As Arnie had promised, Fred was magnificent. He took care of everything. And by noon the following day, Harry was released on a bond that Arnie paid.
“They have nothing on him,” Fred said to Dovid. “Listen, they have a killer, they have a motive, but they have no proof of anything as far as Harry being involved. Don’t worry about this situation. There isn’t going to be a problem.”
Harry thanked Arnie a hundred times. He thanked Dovid too. Ida hugged her husband, then she hugged Arnie, Dovid, and Fred, tears running down her cheeks.
“Well, I have to get to court. I’ll see to it that this whole thing disappears,” Fred said to Arnie.
“I owe you,” Arnie said.
“Don’t mention it …” Fred said. Then he tipped his hat, winked, and left.
“Dovi, let’s drop the girls at home, take Harry to the restaurant, and then get our asses in to work.”
Dovid nodded. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Arnie.”
“Stop with all the sentimental bullshit. We have a business to run,” Arnie said. But Dovid could see in Arnie’s eyes that he was glad he had been able to help.
Eidel put her arm around Ida and Dovid patted Harry’s shoulder. “Let’s go,” Dovid said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Arnie had his faults; he could be stubborn and racist. But Dovid loved him regardless. To Dovid, Cool Breeze was and had always been an equal. But he knew that Arnie didn’t feel the same way. Dovid knew from Cool Breeze that Arnie had been seriously involved with at least two colored women. It was something they never discussed. Dovi wondered if maybe they had broken Arnie’s heart. Still, Dovid knew better than to ask. But if Arnie had any shortcomings, it was his views on colored people.
A famous blues singer was coming to Chicago. May Allen Davis. She had made surprise appearances at the tavern in the past. Arnie was hoping that she would show up when she was in town.
“The last time she came the crowd went wild,” Arnie told Dovid.
“I wasn’t here yet.”
“No, it was before I hired you. Look at this picture.” Arnie showed Dovid the picture on May’s album cover. He looked at the woman. She was tall and slender with skin the color of cream with just a touch of coffee. Her hair was elegantly processed, leaving it finger-waved perfectly around her lovely face. May wore an ivory floor-length gown and held a single red rose in one hand.
“You met May Allen Davis, didn’t you Cool Breeze?”
“Yes, Mr. Arnie, I sure did. She is a real lady.”
“You wanna hear her voice?” Arnie asked Dovid.
“Sure.”
“Go put the record on. Turn it up loud so we all can hear,” Arnie said.
Dovid placed the riveted black record on the turntable. Then he carefully placed the arm with the needle at the end of the vinyl circle, turning the knob to increase the volume to its full capacity. The record began to play and the sweet sound of a magical soprano voice filled with depth of feeling touched Dovid deep inside the pit of his stomach.
After the first song was over, Dovid turned to Cool Breeze. “She’s good.”
“Sounds a little like Billy Holiday, don’t she?”
“Yes, she certainly does.”
“You know, Arnie gots it bad for her. Last time she come here, she went home with him. Probably she spent the night at his house,” Cool Breeze whispered to Dovid.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dovid arrived home from work that night. He was tired and hungry but when he sat down to eat he saw that Eidel was pale.
“Are you feeling all right? You’re going to have a baby; you should be getting plenty of rest. Have you talked to a doctor about what to do when you’re pregnant?” Dovid was worried about Eidel. She was delicate in mind and body and he knew that. He also knew that she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before because of Harry but he had figured she would sleep all day and be fine by the time he got home. But she didn’t look fine. She looked drained.
“You should have called me at work and told me you were tired. You didn’t have to cook. I would have picked something up on the way home and let you sleep. I wish you would have slept instead of cooking.” He got up and felt her forehead for fever.
“Dovi, I’m fine. But Harry isn’t. Ida and I have been on the phone all day. Harry got fired today. Ida is sick about it. They have a little bit of money saved but not much. I don’t know what they are going to do.”
“All right, Eidel. It will be all right. Don’t worry about anything. You just try to get some rest. Let me take care of this.”
“You’ve always taken care of everything, Dovi. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Well, don’t even think about that. You worry yourself sick constantly. You’re going to have a baby. You need to stay calm. Please, relax and let me see what I can do.”
“You and I both know that Harry and Ida won’t take any help from us.”
“They will if they need it badly enough. Now, please, I am begging you to just stop worrying. Let me think about this whole thing and see what I can come up with.”
Dovid ate quickly then he took Eidel to their room and tucked her into bed. “Sleep….you need your rest. You’re going to be a mother.” He kissed her forehead. Then he lay down beside her, an idea about Harry was already forming in his mind.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The following day, even though it was three in the afternoon, Dovid stopped at the deli and picked up a salt bagel with cream cheese for Arnie on his way over to pick him up. He got a plain bagel for himself. Arnie was pleasantly surprised. “Nice gesture, Levi.” He smiled as he unwrapped his snack. “We’re not in a hurry. Let’s sit down at the table like mensch and eat. We have a little time. Let’s enjoy our food instead of eating while we drive, huh?” Arnie said, unwrapping his sandwich.
Dovid knew that Arnie would want to sit down at the table and take a little time to eat in peace. He had to talk to Arnie and this was just the opportunity Dovid had hoped for
They sat at Arnie’s kitchen table. “Want a cola?” Arnie asked. “Or do you want to put up a pot of coffee?”
“Up to you,” Dovid said.
“Get a couple of bottles of pop from the refrigerator. I have grape soda, cola, orange. Take what you want. Get me a cola,” Arnie said and sat down. “The bottle opener is in the drawer,” Arnie pointed.
Dovid put the open soda in front of Arnie and another in front of himself. Then he sat down across from Arnie and began to eat.
“Nu? So what’s on your mind, kid?” Arnie said.
“How do you know something is on my mind?” Dovid asked.
“Come on Dovi, I know you. You planned this whole late lunch so we could talk. Come on. Out with it.”
“Harry got canned last night. He has no job.”
“I don’t have an opening at the bar for him. You know that. We don’t need any help.”
“I know that. But I have an idea,” Dovid said. “This idea I have … it would be good for him, but it would be great for you. You’d make even more money and you’d be helping Harry at the same time.”
“Come on, boy genius. Tell me already. You drag everything out.”
“Okay, okay. So here goes. Why don’t we put a snack bar in the tavern? A small restaurant. Nothing fancy. Sandwiches, hamburgers, Vienna hot dogs, French fries. People will love it and they’ll stay longer, which means that they’ll drink more. Harry could run the snack bar. He has plenty of experience. I know he didn’t cook for Mike, but he can. Nu? What do you think?”
For a moment, Arnie was silent then a smile spread across his face reaching all the way up to his eyes. “That’s what I love about you, boychick. You got the smarts, and you’re always thinking.”
“You like the idea?”
“I love it. Call Harry. Let’s get this thing going with him.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Harry and Cool Breeze put the snack bar together. Cool Breeze built out an area set in the ba
ck of the dance floor where a patron could come up to the counter and order food. Harry used the connections he’d worked with at Mike’s to order food wholesale at a reasonable rate. Within two weeks, the snack bar was up and running. The food was sensibly priced, making it an instant success. It was even a good addition for Dovid, Cool Breeze, Harry, and Arnie, as they no longer had to go out to purchase food if they got hungry during their work shift.
May Allen Davis did surprise everyone and make an appearance at the tavern one night, wearing a full-length red satin gown. Within minutes of her arrival she was surrounded by fans. They coaxed her up to the microphone where she sang two songs with the resident piano player accompanying. Arnie sent over a round of free drinks for her and the entourage she’d brought along. Then he went over to May and put his hand on her shoulder. From where Dovid was standing behind the bar, he could see that there was chemistry between Arnie and May. But he couldn’t hear what they were saying. Then Arnie took May’s hand. May stood up and the two began to slow dance as the piano played softly in the background.
That night when it was time to leave, Arnie told Dovid to go on home without him.
“How are you going to get home?” Dovid asked.
“I’ll be here at the bar tomorrow. Don’t worry about picking me up. I’ll be just fine,” Arnie said.
Dovid was puzzled until he saw Arnie leave with his arm around May.
He’s going to a hotel with her. Arnie is such a strange man.
Dovid thought about Arnie as he drove home after his shift was over.
I love him like a father, but he confuses me. He has such strange and conflicting views about race and religion.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
At the end of August, at four o’clock in the morning, Eidel went into labor. When she touched Dovid’s shoulder to let him know that it was time, he jumped out of bed. He dressed quickly and drove her to Mount Sinai Hospital. Once Eidel was taken to her room, Dovid called Arnie and told him that he would not be in to work the following day because Eidel was in labor. Within an hour, Arnie arrived at the hospital; he’d taken a taxi. He found Dovid and sat down beside him in the waiting room.
“I should probably call Ida. Eidel would want her to know,” Dovid said.
“She probably already knows. I called Harry and told him that we wouldn’t be in to work today, then I told him to tell Cool Breeze.”
Ida arrived at noon. She’d taken the bus.
“You want something to eat?” Arnie asked Dovid and Ida. Both of them declined, so Arnie sat back down and waited. After fifteen hours of hard labor, the doctor decided it was necessary to do a cesarean section.
Arnie and Ida sat in the waiting room with Dovid, who was a nervous wreck. He couldn’t eat and was having a hard time sitting still.
“A cesarean section means they have to cut her,” Dovid said. “My God, Eidel. She must be so scared. I want to get in there and see her.”
“Calm down Dovi. She’ll be all right,” Arnie said, placing his hand on Dovid’s shoulder.
Ida just sat stone-faced, staring out the window.
Cool Breeze and Harry took care of everything at the tavern. They called several times the following day to see how Eidel was doing.
Dovid was too distressed to take their calls, so Arnie talked to them.
“I am worried sick about her,” Dovid said.
“I know, Dovi. But she’s going to be fine. You’ll see.” Arnie patted Dovid’s shoulder.
Ida sat wringing her hands. She didn’t speak to either of the men. She seemed lost in her own world of worry. Her eyes seemed to say, “A woman can easily die in childbirth.”
“The cutting is bothering me,” Dovid said, breaking a long silence. “When they cut there is a greater chance of infection.”
“Your father was a doctor, wasn’t he?”
“Yes,” Dovid said. “I saw him deliver babies. And plenty of women died.”
“Well don’t even think about anything going wrong. It won’t,” Arnie declared. trying to sound confident. “She has a good doctor. I know Doctor Silverman personally. He is a good friend of mine. He knows that you are like a son to me. He’ll take good care of Eidel. She is going to be just fine.”
Dovid knew Arnie was right about the obstetrician. After all, Arnie had hired and paid Dr. Silverman to handle all the details of the pregnancy of Eidel Levi.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Dr. Silverman came into the waiting room.
“You have a son. A healthy baby boy. Mrs. Levi is doing fine. Congratulations,” Dr. Silverman said. He shook David’s hand. Then he shook Arnie’s hand.
“Good job, Doc,” Arnie said, patting the doctor’s shoulder.
The doctor smiled. “Give her a few minutes. Then you can all go in and see her.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Dovid said.
Dovid happened to glance over and catch a glimpse of Ida’s eyes. In them, he saw the relief that he felt.
When they all went into the room, Eidel was sitting up holding the baby. Her hair was spread like silk across the pillow. She smiled at Dovid and he thought she looked like an angel.
“You are so beautiful,” Dovid said, leaning down to kiss Eidel.
“Meet your son,” she smiled.
Dovid looked down into the blanket. His heart swelled. “Oy, what a mitzvah…he’s really something,” Dovid said, touching the baby’s cheek.
“A boy, Dovid. What nachas, what good luck!” Arnie said. “So since I am like his grandfather, I’ll pay to make the bris.”
“I don’t want to hear about the bris right now,” Eidel joked. “What mother wants to hear about the big party everyone is planning for her tiny infant son’s circumcision?”
“That’s why we never let the mother in the room when the moyel does the cutting,” Arnie said.
“Stop, please…” Eidel said. Then she smiled and said to Dovid, “He is a marvel, a true gift from God, isn’t he?”
“He is. He really is,” Dovid said.
“Since the Jewish name their children for their dead loved ones, I would like to name him for my father, Menachem,” Dovid said. “We only need to use the first letter of my Papa’s name.” Eidel wanted to name their first child after Helen, but she knew how much it meant to Dovid that he gave his father a namesake and so she agreed to name the little boy Mark Joseph Levi, after Dovid’s father Menachem Jacob Levi.
“You didn’t put the nursery together, I hope,” Arnie said.
“No, I couldn’t. It’s considered bad luck in the Jewish religion to put a nursery together before a baby is born. Now I have to hurry up and get everything ready before Eidel and the baby come home.”
“You did it right,” Arnie said smiling. “But it looks like you and I have some work to do Dovi,” Arnie said.
Dovid and Arnie left right away in order to set up the nursery.
“I’ll stay here with Eidel until you get back. Then maybe you can drive me home when you leave?” Ida asked Dovid.
“Of course. But are you sure you want to stay here all day?”
“I’m sure.”
Arnie insisted upon buying the baby’s crib. And while he was having fun playing grandfather, he also bought a high chair and a bag of infant clothes.
Since Dovid and Eidel lived in a small apartment with only one bedroom, the living room became the nursery. Once everything was set up, Dovid and Arnie went out to a deli to grab a sandwich before they headed back to the hospital.
The restaurant had red-checked tablecloths and a loud waitress who yelled orders at the man who was slicing the deli meat.
Dovid and Arnie got a table by the window. They both ordered corned beef on rye.
“I can’t thank you enough for everything you have done for me,” Dovid said. “You are such a blessing to me and my family.”
“Echh. Come on. We’re friends. What are friends for?”
“You’re not just a friend, you’re a good friend, Arnie.”
“Yeah, I try to be. You may not realize this, but you have done as much for me as I’ve done for you.”
“How is that possible? What do you mean?”
“I mean you gave me a family … a sense of purpose. I have always had plenty of money but I never had anyone care about me. I believe you do, Dovi.”
“Cool Breeze cares about you, too.”
“But I told you, coloreds are different.”
“I don’t buy that, Arnie. In fact, I don’t even believe that you believe that.”
“They have drug and alcohol problems.”
“You mean to tell me that a white person can’t have those problems?”
“Of course they can. But more of the coloreds have addictions. I’m not saying all of them. But a lot of them. Most of the ones we come in contact with anyway.”
“You want to know why?”
“Sure, boy genius. Why?”
“Because there are white pushers out there who use the fact that the coloreds are made to feel inferior. They know how hard it is to be a colored person. Colored people can’t get good jobs and don’t get paid as much as whites. So these white pushers introduce them to heroin with all kinds of promises. They lie to them and tell them that the drugs will take away their pain. The pushers want to get them hooked. So, they do whatever it takes to get them started on heroin so they can suck money out of them forever.”
“Yeah, sounds about right,” Arnie said. “It’s a pity. A fellow like Cool Breeze has so much talent and intelligence. But it’s just a matter of time before he slips and goes back on the needle. That’s the way it is with heroin.”
“Can we send him to a clinic or do something to help him? I’d be willing to help with the financial aspect even if it meant taking a drastic cut in pay,” Dovid asked.
“Not that I know of, boychick. I’m sorry. I really am, because I like him. In fact, I am going to tell you a secret that I don’t normally tell anyone.”
“Go on, you know you can trust me, Arnie.”
“Well, Dovi, in my lifetime, I have actually fallen in love with colored women. Don’t look so shocked.”
New Life, New Land Page 6
