New Life, New Land

by Roberta Kagan

  “I’m not shocked. I always knew that you didn’t really believe that they were less than us because of the color of their skin.”

  “I never said less, Dovid. I said different. They are different because of their background. Their ancestors were slaves in this country. And there are a lot of assholes in the south who still treat them like they should be slaves.”

  “I remember you once said to me that you paid Cool Breeze well for a colored man. I never understood how a man as good and kind as you could say something so small-minded.”

  “You’re right. It is small-minded of me. But you don’t understand why I do it. I make sure Breeze has whatever he needs. But I don’t pay him what he deserves, not because he’s colored but because I’m afraid he’ll spend his money on drugs and alcohol.”

  “But it’s his money. He works for it. Shouldn’t he have the right to do with it whatever he chooses?”

  “That works in theory. But when it comes down to the real world, Dovi, sometimes you have to protect a person from themselves.”

  Dovid thought about what Arnie had just said. He didn’t agree. But he wouldn’t argue with Arnie, either. Dovid was sure that there had to be someone who could help Cool Breeze get straightened out—a doctor, a clinic, someone? He would have to look into it further as soon as he had a chance. Right now, he was overwhelmed with his own new responsibilities. He, Dovid Levi, was a father. They finished their sandwiches.

  “Let’s get back to the hospital,” Arnie said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  November arrived and with it came an early winter storm. It brought a rain of soft snow that made driving difficult. But the worst of it was that Cool Breeze disappeared the second week of November. For six nights he didn’t show up at the bar. Dovid drove to the flophouse and went up to room 402 to look for him, but when he knocked another man opened the door. Not knowing what else to do, Dovid went to the restaurant where he’d met Harry and asked the new man whom Mike had hired if he could help him locate Crawford B. Dell. The man was short with him. He said he’d never heard of a Crawford B. Dell. “This is a flophouse, we don’t have a sign-in register. I have no idea of the names of the people who come and go here. After all, we rent by the hour. Could you imagine if I tried to keep track of all of these bums?” Mike’s new employee said.

  Onefeather was standing at the grill. Dovid gave the tall Native American man a pleading look. He knew that Onefeather would recognize him.

  “I’m sorry,” Onefeather said, shrugging his shoulders. “I haven’t seen Cool Breeze in here since Harry left. He might have moved on to one of the other flop houses down the street.”

  There was nothing to do but wait and hope that Cool Breeze would return. Arnie and Dovid were distraught. They were both afraid that something terrible had happened but neither said a word. Then, the first week in December, as if he’d never been gone, Cool Breeze returned with a big smile on his face.

  “How you all been?” he asked.

  “I ought to fire you,” Arnie said, shaking his head. His face was red with anger.

  “You ought to but you won’t,” Cool Breeze said.

  “We were worried,” Dovid said as he wiped down the bar. “We didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”

  “Well, here I is; just as alive as you.”

  “Maybe you should go and check into a hospital and get straightened out,” Dovid said.

  “Awe shit. Come on now, I am fine. I had me a good time with a beautiful lady. Cost me a small fortune. Everything I had. But believe you me; she was worth every penny. I tell you, every woman’s sittin’ on a gold mine. Ain’t that the truth,” Cool Breeze said and laughed.

  Dovid was so angry at Cool Breeze that he wanted to punch him. But at the same time, he was so damn glad to see him that he put his arms around Breeze and gave him a bear hug.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Later that same month, Dovid was pouring a whiskey when he heard two gunshots. He turned in the direction from which they came. Two men and a woman were standing on the dance floor; the rest of the customers had cleared out.

  “Get down, Harry,” Dovid yelled. Harry ducked. Cool Breeze and Dovid knelt down on the pallets behind the bar.

  “Stay in the back,” Dovid yelled to Arnie. “Somebody is shooting out here. Can you hear me, Arnie?”

  Arnie didn’t answer. “Call the police, Arnie,” Harry yelled.

  There was still no answer. But one of the customers must have gone to the phone and called. The phone booth was right outside of the entrance to the L station next to Comisky Park, which was not even a block away.

  The gun fired again. Dovid couldn’t see anything over the bar, so he had no idea if someone had been shot or if the gunman was just shooting into the air to scare his victim. There was a lot of yelling. Dovid and Cool Breeze were together and they stayed down. But Harry and Arnie were both alone—Harry was behind the snack bar and Arnie was in the back room.

  “Don’t move, Mister Dovi. Stay still, stay quiet,” Cool Breeze whispered.

  “I hope Arnie doesn’t come out,” Dovid said.

  “Don’t you worry about Mister Arnie. He knows better than to come out during a gunfight. That’s why he didn’t answer you. He don’t want them that’s fightin’ to know where he is. Just in case they got the notion that since they had the gun anyway, they ought to rob the joint,” Cool Breeze whispered.

  Dovid felt a gush of relief come over him as he heard the loud sirens of the police cars. Thank God this would soon be over.

  Four policemen came rushing in with their guns drawn. The customer who had been firing the weapon was very drunk and angry. He was waving the pistol in the air.

  “Drop the gun,” the officer said. The gunman was ranting that the man he’d been fighting with had slept with his wife. He fired another shot; this time it broke the window.

  “Drop the weapon,” the officer said, his voice threatening. “Drop it now, or I am going to shoot you.”

  The man fired another shot. The officer shot him in the arm and the gun fell from his hand. The cop grabbed the gun.

  Blood ran from the shooter’s arm. The police handcuffed both of the men involved and took them away.

  “Who’s in charge here? We need to take a statement,” one of the officers said.

  “Arnie Glassman, the owner. He’s in the back room,” Dovid said.

  “Arnie Glassman, come out to the front,” the cop said. But there was no answer.

  “Can I go back and get him?” Dovid asked.

  “Yeah, go on.”

  Dovid walked in the back to the storage area where he saw Arnie on the floor. Arnie must have been lifting a box of whiskey bottles when he keeled over. He lay on the ground with his hand on his chest and all of the bottles scattered around him, the floor sprinkled with shards of glass and whiskey. Dovid raced over to embrace his friend but he knew, even before he held Arnie gently in his arms, that Arnie was gone. Dovid sat on the floor and wept quietly as he held Arnie, rocking him like a baby. Dovid could hardly swallow, but he whispered to the body that was already small and empty of spirit, “Arnie, my God, I am going to miss you. I never expected you to go like this. Damn you, Arnie. You never gave me a chance to say goodbye.” Tears were running down Dovid’s face.

  The police finally came into the room.

  “What happened here?”

  “I don’t know,” Dovid said. “I think he probably had a heart attack.”

  Cool Breeze and Harry came in and found Dovid still sitting in the middle of the floor with Arnie in his arms.

  “Oh Jesus,” Cool Breeze said. He sat down beside Dovid and put his arm around him. Breeze whispered, “We done lost a good friend tonight.”

  “Someone should call an ambulance,” Harry said.

  Dovid nodded, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t put Arnie down on the floor.

  “I’ll make the call,” Harry said.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll call for an ambulance o
n the radio,” the police officer said.

  #

  The lights, the noise, and the chaos in the emergency room were giving Dovid a terrible headache. He’d been getting migraines lately and now he was seeing spots from the glare.

  “Was it a heart attack?” Cool Breeze asked the doctor.

  “Yes, he had a massive heart attack. He died quickly. He didn’t suffer,” the doctor assured Dovid, Harry, and Cool Breeze.

  “Put a sign outside the bar that we’re closed until further notice,” Dovid said. Then he turned and left the hospital to go home. The icy wind slapped his face and the reality of his loss that night set in.

  Arnie. What am I going to do without you?

  Harry and Cool Breeze were taking care of all of the arrangements. Harry even gave Cool Breeze a suit to wear to the funeral.

  Dovid was at home sitting on the sofa just staring at the wall when Harry called him. He wanted to get some information so that he could put things together for Arnie’s burial.

  “Do you know if Arnie has purchased a plot somewhere?” Harry asked Dovid.

  “I don’t know,” Dovid said. “He probably did. Check with Forest Lawn. His parents and his wife are all buried there.”

  “All right. I’ll call them.”

  Harry found that Arnie had a prepaid plot with the rest of his family. While making the arrangements, he discovered that Arnie once had a stillborn son. The infant’s grave was located right next to the headstones of Arnie’s parents. But, oddly, its tiny gravestone read only, “Infant boy, Born and died 1949, Father, Arnie Glassman.” There was no name for the mother. As far as Harry knew, Arnie had never mentioned this child to anyone. It made Harry wonder who was this unfortunate baby’s mother, and why had Arnie kept this a secret? Harry decided that Dovid was too distraught right now to mention anything about this to him. Harry figured Dovid would see the little grave when they all went to bury Arnie at the cemetery.

  If Dovid saw the child’s grave, he never mentioned it to anyone. He stood rigid and frozen in grief as the casket was lowered into the ground. It was a gray and cloudy day, the cold wind whipped and an icy rain combined with tears across Dovid’s face. Eidel stood beside her husband, not knowing what to do or say. She held his arm and squeezed it, trying to reassure him. But since he’d started working at this job, it was as if they’d grown apart. He was away at work more than he was at home. She hardly ever saw him anymore. Their relationship was polite but distant and Eidel no longer knew how to comfort him. She was silent as the rain drenched her clothes and hair.

  Dovid was too distressed to do anything but grieve. He couldn’t bear to talk to anyone. He went into his room and lay on his bed alone during the seven day Shiva. This was a time of mourning when the mourners sat on wooden boxes and wore black. The mirrors were covered and those who came to offer condolences brought food and made sure to eat something sweet before they left. The Shiva could have been at Arnie’s house but Dovid insisted that they have it at his apartment. When Dovid tore the lapel of his shirt, as is the Jewish tradition to show that someone is in mourning, he felt as if his heart were being torn in two.

  Even when Mark was crying, Dovid never came out of his bedroom to comfort his child. But he did come out for the minyan when the rabbi arranged for ten men to say prayers for the dead.

  Dovid was too upset to even go down to the bar and put up a sign saying they would be closed for the next seven days. He asked Cool Breeze to do it for him.

  After the Shiva was over, Harry insisted that Dovid get out of bed and get back to work.

  “You can’t stay in the house like this, laying in the bed in your room. It’s not healthy and you are growing more depressed by the day. We have both known plenty of loss, Dovi. And because of this, we both know that the only way to survive is to get up and keep on going forward with our lives.”

  “You’re right,” Dovid said. But it was difficult to find the strength to go on.

  “Come on. You have to put on some clothes. We’ll go in to the bar today.”

  Harry patted Dovid’s shoulder. “Cool Breeze is staying with me at my apartment. I invited him to stay until the dust settled and we could get back to a normal life. So after you get ready we can go and pick him up.”

  “I can’t believe I won’t be going to Arnie’s house this afternoon to pick him up. I wish to God I could bring him a salt bagel,” Dovid said and tears formed at the corners of his eyes. “It’s hard to accept that we won’t see him again tonight. He was like a papa to me, Harry. He wasn’t perfect. But who is? In his heart, Arnie was such a good person. Arnie really cared about everyone.”

  “I know, Dovi. I know. Come on, you have to get up. Let’s get going now. You want me to help you get dressed?”

  “No, I can do it. Go and wait in the living room. Ask Eidel to make you some coffee.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Dovid was shocked when Fred Lichtenstein sat down at the bar. He’d seen him at the funeral, but Dovid had been too grief-stricken to speak to anyone.

  “Levi, how are you holding up?” Fred asked.

  Dovid shrugged his shoulders. “I’m here,” he sighed.

  “I guess you miss Arnie pretty badly.”

  Dovid swallowed hard and nodded. “More than I can say. So what can I get you, Fred?”

  “A beer.”

  “What kind?”

  “Old Style.”

  Dovid popped the top off of the bottle and put in front of Fred. “You want a glass, or the bottle okay for you?”

  “Bottle’s fine.”

  “So what brings you here? I’m sure it’s not just to have a drink. Did Arnie owe people money? Because you don’t have to worry. I’ll make good on his debts. It just might take me some time.”

  “Owe money?” Fred laughed. “No, boychick. He didn’t owe anything. In fact, you’re a very rich man. Arnie had almost a million dollars worth of assets. Between his house, which was totally paid off, and the cash he had in the bank, there was more than enough money. And he left it all to you. You’re rich, boychick!”

  Dovid looked into Fred’s eyes.

  “I wasn’t expecting this,” he said. “I’d gladly give it all back to have Arnie here with me again.”

  “Funny, you know what? He told me that was what you would say. And, by the way, here is a letter that Arnie gave me to give to you when he passed away.” Fred took a sealed envelope out of the breast pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to Dovid.

  “Did you read it?” Dovid asked Fred.

  “No, he told me not to.”

  “I think I’d like to read this alone,” Dovid said.

  “I understand,” Fred said. “Let’s make a date next week when we can get together and I’ll show you a list of everything that you’ve inherited.”

  Dovid nodded. “Yeah, okay,” he said to Fred, holding the letter in his hand. He called out to Harry, who was sitting on a stool outside the snack bar, “Harry, watch the bar for me. I have to go in the back for a few minutes.”

  Walking into the backroom for the first time since he’d found Arnie gave Dovid a jolt. This was the room where Arnie interviewed him the first time he came in for the job. If he tried, Dovid could imagine Arnie sitting at the small desk in the corner where Arnie paid the bills. He could hear Arnie’s laughter and see his eyes. The memories of Arnie giving him fatherly advice were painful because he knew that he would never again be able to call Arnie and ask him what he thought Dovid should do. Dovid stood there, just holding the letter from Arnie in his trembling hand. Then he sunk down into Arnie’s chair and felt a terrible sense of loss as he tore open the envelope.

  Dovi,

  If you’re reading this, that means that I must have come to the end of the line. Well, boychick…we all have to go sometime, right? I know you feel like shit right now. But, come on, give me a smile. I shouldn’t ask that of you because I know you. And I know you’re taking this hard. But listen to me. You were the best friend I ever had. Hell, I
called you my son, and let me tell you … I am glad to have had the opportunity to know you. So, don’t be sad, Dovi. Open your eyes; you’re still young. You have a wonderful future ahead of you. Which brings me to my favorite part of dying … the good part. I am about to give you some wonderful news. You have just inherited the tavern, the car, my house, and a nice load of money that I had lying around. I am sure right now you’re thinking, “Arnie, what am I going to do with all of this?” Well, I’m going to tell you what I think you ought to do. Keep the bar open. Don’t sell it, because you love it. You love everything about it. I know you have always wanted to make Cool Breeze a manager and give him a raise. Do it. Do it with my blessing.. Give him the chance you always wanted to give him. Maybe you’re right. Maybe if Cool Breeze had a job that gave him pride in himself it would help him to fight the addictions that hold him back from being the man you and I both know he could be. Then, if I were you, I would open a second bar. If Cool Breeze is manager of this one, you will have time to build a second. Why not? Be ambitious. Have fun with the money. But most important, boychick, go out and buy that house you have been talking about buying since I met you. You know, the one in the suburbs. The last time you went to look for a home you mentioned a suburb north of the city called Skokie where a lot of Jewish immigrants were moving. Buy a house there if you and your wife like it. Money isn’t a problem in your life anymore, so I think you should give Mark a couple of brothers and sisters and a big backyard with a swing set. Then, when he’s old enough, tell him the yard is a gift from his Uncle Arnie.

  Well, that’s all I gotta say for now. I loved you, boychick. I really did. Live a long happy and healthy life and if there really is anything after death, I’ll be there waiting for you when you get here.

  Love, your friend and Papa,

  Arnie.

  Dovid felt his eyes sting as the tears ran down his face and dripped onto the paper.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE