If she closed her eyes and squeezed the books in her arms the gentle swaying of the ferryboat made her feel like she was dancing with Eddie. Only many years later did she consider how unusual it was to ride on a bus on a ferry twice a day for twelve school years.
The ferry banged into the dock and in a moment she was dropped off in front of the Shelter Island F.W. Woolworth. The first thing Rita used to notice upon entering the store each day was the overbearing smell of popcorn, but lately she only noticed "customer count." That was a word Mr. Stoneman had taught her as in, "We've got to keep up the customer count or this store could be in some trouble." The count looked pretty good to Rita as she walked the old, creaky wooden aisles to her station behind the lunch counter.
"Hi, Mrs. Brodsky. Should I do the coffee?"
"Hello, dear, yes. How are you today?"
Rita smiled and said, "Fine." But her smile was because Mrs. Brodsky's question reminded her of how great things were in her life. In about six hours Eddie would be at the back door of the store and she would walk into his arms.
"Eddie Brown's all arms and legs," people would say. "And no head," his mother would add.
"To call him a poor student would improperly suggest he was a student," his ninth grade English teacher once wrote. So, when he told his parents he wanted to leave school on his sixteenth birthday, shortly after failing summer school history, they only asked if he had a job. He could have said shepherd and they would have been satisfied, so when he proudly stated, "Full time supermarket clerk," they were actually pleased.
In the three years since that day, he'd become assistant grocery manager of the Shelter Island I.G.A. As the grocery department totaled three people, including Eddie and his boss, you might say he hadn't made much progress. Eddie couldn't have cared less, though, because he considered his full- time job his part- time job. He was a drummer in a band and, remarkably, as he hadn't touched a drumstick until the age of fifteen, he was good. He wasn't Gene Krupa, but he wasn't Ringo Starr either. And his band, "Cooler Heads," was decent. Not his band as in he was the leader. No, Eddie was a follower. Just tell him when and where and he'll be there. No details, please. That's something he liked about Rita Willis. She did the thinking for him. He also liked the fact she didn't wear panties under her skirt when they went to the drive-in.
Harold Stoneman left his store at his usual seven o'clock. He went directly home as he had done every night, six days a week for the last thirty-one years. Starting from part time custodian as his first job after serving ingloriously in the "Big One" (four year private first class), he had managed the Shelter Island F.W. Woolworth for the past fourteen years. With his mother recently passing on, he basically used two rooms of a nine-room home. This night he would use just one. One room, one bed, one TV, one bottle of Capt. Jack and one letter from National Headquarters.
Rita was still shining the lunch counter when she heard Eddie's 1967 Nova. It was "primed" when Eddie bought it two years ago, and it was still primed, classic Eddie Brown. He kept it immaculate inside for nights like tonight and the slow steady rain would make everything that much better.
Rita met him at the door and they kissed and touched for several minutes. Rita broke first and walked to the record department and turned on a record player she had set up. Her mom, before her drinking got out of hand, used to play country music records until Rita was sick of them. But she discovered an old forty-five of "Walkin' After Midnight" in her mom's things, fell in love with it and brought it to the store. From then on, each time Eddie picked her up they danced to it before they left. Eddie had never heard of Patsy Cline and didn't like the song, but he danced without complaining. Initially he was doing it in his own best interest but he had come to enjoy it and in three minutes and fifteen seconds they were on the way out the back entrance, heading for the Rocky Point Drive-In.
Rita unlocked the front door and tiptoed into the den. Big Bob was sleeping on the floor in front of the TV. She turned it off, kissed her daddy and went to bed. Only when her head hit the pillow did she realize he hadn't smelled from liquor. The next thing she thought of was Eddie's mouth, but the last thing she thought of was her mom.
Rita's parents, Bob and Diana Willis, got married eight days after Diana found out she was pregnant. That she was five months along gave the situation a sense of urgency. That she was a senior in high school and it was three months to graduation made it a catastrophe. Though everyone from her parents to Big Bob begged her to finish school, she never went back. She was a married woman and a mother-to-be. She was also disgusted, ashamed, frightened and not even in like with her new husband.
Rita's alarm clock went off ten seconds after her eyes opened. It was still raining and the rain made it easier to go to school. She wasn't a bad student but her interest was in growing up, being a wife, motherhood. She had been a baby sitter for several years and loved it. Her affection for the children she cared for was strong; almost certainly a compensation for the affection she herself had missed. With her head buried in her cereal bowl, she thought again of her mother, of the funeral and the ride back home. She waited to see if the pain would come back, but as had been the case over the last few months, it didn't. She would wake up Big Bob, take her mom's pearl handle umbrella and head to the bus stop.
In school, boys generally looked at Rita Willis as a person to be friendly though not romantic with. They found her amiable, supportive, cooperative (she wouldn't use her free arm to cover her test paper), easy to be around. Her personality, more than her looks, prevented even the consideration of her as someone to lust after. She was, simply, an ally to be trusted.
On the other hand, some of the same things that made her popular with the boys made her less than popular with the girls. Her looks weren't particularly threatening, but unlike their male counterparts, they didn't trust her. Undoubtedly, her closeness with so many of their objects of desire placed her in an awkward position. And, as any attempts to use her as an intermediary fell on deaf ears, a little of the "if you're not my friend you must be my enemy" took over. Nevertheless, Rita's best friend was a fellow eleventh grade girl, Maryann Paladino. Maryann had also lost a mom, but as her mom was still alive and had chosen to leave Maryann and her dad she'd often wind up crying on Rita's shoulder.
Maryann was also the only person in the world that had any idea of the seriousness of Rita and Eddie's relationship. That's not to say that others didn't know they were seeing each other, just that Eddie was a very private person and Rita had chosen to keep the depth of their relationship to herself with Maryann being the only exception. The formidable Big Bob had met Eddie a few times. On two of the occasions, Big Bob had way too much to drink and the other meeting was short, polite and uneventful. If he had an opinion of Eddie, he didn't volunteer it. Most likely he hadn't given Eddie Brown a second thought.
Their telephone conversations more than made up for the fact that Rita and Maryann were not in any classes together and didn't even have the same lunch period. It was on the phone that they discussed Eddie's methodical progress toward the promised land. In fact, Rita couldn't help but notice Maryann's excitement (bordering on frenzy) the night Rita's 1:00 A.M. phone call described the first time they really did it. If it hadn't before, that conversation bonded them as the sister they'd never had.
As lenient (self absorbed would probably be more accurate) as
Big Bob was, Maryann's dad was that strict. Anthony Paladino had
decided that he would have to be that way after his wife up and
left. If he did it as a way to convince Maryann of his love and
concern for her, or because he was just afraid of losing her one
couldn't tell as Anthony was neither intelligent nor particularly
communicative. Either way, when Rita saw Maryann walk into her
store that night she immediately knew her friend had sneaked out.
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Material Copyright © 1998-2003 by Jim Bearden