The death of home, the death of dreams, all floating in golden light.
But I’m wrong.
It wasn’t the paper, beautifully fragile, that summoned the law. His signature did, Samuel realizing that by paying for law school his father had given him control over other people’s lives.
He wants me to be just like him.
Kate wants me to be someone else…
Samuel placed the file in front of him. Where can they go? he wondered. To the sister? Will she take them in? And if so, for how long? He had wanted to talk to Mr. Eldridge, see if there was a way to help this family. Now, alone in the conference room, the reality of the file under his hand, the complaint flesh, the ink, blood, he knew what the attorney would have said:
“Why don’t we let everyone live there for free? I’m sure Mullins won’t mind. Better yet, take them home with you! Grow some balls, Baas. Remember what I told you your first day. Law’s a business. Evict them all!”
That’s what father would tell me too.
I’m not him. He walks in colors, I love Kate. She doesn’t want me to evict anyone.
But I work for Mr. Eldridge…
Samuel again saw the small man with a broken boot and pleading eyes who believed a young lawyer could save him.
Not knowing what to do, he closed the file.
On the way to Vera’s desk, he smelled jasmine and turned.
“Hi,” he said to Susan.
Looking straight ahead, she strutted past him.
. . . . .
The next two weeks Samuel and Kate had fun.
They looked for land crabs on the sandy lawn of Gables Court, Samuel catching one and chasing Kate who ran away pretending to be afraid. She beat him at Goofy Golf and bowling.
Saturday, at the beach, he collected shells while Kate swam in the ocean or running, dove into waves. When she ran, he not only watched the motion of her long legs but could feel the rippling surges they left behind in the sultry air touch all parts of his body.
A stray, gray cloud turned the sun kettle silver, still hot, but shrouded. Absorbed in its heat, Samuel stretched out on the sand and closing his eyes saw, by listening to the sea, surf bubbles as white as sugar float upward into the wind.
Kate shook her wet hair over him.
“You looked too comfortable,” she said, after he jumped up.
Even without makeup, her face blotchy and freckled, he thought Kate beautiful. He ran after her, both of them splashing carefree into the ocean.
In the Serpentarium’s pavilion, Kate standing close to him, Samuel took slow, deep breaths while the owner, discussing to the group of visitors the toxicity of venom, milked a snake by massaging its glands.
“When the fangs penetrate the skin, they discharge yellow venom secreting zootoxins,” the man explained.
Jolted by the purposeful movement of Kate’s leg against his, Samuel excused himself and in the bathroom, splashed cold water on his face.
Under a Parrot Jungle palm, they posed for pictures, Samuel’s continuing to smile but with clenched teeth as the parrot on his arm dug its claws in.
Hotdogs at Lums and buckets of shrimp from Kentucky Fried Chicken. One afternoon, on their way to get orange freezes and doughnuts, Kate saw the sign at Coral Castle.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“A man built it for a girl he loved,” Samuel answered. “Thought he could win her back. That’s what I read.”
“Stupid, isn’t it, not knowing when something’s over. Ever been there?”
“No,” and he accelerated past.
Parked in the last row of a drive-in, spilled popcorn on the backseat floor, Samuel and Kate didn’t watch much of the midnight movie.
Friday, after work, he saw Kate waiting for him in the parking lot of Gables Court.
“Hi,” he said, getting out of the car. She ran over and kissed him.
“Let’s go to Key West for the weekend!”
“Key West…yeah…OK…” Samuel adjusting to the suddenness of the idea after a day evicting people. “We can get a pizza, plan the trip…”
“I’m ready now!” She showed him her backpack. “Change, and we’ll hit the road!” Kate pushed him toward his door.
After placing on the bed neat piles of folded shirts, pants, and underwear, Samuel started to carefully pack.
“You won’t need these,” Kate said, shoving the white shirt and black pants back into the dresser drawer. She grabbed an armful of his hip clothes and dropped them into the suitcase. “There! Done! We’re out of here!”
On the way to the car, he saw Gary at the pool’s edge, sitting and staring into the water.
“I’ll be back in a second,” Samuel told Kate.
As he walked toward him, he worried his use of the car the last two weeks had pissed his friend off.
He didn’t take me to work yesterday or today. Has going out with Kate screwed up his business?
“Hey,” Samuel said.
Gary glanced up.
“Hi Sam. How’s the world of law?”
“Same as always. Anything wrong?”
“No…”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“I won’t be doing anymore sales calls,” Gary said. “Do you have time to talk?”
“Kate’s waiting. We’re heading to Key West.”
“That’ll be fun.” Gary turned back to the pool. “Have a good time, Sam.”
Samuel sat beside him.
“I know the problem. You needed the car, right? I’m sorry.”
“That’s not it,” Gary’s voice low, all confidence gone. “Wednesday, after I left you off, I drove to the rest of the gas stations on my list. No one bought anything. They all said the same thing I’ve been hearing for weeks. Stallion not only doesn’t work, it messes up the engine. Yesterday, I found out from another Stallion salesman that the FBI raided Stallion’s office, arrested the owners and even the guy who told me I was going to be a millionaire. It was just a scam. I spent $3000 on shit. What will I do now, Sam? I don’t have money for school. I don’t have a job. I can’t end up like my old man.”
“I’m an ass for not telling you about this sooner,” Samuel said. “I called my father a few days ago and we were talking and I mentioned what you were doing. He thinks Stallion is great and wants to order some. He owns a few bus companies. I promised him I’d ask, but you might have sold everything. Looks like he’s in luck!”
“Are you sure he meant Stallion? Maybe he’s thinking about something else.”
“No, he knew about it. My father’s smart. He doesn’t waste money. Believe me, if he didn’t think Stallion would help his busses get better mileage, he wouldn’t give you a dime. Of course, he’s always looking for a deal.”
“Did he say how much he needs?”
“All you have. What’s your mark-up?”
“Nothing! Christ, this is a fucking miracle! Give me your dad’s phone number. I want to call and thank him!”
“He wouldn’t like that,” Samuel said. “For him this is just good business, the chance to get a product he wants at a wholesale price. Monday I’ll have him wire me the money. We can move the cans into my apartment, ship them when he frees up warehouse space. OK, I’ve got to go. I don’t want Kate chewing me out for taking too long.”
Gary looked directly into Samuel’s eyes.
“You saved my life.”
“Not really. I’ll do that now because I won’t be around this weekend to watch out for you. Stay away from old women with boyfriends.”
“You worry about getting it up!”
“You’re just jealous. Unlike your girlfriends, Kate is young and has teeth! See ya, Gary.”
Samuel planned to stop in the bank on Monday and transfer $3000 out of the vacation account his father had opened for him. He would have used this money to help Gary even if invited home. Before leaving for Florida, Samuel spent a weekend in Brookline, and seeing his mother once, suggested they have Thanksgiving dinner together when he returned for the holiday. Sitting on the veranda, highball in hand, she informed him Jamaica was quite lovely in November.
“Have a nice man-to-man talk?” Kate asked when he got into the Pinto. “Tell him how you convinced me to shack up with you this weekend?”
“Geeez, Kate, I can’t believe you would say that—”
“I know men. They want to dominate. Sex for pleasure isn’t enough. They have to brag about it, prove their manhood.”
“I’m not like that.”
“Of course not. I’m sorry. Guess I was thinking about Gary.”
“He’s a great guy. There’s a lot going on his life.”
“And I’m sure you sat there, trying to help. Let’s not let him spoil our plans. I’m really looking forward to this trip!” She put her hand on his leg.
The Pinto jumped as his foot jerked down on the accelerator. As they drove toward the Keys, Samuel wasn’t thinking about gas additives.
On the Atlantic side of the bridges to Key West, the ocean waves churning the water into overlapping shades of blue merged sea and sky into an expanse of variegated blueness sunlight suddenly turned purple. Dots of plum shaded clouds brought Samuel to them. When he looked to the gulf side, he saw sea grass meadows of thin, upward curling strands among green blades, brown feathery stalks and wisps of softer leaves, hair-like and floating in sea-foam tinted chrome green and dark, Prussian blue.
Samuel breathed in the colors.
“Can’t wait to get there,” Kate said.
Arriving in Key West, they checked into a small motel. Kate threw her backpack onto one of the beds.
“Let’s go!” she said, and was quickly out the door, Samuel hurrying to catch up.
On Duval Street, its Victorian mansions hemmed in by bars, inns, jewelry stores, souvenir and head shops, Samuel and Kate walked down a sidewalk crowded with tourists. The middle-aged women wore bright, patterned dresses; the men, shorts, white socks, and Hawaiian shirts. Jumbled together, cars, pedicabs, and bicycles, clogged the street. The sun, large and hot in Miami, burned even bigger and brighter here.
“Time for a drink!” Kate said while crossing in front of the Conch Town Train packed with visitors snapping pictures. Staying close, Samuel followed her, a few older tourists taking a photo of him after deciding, by the way he looked in his bellbottoms and mod shirt, that he must be part of Key West’s exotic, Hippie population.
. . . . .
Inside Sloppy Joe’s, the ceiling fans barely moving the humid air, Samuel enjoyed his cold beer. After two more, he took Kate’s hand and they danced, Samuel gyrating out of rhythm to the band’s loud, rock and roll sound. In contrast to his awkwardness, Kate’s controlled, minimal movements flowing with the music in a hip, cool way, made it appear she was dancing by herself. Samuel continued flinging his arms out and rapidly shifting his happy feet, his actions to anyone watching the convulsive symptoms of a twitching disorder.
A man did watch…
Tall, dark haired, and blandly handsome, the simplistic symmetry of his features more like the photo of a male model than the actual face of a person, he walked over to Samuel and Kate as soon as they returned to their table.
“Hello. I’m Pete. May I join you?”
“Why?” Kate asked.
“Hi there,” Samuel said, grinning up at him. “Sure, have a seat.” Loose and happy from the beers, he didn’t care.
“Thank you,” Pete said, sitting down next to Kate.
“You didn’t answer my question,” she said to him.
“I’m drinking alone. That’s not much fun.”
“What do you prefer?”
“Prefer?”
“Pete or Peter?”
“Makes no difference.”
“You definitely look like a Peter to me,” Kate said. “Are you on vacation?”
“Got here a few days ago. I’m leaving tomorrow. What about you?”
“We just arrived.”
“This place is fun!” Samuel hit the table, rattling the bottles.
“Your friend didn’t waste any time,” Pete remarked. “But that’s what makes Key West so cool. It’s one big blast. Do you party?”
“Depends,” Kate said.
“On what?”
“On whom I’m with.” She placed her hand on Samuel’s.
“I live in Miami. If you’re ever in town, I could show you and your boyfriend around.”
“So nice of you to offer, Peter, but we don’t need a tour guide. I go to the university and Samuel’s a lawyer in Coral Gables.”
“But I bet you’ve never been in the cockpit of an airplane. I’m a pilot for Air Florida. Here’s my card. Next time you’re feeling adventuresome, give me a call. Nice meeting you…”
He waited.
“Kate,” she said.
“See you around, Katie.”
He nodded to Samuel and went back to the bar.
Instead of focusing on their conversation, Samuel had let it float around him, the vibrating pitch of their words soft and melodic. But now, despite the beers, he realized Peter’s intention.
The salesman in the men’s store, now this guy, hitting on her even though she’s with me…
Is it me?
Or is it Kate?
It doesn’t matter!
He was in Key West with her and the cold beer tasted great! He ordered another, got up and danced while Kate watched and clapped.
Toward sunset and back on Duval Street, they stopped in a souvenir store. Samuel bought Kate a cocoanut carved in the shape of a monkey holding bananas.
“What’s in the bag?” he asked her after they left.
“A gift.” Kate lowered a strand of shiny love beads over his head. “It’s perfect. Check yourself out.”
In a jewelry store window, Samuel smiled at his reflection…saw the ring he wanted to buy, its ruby eyes glowing in the gold head of a lion.
Summoned to the waterfront plaza of Mallory Square by the sun’s descent, tourists flowed around Kate and Samuel as she kissed him.
They joined the others at the plaza, the crowd undulating as a beer soaked mass, pockets of it breaking off to watch the performers—
Two cats jumped from stool to stool, then through flaming rings. A man kneeled and ate fire. On stilts, the ‘Tallest Woman in Key West’, her bikini decorated with blinking lights, circled a juggler who, balancing with one foot on a high wire, kept three clubs rotating in the air. Mesmerized by the dimming sun, the crowd oohed as sunset slid into the sea pulling along the bright orange sky. Faces tinted orange turned black, the night suddenly over them.
“Now the real party begins,” Kate said.
”How do you know?” Samuel asked.
“I’ve been here before. It’s nothing. Let’s go back to the room.”
She pushed past a drunken, sweaty body, its leaking head with bloodshot eyes turning and trying to speak to her.
Samuel would have preferred the beach, to lie there with Kate and look at the sky’s shiny lights which people saw as stars. Buzzed, he knew the truth. The lights were perforations in nig
ht’s covering of the constant luminosity that gave birth to colors. While weaving slightly, his legs heavy, he wondered where he should submit his paper regarding this fantastic discovery.
The beach, the lights…whoa, am I crazy? Who needs them when in a few minutes I will be alone with her in a room where for only 25¢ we can have fun with the Magic Fingers of a vibrating bed!
He almost walked into a bike rack.
“I’m hungry,” Kate said.
“I have to take a leak,” he told her.
When Kate went into the grocery store, Samuel hurried back to the jewelry store where he bought the lion head ring. Returning, the ring hid in his pocket, he could tell Kate wasn’t happy.
“That took long enough.”
“I couldn’t find a bathroom. What did you get?”
“Cheese, wine, some bread.”
He saw two baguettes sticking out from the top of the bag. Their long, slender shape gave him an idea. He wanted to be a pirate!
Back in the room, while Kate neatly sliced the cheese, he grabbed a loaf and jumping from bed to bed, slashed the air, then swung the baguette down on her head.
“Real mature,” she said, not turning around. He whacked her again. “OK, buster…”
Holding the loaf like a club, she charged at him. They battled over the beds, around chairs, broken pieces of bread falling onto the dirty shag carpeting. Samuel fell, and Kate jumped on top of him. She held the stub of her baguette at his throat.
“Had enough?”
He nodded, coughing and out of breath.
They ate the cheese, drank wine from plastic cups, Samuel drinking more than eating. Woozy, he stayed close to the walls, guiding himself into the bathroom where he fell forward and, landing on the toilet, clutched the seat, snapping it off as he tottered backwards. Slumped on the floor, the toilet seat around his neck, he grinned up at Kate who stood arms crossed in the doorway.
“Looks like you just won a horse race,” she remarked dryly, then helped him into bed.
“Thank you, Kate, thank you, I really appreciate it. No, I really mean it, and I’ve got to say the terrible word ‘cause it’s the truth, I…”
Gables Court Page 9