The Two-Family House: A Novel (15 page)

Harry stared. “Whoa. Calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but your mom didn’t send me.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because
my
mom sent me. To give you these.” He held up two thick envelopes.

“What? Where did she get those?”

“The postman gave her all the mail today when she was outside with Natalie. She was leaving the letters for your parents outside your door when she saw these.” Harry smiled at her. He seemed sympathetic. “They were addressed to you. I guess my mom thought they might be important. Thought you might want to open them alone. She knew you’d be here, so she sent me.” He handed her the letters. She looked at the return addresses. Barnard and Bryn Mawr. Judith was dumbfounded. She hadn’t thought they would ever write back.

“Oh.” Judith sat back down.

“What’s Bryn Mawr? I haven’t heard of that one. I haven’t heard of a lot of them, I guess. I don’t even want to go to college. I’d rather just start working with my dad, but he says I have to get a degree first so I’m going to City College. Where’s Bryn Mawr, anyway?”

“What?” Judith’s mouth was dry and her heart was pounding. “Oh. It’s in Pennsylvania.”

Harry whistled. “Getting out of town, huh? I guess I can’t blame you. Hey, why are these places sending you stuff, anyway? You’re just a junior.”

“Well…” Judith hesitated. How much should she say? What should she tell him? She looked at the clock again: 5:05. She had to leave now, right this minute, or she’d risk another frenzied evening of accusations and weeping.

“Let’s walk home, okay? I have to get back by five-thirty.”

“How come?”

“If I’m not home by five-thirty my mother will start to worry.”

Harry shrugged. “Fine by me, but don’t you want to open your letters? My mom thought they were really important.”

Judith stuffed the envelopes in the bottom of her bag, under her science textbook. “Nope—just brochures. You know. Information in case I want to apply next year. Nothing that can’t wait.”

“Oh.” Harry looked disappointed, and Judith felt guilty for lying. She touched his shoulder and smiled at him. “Listen, Harry, thanks for coming all the way over here to give them to me. That was very thoughtful. I mean, it was really, really nice of you.” Harry grinned back at her with big blue eyes and offered to carry her book bag home. They walked down the steps together, and Judith finally understood why all the girls at her school were so crazy over him. He really was handsome, and she had to admit he could be charming sometimes, like today. It would have been nice if she could have opened the letters with him there, at the library. And it would have been comforting to have someone she trusted to tell her secret to. Maybe one day that would happen. Maybe one day she and Harry would be real friends, not just cousins. But for now, she didn’t have time to think about that. It was almost five-fifteen, and her mother was at home, waiting for her. Waiting and worrying.

Chapter 28

ABE

Abe whistled as he made his way up the steps to the apartment. Before he could reach for the knob, Helen opened the door from the inside. The look on her face was expectant, excited.
How does she know already?
But when she saw it was him, her smile faded. “I thought you were going to be Harry,” she said, “or maybe Judith.”

“Well, nice to see you too,” he teased, and Helen tried to explain. “I gave Harry some letters to take to Judith at the library and I thought they were back. Why are you home so early?”

“Who’s writing letters to Judith?”

Helen groaned, annoyed with having to explain. “Colleges, Abe! And she’s not even graduating this year. I’ve told you, she’s a brilliant girl. Mort underestimates her. Remember that poetry award—”

Abe didn’t want to get caught up in another anti-Mort tirade, so he cut Helen off. “Which colleges are the letters from?”

“There was one from Barnard and another from Bryn Mawr.”

“Where’s that?”

“Honestly, Abe! Katharine Hepburn graduated from Bryn Mawr.”

“Oh well, if
Katharine Hepburn
went there, it must really be something!”

Helen rolled her eyes at him. “Those letters could be important.”

“You said yourself, she’s not even graduating this year—the girl hasn’t even applied. They’re just brochures.”

“They’re not brochures.”

Abe held up his hands in defeat. “All right, fine. Not brochures. I’m going to go wash up.”

An hour later at the dinner table, Abe stood up and tapped his fork on his water glass. “Your attention, please,” he said. “I have a family announcement.” Helen put down her fork but the boys kept on eating. “What’s a ’nouncement?” Natalie whispered to George.

“I don’t like to talk business at the dinner table, but I think it’s important for my family to know that Box Brothers is having a very good year. Last week Bob Sherman’s client sent us a five-year contract to become his exclusive supplier, not just for cereal boxes but a lot of other products they’re creating.”

“That’s wonderful, Abe!” Helen was beaming. She started to clear some of the serving plates and made a stack in the sink.

“Sure is,” he agreed. “But now we need a bigger factory to make all the boxes, and a different kind of machinery.”

“Are you looking for a new factory?” Harry asked.

“Now you’re paying attention!” Abe was pleased. “Actually, we already found one. It’s perfect—big enough and not expensive.”

“Where is it?” Joe wanted to know.

“Out on Long Island, not too far from where your uncle Sol lives.”

“Oh,” said George. “Are you going to see Uncle Sol when you work there?”

“Well, as it turns out,” Abe wiped his mouth with his napkin and placed it on the table, “we’re all going to see more of Sol.”

Helen was shuttling back and forth between the table and the sink now, grabbing glasses and silverware, even though the boys were still eating. “Is he going to be working with you?”

“Sol and me?” Abe shook his head and chuckled. “You really think Sol would want to work at Box Brothers? Nah, we’re not going into
business
with him. We’re going to be neighbors!”

Helen stopped short, the last of the glasses still in her hand. “What did you say?”

“Neighbors!” Abe grinned. “We’re moving! We’re going to buy a house ten minutes from Sol.” Helen said nothing, so Abe went on, “I went looking with a realtor the other day and I asked her to show me some houses; I told her I only wanted to see ones with a big room by the front door. Whaddya call that thing again?” He turned to Helen. “Right where you walk in?”

“A foyer,” Helen whispered. She was still holding the glass. In a flash, she remembered the day she first met Rose, on the front steps of the two-family house, almost nineteen years earlier. Helen hadn’t been thrilled when Abe first told her they were going to share the house with Mort, but the brothers had purchased it together for a price they couldn’t pass up. She had been pregnant with Harry, and they needed more space.

A few weeks after they had moved in, Mort met Rose. He didn’t tell them much about her, but Helen knew he was in love. Nothing else could explain the way he looked at Rose that day on the steps. Helen had met them coming up as she was walking down with Abe, on a cloudless Sunday afternoon in the middle of spring. She would never forget Rose’s sweet smile, the way she congratulated them on the baby, complimented them on the house. She was beautiful and gentle, and Helen wanted to be her friend. She remembered thinking that if Rose married Mort, sharing the house wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Abe snapped his fingers, shattering her reverie. “That’s it! A ‘foyer.’ I told the real estate agent I would only buy a house with a nice big foyer because that’s what my wife always wanted.” Abe walked over to Helen and tried to put his arm around her, but she moved to the sink, turned the glass over and slammed it down, hard. A tiny crack ran its way up from the rim.

“Does it have a television?” Sam interrupted.

Abe laughed. “
That’s
what you want to know? Any house can have a television, Sam. We could have a television here.”

“Then can our new house have a television?”

“We’ll see. Stop asking about televisions. The big news is that we’re moving!”

“I don’t want to move!” Natalie announced loudly. “I don’t want a new house. Everyone will be strangers.”

“They won’t be strangers once you
know
them,” Sam scolded her. “Besides, at least you don’t have to worry about changing schools. You don’t even go to school yet!” He turned to Abe. “Jeez, Dad. I was gonna have Mr. Ketterer next year—he’s the best teacher in the whole school! And now we’re gonna have all new teachers and have to make all new friends.”

“What if no one likes me at the new school?” George wailed, panicking.

“They’ll like you fine, George,” Abe insisted.

“This whole thing is a bunch of crap!” Joe got up from the table, eyes flashing. “You didn’t even ask us if we wanted to move. This is
crap
!”

“Joe!” Helen shouted. “Don’t speak to your father that way! This conversation is over. Go to your room. In fact,
all
of you go to your rooms. Now.”

“I didn’t even say anything,” Harry muttered.

“Now,”
Helen repeated. The five of them filed out of the kitchen, worried looks on their faces.

Abe was deflated. Everyone was upset and Helen wouldn’t even look at him. He knew the kids would take some time to get used to the idea, but why wasn’t Helen more excited? How many times had she told him they needed more bedrooms and closets? How many nights had she complained about car horns and truck engines waking her up? For Chrissake, hadn’t he specifically told the realtor he would only look at houses with foyers just to make her happy? And even if you took away the foyer, the space and the yard, he couldn’t believe she wasn’t excited about not having to live in the same house as Mort, for once! He would have thought she’d move anyplace just for that privilege alone!

Was she angry that he hadn’t spoken to her about the move beforehand? Did she have reservations about living closer to Sol? If she wouldn’t even look at him, how was he supposed to figure it out?

“Look, Helen, if you’re angry because I haven’t shown you the houses yet, I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you. But I didn’t buy one yet. There are three or four of them we can look at and then you can make the decision. We’ll get the one you like best.”

Helen was standing at the sink with her back to him. When she turned on the faucet, he could see that her hand was shaking.

“Helen? Look at me. Please.”

Helen mumbled something, but he could barely hear her over the running water.

“Helen, I can’t hear you. Turn off the water, sweetheart, and talk to me.”

When she finally did turn around, Abe barely recognized her. Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks were flushed and her lips were twisted tight in a grimace. She forced her mouth open to speak, but the only sound that emerged was a high-pitched wail. He had never seen her like this.

Abe tried to take her into his arms but she pushed him away, her back up against the sink, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were trying to get warm. “I don’t understand,” he told her, “Why are you so upset? Please, honey, tell me.”

“I can’t explain.…” She choked out the words in a tangle of sobs.

Abe softened his voice. “I promise you,” he said, “I promise you it will be all right.” He put one hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s a big change, but we’re going to have a wonderful new house for our family.” She let him take her in his arms then, and wept like her heart was breaking. His shirt was soaked through in moments.

After a few minutes Helen lifted her head. “What about Mort and Rose?” she whispered.

“Mort is telling them tonight,” he told her. “He already picked a house. But there’s nothing else for sale on that street so we’ll be a few blocks away.” He tried to make his voice sound playful. “So cheer up—at least they won’t be next door!” He thought this would make Helen smile. He wanted to hear her laugh. But the tears only fell faster and her grip on him tightened.

Chapter 29

HELEN

Helen was still shaken the next day. After she got the boys off to school, she was unable to follow her usual morning routine. The dirty breakfast dishes nauseated her. The unmade beds gave her chest pains and the globs of toothpaste on the bathroom counter left her head aching. She needed fresh air, an escape from the drudgery of the morning cleanup. So she left it all—the dishes, the beds, the bathroom—and got Natalie ready to go to the park.

Once there, Helen showed Natalie how to feed the ducks with the stale bread they brought from home. Natalie watched the birds and mimicked their gait. They had been there for half an hour when Helen spotted Rose and Teddy walking through the park gates. Teddy saw Natalie and ran over. Rose had no choice but to join Helen.

“You must have gotten out of the house early this morning.” Rose brushed a few leaves off the bench and sat down.

“I couldn’t face the breakfast dishes,” Helen admitted. It had been a long time since she and Rose had sat together in the park like this.

“That’s not like you.”

“I know. Did Mort tell you about the move?”

Rose nodded, and Helen’s eyes filled with tears. She searched for a tissue in her handbag. “I can’t believe it. I don’t want to leave the house.”

“I do.” Rose’s voice was hard.

“But it’s perfect. The kids can see each other every day. Look at them. They’re like brother and sister! Living in the same house makes it so much easier. I can see Teddy and you can see Natalie whenever we want. Why do you want to leave?”

“Do I really have to list the reasons for you? It’s too small, for one. You and your family are literally on top of us every minute of every day.”

“We’ll switch. You can take the top apartment. I’ll convince Abe, he won’t mind—” Helen was pleading with her. Desperate.

“Listen to yourself, will you? Even if we moved to the top floor it wouldn’t solve anything. It wouldn’t change the situation.”