Her father frowned. “Teddy locked himself in his room. He said he won’t come out until he gets to see you. They can’t get him to open the door.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. She scrambled out of the car and took her father’s hand. They walked together up the gravel pathway without saying a word. Abe reached out to ring the doorbell, but her uncle Mort was already at the door, opening it for them. Natalie thought Uncle Mort looked worried, and she felt bad for him. She knew her brothers thought he was mean, but there was something about him that she liked.
Mimi and Dinah ran to the door and started talking at the same time.
“Oh my gosh, finally!”
“He’s upstairs!”
“Come on!”
They grabbed her by the elbows and pulled her up the stairs to the hallway outside Teddy’s bedroom. Judith was sitting on the floor, trying to talk Teddy into coming out. When she saw Natalie she stood up and hugged her. “Teddy!” she said. “Natalie’s here!”
Natalie heard Teddy’s voice from the other side of the door. He sounded tired. “Nat? Are you there?”
“I’m here!” she called back. “Let me in!”
The lock clicked, the door handle turned and then Teddy’s face poked out. “Hi, Nat.”
“Come out,” she told him. But he shook his head. “You come in.” He opened the door a little bit more and ushered her inside. Then he locked the door again.
“Perfect,” Natalie heard Mimi say. “Now they’re both locked in there.”
Judith was firm. “Let’s go downstairs. They’ll come out soon.”
After they heard the girls walking down the stairs, Teddy finally relaxed. At almost five, he was small for his age. Two days of not eating had left him frail and exhausted, and his wide brown eyes had dark circles around them. Natalie was a full head taller and felt like a giant standing next to him. She decided to sit on the floor. She had only been to Teddy’s house once before, and his room was foreign to her.
“How come you won’t leave your room?” Natalie asked.
“I wanted to play with you. I don’t like living here. I want to go back to the house on Christopher Avenue.”
“Me too.”
“But we can’t. Someone else lives there now. That’s what my mother said. She said we couldn’t go back even if we wanted to. She said it’s nicer here.”
“My mom wants to go back too. She keeps crying.”
“Why?”
Natalie shrugged her shoulders. “She cries every time I ask to play with you.”
“When I ask to see you, my mother yells,” Teddy explained. “She won’t listen. So I didn’t eat dinner last night. And then I didn’t eat anything today either. But she still won’t listen.”
Natalie took Teddy’s hand. “Let’s go downstairs. My mom sent cookies.”
“I’m scared to go downstairs.”
“My dad said they’re going to figure something out. And I brought you comics.”
Finally, Teddy smiled. He couldn’t read very well yet, but he loved to look at the pictures. “Which ones?”
“Captain Comet and Marvelman.”
“I guess I’ll go.”
“I’ll race you!” Natalie shot out the door and took the steps two at a time. Teddy chased after her, giggling. Abe was waiting at the bottom for them and grabbed Natalie as soon as she reached him. “Look what I caught!” he bellowed, swinging her in the air. “Teddy’s all right now, Daddy,” Natalie whispered in her father’s ear. Abe nodded and put her down. He led the children to the kitchen, where Uncle Mort and Aunt Rose were waiting.
When she saw Teddy and Natalie, Aunt Rose stopped pacing in front of the stove. “Will you eat something?” she asked him. Teddy nodded and took a seat at the table. “Natalie said she brought cookies.”
“You have to eat some dinner first. Then you can have cookies for dessert.” Aunt Rose didn’t bother asking Natalie if she wanted anything. Natalie was used to being ignored by her aunt, but she thought this time it might be different. After all, wasn’t she the one who got Teddy to unlock his door and come out of his room? Shouldn’t that be good enough to earn a smile or at least a hello? Apparently not—Aunt Rose still wouldn’t glance her way. Natalie wondered if she’d be offered a cookie after Teddy finished eating. She hoped so.
After a few moments of silence, Natalie’s father coughed. “Now that everyone’s calmed down, let’s figure out what we can do so this doesn’t happen again.” Natalie didn’t see the need for a long discussion. She got right to the point. “Can Teddy come over tomorrow?” She had taken a seat between Teddy and Uncle Mort, and directed the question to her uncle. He looked over at Aunt Rose, who looked away. Uncle Mort cleared his throat to get her attention, but Aunt Rose ignored him and busied herself with the reheating of Teddy’s dinner. Natalie couldn’t understand why she was being so rude. Or why Uncle Mort needed her approval before he answered. None of the grown-ups said anything, so Natalie decided to ask again. “Can Teddy come over tomorrow?”
“That’s fine by me,” Abe answered this time. “How about you, Morty?” Uncle Mort looked at Aunt Rose again, but she refused to make eye contact. “Yes,” he answered. “He can come to your house tomorrow.”
“Can Natalie come here the day after?” Teddy wanted to know. Aunt Rose put a full plate in front of Teddy. He looked at the food and then looked at Natalie. Before he picked up the fork, he asked again, “Can she?”
Aunt Rose clenched her teeth. “Fine,” she managed to say. “But school starts for your sisters next week and you can’t play with each other every day then. I’ll be too busy.” Natalie felt Teddy kicking her under the table. “But we don’t want to stop going to each other’s houses after school starts,” she said.
“Yes!” Teddy echoed. He looked at the plate and pushed it a few inches away, toward the center of the table. Then he looked up at his mother.
Aunt Rose was staring at the plate. “Maybe you can play once a week,” she conceded.
Teddy pushed the plate a little farther away. “How about I go to Nat’s once a week and she comes here once a week?”
Natalie’s father and her uncle, along with Natalie and Teddy, were all turned to Aunt Rose. She threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “Fine!” she said. “Just eat something, will you?”
Teddy pulled the plate closer and began to shovel forkfuls of chicken and potatoes into his mouth.
“You can go to Natalie’s house on Tuesdays,” Aunt Rose pronounced. “That’s the day I do my grocery shopping. Natalie can come here Thursdays.” For the first time all evening she looked directly at Natalie. “Thursday is meat loaf day,” Aunt Rose warned. Natalie sensed the threat in her aunt’s tone, but she was too excited about the prospect of seeing Teddy to care. “Meat loaf is my favorite!”
“Then everything’s settled.” Natalie’s father stood up. “It’s late,” he said, “and I think we all need to get some sleep. Are we good here?”
“Great!” Teddy said, his mouth full of chicken. Natalie nodded in agreement and got up out of her chair. She wanted to ask for a cookie, but it was more important to leave before Aunt Rose changed her mind.
Chapter 34
NATALIE
(September 1956)