company went to trusted partners but that would soon close. Maisy’s was split up between Ruth, Gabriel and Salomi. But no one could afford to go out, Ruth couldn’t afford to pay performers and even though Dorothy’s art work sold, the original prices had to be dropped drastically. Maisy’s closed as well, which was very upsetting. That was Dorothy’s baby. Ruth’s as well.
Salomi stayed in bed mostly and Gabriel took over as “mother”. He was up every morning and took the children to school and then went to look for jobs but always came up with nothing. He thought about selling apples or any other fruit but it seemed that everyone was doing that. But he was forced to sell all their belongings- clothes, jewels and toys. School was depressing for Rita and Michael. Day by day, there were fewer students in class. Mrs. Honeycutt was laid off since she was married. All married teachers were laid off since their spouses had an income, so singles could work. It was fair but very unfortunate. Dahlia stayed home with Salomi, and Ruth came by and watched her. Ruth came over more often to help out. She had nothing to do really. Her husband, Robin, struggled at his job but at least he had one. She had to drop out of school and since Maisy’s was closed, she had nothing but cook for Robin and help Salomi any way she could. However, Dahlia always did something wrong. She lashed out at everyone and was angry that her mother just laid in bed and didn’t pay attention to her. She broke a lot of things and had a very bad anger management problem. She spent most of her time in time out.
Ruth sighed as she shut the door and locked it as Dahlia screamed and threw things, shouting that she hated her and everyone. Rita and Michael came in and Michael sighed and went to see his mother. He would lay next to her and hold her hand and tell her about his day. Sometimes she responded, some days she didn’t.
He grabbed Salomi’s hand and held it in both of his little hands. “I don’t like school anymore mother. Mrs. Honeycutt is gone and Ms. Lyubov has a weird name and talks funny. I don’t know what shes saying. Shes very mean and if we are bad, she hits us with a ruler. I haven’t been hit though mother, Ive been very good. All the kids are gone. Nicky and Kit have been gone for 3 days and Emily wasn’t there today either. I hope she comes back to school tomorrow. If she doesn’t, I wont have anymore friends. But she hasn’t been friends with me lately. Shes been acting silly too. When she became friends with Abby and Sasha, shes been ignoring me. She talks to me and is my friend when they aren’t around but when they are, she acts like she doesn’t know me”he sighed. “I hope shes alright. Last time I talked to her…she said she couldn’t dance anymore and she was very sad. I don’t like seeing her sad. I wish there was a way to make her happy. I want to make you happy more mother”
“You make me happy Michael”Salomi whispered and squeezed his hands.
“Thank you mother”he said to her and they both laid there in silence. That’s all he needed to hear.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
By Thanksgiving, Gabriel put their apartment up for sale and potential buyers were scouting it out but no offers as of yet. He sold everything and kept few essentials and the huge apartment felt so big and awkward without the many things they once owned. It didn’t feel like home any longer. Ruth made Thanksgiving dinner but the dinner consisted of just turkey and water. She was setting the table and Rita helped her.
“Are you our aunt too Ruth?”Rita asked her. Ruth looked at her and didn’t know how to answer and before she could, Rita continued. “I hope you aren’t”
“Why not?”Ruth asked
“Because, then you’ll die”Rita said,”Don’t be our aunt…please?”
Ruth stared at her, disturbed. “No Im not, Im just a friend”she assured her and that was enough for Rita.
Thanksgiving dinner was awkward. Good news was that Salomi got out of bed and joined everyone and looked a lot better. The bad news was that Robin lost his job and Gabriel still couldn’t find anything.
A week later, he felt that his luck changed. He finally found a cheap two room apartment that they could afford and bought it. But sobbed after he left, he would have to sell more things since the apartment was way too small. Someone took interest in their apartment and bought it. Also, a cheap bar was looking for a waiter and he had experience many years ago. He went to apply and filled out the paperwork but got distracted as a black man played the piano. He was playing “All I Care About Is Love”; the song that he and Leon used to sing when they prepared for their tour. He walked up to the piano man and tapped his foot and then closed his eyes and started to sing.
Give me two eyes of blue
Softly saying I need you
Let me see her standing there
And honest mister
Im a millionaire
I don’t care of any fine attire
Vanderbilt might admire
No no not me
All I care about is love
Show me long raven hair
Flowing down about to there
When I see her running free
Keep your money
That’s enough for me
I don’t care for driving Packard cars
Or smoking long fat cigars
No no not me
All I care about is doing the guy in
That’s picking on you
Twisting the wrist
That’s turning the screw
All I care about
Is, Is Love!
The piano man played the finale and Gabriel felt like the happiest man on earth, especially when he opened his eyes and saw a crowd gathered around him applauding. They all recognized him as the famous Gabriel Brewster. An obese fellow with grease stains on his white shirt came up to him and shook his hand. “I am honored to have THE Gabriel Brewster come by my bar”he said happily. “What brings you by? Would you like a drink? Scotch? Whiskey?”
“A shot of whiskey please”he said, feeling depressed again. For a second there while he sang that song, he was dancing next to Leon in their diamond studded tuxedo suits with their 12 chorus girls dancing around them, Grace included. But that was no more, Leon and Grace were gone and he was broke.
“Get Gabriel Brewster a whiskey…on the house!”the man commanded and someone rushed off and fetched it. He led Gabriel to a table and sat down. “My name is Paul Silverstein, I own the place. Its very nice to meet you”
“Nice to meet you as well Mr. Silverstein”he said as the shot was delivered to him and he quickly took it down. Oh it felt good.
“So what brings you by? Has one of your famous Broadway friends told you about my fantastic minstrel show? We are getting very popular. Since the crash a lot of people are willing to pay to watch our performers antics which is great for me as well for them”
“Really?”Gabriel asked. “I actually haven’t heard about your show. I came by for the waiter position”
“Oh that’s been filled”Paul said quickly.”I keep forgetting that sign is up. I need to take it down”
“Oh”Gabriel sighed,”Just my luck….well it was nice to meet you Mr. Silverstein”he said as he stood up
“Wait”Paul said,”You lookin’ for a job?”
Gabriel nodded,”As you know the crash has destroyed everything”
“Not everything, we are doing very well”Paul said excitedly,”You sing very well and….how about I let you perform here? We don’t pay much but it can help you and your beautiful wife”he said. He knew Salomi from the papers and thought she was very beautiful. Maybe Gabriel could convince her to perform, dance with his other female dancers. Or a double act? The dollar signs and many ideas swirled in his head. “How about it? I know you don’t want to be a waiter. Why serve food when you can do us service by pleasing the masses. Everyone will come to see Gabriel Brewster”
Gabriel smiled widely,”Yes Mr. Silverstein. I would gladly take it”
“Lets sign some contracts and get you another drink”Paul said as he patted Gabriel on the back. “Seems like things are looking up for the both of us”
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Gabriel signed the contract with a smile on his face. He wasn’t getting paid much, it was measly actually but better than nothing. And he got to do what he did best. He learned some new songs and bonded with the piano man, whose name was Sam, and his acting partner who sang with him in some scenes, Lucio. He was there all night. “We’ll give you your costume and makeup tomorrow”Paul said to him.
He came back to their apartment slightly tipsy but elated. Salomi had just taken a bath and Ruth was putting the children to bed when he walked in the bedroom. Salomi had just a towel wrapped around her and he ran over and took it off and kissed her on her neck as she gasped.
“Gabriel! What on earth!?”she said in surprise, she hasn’t seen him this happy ever. “Whats gotten into you?”she asked as she covered herself back up. She wasn’t in a good mood and had trouble sleeping.
“I have a job”he said happily. She gasped and hugged him tightly to her, not caring that the towel dropped.
“Oh sweetheart, Im so happy for you-!”she said
“Im performing too! I get to sing and dance again. It’s a cheap bar in Harlem, yes and the pay is lousy but Im getting paid. Its just a couple of blocks from our new place”he said
“Oh Gabe, this is perfect! You get to do what you love. When do you start?”she asked him
“Tomorrow. See, I went in there because I saw a sign saying that they needed a waiter. But the position was already filled. I go in there and Sam, the piano man, was playing ‘All I Care About Is Love’. So I just instinctively start singing. The owner comes up to me and we get to talking, hes a big fan, and offers me a performance job!”
“Oh huney! This is perfect, we are going to be fine. I just know it”Salomi said as she kissed him passionately.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
The next day, they left their apartment and moved into their new one. One small room was their bedroom. Gabriel and Salomi shared a bed while the children shared a mattress that laid next to them. The other room was a kitchen and living area. But it was bare. The stove and water barely worked and they had a table, 5 chairs and a small sofa. They shared a bathroom with 10 other families, and it was at the end of the hall. Gabriel headed to work and walked in the back door. Paul greeted him and told him he would be performing at the top of every hour. He walked into the dressing room and gasped as he saw Lucio covering his white skin with black makeup. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”Lucio turned to him. “This is our makeup and costumes”
“We’re….we’re doing blackface?”he asked him in shock. “Blackface” was a style of theatrical makeup. Shoe polish was used to darken the face and make the lips bigger. Some performers thought it was an important art form but Gabriel, and many others, thought it very racist and stereotyped the African American race.
Lucio nodded. “This is what we’ll be known for. We’ll be famous”Then the two got their 30 minute call and Gabriel reluctantly got dressed…
*____________________________*