chapter five
The following evening around nine o’clock, Tania stepped out of the shower and heard her phone ringing. The answering machine clicked on.
At the cafe, Jack cued Jose, the dishwasher, to press “Quarter to Three” on the jukebox. When Tania’s voice announced, “Please leave a message at the sound of the beep,” the needle hit the vinyl. There was applause and shouting. A crowd clapped to the beat, and a saxophone wailed. Jack spoke into the phone.
“This is your friend Jack. The cafe’s packed, and I . . . uh . . . don’t think I can make it tonight.”
Tania ran out of the bathroom and picked up the receiver.
“You’re afraid; well, so am I.”
“Hold on,” said Jack.
He handed Jose a dollar and grabbed a menu. Jack skidded over to a customer coming in the door and flipped the sign on the front window from OPEN to CLOSED.
“Just one?” asked Jack.
He led the man to the table of the only other customer in the restaurant. The woman was picking at a house salad and reading The New York Times. She looked up from the newspaper when Jack stood next to her.
“Can this guy sit with you? I can close up early if we don’t mess up any more tables.”
The man countered, “We don’t know each other.”
“You will after you have dinner together,” answered Jack. “I’ll send Jose right over to take your order.”
The couple jabbered, and Jack made a getaway. He sniffed and tweaked his nose on his way back to the bar. He picked up the telephone receiver.
“Now, where were we?”
Tania held a lit joint between her fingers.
“Listen, I’m going to Big Blues tonight, and you’ll either be there or you won’t.”
Jack heard a click.
Two hours later, Tania was sitting on a barstool facing Otis Taylor and his band at Big Blues. The place was jammed, and everybody was singing along with Otis.
“Tell me how long will I have to wait?
Oh, won’t you tell me now?
Why do you hesitate?”
Tania’s back was to the front door. Turning around to take a sip of brandied coffee, she spotted Jack.
Oh my God, he’s here . . . and he’s wearing a sports jacket.
The bartender came over to her and cocked his head in Jack’s direction.
“That big guy wants to buy you a drink.”
Tania’s heart pounded, and her cheeks tingled.
“I’ll have some more coffee but no more brandy.”
Jack paid the bartender for a drink, lifted it in the air, and made his way through the crowd.
He’s coming over here. Oh Christ, this is really happening.
Jack loomed over her; she looked up into his face and swallowed. Jack shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked around the room. He lowered his head and leaned into Tania.
“It’s kind of noisy in here; I thought you wanted to talk.”
Tania spoke into his ear.
“Why were you so rude to me when I first came to the cafe?”
Jack looked away; he leaned back in.
“I don’t know. You, uh . . . ?
“I what?”
“Something about you pissed me off.”
“What about me pissed you off?”
“Everything.”
Tania looked straight ahead.
“Oh. Well, that’s all I wanted to know. You can leave if you want.”
“Let’s get out of here,” responded Jack.
They left Big Blues and walked down a residential street. Jack lit up a joint and handed it to Tania.
“Are you married?” he asked.
“Not right now. What about you?”
Jack stopped in his tracks.
“I’ve gotta piss.”
He gave her the joint and walked up a few doors to Ed and Irv’s Friendly Tap.
Tania took a few puffs and started singing.
“Tell me how long will I have to wait?
Oh, won’t you tell me now?
Why do you hesitate?”
Jack blew out of the bar like a tornado.
“Now, where were we, oh yeah, I was married once. I’ve got a kid named Billy at a fancy prep school out east. He wants to be an actor; his mother wants him to be a lawyer and work at her father’s firm.”
He paused.
“O’Meara, O’Meara, O’Meara, and O’Meara.”
“That’s a lot of O’Mearas,” said Tania.
“That’s what I thought. I opted to go to graduate school. That’s when I got into the Movement.”
“Did you call her family imperialist pigs who fed off the misfortune of others?”
“Pretty much.”
Jack put his arm around Tania. They walked in silence until they came to her apartment building. She extended her hand to him.
“Well, goodnight.”
Jack squeezed her palm, kissed her on the cheek, and handed her a business card.
“Here’s my home phone number.”
Tania stuck the card in a pocket and went in the building. Halfway up the stairs to the first landing, she stopped.
Tania ran outside.
“Jack!”
He looked over his shoulder. Tania came to a halt a few feet in front of him.
“I think it would be erotic if you grabbed me and kissed me on the mouth.”
Tania waited with her lips parted and her arms dangling by her sides. Jack took a peppermint Life Saver from his mouth and shoved it in the pocket of his jacket. He secured his footing, thrust himself forward, grabbed Tania’s shoulders, and pulled her toward him. Their mouths met.
Jack said, “Let’s go to your apartment.”
They kissed again. Tania pulled her lips off of his.
“I don’t want to do that.”
They kissed some more; Jack broke away.
“Then let’s go to my apartment.”
“No, let’s go over there.”
Tania pointed to a stone bench in a school playground. Jack pulled her body close to his, and they crossed the street. He sat down; Tania stood between his legs. Jack squeezed her hips with his hands.
“I’ve wanted to touch you,” he said.
She dropped onto his chest and kissed his face. He gripped her ass.
Tania thought I knew he liked me. It’s like in second grade . . . when I liked Buddy Thompson . . . but I thought he didn’t like me . . . so I threw rocks at him.
Jack’s hands reached for her breasts.
Oh my God, this is terrible! she thought. We’ll be fucking before the night’s over and living together in a couple weeks. I’ll be married to him before you know it, and after that we won’t be able to stand each other.
Tania jumped to her feet.
“I’ve gotta go.”
She ran home. Jack followed her with his eyes. He pulled the Life Saver from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
The next morning, Tania was reliving last night’s first kiss when her phone rang.
“Tania, it’s your mother calling. Are you watching Oprah?”
“No, why?”
“They’re talking about how to meet the right man; you should turn it on. Before I forget, I had Rose and June over for pork roast. I thought you could finish what’s left before I throw it out. It won’t be any good after tonight.”
“I’m not really into pork, Mother. Remember? I’m a vegetarian; I don’t eat meat. Anyway, I have to work,” said Tania.
“You work at night?”
“I work when the restaurant’s open, and the restaurant’s open at night.”
“Your Aunt Nell was a waitress; she had to work until she was seventy-five. Colored her own hair; couldn’t afford to have it done. I think Bernadette does it for her now.”
Tania rapped her knuckles on a table.
“Oh, there’s someone at the door. I’ve got to go.”
“Come over next week, and I’ll make chicken. You eat chicken, right?
“I’ve gotta go, Mother. I’ll call you.”
Thursday evening, Tania stood at the wait station arranging the dessert tray. She wore a white fifties cardigan appliquéd with pink satin flowers and buttoned with pearl studs. She held the round platter on her palm and slowly spun it around. Jack sat at a nearby table with his chin on his hand.
“You look delicious.”
Tania blushed.
“Do you want a piece of carrot cake? It’s really moist.”
“I’m not thinking about food right now,” he answered.
Ellen cut in on the moment.
“Hey, Jack, there’s somebody named Ray here to see you; he’s waiting in the bar. Oh yeah, that Folger guy from the IRS called again.”
Jack got up.
Ellen whispered in his ear, “Your ex wants to know if you sent in Billy’s tuition payment.”
Jack headed out of the dining room.
Ray Scalise stood at the bar sipping a Coke.
“Let’s go into my office,” said Jack.
He held the door open for Ray.
“Remember, you asked me if I had any friends who might …”
Then he closed the door behind them.
Friday morning, Jack walked into Fast Eddie’s Shoe Repair carrying a Nike box. Eddie was tagging and shelving a pair of wing tips; Jack laid the box on the glass counter.
“The heels are shot on these.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Eddie took the box to the back of the shop, and Jack checked out the homage to iconic twentieth-century footwear in the display case under the counter. There were a pair of ruby red slippers, penny loafers, stilettos, go-go boots, and white Keds. By the time Jack got to the Air Jordans, Eddie reappeared with the shoebox.
“You’re all set.”
Jack rushed to his apartment, set the shoebox on the kitchen table, and took off the lid.
“Damn!”
He stared at the pot and coke inside.
“That’s a lot of shit.”
He brought out an Ohaus triple beam scale.
Jack thought back to high school.
Fingerbut gave me an F, so I stole his favorite piece of equipment.
Jack set the scale on the table.
I knew it would come in handy one day.
Jack snorted a line and rolled a joint.
He told himself, Gotta test the product, right?
Jack weighed out the drugs, put the pot into plastic baggies, and cut pages of MAD magazine to make bindles for the cocaine. Then he phoned some friends as well as some friends of friends.
By Saturday night, Jack had enough money to make Billy’s tuition payment, get the IRS temporarily off his back, and repay the cafe’s safe.
This is great, he thought.
His mind wandered to the pink flowers and pearl buttons on Tania’s fifties sweater.
Hell, I might even get laid.
