The Day the Flowers Died (12 page)

Aaron lifted the towel of ice back up to his nose.  His
words muffled under the towel as he finished, “I stumbled back and
threw a punch, missing, and then he hit my nose.” Aaron laid the
towel on his leg and used his hands to exaggerate the action. 
“I threw another punch, hitting his cheek and then he hit me on my
mouth before my boss came out, pulling me away.  He told me to
go home.”

“He didn’t fire you?”

“He told me to not come in Monday.  He said I’ve been
causing too many problems.”

Rebecca’s teacup cracked when she dropped it on the table.

“He can’t fire you for fighting outside the office,” Eli
insisted.

“He did.”

“We can take it to court,” Eli persisted.

“And what? You know I’m not going to win and even if I do, then
what? Do I spend the rest of my time at the office handling the
jobs no one wants to take?” Eli looked down and then back up at
Aaron who was nursing his wounds with the ice filled towel. He knew
his friend was right.

A chill migrated up Rebecca’s spine as she thought about Eli and
his work. The thought that Eli worked for his own father gave her
reassurance that he would have a stable income, but then nothing
was really certain anymore and worry began to consume her.

“I’m going to get the morning paper for you.” Aaron put his
towel down and headed toward the door.  “It’s the least I can
do, barging in unannounced.” He raced down the steps and on the
first floor grabbed the folded newspaper from Eli’s mailbox. 
He swung open the front door of the apartment building, catching
his grey spring coat on the broken latch, spending a few minutes
trying to untangle himself.

The morning sky, cloudless and lucid, was one of the clearest
days that spring.  He took in a deep breath and then returned
upstairs.  He didn’t look at the paper, but out of the exposed
corner he could make out the words, Nazis wave of the future? Eli
left the door open for Aaron.  The race up the stairs left
Aaron’s fuller figure panting.  He dropped the paper on the
wood table next to Eli.

“Read the headline,” Aaron suggested with cynicism.

“I try to avoid the papers as much as I can nowadays, unless I
feel like beginning my day depressed,” Eli joked.

“That explains why the paper is dated March 13th.” Aaron rolled
his eyes at Eli and opened the paper himself.

“Well, what does it say?” Rebecca inquired with her hair tied up
over her head and her clothes neatly tightened around her
frame.

Aaron read audibly, but with melancholy in his tone.

“In the presidential election held on March 13, 1932, Hitler
received over eleven million votes (11,339,446) or 30% of the
total.  Hindenburg received 18,651,497 votes or 49%.”

“So Hitler lost,” Rebecca said with gaiety, “Why do you look so
somber?” Her eyes fluttered in Aaron’s direction, who shook his
head and Eli responded for him.

“This isn’t a loss for the Nazi party. They gained millions of
supporters.  He’s just twenty percent away from
Hindenburg.”

“Can you blame the public?” Aaron spoke with his hands again,
agitated, “With six million unemployed, chaos in Berlin,
starvation, ruin, and threat of Marxism, this country has a very
uncertain future and Hitler makes the future sound possible.”
Rebecca bit her lip.

* * *

Graduation for Rebecca fell on the last Friday of the month. Eli
took off work and drove her to the university in his Audi so that
Rebecca would not have to worry about driving. The lawn extended
from the parking lot to every main building. Sidewalks paved in red
brick wound throughout the campus. The university filled with the
graduating class and their families. Eli walked with Rebecca hand
in hand up to the main hall where the ceremony would be held and
where she would meet her parents.

Upon opening the door, in the distance Eli could see Ralph in a
navy colored suit and a white button shirt tucked in under a navy
suit jacket.  His stomach pushed outward, stretching the shirt
and the jacket. He held a bouquet of flowers and sat down and then
Eli lost sight of him.

“Do you see them? Are they here yet?” Rebecca asked.

“Your father is ahead.  I just saw him sit down.” Benches
outlined the hall in a square fashion where the majority of parents
and waiting graduates sat.  Eli pointed with his forefinger,
directing Rebecca to her family.  Deseire saw the two of them
approach and cordially stood with her lean, tall figure in a
lengthy beige gown.  A gold plastic flower hung on her left
shoulder clipped onto the dress.

“Eli.” Deseire’s smile was a farce, warm, wide and
manipulated.  She shook his hand and then walked to her
daughter. Ralph stood, tightening the loose button on his jacket,
attempting to fit into a size smaller than he needed, and shook
Eli’s hand with a firm grip.

“Have a seat, Eli.” Ralph patted the seat next to him and Eli
sat down, feeling welcomed.  Rebecca noticed in the corner of
her eyes Eli sitting next to her father.  She didn’t want to
sit next to her mother, so while Deseire asked how her week had
been, Rebecca answered, rotating her body so that the closest seat
to her was no longer next to her mother, but next to Eli.

“It’s been a good week, very busy with work and preparing for
graduation, but the day is finally here.” Rebecca blushed a peach
color of excitement and looked behind her casually, sitting next to
Eli as if she had not planned her seating at all.

“These are for you.” Ralph showed the bouquet of flowers to his
daughter.  “Do you wait here or do you have to sit in the
middle?” Ralph set the flowers in Eli’s lap and pointed to the
center of the hall where chairs lined up row after row.  Eli
held the flowers, though they were laid upon his lap like one would
hand a coat to a servant.

“I have to wait for my department to be called.  There are
many graduates today.”

“We’ll be looking out for you,” Ralph said, smiling at his
daughter and Rebecca smiled wide, hiding her mouth with her
hand.  They called each department one by one: Mathematics,
English, Sciences, Nursing, etc and upon the announcement, the
graduates belonging to the department moved to sit in the center of
the hall.  Rebecca wore a long black robe signifying she was
graduating.

Eli adjusted her graduation cap on her head and played with the
tassel.  Rebecca swatted his fingers and straightened her
posture.  Eli rested his hands in his lap, unsure of how much
humor to display upon graduating and in front of her parents. 
The family waited patiently until Rebecca’s department was
announced and then Rebecca stood along with her family and made her
way to the center chairs.

She glanced backward and locked eyes with Eli, then she darted
her head around with a childlike grin as if she had just stolen a
cookie from the jar.  It felt like forever to Rebecca, waiting
for her name to be called, for the last years to be summed up into
one single document.  But to Eli the moment was abrupt.

While Rebecca sat in silence, Eli sat in whispers and
questioning eyes of young and old that peered his way, wondering
why he was sitting with the Baum family.  Even Deseire at
times, though accustomed to social decorum, appeared uneasy. 
Eli noticed all of this and began to feel uncomfortable, lost in
his thoughts of the shades of prejudice.  When the announcer
said Ms. Rebecca Baum, the sound drew him out of the world
swallowing him and back into Rebecca’s graduation.  To him, it
seemed to have happened suddenly.

He watched with an unspoken pride only noticed by the keenest of
observers as Rebecca marched up to take her diploma like a winning
horse paraded around the track.  This paper granted sure
freedom from the grips of her mother and she took it from the
professor with eagerness and stillness.  Rebecca was not
anxious about the future like many of her graduating class.

She knew what she wanted and she was now free to do it, because
she no longer had to rely on the money her parents provided with
strings attached to accomplish her goals.  She now had the
right to procure a nursing position and earn her own wages, wages
that would guarantee she could stand on her own feet.

Returning to her family, she could see Mr. Schwartvitz
approaching Deseire.  He had been a long time family friend of
the Baum’s and Deseire had thought at one time that Rebecca and his
eldest son would make a lovely couple.  Deseire noticed Mr.
Schwartvitz waving in the distance, and her refined demeanor grew
self conscious, her hands not as steady, her feet not as
firm.  But her rehearsed smile spread easily up to her flushed
cheeks.

“Mrs. Deseire Baum.” The gentleman took her wedded hand into
his, kissing it once and returning it.  “It’s a pleasure
seeing you here.”

Ralph stood, nodding to Mr. Schwartvitz and Eli stood next to
Ralph, ready to give his timely greeting, but Mr. Schwartvitz asked
a few more questions of Deseire.  “Is your daughter graduating
today?”

“Yes, she is coming now.” Deseire gestured in the direction of
her daughter.  Mr. Schwartvitz looked up and smiled at the
sight of her.

“And your son,” Deseire’s intonation flared, “he is here today
also?”

“Yes, graduating with the business department.  He was
chatting with his peers somewhere.” He looked away, searching with
his eyes.

Rebecca stepped close to her mother with her diploma in her
hands.  “Hello, Mr. Schwartvitz.” Rebecca reached her hand out
to his and held it. “I guess Sean is graduating today?” She used
her other hand to pat the top of his and then released both,
returning them to her side.

“Yes, yes.” He looked around the room again.  “He is
somewhere,” he said with a deep chuckle.  Rebecca glared at
her mother.  Deseire returned the glare, an expression she had
gotten to know well, one that meant don’t embarrass me.

“I’ve forgotten my manners,” Deseire uttered and gestured to
Eli.  “This is Rebecca’s friend from Munich.” She said it as
if nothing more could be possible.  Mr. Schwartvitz shook
Eli’s hand.  “They live in the same apartment building.” Her
last sentence hinted of an apology, an explanation of how they
could possibly be acquainted.  At that moment Eli, being a
lawyer trained to recognize every detail, realized Rebecca’s mother
was ashamed of him.

Sensing Eli’s insecurity, Rebecca left her mother’s side and
joined him, holding his hand and admiring his eyes in an overt
fashion.  Mr. Schwartvitz cleared his throat, noticing the
embraced hands, and pardoned himself to look for his son. 
When Rebecca, Eli and her parents headed toward the exit, Deseire
pulled her aside in a quiet corner.  Deseire’s upper lip
curled and her grip on Rebecca’s arm became firm.

“How could you embarrass me like that in front of Mr.
Schwartvitz?” she asked, saying his name with great weight, the
kind of weight that comes from doing business with a long time
friend in the neighborhood, the kind of weight that worries about
reputation.

“Embarrass you.  You blatantly disregard Eli’s feelings, my
feelings.  You couldn’t even muster the courage to admit to
our friend that Eli and I are involved.  Did you even for once
think about how you made Eli feel?” Rebecca’s whisper sounded
gritty and her arms pushed Deseire away, creating a clear space
between them.

“Everything is about you, always you.” Deseire kept her whisper
balanced between quietness and firmness, a whisper she had had much
practice with in high society.  “You are a part of this family
and what you do reflects on us.  It isn’t just your life which
is affected by your actions.” Deseire gripped her daughter’s wrist
again, moving in close to her, close enough to hide the grip. 
“I won’t have it! I won’t let you prance around with that…boy of
yours.  You are breaking it off.”

Rebecca tore her arm away from her mother and stomped out of the
hall with her mother following closely behind.  Ralph and Eli
stood together, waiting for them to return.  Rebecca abruptly
kissed her father on the cheek, whispering goodbye.  With her
mother’s intense glare, she grabbed Eli’s hand in rebellious
frustration.  Eli saw Rebecca’s haste to depart and waved,
saying, “It was nice to see you both again.” Rebecca whisked Eli
away from her parents and towards his blue car.

Wednesday, April 20, 1932

Normally Rebecca had classes to ready for in the early morning,
but after graduation, she found herself sleeping in since her diner
shift began in the afternoon.  Today, though, she set her
alarm for the first sign of the sun and woke up feeling nervous,
knowing Eli and his family had a big day planned.  She had
never been to a Seder or Pesach, Passover and she threw her clothes
one item at a time over her bed, weeding through everything to find
the right first impression. Eli had told her it was a feast his
mama prepared for every year weeks in advance, and his entire
direct family would most certainly attend.  Other family
members would be there, too, which added to the anxiety.

Rebecca asked for this day off of work after Eli told her the
date, the twentieth of April.  Eli warned her they had already
begun some of the rituals on the nineteenth, two days before the
official Passover on the twenty first, but she would only be dining
for the Seder. Eli, knowing the Hebrew celebrations were new to
her, and after much deliberating with his father, decided that
would be best. Eli did not go into the discussed details, but his
enthusiasm about her arriving to dine with them made Rebecca elated
as well.

She pulled a lengthy blue flowery dress up to her and fixed a
stare into the bathroom mirror. The minuscule mirror, not large
enough to capture her full figure, forced her to look at her shape
in pieces, the upper neck line and shoulders and then, standing on
her tub, the dress covering her legs and ankles.  Dissatisfied
with the blue color, she tossed it over the rising pile on her
bed.