The Two-Family House(38)

“Now you’re paying attention!” Abe was pleased. “Actually, we already found one. It’s perfect—big enough and not expensive.”

“Where is it?” Joe wanted to know.

“Out on Long Island, not too far from where your uncle Sol lives.”

“Oh,” said George. “Are you going to see Uncle Sol when you work there?”

“Well, as it turns out,” Abe wiped his mouth with his napkin and placed it on the table, “we’re all going to see more of Sol.”

Helen was shuttling back and forth between the table and the sink now, grabbing glasses and silverware, even though the boys were still eating. “Is he going to be working with you?”

“Sol and me?” Abe shook his head and chuckled. “You really think Sol would want to work at Box Brothers? Nah, we’re not going into business with him. We’re going to be neighbors!”

Helen stopped short, the last of the glasses still in her hand. “What did you say?”

“Neighbors!” Abe grinned. “We’re moving! We’re going to buy a house ten minutes from Sol.” Helen said nothing, so Abe went on, “I went looking with a realtor the other day and I asked her to show me some houses; I told her I only wanted to see ones with a big room by the front door. Whaddya call that thing again?” He turned to Helen. “Right where you walk in?”

“A foyer,” Helen whispered. She was still holding the glass. In a flash, she remembered the day she first met Rose, on the front steps of the two-family house, almost nineteen years earlier. Helen hadn’t been thrilled when Abe first told her they were going to share the house with Mort, but the brothers had purchased it together for a price they couldn’t pass up. She had been pregnant with Harry, and they needed more space.

A few weeks after they had moved in, Mort met Rose. He didn’t tell them much about her, but Helen knew he was in love. Nothing else could explain the way he looked at Rose that day on the steps. Helen had met them coming up as she was walking down with Abe, on a cloudless Sunday afternoon in the middle of spring. She would never forget Rose’s sweet smile, the way she congratulated them on the baby, complimented them on the house. She was beautiful and gentle, and Helen wanted to be her friend. She remembered thinking that if Rose married Mort, sharing the house wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Abe snapped his fingers, shattering her reverie. “That’s it! A ‘foyer.’ I told the real estate agent I would only buy a house with a nice big foyer because that’s what my wife always wanted.” Abe walked over to Helen and tried to put his arm around her, but she moved to the sink, turned the glass over and slammed it down, hard. A tiny crack ran its way up from the rim.

“Does it have a television?” Sam interrupted.

Abe laughed. “That’s what you want to know? Any house can have a television, Sam. We could have a television here.”

“Then can our new house have a television?”

“We’ll see. Stop asking about televisions. The big news is that we’re moving!”

“I don’t want to move!” Natalie announced loudly. “I don’t want a new house. Everyone will be strangers.”

“They won’t be strangers once you know them,” Sam scolded her. “Besides, at least you don’t have to worry about changing schools. You don’t even go to school yet!” He turned to Abe. “Jeez, Dad. I was gonna have Mr. Ketterer next year—he’s the best teacher in the whole school! And now we’re gonna have all new teachers and have to make all new friends.”

“What if no one likes me at the new school?” George wailed, panicking.

“They’ll like you fine, George,” Abe insisted.

“This whole thing is a bunch of crap!” Joe got up from the table, eyes flashing. “You didn’t even ask us if we wanted to move. This is crap!”

“Joe!” Helen shouted. “Don’t speak to your father that way! This conversation is over. Go to your room. In fact, all of you go to your rooms. Now.”

“I didn’t even say anything,” Harry muttered.

“Now,” Helen repeated. The five of them filed out of the kitchen, worried looks on their faces.

Abe was deflated. Everyone was upset and Helen wouldn’t even look at him. He knew the kids would take some time to get used to the idea, but why wasn’t Helen more excited? How many times had she told him they needed more bedrooms and closets? How many nights had she complained about car horns and truck engines waking her up? For Chrissake, hadn’t he specifically told the realtor he would only look at houses with foyers just to make her happy? And even if you took away the foyer, the space and the yard, he couldn’t believe she wasn’t excited about not having to live in the same house as Mort, for once! He would have thought she’d move anyplace just for that privilege alone!

Was she angry that he hadn’t spoken to her about the move beforehand? Did she have reservations about living closer to Sol? If she wouldn’t even look at him, how was he supposed to figure it out?

“Look, Helen, if you’re angry because I haven’t shown you the houses yet, I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you. But I didn’t buy one yet. There are three or four of them we can look at and then you can make the decision. We’ll get the one you like best.”