by Alexa Kang
“No. I work in a factory now. The pay’s better and the work’s not as hard. We make parachutes for foreign militaries. Did you know they fly soldiers onto battlefields and drop them from the sky? Pretty crazy, huh? Hundreds of soldiers dropping out of the sky.”
Of course she knew. She had seen photos of paratroopers in newspapers even before coming to America. She looked out the window at the sky.
Suppose the Germans sent paratroopers into London. Could they do that? She became quiet.
“Benny said you should join the police force instead,” Henry said to Jack. “He said they’ll pay you even more.”
“No, Henry. Don’t listen to him. I don’t want to join the police force, and you won’t either.”
“Who’s Benny?” Tessa asked.
“Benny Flannigan. Our District Council President,” Ruby said. “Everybody does what Benny says.”
“No. Everybody does not have to do what Benny says,” Jack said. “We have to respect Benny, but we won’t let him tell us what to do.”
“Why don’t you want to join the police?” Tessa asked.
“Join the police?” Jack studied her more closely. “You must not have lived in Chicago very long.” His face turned serious. “The police force is not what you think. It’s packed with Colt members. The Colt is the biggest Irish gang. They work with Capone’s Outfit. Once you’re in, there’ll be no way out.” He turned the car left when the traffic light switched, passing by a Chinese restaurant. “Henry, Ruby, you both stay away from Benny and his people. Stay off their radar. The less they notice you, the better.”
“You’re not off his radar. Benny likes you. He said he’s got an open slot on the force for you whenever you decide to come on board,” Henry said.
Jack didn’t say anything more. They drove another five minutes and came to a stop at a local diner. Jack jumped out of the car and waved to a young waitress cleaning tables by the diner’s front window. She noticed him right away and her face brightened into a smile. She wiped her hands on a small towel and came out onto the street.
“Carmina’s from Mexico,” Henry said to Tessa. “She and Jack met last year when they worked at the YMCA. They were locker room attendants. Wonder what they were doing in the locker rooms.” Ruby punched him in the arm and he stuck out his tongue.
The young waitress greeted Jack and he took her hand. At first glance, she appeared quite ordinary. Petite. Demure. She rocked back and forth on her feet as she talked. But when she tossed her head, her ordinariness gave way to her most attractive feature, her hair. Tied in a ponytail, her thick, luscious black hair swung back and forth. Against her light olive skin and red lips, the contrast of colors was stunning.
Standing by the car, Henry called out to her. “Hi, Carmina!” She smiled and waved back.
“She and Jack are not supposed to see each other,” Ruby whispered.
“Why not?”
“The Colts don’t like the Mexicans. They think the Mexicans are encroaching on our turf. They’ve already gotten into huge fights with the Mexican gangs because of that.”
“What does that have to do with Jack?”
Instead of answering her, Ruby’s eyes widened. Tessa turned around to see what Ruby had seen. A group of young men were heading up the street behind her.
“You better go.” Carmina put her hand on Jack’s arm, nudging him away. “Carlos is coming. Don’t let him see you.”
Jack’s face fell. Carmina nudged him again but he refused and moved closer to her. Distressed, she kept glancing down the street. When the group came to the crosswalk, she gave Jack a quick kiss on his cheek and ran back into the diner. Jack’s eyes followed her, his spirits disappeared with her.
The four young men approached. At first, Tessa couldn’t make out their faces, which were lost under their fedoras. Their hugely oversized zoot suits distracted from their faces too. All she could see were four long baggy blazers with wide padded shoulders over pants that billowed. When they came closer and saw Jack, the one in the black fedora exchanged glances with the rest and their faces tensed. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice hostile and contentious.
“Carlos!” Jack said, good-naturedly as if he was speaking to an old friend. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How’ve you been?”
“I asked what are you doing here,” the young man named Carlos said.
“Why, I’m taking the kids out for a ride. Can’t you see?” He threw a look over at Henry, Ruby, and Tessa.
Carlos glared at him. “You stay away from my sister.”
Feigning innocence, Jack held up his hands in the air, then sauntered back to his car with his hands in his pockets. Henry, Ruby, and Tessa scooted into the car. As they drove away, Tessa caught a glimpse of Carmina looking out the diner’s window, her face as sad as Jack’s.
Behind them, Carlos and his friends remained until their car turned a corner. When Carlos and the diner were out of their sight, Jack’s jolly pretense dropped. He kept his eyes on the road and the four of them drove silently back to his home.
# # #
Visiting Ruby soon became one of Tessa’s regular weekend pastimes. On most Saturdays, Henry would join them if they decided to play Monopoly. Jack would be around too if he didn’t have to work extra shifts.
Tessa always liked it more when Jack was there. He livened up the mood whenever he was around.
“Does he always work this hard?” she asked Henry once when Jack didn’t join them.
“He wants us to live well. My pop died five years ago. My mom’s a housemaid. She doesn’t make much money. He dropped out of school and started working when he was sixteen. I think he feels it’s his responsibility to take care of us.”
“I’m sorry about your father. How did he die?”
“In a work accident.” His voice trailed off and she didn’t ask him about it anymore.
There were worse situations than being separated from one’s parents. At least her father was still alive.
After Henry left, Ruby showed her a dress she had made for her sewing class.
“Sewing class? They teach sewing at your school?” she asked.
“Yes. Don’t they at yours?”
“No. What else do they teach you?”
“English and mathematics, and home economics and typing for girls. They teach shop for the boys.”
“Shop? You mean shopping?”
“No, silly.” Ruby laughed. “Wood shop. And mechanics. What do you learn in school?”
“We have English and math too. I take classes in history, science, fine arts, and Latin.”
“Latin? What’s that?”
“It’s an ancient Roman language. Nobody uses it anymore.”
“Why would anyone learn a language nobody uses?”
“Because it’s beautiful, and it helps people who know it to write better prose.”
“I see.” Dropping the subject, Ruby picked up her dress again. “There’ll be a fashion show at my school next week. I hope my dress will win a prize.” She laid the dress on her bed with a secretive smile. “I want to show you something.” She took a sketch-book out of her desk drawer and handed it to Tessa.
“What is this?” Tessa asked.
“These are my design sketches. I’ve never shown them to anyone before.” Ruby opened the sketch-book to a page with several illustrations of models in suits and hats. “I want to be a fashion designer when I graduate.”
“You do?” Tessa leafed through the pages of drawings. They were amateurish, but she could tell Ruby put a huge effort into them. Even some of the buttons and belts were drawn with elaborate and intricate details.
“What about you? What you want to do when you’re through with school?”
“Me?” She hadn’t thought seriously about that.
“Never mind.” Ruby rolled her eyes at herself. “Silly of me to ask. You won’t have to work. You’re a St. Mary’s girl. You’ll meet a handsome guy from a nice family, of course.”
; “A handsome guy?” Tessa made a face. Was that all there would be for her in the future? The idea left her wanting. She looked at the dress Ruby made. Maybe it was time she had her own dreams too.
Chapter 9
Winter break began a week before Christmas and Anthony returned home for the holidays. Delighted their son was back for more than an evening, William and Sophia peppered him with questions during dinner.
“What classes will you be taking next semester?” William asked.
“I’ll be taking American History. We have a new professor from Harvard teaching this course. I heard he’s very good and his class is hard to get into.” He helped himself to the gravy on the table. “And I’ll be taking Food and Products Distribution Management.”
“Food and Products Distribution Management? Why? You plan to get into the grocery business?” his father joked.
“No.” He cut into his steak. “They changed the curriculum requirements to prepare for the war. I’ll have to take two elective wartime prep courses next semester too. I picked Military Science and Engineering, and Principles of Radio Communication.”
“Are you serious?” Sophia asked. She stopped eating and put her knife and fork down on her plate. Tessa and William, too, paused to listen.
“Those are the courses they’re teaching now. I thought the ones I picked might be useful if I work for Uncle Leon again next summer since they involve logistics.” Anthony continued eating, not realizing the news had stunned his parents. “They want us to be ready. Every college is doing this, not just UC. And all the male students have to take an hour of Phys. Ed. everyday.”
When neither his father nor his mother said anything, he finally sensed their unease and looked up. The changes he spoke of had been implemented for months, old news for everyone in school. He hadn’t thought they would worry his parents this much.
“My courses will be fairly basic.” He tried to backtrack from the subject. He didn’t mean to worry them. “It’s probably just for show. I doubt they’ll teach me anything practical for use in a real war,” he lied. Actually, he had no idea. Rumors had run rampant on campus after the school announced the changes, and no one knew yet what all this meant. “You should see the classes Brandon chose. Those are real military classes. He signed up for Naval Strategic Tactics and Military Pyrotechnics. My classes will be child’s play compared to his.” Maybe they would feel better if they knew the changes didn’t upset Brandon either.
His attempt to allay his parents’ fears didn’t work. They exchanged glances and continued eating in silence. He looked at Tessa, who was watching the entire exchange. He thought he saw a tinge of worry in her eyes, but she turned away from him, and he was left wondering if he had scared her with all the war talk.
# # #
On Christmas morning, Tessa sat alone on her bed, staring out the window remembering past Christmases. It was snowing outside. Light speckles of snowflakes drifted in the air. She had never been away from her parents on Christmas. Last season, her father’s company had run a production of A Christmas Carol with him in the starring role as Scrooge. Her mother said that it was the perfect role for him because he always grumbled about how much he hated the holidays.
But it was not true that he hated holidays. He didn’t like going to Christmas parties. Like her, he loathed being around crowds where he had to fake an interest in people. He said he felt phony pretending to admire every theater patron in attendance. Her mother would laugh and tell him his acting skills should save him in that case.
At home was a different story. They always had happy Christmases as a family. Her father would buy her and her mother a lot of presents. Her mother, certainly not the world’s greatest cook, would attempt to make an annual feast.
She wondered what they had planned for today. It felt so lonely without them this time of the year.
A knock interrupted her thoughts. “Come in,” she said.
Anthony stood at the door. “Hi, Tessa, Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” Still sitting on the bed, she mustered as much enthusiasm as she could.
“Uncle Leon and everyone have arrived.” He stood in the doorway. “You should come down.” He grinned as if he had something good to reveal. “Mother and Father got you a Christmas present they want you to see.” He sounded anxious for her to get excited too.
“Okay.” She twitched her lips to suppress a smile of amusement. The genuine sincerity on his face was always funny to watch. For someone so smart, he was very simple and easy to figure out. Whether he was sad, or happy, or grouchy, he always let emotions show.
She got off the bed and put on her shoes. The Ardleys were hosting a Christmas luncheon for their friends and relatives. Privately, she wished she could skip the meal. There would be so many people downstairs. Some of them she had never met. She would feel out of place among them. Besides, to have to sit among strangers for hours when she could barely keep herself from crying was the last thing she wanted to do. She wished she could spend the day alone and keep to herself, but Aunt Sophia had been planning this luncheon for weeks. She didn’t want to upset her and Uncle William. With so many guests, they had enough to handle today without having to worry about her.
She went to her dresser and brushed her hair. The whole time, Anthony stood in the doorway watching her. She wondered why he was still there. “You don’t have to wait for me.”
“It’s all right,” he said, his voice gentler than usual. “I’ll wait. You don’t have to come down alone.”
She didn’t know how to respond. They usually stayed out of each other’s way. It was so awkward that he was being nice. She quickly finished brushing her hair and straightened her skirt. “I’m ready.”
He waited for her to walk ahead of him. As they walked down the stairs and the guests’ voices in the main parlor grew louder, she was glad he stayed with her after all and she wouldn’t have to enter a room full of people by herself. She didn’t want to be the center of attention.
When she entered, everyone stopped talking and laughing and looked at her. Seeing the large gathering of people, she wanted to turn around and run back upstairs. Instead, she took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. “Merry Christmas,” she said.
“Merry Christmas, Tessa,” William said.
“You waited too long to come down.” Sophia came over. “Look what just came for you.” She handed her a telegram.
With timid hands, she took the telegram. When she saw the names of the senders, her heart stopped.
“It’s from your parents,” Sophia said. “Go on. Read it.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, she opened it and devoured every word.
Dear Tessa,
Merry Christmas. We wish you a wonderful holiday with William and his family. We are thinking of you all the time, and we miss you very much. We cannot wait to hear all about your first Christmas in America. We hope we will be back together with you very soon. --Love, Mother and Father
Her eyes smarted with tears as she read. She pretended to rub her eyes and wiped them off before her tears fell and everyone could see her cry.
“We have something we want to show you,” William said. Only then did she see something in the middle of the parlor that hadn’t been there last night. A white cloth covered it but she could guess the object by its shape. Still, it was hard to believe. Could it really be?
William took the cloth off to unveil a brand new baby grand piano. “Juliet told me you’re an excellent piano player. Sophia and I thought you might like this.” He opened the keyboard cover. “Want to take a look?”
In a daze, she walked to the piano. She never expected this. Her heart was now so full of emotions, she could hardly breathe. Ever so lightly, she ran her fingers across the keyboard. She almost didn’t dare to touch it for fear that if she did, it would dematerialize and she would wake up to find this was but a dream. “This is so generous. Thank you, Uncle William. Aunt Sophia. Thank you.”
“Would
you play something for us?” Sophia asked.
“I’ll be delighted.” She looked around at everyone in the room. They didn’t look so oppressive to her anymore. “I can’t play as well as my father. He taught me how to play when I was little.” She sat down in front of the piano and tried out a few keys. Finding her rhythm, she began to play. The uplifting melodies of “Ode to Joy” filled the air, mesmerizing all those who were listening. When she finished, the guests gave her a resounding round of applause and she bowed her head.
“Tessa, you’re amazing,” said Alexander. “Can you play ‘Winter Wonderland’?”
“Of course!” Her fingers danced on the keys, bringing the notes of the music to life. Alexander started to sing and everyone followed. The song ended with everyone in joyful spirits, in awe of her masterful performance.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I invite you to the dining room?” Sophia said to the guests. “Tessa can play more songs for us later.”
As the group retreated from the parlor, Tessa couldn’t resist and took to the piano once more. This time, she chose a Bach piece with a private message. As she played, she looked directly at Anthony. She hoped he knew this music and that he would understand.
Her stare caught his attention. He leaned against the wall and listened while the others left the room. She hoped he could hear the message that she also wished he would not have to go to war. It was the only way she knew to let him know how she felt. When they were the only ones remaining, she turned her attention back to the keyboard. She realized then what she really wanted for Christmas this year. Not just for Anthony but for everyone else in the world.
“Dona Nobis Pacem.” Grant us peace.
PART FIVE
The Hand of God
Chapter 10
“Anthony! Anthony!”