The Lesson

by Welch, Virginia

  Gina apologized again while she hurriedly cleaned up the mess on the table. She rushed because she was embarrassed but also because she had other customers; Big Bick’s buzzed with lunchtime chatter and clinking plates. Cigarette smoke from the smoking section made the air seem close. Back in the side work area she opened the salad cooler and put her face in the brisk flow.

  “Your officer getting you hot again?” Pilar pulled a plate from the pass-through window and checked the order ticket to make sure it was hers.

  “He’s not my officer and he has never ‘gotten me hot,’” said Gina. She sounded testy even to herself.

  “Then it must be his date that gets you steamed. They look like they’re having a whopping good time over there.”

  Gina glanced in Kevin and Julianne’s direction. They were laughing again, likely over one of Kevin’s corny puns. Julianne looked amused enough, though their body language didn’t look particularly intimate. The whole scene was confusing.

  “Kevin is not my boyfriend. He is free to take to lunch whomever he wants, though I’d like to know why he made a point of bringing her in here on my shift. You know it’s not an accident.”

  “No, probably not. He probably just wants to see what you’ll do.”

  “Probably,” said Gina, glancing again at Kevin’s table. Kevin and Julianne were done eating. Gina shut the cooler door and started writing up bills for Kevin’s table and others in her section. She placed Burk’s on his table as she went by. He was still eating so she said she’d be back to check on him. She continued to Kevin and Julianne’s table.

  “Your lunch okay?” she said, setting the bill on the table in front of Kevin.

  “Perfect,” he said.

  “Really good,” said Julianne. “We’ll have to come back.”

  Indeed.

  “We’re going to Valley Fair this afternoon,” said Kevin. “Going to do some shopping. Do you want to come along? After you get off?”

  You have a twisted sense of humor, Kevin.

  “Sorry guys. I have homework.” And I don’t keep company with piglets.

  Gina apologized again for the spill while they got up from the table. She watched from the side work area as Kevin held the door open for Julianne as they left. Why should she care if Kevin was spending the afternoon with Miss Big Boobs? They had agreed to be friends and he had promised to cut the romantic stuff, so if he chose to take another girl out to lunch and shopping, well it was just part of the deal. But how odd that, so soon after their discussion in his garage, here he was in Big Bick’s with another girl. She was certain that Kevin had never mentioned this girl before. Did he think he would provoke her to jealousy? In your dreams, Kevin. He could connive and strategize behind the scenes all he wanted—just like the night when he followed her home from Cupertino—but that didn’t mean she had to play his game.

  She returned to their table to pick up her tip. He had left her fifty percent. What an odd duck. He was forward. He was brash. He was charming and witty but corny. He was obviously trying to make her jealous even though she had made it crystal clear that she had no romantic feelings for him, and she didn't. He tipped her like he owned a bank yet he dressed like he bought all his clothes at the Salvation Army. There was a bit of a sleuth to his nature, which unnerved her. He cared little what other people thought about him, which, on most occasions was refreshing, but when it came to his clothes his nonchalance was a serious issue. He was tall—very important to Gina—and in uniform he certainly turned heads.

  Oh yes: he had a very nice chest.

  She was still analyzing the conundrum of Kevin when she realized she had not properly said good-bye to Burk. The lunch shift was winding down now. She returned to his table.

  “Was everything okay?”

  “Yes, all the salads here are good. But if you want truly hot tea, you have to prepare it yourself at home.”

  Gina looked at his sightless eyes, clear and brown, and wished he could see her face, wished he could acknowledge her just once. If he could look into her eyes, maybe then he could see her fondness for him and maybe … It was at times like these that she forgot he was so much older than she was. He didn’t seem old, anyway. Her parents were old. Burk was not old. Not really.

  Burk reached for the bill but made no move to get up. “Gina, I wish you’d reconsider going out with me. I could hire a taxi, and we could go to dinner or maybe the boardwalk at Santa Cruz. You’d be surprised—blind guys can be a lot of fun.”

  “I never thought otherwise.”

  “I’d love to spend some time getting to know you better,” he said.

  Oh Burk, I’d love to get to know you better too. She didn’t respond for a moment. She was still struggling.

  “I hope my blindness is not an issue with you.” His face became appropriately somber.

  Gina was instantly stung with embarrassment. “Oh no, not at all, Burk.” And she meant it. “I don’t even think about your blindness. I just think of you as … as Burk.”

  “And I don’t think of you as a student. You seem older.”

  She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but it sounded good.

  “Then why don’t we have dinner together, maybe this Saturday? Are you working?”

  “Yes, I am, unfortunately."

  "I see," said Burk.

  "Wait," said Gina, becoming animated. "I have an idea. My aunt and uncle are having a big New Year’s Eve party at the clubhouse where they live. My whole family will be there, my parents and all my aunts and uncles. And a bunch of my cousins. We always do stuff like this on holidays. Lots of food and champagne and dancing. I don’t have anyone to go with. Would you like to be my date for New Year’s Eve? I’ll drive us out there though, because I know the way, and we can leave whenever we want to and not have to worry about getting a taxi to get home.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. But you don’t have to pick me up. I’ll have a taxi take me to your place, and you can drive us to your relative’s place from there.”

  She gave him her address on Lincoln Street and her phone number and he agreed to be there at eight. She was already thinking about what she would wear as she watched him tap his way to the register and out the door. He even handled a white cane like a man of culture. She couldn’t wait to show him off to her family.

  Gina finished her lunch shift, changed back into her street clothes, headed to the bookstore in Benson for M&Ms and red licorice, and then crossed the Alameda to Orradre Library to get her required reading out of the way while she munched in a corner, hidden by the stacks. Afterward she fulfilled her daily duty by swimming laps in Toso Pavilion. She checked every shower before taking off her clothes to change into her swimsuit. She checked them again before changing back into her street clothes.

  Gina had walked to the university this morning, so she was on foot when she first saw the strange burst of colors on her small front stoop. She was almost a block away from her apartment when she saw the fuzzy outline of three somethings, all about the same size, leaning against her front door. One was yellow, one was pink, and one was lavender. As she drew closer to her apartment, she could clearly make out three bouquets of flowers. Three bouquets? They must have been delivered to the wrong address. She never received flowers anymore, not since Michael had broken off their engagement, and before that awful day he had never sent her three bouquets.

  As she neared her apartment door, she could see that the bouquets had not been delivered by a florist but were the type that one purchased from a grocery store, the stems and leaves wrapped in clear cellophane. Each bouquet was a stunning dozen roses festooned with baby’s breath. She searched all three bouquets for a card or note but found nothing. Perhaps it had fallen onto the stoop. She glanced about the strip of concrete. Nothing. She opened the apartment door to see if someone had slipped a note underneath. No note there either.

  Gina scooped up the three lovely bouquets, carried them into her apartment, and set them on the kitchen table with her books
and gym bag. But before she had even closed the front door she glanced at the answering machine in the living room to see if the red light was flashing. It wasn’t. No one had called to make sure she had received the flowers.

  Someone who knew where she lived wanted her attention and obviously was trying to impress her. And he was either blind, wore polyester pants, or delivered groceries in the night followed by a phone call with a deep voice.

  Or perhaps he was none of those. Perhaps he was … Michael?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Mobile Home Park, Monterey Road, San Jose

  Gina was in her bedroom and had just finished slipping on black patent heels that buckled at the ankle when she heard the sound of a car pull up outside. That must be Burk. She rushed to the front window in the living room. A yellow taxi was parked at the curb with two heads inside. Burk would be paying the driver, she knew, so she had another minute to spray on some perfume. But before she could step away from the window, she saw a green Volkswagen beetle pull up behind the taxi. The driver didn’t get out. Instead he just sat there, watching the people in the taxi.

  Kevin! Why couldn’t you call first? Gina raced around the apartment, panicked, spraying on perfume, grabbing her evening wrap, checking her face and hair one more time, and double-checking the knot at the back of her white slipper satin halter top to make sure it was secure. It was racy enough that she wore a backless halter tonight—she didn’t want to chance that it would suddenly become frontless as well. She jiggled her hips to see the many layers of black chiffon flounces on her extra short skirt jiggle sexily. Solid black paired with solid white. Striking. What a pity that Burk couldn’t appreciate how nice she looked.

  But now what to do about Kevin? He should have called. Why was he always so bold, so self-assured about their relationship? They didn’t even have a relationship for crying out loud! Always showing up at the wrong time. Always popping in and out of her life, causing angst. She was beginning to think that her problems with Michael were nothing compared to her problems with Kevin. Now here he was, putting her on the spot with Burk. How would she explain his sudden appearance to her date?

  At least I won't have to explain his ridiculous clothes. Burk can't see them. Gina squirmed with discomfort at that thought. As if Burk's blindness had an upside. Her life was too weird. Kevin makes me crazy!

  She braced herself behind her apartment door with a deep, lung-filling breath and, still clueless about what to say, put her hand on the knob and opened the door. Kevin and Burk were standing on her stoop, smiling and chatting. Burk was dressed in a sharp, well-cut dark suit, complete with an expertly made, white rose boutonnière cradled in baby’s breath and small green leaves. In one hand he held a clear plastic box containing a corsage of yellow roses, in his other hand he grasped his white cane. Kevin wore his favorite polyester dork pants, but tonight he had paired them with a loud, rust-and-green, plaid button-up shirt, over which he had thrown an ancient brown sweater. It had holes in both elbows.

  It was sad how his father’s garage had no mirror.

  “So, you must be Gina’s Uncle Pietro from Sicily,” said Kevin, turning to Burk.

  With horror Gina saw the lights dim in Burk’s eyes and his smile disappear. She felt compelled to explain.

  “Burk, this is Kevin. Kevin, this is Burk.” Turning her voice toward Burk she said, “Kevin is a friend of mine. He’s a sailor assigned to the USS Flint at Mare Island.” Then she turned her head toward Kevin, “Burk is a friend of mine also. He’s a chemist. He lives and works in Palo Alto.” Then she thought to add, “My Uncle Pietro is driving to the party with my parents. Burk and I are going to my aunt and uncle’s New Year’s Eve party, the one I told you about.”

  Kevin looked stunned as he turned toward Burk and stared, up and down. Then Burk put out his hand for Kevin to grasp.

  “Fangauf. Doctor Burkhard Fangauf,” Burk said. He still wasn’t smiling.

  “Friend of the family?” said Kevin, shaking his hand and acting stupid. As if he didn’t understand.

  Kevin, you know what I mean!

  “I’m Gina’s friend,” said Burk, devoid of emotion.

  Gina wanted to die. No, she wanted Kevin to die.

  “Oh, I see.” Kevin seemed to chew on that a second. “Well, not to worry. It’s a family event, but I’m sure you’ll fit right in. Gina tells me there will be lots of her older relatives there.”

  I’m going to kill you! With my bare hands!

  Kevin turned back to Gina. “I just came by to see if you wanted to do anything after the New Year’s Eve party, maybe go out for coffee. I figured you’d get bored and want to go home early.” He jerked his head toward Burk as he said this.

  “All my Sicilian relatives will be there. I’m sure there won’t be a dull moment,” said Gina. She had to fight a primitive urge not to reach out and shake Kevin by both shoulders.

  “It looks like you two have a really big night planned,” Kevin said as his eyes took in Gina’s flirty evening attire. Then he shifted his eyes with unnecessary drama to Burk’s white cane.

  Being blind, Burk may have missed Kevin’s subtle sarcasm but Gina did not. Good thing Burk couldn’t see her glaring at Kevin.

  “Burk, you look so handsome in that suit and that classy boutonnière,” gushed Gina. “Thank you for going to so much trouble. You make me feel special.” Gina fairly cooed toward Burk while shooting daggers at Kevin.

  Burk managed a weak smile and pushed the corsage toward her voice. “I hope it complements your dress.”

  “I’ll tell you all about my outfit on the way to the party,” said Gina, her eyes still lasing Kevin. “Kevin, I have to ask you to excuse us or we’ll be late.”

  “Yes. I should go,” said Kevin. He turned to Burk, “Happy New Year, and … break a leg, pal.”

  Gina gave him an angry look that said, “That’s enough, Kevin!”

  Kevin grinned at Gina, clearly enjoying his verbal victory. But Burk just stood there, silent. Gina was certain he was stung by every word; he was very smart—he had a doctorate. But to spare his feelings she didn’t say a thing. She just continued to glare at Kevin. Then Kevin turned and headed down the walkway to his dreadful little noisemaker, got in, and turned the key. But before he went smugly on his way, he leaned through the passenger window and waved at Gina and smiled—ridiculously.

  She ignored him.

  #

  Gina saw the stares as soon as they entered the clubhouse. The shocked look on her mother’s face said it all. All five of her mother’s brothers and Gina’s Uncle Pietro were there: Uncle Giuseppe—Joe, and Aunt Peaches, who lived in the mobile home park; Uncle Cesare and Aunt June; Uncle Angelo and Aunt Beverly; Uncle Charlie and Aunt Shirley; Uncle Ralph, who had never married; and her mother’s one surviving sister, Aunt Ginny and her husband Eddie. Some of her older cousins had shown up too, though not as many as Gina had hoped. But every member of her family stopped what they were doing for several seconds to take in the picture of Gina and the middle-age blind man as they stepped into the recreation hall. Was it because he walked with a white cane or because he was twice her age? She wasn’t sure.

  Nevertheless, she would not be deterred. She took Burk on a round of introductions. Her relatives were polite to a fault. It was their way. But she saw the discomfiture in their faces and hoped Burk could not sense their reserve. Thankfully Burk, experienced with all the awkward situations involved in being blind, extended his hand first so they wouldn’t be embarrassed by not knowing whether to extend a hand to a man who could not see it.

  “It’s all decorated, Burk. There are crepe paper streamers with delicate metallic bursts like fireworks hanging from the ceiling. Nice.”

  Burk nodded an acknowledgment. Actually Gina thought the room looked like a high school prom from the 1950s, but there was no need to share that with Burk. And there was lots of food: chips and dip, vegetable trays, roast beef and ham, macaroni and potato salads, two flavors of gelatin, rolls and butter, an
d an array of desserts. From another corner music blared, mostly 1970s crooners like Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. Gina was disappointed mostly with the music. But after all, it was her aunt and uncle’s party, and they lived in a mobile home park restricted to those over age fifty. What did she expect them to listen to? She saw a lot of faces around the room she did not recognize, all older. Most of the women wore shapeless black gowns. They probably all lived in the mobile home park.

  Gina was taking all this in when suddenly she wished the New Year’s Eve party had been held in her parents’ home in Santa Clara, like so many family holidays in the past when she and her cousins were little and they all danced in the living room to the Beatles or the Beach Boys or the Dave Clark Five on big black records from the Cadillac-size box stereo. Or they played hide and seek in the bedrooms while the aunts and uncles and her parents played poker in the kitchen till the wee hours. It would have been more intimate and there would have been a better mix of ages. She had known there would be a lot of older people, but she hadn’t foreseen that the age difference would be quite this lopsided. She kicked herself for not figuring this out ahead of time. As she looked around the room and noted the absence of so many of her cousins her age, it occurred to her that they had figured this out already.

  “Would you like to sit down?” she asked Burk. Just standing there drew attention to the fact that they weren’t visiting with anyone. Gina got the feeling that her relatives were still staring. She was certain that they were talking about Gina and her date as though he were elderly and infirm.

  “Sure. You lead,” he said.

  She found them a table—deliberately out of earshot of her parents—with two empty chairs, and they sat down. Burk carefully laid his cane on the floor next to his feet. Gina was bothered that he seemed so quiet tonight. Normally he chatted with her at Big Bick’s with ease. Was he still bothered by Kevin’s rude comments? She wished she knew what he was thinking, but a blind man’s eyes are silent.

  “Burk, there’s a champagne fountain. Would you like a glass? Or something from the bar? Or some dinner?” Well this was a first. She was offering to get food and drink for her date instead of the other way around.