“Where’s your mother?” Corinne asked.
“She must be in the other room,” Miri said, taking this as her opportunity to get away. “Actually, I think I’ll bring her a sandwich.” She prepared a plate for Rusty and carried it down the hall. It was a small apartment, with two bedrooms and one bath. The door to the smaller bedroom was open. Miri caught a glimpse of Rusty’s brown skirt. She was sitting on the bed with a group of women. “Mom…”
Rusty looked up.
“I made you a plate.”
“Thanks, honey. Come and sit.”
Miri sat next to Rusty on the small bed, wishing she could lie down with her head on Rusty’s lap, close her eyes and sleep.
Visitation
It took days to find the remains of the Sewing Machine Man and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Galanos, who’d lived in one of the houses that had been destroyed. They’d been listed as missing and presumed dead. When they finally were able to identify them Christina didn’t want to go to the church or the funeral home. She didn’t want to see the son, who was staying with friends. But she had no choice. “We’re going,” her mother said. “Fix yourself up.”
They waited on line to express their condolences. First Christina’s grandparents Yaya and Papou, then her parents, then Athena and finally, Christina. “I’m very sorry,” she said to the son, who looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Do I know you?” he asked Christina.
“Christina Demetrious,” she said. “My family knows…” She hesitated, then changed what she was going to say to, “My family knew your parents.”
“Thank you, Christina.”
That was it? She was free to move on now? Instead, she said, “My sister, Athena…you went to school with her.”
“Thank you, Athena,” he said, confusing her sister’s name with hers. He didn’t know what he was saying or what anyone was saying to him. By then the next person on line was grabbing his hand and blubbering about what good people his parents were.
He’s in shock, Christina thought. Everyone is in shock. Maybe she was, too. She thought about telling him she’d been there, about how she’d seen the plane before it crashed. And then the flames…but why would he want to hear that? Athena reached in and pulled her away. “What were you telling him?”
“Nothing.”
“It looked like more than nothing.”
“Why do you care?”
“Just don’t go saying too much.”
“What would be too much?”
Athena didn’t answer her question. Instead, she said, “You didn’t even want to come, remember?”
“I thought I was supposed to be nice.”
“Okay. So you were nice.”
“I don’t think anyone told him about me,” Christina said. “That I’m the girl he’s supposed to marry.”
“Oh, so now you want to marry him?”
“I didn’t say that. I just have the feeling no one mentioned Mama’s plans to marry me off to him.”
“I never knew you were in such a hurry to get married.”
“I’m not.” She felt like shouting at Athena, who was turning everything around. Where was Dopey when she needed him? She’d like to smash Dopey over her sister’s head.
“I have to sit down,” Athena said. She was pregnant again and starting to show. “I thought you were in love with Jack McKittrick,” Athena said, tugging at her skirt. “So it’s good to know you’re keeping an open mind.”
Christina was taken aback. “You know about Jack?” she asked Athena.
“Everyone knows about you and Jack McKittrick.”
“Mama?”
“You better hope she doesn’t. But I’m warning you, Christina, you’re skating on thin ice.”
Shiva
Steve went to Kathy Stein’s house in Perth Amboy, where her family would be sitting shiva for seven days. Phil was already there, reciting the prayer for the dead with the other men. They had more than enough for a minyan without Steve and he was glad. He didn’t know the Kaddish. He’d never been in a position of having to recite it.
Kathy’s mother couldn’t speak. She looked half dead. Her skin was gray, her eyes rimmed in red, her hair wild. Kathy’s younger sister couldn’t stop crying. She was surrounded by girlfriends, all of them crying, too. A group of boys stood around looking uncomfortable. A nightmare, Steve heard over and over. Yeah, it was a nightmare, all right. But you wake up from a nightmare, and this time there was no relief because when you woke up, the nightmare was still with you.