The Two-Family House(44)

Part Three





Chapter 33





NATALIE


(August 1952)

The summer they moved, Natalie and Teddy hardly saw each other. Whenever Natalie asked to play with him, her mother started to cry. Then, a few weeks before September, the phone rang after dinner. Natalie’s father answered it, and even from the other room she could tell that the person on the other end of the line was shouting. “Whaddya mean, he won’t come out?” her father asked. There was a pause and then more shouting.

“For Chrissake, why didn’t you say somethin’ at work?” It must be Uncle Mort.

Another pause. “Calm down. Of course she’s here. We’ll be there in ten minutes.” He hung up the phone. “Natalie!” Abe called. “Put your shoes on!”

On the way over to Teddy’s house, Natalie’s father told her that her cousin hadn’t eaten for almost two days. “How come?” Natalie wanted to know.

Her father turned on his blinker to make the turn onto Teddy’s street. “He’s been sad. Moving is hard, and Teddy misses his routine. He misses seeing you every day and playing with you.”

“Me too!” Natalie blurted out.

Abe pulled into Teddy’s driveway. “I know, sweetheart. Your mother and I have talked about it.” He turned off the ignition. “Let’s see what happens with Teddy tonight and maybe we can do something about it.”

Abe started to open the car door, but Natalie stopped him. “Daddy, wait! How come we came over so late?”

Her father frowned. “Teddy locked himself in his room. He said he won’t come out until he gets to see you. They can’t get him to open the door.”

Natalie’s eyes widened. She scrambled out of the car and took her father’s hand. They walked together up the gravel pathway without saying a word. Abe reached out to ring the doorbell, but her uncle Mort was already at the door, opening it for them. Natalie thought Uncle Mort looked worried, and she felt bad for him. She knew her brothers thought he was mean, but there was something about him that she liked.

Mimi and Dinah ran to the door and started talking at the same time.

“Oh my gosh, finally!”

“He’s upstairs!”

“Come on!”

They grabbed her by the elbows and pulled her up the stairs to the hallway outside Teddy’s bedroom. Judith was sitting on the floor, trying to talk Teddy into coming out. When she saw Natalie she stood up and hugged her. “Teddy!” she said. “Natalie’s here!”

Natalie heard Teddy’s voice from the other side of the door. He sounded tired. “Nat? Are you there?”

“I’m here!” she called back. “Let me in!”

The lock clicked, the door handle turned and then Teddy’s face poked out. “Hi, Nat.”

“Come out,” she told him. But he shook his head. “You come in.” He opened the door a little bit more and ushered her inside. Then he locked the door again.

“Perfect,” Natalie heard Mimi say. “Now they’re both locked in there.”

Judith was firm. “Let’s go downstairs. They’ll come out soon.”

After they heard the girls walking down the stairs, Teddy finally relaxed. At almost five, he was small for his age. Two days of not eating had left him frail and exhausted, and his wide brown eyes had dark circles around them. Natalie was a full head taller and felt like a giant standing next to him. She decided to sit on the floor. She had only been to Teddy’s house once before, and his room was foreign to her.

“How come you won’t leave your room?” Natalie asked.

“I wanted to play with you. I don’t like living here. I want to go back to the house on Christopher Avenue.”

“Me too.”

“But we can’t. Someone else lives there now. That’s what my mother said. She said we couldn’t go back even if we wanted to. She said it’s nicer here.”

“My mom wants to go back too. She keeps crying.”

“Why?”

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. “She cries every time I ask to play with you.”

“When I ask to see you, my mother yells,” Teddy explained. “She won’t listen. So I didn’t eat dinner last night. And then I didn’t eat anything today either. But she still won’t listen.”

Natalie took Teddy’s hand. “Let’s go downstairs. My mom sent cookies.”

“I’m scared to go downstairs.”

“My dad said they’re going to figure something out. And I brought you comics.”

Finally, Teddy smiled. He couldn’t read very well yet, but he loved to look at the pictures. “Which ones?”

“Captain Comet and Marvelman.”

“I guess I’ll go.”

“I’ll race you!” Natalie shot out the door and took the steps two at a time. Teddy chased after her, giggling. Abe was waiting at the bottom for them and grabbed Natalie as soon as she reached him. “Look what I caught!” he bellowed, swinging her in the air. “Teddy’s all right now, Daddy,” Natalie whispered in her father’s ear. Abe nodded and put her down. He led the children to the kitchen, where Uncle Mort and Aunt Rose were waiting.