A Yonkers Kinda Girl

by Rose O'Callaghan

  “That’s no reason to marry. I learned the hard way. Marry in haste …How does that go?”

  “Repent in leisure. I do love her,” Tony said.

  “That’s a better reason. She’s a good girl, very loyal. It will be hard for both of you. Two months ago, she was a high schooler, smiling all the time. Even when her body’s healed, I’m sure she’s still plenty hurt inside. Her family won’t help, either. Do you have someplace safe.”

  “I will tomorrow. She’s traveling now, pops. We’ll need a place to live. Some place cheap.”

  “I’ll tell Nunzio. He knows everything. Tony, don’t you go messing around on her.”

  Tony had insomnia that night. He imagined a bus driver turning Lilly in as a runaway. He thought of layovers in dingy wino-filled terminals at two or three o’clock in the morning. His brilliant plan seemed dull and frightening, and he doubted his own motives. Tony decided he had jumped on this plan because he couldn’t avenge the rape. He had planned this “rescue” to restore his manhood. By morning, Tony had finished berating himself and was very anxious to hear that she was all right.

  Tony worked the next day waiting for the phone to ring. Frank came after school. He went in to talk to Tony between cars, and Tony bit his head off. Tony still hadn’t heard from her at six o’clock. He sat on the creeper staring at the phone, willing it to ring. He called Colleen at seven-thirty.

  Francine answered, “Hi, Tony. I’ll get her, but I won’t tell Mommy it’s you. OK?”

  “Francie, you’re a doll.”

  Colleen said, “Hi. Have you heard?”

  Tony said, “Heard what?”

  “Heard from her?” Colleen whispered.

  “No, and I was supposed to. Have you heard anything?”

  “No. Can I come there and wait?”

  “Sure. I’m at work.”

  Lilly called at nine-thirty. “Hi.”

  “Lil, where are you?”

  “I’m at Johnson City. Mark and Diane are here.”

  “Where were you?”

  “A bus broke down, so I missed a connection and had to wait in Chattanooga. So I had to get a different bus and wait in Knoxville. I called Diane.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I didn’t have that much change, and I didn’t want to run around Knoxville and miss the bus to Johnson City. Give me a break. I’m too pooped to pop. I’ve been on buses for a day and a half. I want to take a shower and wash off the grime of four states, then go sleep for a week or so. When are you coming down?”

  “Next week.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “No.” Tony softened. “I’ve been worried about you. I’ll call you at Diane’s tomorrow night at seven-thirty.”

  “How’s Hillary?”

  “I don’t know. “

  “When you see the band, play down what happened with my mother. It’s absurd.”

  “OK. See you next week.”

  “Tony?’

  “Yeah.”

  “I love you.”

  “Yeah, Babe. I know.”

  Mark and Diane studied her on the way from the depot.

  Diane told her, “My uncle’s a Justice over in Elizabethton. I kind of let it slip that you were pregnant so he won’t have any qualms about marrying you.”

  “Pregnant? How pregnant am I?” Lilly was ready to accept anything for food, a bath, and sleep.

  “A little tiny bit,” Diane said.

  Mrs. Ott, greeted them at the door. “You sit down child. You must be ravaged with hunger. When is the boy coming?”

  “Next week.”

  Mrs. Ott said, “My Diane said your father was a doctor – a brain surgeon?”

  “Yes.”

  “… And his is a garbage man?”

  “No he runs one of the city’s incinerators.”

  “Well, you eat this, then you can sleep. Was your bus ride from New York City very tiring? I remember how tired you are during pregnancy. You spend three months sleeping and six months eating. I had five. Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Mrs. Ott asked as she ladled soup into a bowl.

  “Many. I have six.” She felt too drained to elaborate. “My boyfriend’s going to call tomorrow at seven-thirty. Is that all right?”

  “That’s fine, Honey. You eat up. We can talk in the morning.”

  Mrs. Ott walked her upstairs to a sewing room with a cot. “I’ll tell you a little secret. I was a little bit pregnant with Diane’s older brother when we were married. I was sixteen, and he was eighteen. In all these years … once in a while I’d like to shoot him, but I have never regretted it. It’s mighty scary for you now, but if you love each other and are both willing to give up a lot and put up with a lot, it will be fine.”

  “Thank you.”

  Lilly slept immediately after Mrs. Ott left. The next morning, she came down to a bustling kitchen.

  “Didn’t Diane tell you? I bake pies for my neighbor’s restaurant.”

  “Can I help?”

  “That’s all right. There’s cereal in that cupboard, and bowls are in there.”

  “What type of pies?” Lilly asked as she got the cereal.

  “I have to make two lemon meringue, two apples, and a chocolate layer cake today.”

  “How can I help? I can peel apples or core them, or anything.”

  Diane came down two hours later. “Are you always asleep at 9:30?”

  Lilly smiled. “Early to bed, early to rise.”

  Diane said, “You’ve been hanging out with my mother too long.”

  The Otts’ neighbor came to pick up the desserts and to leave the orders for the next few days. “I’ll pick up early tomorrow; I have a luncheon banquet. I have to find someone to work.”

  “Work as what?” Lilly asked.

  “A waitress. Are you a waitress?” he asked.

  “No, but I learn fast. I’m Lilly O’Dwyer. You just need someone for tomorrow?”

  “Two of my waitresses are college kids. They’re home for semester break. I have a banquet tomorrow and one Monday. Actually I could use someone for dinners too. My regular girls will be back at the end of next week.”

  “I’ve never waitressed before, and I can’t carry weight on one shoulder, but I’m a good worker.”

  Tony called at seven-thirty, and Diane told him Lilly was working. “My neighbor’s wife lent her a uniform. It was huge on her, but she seemed happy to be working. She said she will call you tonight if she gets off early enough, or tomorrow. She’s going to work a banquet lunch tomorrow, then dinner.”

  Tony got off the phone with a mental image of her in a huge uniform like Li’l Orphan Annie. Since she had left, he couldn’t shake this sad sack view of her. He tried to think of the bitchy, good-looking chick that drove him crazy. He felt committed, both through a pledge and because he thought he was the only person who loved her.

  Lilly called back that night. He was surprised by the tired enthusiasm in her voice. “I’ll help bake desserts in the morning and then waitress lunch and dinner. A guy there tonight said maybe I could play piano at his bar this weekend, like I used to at parties.”

  “Why are you working so hard?”

  “Well, I have to replace clothing. I managed to get quite a bit out by wearing them. How’s it going there? Have you seen the band? Did you find a place for us? How’s work? Frank?”

  “Are you speeding?” he asked

  “No. Tell me.”

  “I saw Randy and Bill today. All is OK. They have a job for next weekend. I told them you’d be back.”

  “Aren’t they playing this weekend?”

  “No, ’cause with you and Jay gone, it’s too much.”

  “Where’s Jay?”

  “With Hillary, I guess. Hillary’s still upset. She’s lived a sheltered life ’til now.”

  An operater interrupted, “Your three minutes are up.”

  “Call me back,” Lilly said.

  “Lil, we have to save money.”

  “
Wait! Do we have a place?”

  “Not yet. Soon.”

  “Please …”

  “I’ll find something. Don’t worry.”

  “I want an address. When are you coming?”

  “Tuesday, some time.”

  “I’m working all tomorrow. Call me Saturday? Ten-thirtyish?”

  “In the morning?”

  “No, night.”

  “Bye.”

  Lilly held the receiver, hearing the click. She felt cast adrift. She feared she had heard indifference in his voice. He was so difficult to understand. His soul was elusive. She attributed that to his street-wise childhood. She had felt all the barriers between them come down during the summer. Now, devotion and love seemed to have been deleted from his conversation.

  Tuesday night, Tony arrived while Lilly was at work. The drive down had given him time to think. He had always thought Mrs. O’Dwyer was mentally ill. Now he was sure of it. She often came into the station now. Tony felt she was playing different roles. Once, she was Lauren Bacall, half smiling half smirking at him, as though Lilly was found. Once, she was Miriam Hopkins asking where he had ensconced Lillian.

  Colleen brought a paper bag full of Lilly’s belongings to the station. She said her mother had become fanatically religious like when Brian was ill. Mrs. O’Dwyer often spoke of a curse on the family. She quoted the Bible. Tony wondered how seriously she took the Old Testament. He thought Bridget’s exiling of Lilly might be a gambit to purge the bad luck from her family.

  Tony, or rather Uncle Nunzio, found them an apartment. It was next door to Joe’s and Nunzio’s. Tony was sure Tanta would be over all the time. He suspected he really had taken the apartment to get a little revenge for upending his life. He decided they’d find a better place when they got back.

  He found Mark’s house and sat around with Diane and Mark waiting until it was time to pick up Lilly at the restaurant. Diane made him bring in his high school graduation suit, and she touched it up for him with her iron. Then it was time to get Lilly.

  When they got there, they waited at the bar in the restaurant. There was a gilded mirror behind the bar. He watched it, trying to catch sight of Lilly through the archway leading to the dining room. Lilly finally came into sight, carrying a tray of desserts. He watched her easy banter with the customers and was uplifted to see that her smiling countenance was back.

  She turned away from her party and met his eyes in the mirror. She stood and smiled for a few moments before coming to the bar. He could feel, as he hugged her, that she had gained back a little weight. Her slender frame no longer felt emaciated. After they hugged, she stood back a little, and they smiled at each other.

  “My last party’s having dessert,” Lilly said.

  Tony nodded. They hugged again. Diane cleared her throat. Lilly stepped back and blushed, then went back into the restaurant area. Tony felt more attracted to her than he had in months.

  They started their marriage quietly. Lilly wore Diane’s cousin’s gown. Diane’s uncle performed the ceremony. Lilly wished Diane hadn’t told them she was pregnant. She could tell by the tension in Tony’s face that someone had made a well-intentioned remark about the “baby.” Diane took pictures with a Polaroid she had gotten for Christmas.

  Tony and Lilly headed for New York after coffee and cake.

  “Did you have to say you were pregnant?” Tony growled at Lilly.

  “I didn’t. Diane and Mark came up with that before I got here. I didn’t enjoy preying on the Otts’ sympathy. They are the nicest people. They all work together. They’re like the Waltons or something. Maybe it’s the mountain air.”

  Tony pulled her over to him. “I think you’ve been breathing too much mountain air. You need some pollution.”

  “When are you going to pollute me?” Lilly bit his ear lobe softly.

  “Lil, we have to save money. I’ll drive ’til I see double, then you can. We’ll go right home.”

  “Home? To our place? Tell me about it.”

  Tony could hear the youthful hope in her voice and felt a wave of guilt. “Well, Lil, actually, it’s a dive, but we’ll find something better. We’re going to my house first. I haven’t moved yet.”

  He waited, but she didn’t answer so he went on. “Lil, there’s no furniture, but I got your money from the lawyer. That was sixteen hundred dollars. I had to pay a month’s deposit and a month’s rent; then I had to drive down here and back. The apartment’s really grimy. We have to clean it before we can move in. If we get back tomorrow morning, we’ll sleep, then get cleaning. There’s one more thing.

  Lilly whispered nervously, “Yes?”

  “It’s next door to Nunzio and Tanta’s building, so they might stop over once in a while.”

  “Like every thirty seconds?” Lilly asked.

  “Maybe,” Tony said sheepishly.

  Lilly laughed. “Well, I was really afraid I’d miss the big family. I’ll have to learn to be an Italian wife.”

  “No one is more qualified then Tanta to teach you to become Italian.”

  “Why?”

  “Tanta’s not Italian. Didn’t you know? She’s Russian. She fled the Bolshevik Revolution, made it to Italy, and married my grandfather.”

  Lilly asked, “But you call her Tanta. Isn’t that Italian?”

  “Tanta’s from her first name, Tatiana.”

  “Tatiana? That’s beautiful.”

  “Tito isn’t an Italian name either. He is full Italian, but my grandfather was friends with an Albanian.”

  They spoke of their European roots and told knock-knock jokes through Virginia. Tony slept while Lilly got desperately lost around Washington. He woke at the start of the New Jersey Turnpike.

  “I thought we’d be further along by now.”

  “Actually, we should be. We took a tour around DC … I lost the Beltway. I was about to wake you when I saw a sign for I95 north. Want to drive?”

  “Sure, Lilly. I’m going to get you a compass. You could get lost in a department store.”

  “Don’t,” she said in a hurt voice.

  Tony said, “Lil, I’m not yelling at you. It’s only you get lost easily.”

  Lilly pulled into a rest stop and got out and walked around the car. She got back into the passenger’s seat and hugged the door. She stared out the window into the darkness. Tony turned off the engine.

  “Lil, I’m sorry. I wish I could take you someplace fancy. We’ll find someplace nicer to live.”

  “It’s not that. It’s our wedding night, and …and I should be worrying about Spanish tests, not …I don’t know …I went to school, then I blinked, and I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a married lady.”

  “I know what you mean. Last September, the biggest thing I worried about was where to cop a lid of pot. I don’t think I ever really worried before.”

  Lilly slid over to him. Tony held her and whispered, “We are going to make it. No matter what the statistics are, pal.” They stayed in the rest area and held hands.

  Tony said in a low voice, “I’d make love to you, but cars aren’t great for sex when you are six-six.”

  Lilly laughed and then kissed his face and neck. They got back on the highway, and she gave him head as they sped along the near-empty road.

  They were finally ready to make the move into their own apartment after spending hours washing walls and cabinets and floors. Tony used his father’s car and headed to second-hand stores. Lilly used Tony’s car and went shopping. She came home with kitchen staples and condiments, a hammer and screwdriver, pots and pans and dishes, a mop and a broom, towels, a shower curtain, and two lamps. Tony was already back, smiling proudly in the barren apartment. She looked around for some piece of furniture to substantiate his proud look.

  “OK. I can’t guess. What did you buy?”

  “A bed,” he said, leading her to the bedroom.

  “A waterbed?” Lilly said, shocked. “We don’t have sheets.”

  “I got some, and a blanket. It’s still
filling through the hose I borrowed from McGraths.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Lilly let Tanta, Joe, and Nunzio inside.

  “It’s a little …open,” Lilly said.

  Tanta walked around the tiny apartment.

  “Tony went shopping for furniture while I got the other stuff.” Lilly followed, explaining. “You can have your broom and mop back.”

  Tanta saw the bed and smiled. She turned to Lilly. “When we move to this country, we had nothing. We got a little apartment, like this. My Anno, he went out and bought a bed. No table, no chair, he bought a bed. You keep him happy there, and you’ll have him forever.” Tanta indicated her heart.

  Lilly blushed deeply. Tony said, “Tanta, you’re embarrassing my bride.” Then Tony followed Nunzio and Joe out.

  Tanta asked, “Electricity?”

  Lilly shrugged, “I’ll go tomorrow. I didn’t think about it.” It was getting dark in the apartment.

  Lilly giggled, “I’d better go shopping again.”

  They left the apartment, and Lilly went out with them. She went to the supermarket for peanut butter, jelly, bread, candles, and matches.

  Tony was in the bedroom when she got back. He lit candles around the bed. He had the transistor he had brought Lilly to use in the hospital. Lilly made PB&J sandwiches. They drank the bottle of champagne Nunzio had given them. They made love.

  Tony went to work in the morning leaving Lilly sleeping. He came home to find furniture, but no Lilly. He tried the lights, but there was still no electricity. A few minutes later, Lilly came in like a whirlwind.

  “How do you like all this? I got curtains too.” Lilly put down a package.

  Tony asked, “How’d you get all this? You didn’t spend all the money?”

  “No, we still have four hundred seventy dollars. Like this?” Lilly spun around the living room showing a small sofa and two matching easy chairs, a couple of end tables, and a coffee table. She pulled him to the kitchen to show a card table and folding chairs.

  “First, I went to a second-hand store. Then I talked to this old man. He told me about auctions. There was one in Mount Vernon, so I went and got all the living room and the dressers for the bedroom and three lamps. Then I went to the second-hand store and got this. I figured you could spread your books out to study better than on a skinny kitchen table.”