Unexpected Gifts (35 page)
Authors: S. R. Mallery
On the subway downtown, she closed her eyes and listened to the rails clacking, drifting back into Andrei's life, how peaceful he had been before twists and turns altered his spirit. Clack clack. She pictured Sam, so bitter, so unwilling to change his life. Clack clack clack. How Alice Paul remained so unyielding. Clack clack. How a wounded Rose ended up so rigid and cold. Clack clack clack…
By the time the conductor called out, “Coney Island Fish Aquarium,” she was already well into Martha and her ultra positive outlook on life. And Harry.
“Next stop! Coney Island and the Coney Island Fish Aquarium. N-ext stop!”
She was right. Masses of kids created a wall of noise so overwhelming, she couldn't even hear herself think. Just what the doctor ordered. She wandered along the shark tank, the tropical fishes, the giant squids, the manta rays, and ended by sopping up whale-shaped fries with high-fructosed ketchup.
The one thirty show was a knockout. Hands on presentations about sharks, their habitat, tendencies, the public's fears about, and lots of touching of mock shark-skins. Each time a child touched the shark-model-on-a-board, a squeal would erupt in the auditorium, followed by shrill laughter. Soon, the room resonated with squeals and laughter as Sonia went into stitches.
Pressing her aching side, she finally got up to go to the restroom, continuing to giggle. “Excuse me. Pardon me. Excuse me. Pardon me,” she said to each kid. They seemed to love folding their legs up grasshopper style so she could pass. Maybe that would even be one of the memories they would relate to their parents at the end of the day, Sonia mused. Suddenly she flashed on Daria telling Rose old Irish folktales in bed at night, no matter what had happened earlier on.
She was coming out of the ladies room when she flipped around. Was that Harry's voice? Where did it come from? She strode up the main hall, her eyes tailing every young-looking man. Peripherally, she focused on a side movement and turned to see someone who had Harry's hair. Oh my God. It's him!
She ran up to him and latched onto his flailing jacket. The man stopped and spun around. A stranger was facing her, surprised as all get out. “What the hell?”
A simple hands up and a I'm sorry look sufficed and heading for the exit, she tried to
relabel, reattribute, and refocus
as she tapped on her purse and left.
She was in mid-knock when the door jerked open. There was Lily, radiant, beaming.
“Hi, honey! So good to see you.” She pulled Sonia into a tight embrace, then stepped back a pace. “You don't look so good. What's going on? Still with Mike?”
Sonia shook her head. “Don't ask. That's over, but what's going on with you? You look blissful.”
“Oh, Sonia, I am. The most amazing thing has happened to your father.”
“He can walk again?”
“Oh, God no! Now, that would be nothing short of a miracle. No, actually, it's even better than that, I think…”
“What could be better than that?”
“Just come in and hear him talk. You'll see. Besides, I want you to meet an old friend.” There she was with that mysterious smile again.
Putting her backpack on the floor next to the front door, Sonia opened it up and handed Andrei's journals back to her mother. Lily nodded and with the bound volumes lodged under her arm, carefully steered her daughter into the den.
The first thing Sonia noticed was that there was no small tumbler on her dad's hospital table. Now, that's a first, she thought. No coke can handy, no two-thirds empty rum bottle, just a few papers, along with a box of Kleenex. The room was exploding with deep, masculine laughter between Sam and some salt-and-peppered guy with his back to her.
“Sam, she's here,” Lily announced as the visitor got up and turned around.
It was like seeing an older version of Harry. “Hello, Sonia. So nice to finally meet you! My name's Billy.” His hand was large, comforting, and eerily similar to his son's. “Or, as you've probably read, Billy R. I believe you've heard of me?”
“Billy R.?”
“Yes, Billy Rappaport. And yes, you know my son, Harry Rappaport.” His eyes searched her the same way his son's always did.
She took a seat while Sam chortled. “I knew I had seen Harry from somewhere, I just knew it!”
Lily joined in. “You know, Sonia, your dad is going to start going to the VA hospital.”
“You are?”
“Yes, Billy R. has been telling me about these great programs for vets just like me.”
You mean like the ones Mom has tried to get you to go to for years?
Sonia glanced over at her mother. Obviously the irony of her dad's sudden acceptance of the VA after all this time was lost on her. She was too busy being totally relieved.
“I'm gonna start attending AA meetings, and Billy thinks he can swing a job for me over there. Isn't that great?”
Sonia wanted to scream, Yeah, it always was a good idea, but gave a quick nod instead and turned to her mother. “Mom, I want to show you something in these journals, okay?”
Lily nodded. “Yes, let's go into the kitchen and go over it. Billy R.? We'll be just a few minutes.”
The kitchen table was as comforting and safe as ever. “Mom. Wow.”
“I know. Somewhere in the back of my head, I keep thinking this is all a dream and I'm going to wake up very soon, you know?” Her eyes were beginning to well up.
“Oh, Mom, don't cry.” Reaching across the table, she took one of her mother's hands, the room so silent, you could hear the electric clock ticking. Then, “How come Billy R. suddenly showed up after all these years? What's that all about?”
Lily dabbed her eyes with a paper napkin. “Harry apparently recognized the return address of your father's letters from Billy.
“Harry did that?” Sonia whispered.
“Yes. How
is
Harry these days? And Martha?”
“I don't know. I…” She blinked twice then looked down.
“Oh, honey.”
“I don't' wanna talk about it.” Looking up, she noticed her mother staring at her tapping fingers.
The two men's mood had low-keyed to a deep conversation by the time the women returned to join them and saying good-bye, Sonia gave a quick shake of Billy's outstretched hand. “Hope to see you again, Sonia,” he said, smiling.
“That'd be nice. I…”
“What?” He leaned in towards her.
“Where's Harry these days?” she said, not quite looking at him.
“I believe, yes, this weekend he's staying at Martha's. You should…”
Grimacing, she turned to give her father one last hug before hurrying down the hall to the front door. Picking up her backpack, she could hear his wheelchair clicking towards her.
“Wait! Wait, Sonia,” he commanded.
“What, Dad? Look. I'm really happy for you. It's going to be a whole new life for you. And Mom.”
He pulled her down towards him. “Don't be like me, Sonia,” he stage-whispered.
She did a double-take. “What do you mean?” she half-moaned.
His face had taken on a new softness. “Don't fight your happiness…” Kissing her goodbye, he gently stroked her cheek.
By the time she knocked on Martha's door the next morning, the sky had already turned a brilliant baby blue.
S. R. Mallery has worn various hats in her life. Starting as a classical/pop singer/composer, she moved on to the professional world of production art and calligraphy. Next, came a long career as an award winning quilt artist/teacher and an ESL/Reading instructor. Her short stories have been published in
descant 2008, Snowy Egret, Transcendent Visions, The Storyteller
, and
Down in the Dirt. Unexpected Gifts
is her debut novel.
Watch for her second book,
Sewing Can Be Dangerous, and Other Small Threads
, coming late 2013.
For a complete synopsis, check out her website:
www.srmallery.com
Chapter 2: Sam—Living With Fear
Chapter 4: Lily—To Be or Not To Be
Chapter 5: Beginning Revelations
Chapter 8: According to Rose, Sadie, and Bimmy
Chapter 9: All Roads Lead to Faust
Chapter 12: Daria—Living With Proverbs
Chapter 13: Theoretical Realities
Chapter 14: Adriana—Guilty Freedoms
Chapter 15: O, What a Tangled Web We Weave
Chapter 16: Adriana—Sentinels Amongst the Hoi Polloi