His hands glided up her arms covered in white lace and then held her face. Impassioned, her body fell into his and both of them fell onto the hard wood, pushing and pulling the spaces between them. Clothes ripped, hair pulled, chests became bare, sweat fell from their bodies. With heavy breathing and legs sturdy, he lifted her up over himself and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her into his bedroom, into the quiet space that held them. All the insecurities which Eli buried deep within a hardened confidence lifted and all the words spoken from Rebecca’s mother fell from her ears unattended and onto the wood floor.
Rebecca awoke with Eli next to her, lying on his large sized bed and beige white sheets. Pillows cushioned Eli’s face and his body sprawled out with his arm over her. She slipped out from under him, tiptoeing into the next room and grabbed her lace blouse and skirt on the small wood table to cover herself. The sun had not yet risen, leaving the sky still dark with heavy blues and grays. Rebecca poured water into his kettle and boiled tea. While the kettle warmed, she tiptoed back into his room and washed in the bath. While she relaxed in the orange scented water, she closed her eyes and let the flavored water soak and soften her skin. The kettle sung toooot and Rebecca opened her eyes. Eli leapt up from the bed, alarmed.
“It’s just the kettle. I’m boiling tea.” Rebecca meandered out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, her wet feet leaving prints on the wooden floors. Pulling the kettle off the stove, she poured them both a cup and dropped a piece of lemon into Eli’s, knowing that was how he liked it. Eli kissed her shoulders, then lifted his tea from the counter and sipped it with his navy blue robe hanging over his bare body.
Rebecca returned to her bath, leaving her tea to cool. She closed her eyes again as she soaked in the tub with the water tingling her feet. Eli sipped a few times from his cup before going to the bath to join her. He hung his robe on the door and slid in softly, not wanting to disturb her serenity. They laid twine for several minutes until the knock at the door startled Eli for a second time this morning and with a disgruntled groan, he slid out of the tub and put on a crisp white button shirt with an ironed collar, pulled up his black slacks with two black straps over his shoulders, and hobbled to the door. He swung it open and saw Aaron on the other side with puffy, blue lips and his nose scraped and bloody.
“What happened?” Eli's stunned reaction left him staring at Aaron.
Aaron’s short build stammered in with a limp.
“I threw a punch at a bully in a Nazi uniform. He was pinning up posters over the walls of our building, declaring how the Jews are our misfortune.” He wiped his nose with a checkered napkin folded in his pocket. “We got into a scuffle.”
“What were you doing at the office Sunday morning? I thought your offices closed Sunday?” Eli walked to the kitchen, searching for a towel and ice.
“They are.” He rubbed his lip. “But then they decided I should be doing more work for them. They told me I wasn’t pulling my own weight, all the clients preferred other lawyers.” He waved his hands. “They said if I wanted to stay on the payroll, I would have to come in Sundays and make up for hours I wasn’t working during the week.”
Eli ran the white towel under the sink’s water and then enclosed ice inside of it. “Here, put this on your lips and nose to help with swelling.”
“As if I don’t do enough during the week; I have my hands filled with files and papers other lawyers want me to handle.”
Rebecca heard bits of the irritable conversation from inside the tub and slipped on her white lace blouse and beige skirt that swayed just below the knees. She towel dried her hair and ambled into the living area.
“Aaron, what a surprise to see you so early.”
“Sorry for the intrusion.” Aaron’s eyes glanced at Rebecca and then back at Eli, comprehending what exactly he has just intruded upon.
“It’s good to see you,” Rebecca said, sympathetic to his puffy lip and blood stained nose. She placed her hand over the towel filled with ice and helped Aaron tend to his wounds like a mother.
“Are you heading back to work?” Eli asked, sitting down on the wooden stool near the kitchen table. Aaron plopped down on the sofa across from Eli. Rebecca returned to her tea, cold now, sipping it in the kitchen area.
“I don’t know if I’m invited back to work, frankly,” Aaron said and Eli’s brows wrinkled.
“What exactly happened?”
Aaron lowered the towel of ice to his leg. “I was walking to the office and saw the Nazi, no older than twenty, putting derogatory posters on the walls of the office and so I told him he would have to take them down.” Aaron scratched his head. “He glared up at me and said, “Don’t tell me what to do Jew boy,” smirked and finished posting it.” Rebecca walked into the living area and sat at the other wooden stool on the other side of the table.
“And you hit him?” Eli interjected.
“No. I took a deep breath and then ask him again to stop or I would have to take them down myself.” Rebecca tightened her hands around her teacup. “He stood up, taller than me, mind you I’m not that tall, and he pushed me backward with both arms.”
Aaron lifted the towel of ice back up to his nose. His words muffled under the towel as he finished, “I stumbled back and threw a punch, missing, and then he hit my nose.” Aaron laid the towel on his leg and used his hands to exaggerate the action. “I threw another punch, hitting his cheek and then he hit me on my mouth before my boss came out, pulling me away. He told me to go home.”
“He didn’t fire you?”
“He told me to not come in Monday. He said I’ve been causing too many problems.”
Rebecca’s teacup cracked when she dropped it on the table.
“He can’t fire you for fighting outside the office,” Eli insisted.
“He did.”
“We can take it to court,” Eli persisted.
“And what? You know I’m not going to win and even if I do, then what? Do I spend the rest of my time at the office handling the jobs no one wants to take?” Eli looked down and then back up at Aaron who was nursing his wounds with the ice filled towel. He knew his friend was right.
A chill migrated up Rebecca’s spine as she thought about Eli and his work. The thought that Eli worked for his own father gave her reassurance that he would have a stable income, but then nothing was really certain anymore and worry began to consume her.
“I’m going to get the morning paper for you.” Aaron put his towel down and headed toward the door. “It’s the least I can do, barging in unannounced.” He raced down the steps and on the first floor grabbed the folded newspaper from Eli’s mailbox. He swung open the front door of the apartment building, catching his grey spring coat on the broken latch, spending a few minutes trying to untangle himself.
The morning sky, cloudless and lucid, was one of the clearest days that spring. He took in a deep breath and then returned upstairs. He didn’t look at the paper, but out of the exposed corner he could make out the words, Nazis wave of the future? Eli left the door open for Aaron. The race up the stairs left Aaron’s fuller figure panting. He dropped the paper on the wood table next to Eli.
“Read the headline,” Aaron suggested with cynicism.
“I try to avoid the papers as much as I can nowadays, unless I feel like beginning my day depressed,” Eli joked.
“That explains why the paper is dated March 13th.” Aaron rolled his eyes at Eli and opened the paper himself.
“Well, what does it say?” Rebecca inquired with her hair tied up over her head and her clothes neatly tightened around her frame.
Aaron read audibly, but with melancholy in his tone.
“In the presidential election held on March 13, 1932, Hitler received over eleven million votes (11,339,446) or 30% of the total. Hindenburg received 18,651,497 votes or 49%.”
“So Hitler lost,” Rebecca said with gaiety, “Why do you look so somber?” Her eyes fluttered in Aaron’s direction, who shook his head and El
i responded for him.
“This isn’t a loss for the Nazi party. They gained millions of supporters. He’s just twenty percent away from Hindenburg.”
“Can you blame the public?” Aaron spoke with his hands again, agitated, “With six million unemployed, chaos in Berlin, starvation, ruin, and threat of Marxism, this country has a very uncertain future and Hitler makes the future sound possible.” Rebecca bit her lip.
* * *
Graduation for Rebecca fell on the last Friday of the month. Eli took off work and drove her to the university in his Audi so that Rebecca would not have to worry about driving. The lawn extended from the parking lot to every main building. Sidewalks paved in red brick wound throughout the campus. The university filled with the graduating class and their families. Eli walked with Rebecca hand in hand up to the main hall where the ceremony would be held and where she would meet her parents.
Upon opening the door, in the distance Eli could see Ralph in a navy colored suit and a white button shirt tucked in under a navy suit jacket. His stomach pushed outward, stretching the shirt and the jacket. He held a bouquet of flowers and sat down and then Eli lost sight of him.
“Do you see them? Are they here yet?” Rebecca asked.
“Your father is ahead. I just saw him sit down.” Benches outlined the hall in a square fashion where the majority of parents and waiting graduates sat. Eli pointed with his forefinger, directing Rebecca to her family. Deseire saw the two of them approach and cordially stood with her lean, tall figure in a lengthy beige gown. A gold plastic flower hung on her left shoulder clipped onto the dress.
“Eli.” Deseire’s smile was a farce, warm, wide and manipulated. She shook his hand and then walked to her daughter. Ralph stood, tightening the loose button on his jacket, attempting to fit into a size smaller than he needed, and shook Eli’s hand with a firm grip.
“Have a seat, Eli.” Ralph patted the seat next to him and Eli sat down, feeling welcomed. Rebecca noticed in the corner of her eyes Eli sitting next to her father. She didn’t want to sit next to her mother, so while Deseire asked how her week had been, Rebecca answered, rotating her body so that the closest seat to her was no longer next to her mother, but next to Eli.
“It’s been a good week, very busy with work and preparing for graduation, but the day is finally here.” Rebecca blushed a peach color of excitement and looked behind her casually, sitting next to Eli as if she had not planned her seating at all.
“These are for you.” Ralph showed the bouquet of flowers to his daughter. “Do you wait here or do you have to sit in the middle?” Ralph set the flowers in Eli’s lap and pointed to the center of the hall where chairs lined up row after row. Eli held the flowers, though they were laid upon his lap like one would hand a coat to a servant.
“I have to wait for my department to be called. There are many graduates today.”
“We’ll be looking out for you,” Ralph said, smiling at his daughter and Rebecca smiled wide, hiding her mouth with her hand. They called each department one by one: Mathematics, English, Sciences, Nursing, etc and upon the announcement, the graduates belonging to the department moved to sit in the center of the hall. Rebecca wore a long black robe signifying she was graduating.
Eli adjusted her graduation cap on her head and played with the tassel. Rebecca swatted his fingers and straightened her posture. Eli rested his hands in his lap, unsure of how much humor to display upon graduating and in front of her parents. The family waited patiently until Rebecca’s department was announced and then Rebecca stood along with her family and made her way to the center chairs.
She glanced backward and locked eyes with Eli, then she darted her head around with a childlike grin as if she had just stolen a cookie from the jar. It felt like forever to Rebecca, waiting for her name to be called, for the last years to be summed up into one single document. But to Eli the moment was abrupt.
While Rebecca sat in silence, Eli sat in whispers and questioning eyes of young and old that peered his way, wondering why he was sitting with the Baum family. Even Deseire at times, though accustomed to social decorum, appeared uneasy. Eli noticed all of this and began to feel uncomfortable, lost in his thoughts of the shades of prejudice. When the announcer said Ms. Rebecca Baum, the sound drew him out of the world swallowing him and back into Rebecca’s graduation. To him, it seemed to have happened suddenly.
He watched with an unspoken pride only noticed by the keenest of observers as Rebecca marched up to take her diploma like a winning horse paraded around the track. This paper granted sure freedom from the grips of her mother and she took it from the professor with eagerness and stillness. Rebecca was not anxious about the future like many of her graduating class.
She knew what she wanted and she was now free to do it, because she no longer had to rely on the money her parents provided with strings attached to accomplish her goals. She now had the right to procure a nursing position and earn her own wages, wages that would guarantee she could stand on her own feet.
Returning to her family, she could see Mr. Schwartvitz approaching Deseire. He had been a long time family friend of the Baum’s and Deseire had thought at one time that Rebecca and his eldest son would make a lovely couple. Deseire noticed Mr. Schwartvitz waving in the distance, and her refined demeanor grew self conscious, her hands not as steady, her feet not as firm. But her rehearsed smile spread easily up to her flushed cheeks.
“Mrs. Deseire Baum.” The gentleman took her wedded hand into his, kissing it once and returning it. “It’s a pleasure seeing you here.”
Ralph stood, nodding to Mr. Schwartvitz and Eli stood next to Ralph, ready to give his timely greeting, but Mr. Schwartvitz asked a few more questions of Deseire. “Is your daughter graduating today?”
“Yes, she is coming now.” Deseire gestured in the direction of her daughter. Mr. Schwartvitz looked up and smiled at the sight of her.
“And your son,” Deseire’s intonation flared, “he is here today also?”
“Yes, graduating with the business department. He was chatting with his peers somewhere.” He looked away, searching with his eyes.
Rebecca stepped close to her mother with her diploma in her hands. “Hello, Mr. Schwartvitz.” Rebecca reached her hand out to his and held it. “I guess Sean is graduating today?” She used her other hand to pat the top of his and then released both, returning them to her side.
“Yes, yes.” He looked around the room again. “He is somewhere,” he said with a deep chuckle. Rebecca glared at her mother. Deseire returned the glare, an expression she had gotten to know well, one that meant don’t embarrass me.
“I’ve forgotten my manners,” Deseire uttered and gestured to Eli. “This is Rebecca’s friend from Munich.” She said it as if nothing more could be possible. Mr. Schwartvitz shook Eli’s hand. “They live in the same apartment building.” Her last sentence hinted of an apology, an explanation of how they could possibly be acquainted. At that moment Eli, being a lawyer trained to recognize every detail, realized Rebecca’s mother was ashamed of him.
Sensing Eli’s insecurity, Rebecca left her mother’s side and joined him, holding his hand and admiring his eyes in an overt fashion. Mr. Schwartvitz cleared his throat, noticing the embraced hands, and pardoned himself to look for his son. When Rebecca, Eli and her parents headed toward the exit, Deseire pulled her aside in a quiet corner. Deseire’s upper lip curled and her grip on Rebecca’s arm became firm.
“How could you embarrass me like that in front of Mr. Schwartvitz?” she asked, saying his name with great weight, the kind of weight that comes from doing business with a long time friend in the neighborhood, the kind of weight that worries about reputation.
“Embarrass you. You blatantly disregard Eli’s feelings, my feelings. You couldn’t even muster the courage to admit to our friend that Eli and I are involved. Did you even for once think about how you made Eli feel?” Rebecca’s whisper sounded gritty and her arms pushed Deseire away, creating a clear space be
tween them.
“Everything is about you, always you.” Deseire kept her whisper balanced between quietness and firmness, a whisper she had had much practice with in high society. “You are a part of this family and what you do reflects on us. It isn’t just your life which is affected by your actions.” Deseire gripped her daughter’s wrist again, moving in close to her, close enough to hide the grip. “I won’t have it! I won’t let you prance around with that…boy of yours. You are breaking it off.”
Rebecca tore her arm away from her mother and stomped out of the hall with her mother following closely behind. Ralph and Eli stood together, waiting for them to return. Rebecca abruptly kissed her father on the cheek, whispering goodbye. With her mother’s intense glare, she grabbed Eli’s hand in rebellious frustration. Eli saw Rebecca’s haste to depart and waved, saying, “It was nice to see you both again.” Rebecca whisked Eli away from her parents and towards his blue car.
Wednesday, April 20, 1932
Normally Rebecca had classes to ready for in the early morning, but after graduation, she found herself sleeping in since her diner shift began in the afternoon. Today, though, she set her alarm for the first sign of the sun and woke up feeling nervous, knowing Eli and his family had a big day planned. She had never been to a Seder or Pesach, Passover and she threw her clothes one item at a time over her bed, weeding through everything to find the right first impression. Eli had told her it was a feast his mama prepared for every year weeks in advance, and his entire direct family would most certainly attend. Other family members would be there, too, which added to the anxiety.
Rebecca asked for this day off of work after Eli told her the date, the twentieth of April. Eli warned her they had already begun some of the rituals on the nineteenth, two days before the official Passover on the twenty first, but she would only be dining for the Seder. Eli, knowing the Hebrew celebrations were new to her, and after much deliberating with his father, decided that would be best. Eli did not go into the discussed details, but his enthusiasm about her arriving to dine with them made Rebecca elated as well.
The Day the Flowers Died Page 9
