Julia

by Marty Sorensen

  *

  The next morning Julia got out of bed early in the hope that she would be able to make breakfast for Lizzie. She dressed in her Navy blue swing sequined dress and pockets that Lizzie loved to hide things in. As she passed by the library, she saw the door open, and heard voices inside. Hugh and Grace. She stopped and listened.

  “Mother, are you sure?”

  “No, not me, are you sure?”

  “Yes, of course, I think it will work out fine. I will deal with her.”

  “We will have to do this with the utmost care, Hugh. It’s the best for Elizabeth, but it’s the only way. As long as she’s with her mother, she will never be able to control herself. She will end up hurting herself. You do see that, don’t you?”

  “How soon can you make the arrangements?”

  “The arrangements, as you call them, are already made. You know, Mother, Elizabeth will be happier away from Julia. We’ve already seen it. She’s a much more well-behaved child. No more tantrums.”

  “She will adjust, I’m sure.”

  “She will love having a pony nearby.”

  Julia’s legs gave way, she fell to the floor, her stomach filled with acid, but she pulled herself up and went to their bedroom. In the second dresser drawer she found her and Lizzie's passports and her checkbook. She put them in her purse and left the house.

  She arrived at Manufacturer’s Trust bank and took $6,000 in American Express travelers checks from her account. She put it in her purse and took the subway to Algonquin Travel near the passenger ship terminal on the West Side.

  She was surprised to see the lobby full of people. She waited two hours on a hard chair beneath a poster for the United States Lines, showing prices of $127 up for tourist and $186 up for cabin class. A huge photo of the S.S. Manhattan arriving in New York harbor was next to it. When she was finally called to the desk she sat before a man who was wearing a gray suit with a black tie that had been loosened, showing sweat on his neck and dirt on the inside of the collar. Papers of all colors and sizes covered his desk.

  He smiled but he was making an effort to do his job. He pushed his glasses back on his nose. "May I help you?"

  "Yes, thank you, I wish to buy passage to France."

  "Yes, doesn't everybody. Except everybody else is French. Oh, excuse me, you must be French as well." He closed his lips tight and waited for her.

  "No, I'm not French. I just want to go there."

  “Let me explain to you, Miss--,”

  “Mrs.”

  “You are aware that the US Ambassador in Paris has advised all Americans to leave the country.”

  “That doesn’t concern me. I want to book passage.”

  "As you wish. I must do as instructed. I can't promise you anything. The SS Washington is leaving in three days and I can book you passage on that ship but it will be expensive. "

  "Expensive? Why is that?" Julia wondered if he had something personal in mind.

  "What I mean is the only thing available is cabin class staterooms, with living room and bedroom, the bedside telephone, and personal valet service. That will cost you $300." He sat back and waited for her rejection as he stared into her eyes."

  "That’s twice what’s up there on your wall.”

  “And it will be three times tomorrow. You decide.”

  Carolyn didn’t hesitate. Her instinct for preservation dictated her response. “There are two of us," she said, "myself and my little girl."

  The man nodded. "And how old is your little girl, if I may ask?"

  "She's two years old."

  "That should not be a problem. You can arrange for a crib or even a small bed once you are on board. The room is certainly large enough to accommodate that."

  "You said you said ship is leaving in three days. What about after that?"

  He leaned forward and assumed a conspiratorial tone. "Do you know why you had to wait so long to see me?" He waited, and when she did not respond he continued. "This may be the last ship leaving to go to Europe. Certainly for France."

  Julia felt the tension rise up her spine. She sat still, her hand holding hard to her purse. She thought of Lizzie back in her room playing silently and following every suggestion that Mary made.

  "This is it," he said, "if you want to go to France now you need to book passage on the SS Washington. We don't know when another ship will across the Atlantic. There are none scheduled. In case you didn’t know, Britain and France have declared war on Germany. It may be a phony war, but steamship companies cannot afford to take chances."

  "But surely there are other ships arriving." Her voice carried a note of panic.

  He raised his eyebrows. "Arriving is one thing. I cannot book passage beyond the Washington. If you want to take your chances that's up to you. But I point out to you, if you will, that all these people are here today because they don't want to take a chance. "

  "Yes I will buy passage for two of us."

  "Very well, I will need to see your passports."