“That’s ridiculous. You had the original.”
“No … no. She was delicate and sad-eyed. You had become so strong.”
“And you lost your job,” Lilly said, understanding.
“There were always men around, leering at you. And I had to ask you for gas money.”
“I’m a professional musician.”
“I know that. The men were there anyway. I felt I had missed something, too. As graduation approached, college was gone. Without a single wild oat.”
“Yes. I was nineteen and had never been out with anyone else.”
“You felt it too?”
“Tony … dating turned out to be not all it was cracked up to be.”
“You must have felt that to run off and live with nuns,” Tony teased.
The tension eased. The words ran out, and they relaxed in a sense of emotional intimacy.
The next day was difficult for each. Tony suffered the surface insults given to anyone quitting a job. Lilly spent the day trying to mask the distractions. She arrived home before Tony. She spent the time waiting for him in the junk room, studying maps and searching for the right answer. She was concentrating so deeply that she didn’t hear him come into the room. Tony touched her shoulder, sending her banging into the wall in an overreaction.
“Lil, it’s just me.”
“Don’t come up behind me. You know that,” Lilly sputtered.
“I’m sorry I startled you. Are you ready to walk?”
“I’m still in my uniform. I’ll get changed. You have to change too, mister business man.” Lilly lingered, staring at the overall map, trying to comprehend the enormity of the trail.
Tony reappeared at the doorway. “Lil, am I forcing this on you?”
Lilly answered, picking up the tempo as she changed. “It’s … well, if I feel so much for you now, how’s it going to be in four months?”
“By that time we’ll be so sick of each other, we’ll fly up Mount Katahdin so we can part. Come on, Lillibit.”
Lilly followed him, uncertain if that comment was supposed to reassure her. They ate pizza as they walked. Lilly felt the tremendous pressure of his need for an answer. They walked up the steepest hills of Yonkers. Lilly sat on a bench on Roberts Avenue. Tony sat beside her, seemingly unfazed by the climbs.
“Have you ever been to San Francisco?”
“I lived about twenty-five miles from San Francisco when I worked in California and went to Stanford. I used to go to San Francisco all the time. McGrath lives there.”
“Mike?”
“He was married last autumn. I was his best man. His wife is really nice. She’s a psychiatrist.”
“Did you say he’s an FBI agent?”
“Yes, he was recruited out of college. Mike, the special investigator. His parents are definitely cool towards his wife. She’d be more acceptable if she were a pediatrician.”
Lilly jumped up. “Well, do I have to wait all day for you?”
They got home after dark. Lilly hadn’t disclosed a decision. The phone rang as they entered the house. Tony answered it as Lilly removed her pack.
“For you.” Tony handed her the phone.
“Carolyn? I was going to call. We only just now arrived home.”
Carolyn asked, “Are you coming? Shall I pick you up at the airport?”
“Carolyn,” Lilly hesitated, feeling Tony’s eyes upon her. “I’m not coming. I’m going to walk the trail with Tony.”
“How far is it?’
“It’s over two thousand miles. It will take four months.”
“Lilly, I’m unsure of the wisdom of this. Why were you divorced?”
“Carolyn, I’m sorry I’m disappointing you, but I’m going with him.”
“Bring my number. Call me if you need anything or need to talk.”
“Thank you, Carolyn. I’ll be all right.”
Lilly expected to see Tony when she hung up but instead found herself alone in the kitchen. She walked to the living room and found Tony looking through records.
“Tony? Aren’t you going to say anything?” Lilly asked, puzzled by his anticlimactic reaction.
Tony smiled at her. “What’s to say Lillibelle?” He took her hand and kissed it. “We’ll have a blast.”
She hugged him. “I love you, Tony.”
“It’s been too long since I heard that.”
“Then, I’ll have to tell you all the time.”
Their relationship entered the celebration stage. The next morning Tony walked her to the clinic to start his walk before work.
“Lil, you’d better give them notice.”
“Since I’m new, what if they say, ‘Don’t come back tomorrow’?”
“I miss you on the morning walks, and you’ll need them.”
“True. I’m too sore to carry a pack this morning.”
“We’ll get you equipment that will fit you better.”
“How much will that be?”
Tony started listing what she would need, but Lilly interrupted, “I’m late. You’re too easy to talk to.”
Lilly tried to keep from smiling when she told her supervisor she was leaving. “My plans have changed. I’m afraid I won’t be in New York after April 30.”
“Miss O’Dwyer, you were just hired.”
“I’m sorry for the time invested in me. I’m going to walk the Appalachian Trail.”
“That’s not even two weeks’ notice. This is unprofessional.”
Lilly pictured herself as one of Carolyn’s rats, deserting ship with Tony, a fellow rat. “I’m sorry for the short notice. This opportunity didn’t come up until last night.” Lilly firmly cut off the lecture.
Lilly bought pepperoni and cheese for the evening walk. Tony was unhappy she was going to continue working. The evening flew with dreams turning into plans as they walked and bought equipment.
Lilly’s supervisor was waiting for her when Lilly arrived for work in the morning. She was told she needn’t return as she would be replaced. Lilly walked back to Tony’s, deciding to make him a surprise breakfast for after his morning walk.
Tony called, “Lillibelle?” as he arrived home.
“Lord, you’re slow Tony. Your breakfast is ready.” Lilly poured his coffee.
“They decided if I didn’t need them it was mutual.” She watched him take off his pack slowly. “Hurry up. I haven’t got all day.… Well … actually, I do, but you have to get to work.”
“Rub it in Irish.”
“Rub it? Where here?” Lilly ventured, teasing.
“Cut it out. You’re going to wear it out.”
Tony ate and then showered and dressed.
Lilly followed, “Tony, could I lay off your maid?”
“Lil, I don’t know. I might need her again. You can be lethal,” Tony said. “I was going to leave her a note and two weeks’ severance pay.”
“I wasn’t going to stick it to her. Anyone who cleans strangers’ toilets for a living doesn’t need to have her face stuck in it.”
“Then why do you want to lay her off?” Tony asked.
“So she thinks twice before she treats anyone like a whore. You’re too nice.”
“I’m not nice. I’m a bastard in a different way. You’d hate to work for me.”
“I can see that. I’ll walk you to work and then go to Grand Central. I’m going to Eileen’s today to see if she’ll go shopping with me. I’ll call your mother to find out what the doctor said about Tanta. Maybe I can look up Carly.”
While they were walking, Tony asked, “Tell me about Carly.”
“We were roommates. I’ll bet she is in church every Sunday. She’s prissy. Issy, her sister, lived there too. We were great friends. Issy has such innocence. She was stubborn about it. She refuses to take off her rose-colored glasses. Did you ever have a roommate?”
“The guys in the house, remember?”
“I meant after.”
“No, I was financially solvent,” Tony said with a little pride.
>
“That reminds me. I have a student loan I never paid while I was in Thailand. How do I get an extension on the grace period? I’m going to be broke after the trail and probably in debt to you.”
“How much do you owe?”
“Nine hundred,” Lilly said.
“Call the bank and speak to whoever does loans. If you send them say two hundred fifty, it will show good faith.”
“Two fifty? That’s what I’m planning to bring on the trail. I’ll need the other money for plane fare and to get set up in Saint Croix.”
“Use the trail money. I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry about money. I owe you a lot,” Tony said quietly.
“No you don’t.” Lilly objected.
“I never paid back the money for the lawyer and the fine.”
“What lawyer?”
“When I was busted … in seventy.”
“Oh lord, the statute of limitations has run out on that. That’s ancient history.” Lilly smiled.
Lilly showed up at Eileen’s at nine-thirty.
“Hi, EO. I quit.”
“You quit? You’re going to Saint Croix? No, you couldn’t be. You look too happy.”
“I’m doing the trail with Tony.”
“Lilly, you are? Are you sure that guy loves you enough?”
“I think so, Eileen. What are you doing?”
“You mean after Sesame Street? Vacuuming. I’m not allowed to vacuum during Sesame. Right now, I’m scrubbing the bathroom.”
Lilly followed Eileen to the bathroom as Eileen kept talking. “After vacuuming, I’ll be free until eleven-thirty. That’s peanut butter and jelly time.”
“You’re in a rut girl.”
“That rut is survival. If I didn’t have time in cubes, I’d be a space cadet.”
“I’m going shopping,” Lilly said enticingly.
“Well, there goes the schedule. It usually gets sidetracked pretty early in the day. We could leave the kids with my mother-in-law. My mother and his mother are in competition. Unfortunately, we’re in the middle. I’m going to join a religious cult that doesn’t allow feasting or visiting on holidays, so I’ll have a good excuse to get out of the Christmas wars.”
“EO, how are things going with the house.”
“We can move in soon, maybe even this weekend. She was in the hospital. Everett’s grandmother that is, and then she went into a nursing home. She couldn’t sign her house over to anyone or sell it because Westchester County would get it to pay the bills. Then two days after she was in the nursing home, she had a massive MI and died.
“All this happened last summer. Everett and I never thought about her house, because Everett’s grandmother couldn’t stand his mother. There were only a few times Everett met her. Then last week, we got this letter saying Ev had to go to a lawyer’s office. I thought we were being sued for God knows what. We will have to pay for the two days at the nursing home and the ambulance and emergency room treatment. That’s the cheapest down payment there is, and no mortgage. Of course there’s water and sewer and city and real estate and school taxes. Everett says if we pay ourselves three hundred sixty a month, we’ll be clear. We pay five eight three for this box. Our electric and heat will be expensive. I’ve only been inside once, and that was for the introduction, and I only stood in the entranceway. There’s a tall hedge around the property.”
“You’ve only seen it once?”
“Ev’s grandmother had a bad argument with Ev’s father about ten years ago. She always disliked Ev’s mother. Then when I met her, all she said to me was, ‘Doris likes you Humph!’ She didn’t even speak to me at my wedding.”
Eileen finished scrubbing the tub and led Lilly to the living room.
“What will happen after the trail?”
“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll go to Saint Croix,” Lilly said resolutely. Then she added, “God that’s going to kill me to say goodbye to him.”
“Why not have an accident?”
“An accident? Like fall off a mountain so he’d feel too guilty to leave my hospital bed? That has possibilities.” Lilly smiled.
“No, an accident like oops, I forgot my pills,” Eileen said rubbing her belly.
“Oh, that type. It has possibilities, I suppose.” Lilly lost her jubilance.
Eileen said, “Lil he loves you. You’d be a great mother. We could have fun with our babies. Last night when Ev came home, he told me he was happy about the baby. I think he was worried. This time he’s going to have his tubes tied.”
“What does he say?”
“I mentioned it last night. He sat there covering his balls with his hands.” Eileen laughed. “You should have seen him, sitting there, naked as a jay bird, watching the Mets in his Mets cap. Every time I’d walk by, he’d cover his nuts like I had a nut cracker.”
Lilly laughed, “He’s a Mets fan? I love the Mets. I remember my father taking us to the Polo Grounds when I was a little girl. We went to Shea when it first opened. I remember being afraid of the airplanes. Tony’s such a Yankee fan. There’s no living with him now that they’ve won the World Series. He used to drag me to Yankee Stadium. He still goes every week with all the della Robbia men.”
“I’ll call my babysitter-in–law,” Eileen said as she dialed. “You’re lucky, I have the car today. I have to go grocery shopping or else Everett would have the car.”
Everett’s mother met them at her door. “Eileen, hello. Ah, my little peanut-butter man,” Mrs. LaRoche said taking Jason. “Eileen, Everett said something to his father last night. Are you pregnant?”
“Yes, I am. Santa’s coming a little early,” Eileen answered, not lifting her head as she took off Kara’s jacket.”
Mrs. La Roche followed Eileen. “I thought you were sterilized after Kara’s birth.”
Eileen said, “Oops.” She and Lilly’s eyes met, and they both laughed.
Mrs. LaRoche looked at them suspiciously.
“I am the mother, though, no matter what you hear. I’ll have blood tests or anything to prove it.” Eileen and Lilly giggled.
Eileen got serious. “This is Lilly, my pal. Lil, this is my Mom-in-law, Mrs. LaRoche.”
“Hello,” Lilly said warmly. “You must be quite special to put up with EO.”
“We’ll be back around … I don’t know. Where are you going?”
“To buy clothing for the trail.”
Eileen told Mrs. LaRoche, “Lilly’s going to walk the Appalachian Trail.”
“That’s nice,” Mrs. la Roche answered. ”Are you going with a group?”
“No, my … boyfriend. He’s my ex-husband,” Lilly faltered.
Mrs. LaRoche looked up. “That is shocking.”
Eileen said, “We’ll go to White Plains. Bye babies. Thanks.”
After they exited, Eileen said “She’s going to call and give me the third degree tonight.”
“To find out who the baby’s parents really are?”
“She thinks Ev married beneath him, history repeating itself. Ev’s grandmother thought that about her and ended up writing herself out of their lives. Ev went for years not seeing her as a child. But I won’t allow that to happen now. She was so mad when we canceled the big extravaganza and moved up the date. She gave me baby books and a crib for a wedding present.”
“Tacky, thoroughly tacky,” Lilly laughed. “I noticed you don’t call her Mom.”
“I don’t know what to call her. Maybe when the babies begin to talk, I’ll refer to her as Grandmother.”
The afternoon flew by as they bought hiking boots and socks and a rain poncho.
“Now, I have to find the sexiest little nightie. He’ll see me in jeans and a tee shirt for four months, so maybe long about Tennessee, I’ll sneak out something to remind him I’m a woman.”
Eileen found a light violet baby doll. “You could squash this up so he wouldn’t see it until you’re ready.”
“Nice. Now pretty undies. Did I tell you he bought another sleeping bag so we can zip together?
EO we’re going to have such a good time.”
They picked up the babies after deciding their shopping excursion was successful and returned to Eileen’s by five-thirty.
“Ev will be home in a few minutes and hungry,” Eileen said, scanning the cupboards for ideas.
“I’ve got to run. Can I call Tony? I was supposed to call his mother, but his father is home now.”
“How did it go with his parents?” Eileen suddenly remembered the previous night’s meeting.
“Isabel was great. She’s very kind. Tito, well … he seems to think I’m a whore and Tony’s …what’s that old-fashioned word?”
“Cuckolded?” Eileen supplied.
Lilly nodded. “Oh Eileen I didn’t tell you …” She held up a finger, indicating “wait.” “Tony, I’m at Eileen’s. I never got to call your mother.”
Tony told her his grandmother was in Bronxville hospital, and he was going to visit her there. He said he’d pick her up at EO’s.
After the phone call, Lilly turned to EO. “Do you remember Carly, my old roommate? She works at Bronxville hospital. She met Tito when she had him as a patient. She gave Tito a letter I wrote to Dizzy Issy.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No, and I think she told him about Adam. I’m not sure.”
“Oh, God. You’re kidding.”
“I’ve got to find out what Carly said. But first I have to find her. Can I use your phone book?”
“Here’s Westchester-Putnam.” Eileen handed her the book and went back to working on a tuna casserole.
Lilly looked through it. “Signore … There is no C signore or Carlotta Signore … maybe she has a roommate. I don’t know. Maybe while Tony visits Tanta, I’ll track down Carly. I used to work on Two East.”
Eileen said, “I worked there until Kara was born. If you can’t find her, maybe I can.”
She started to sing while she cooked. “Lilly I’ll only make four more dinners in this apartment.”
Lilly and Eileen smiled at the excitement building in their lives.
Everett came home full of ideas about the house. He said, “We can make the alcove in the hall into a bathroom. It’s right over the kitchen, so water won’t be a problem.”
“Ev, I haven’t even seen upstairs or the kitchen.”
“We’ll go tonight with flashlights. There’s no electricity. “
A Yonkers Kinda Girl Page 38
