Only my dad knew what to say. “May I wheel you in, Mr. Palma? It would be an honor, one vet to another.”
George Palma scrutinized him. “How’d you know I served? Marines, Korea. Semper fi.”
“This is a veterans’ hospital, after all.”
“Of course it is. See that fella over there? He was in Korea too. We talk about the old days. Bad times, to be honest, but then, we were young, so good times in some ways. I volunteered, dumb cluck I was. But all my brothers were in the big one so I felt like I had to keep up. How about yourself?”
“Vietnam. I would have been drafted, so I signed up for Naval Reserve. You know how they used to say, ‘Join the Navy and see the world’? I spent my two years down the road at the Brooklyn Navy Yard!”
The two men laughed, but I wasn’t laughing. I was too surprised. He never told me any of this.
We left George in his family’s care, saying fond good-byes to a man who had no idea who we were. It was a tense, silent car journey for a while. I finally broke the tension.
“Dad, you never told me you were stationed at the Navy Yard!”
“It was when they were in the process of shutting down. I don’t even remember much. Plus I was a young knucklehead back then and you never asked. So I didn’t have much to say and you were never curious about it.”
I changed the subject.
“Chris, how did it feel to be someone else for while?”
“Omigod. It was so strange. I mean, could it be true? What he seemed to be saying? That something really bad happened?”
“I could try to find out but I’m not hopeful at all.”
We all went silent again until Phyllis said, “Not one word could be true. He’s lost somewhere, poor Georgie, wandering around in the past now.”
“Got nice kids.” Dad, sweet-talking again.
“That’s my family.” She stated it with authority. “The finest people. We would never, never, neglect our old folks. Other families maybe, but not mine!”
Today suggested they weren’t quite as perfect as she claimed. My desire to stipulate the facts fought a brief battle with the knowledge that it was not worth the energy to start a fight. This visit was too important to Chris.
“I’m sure you’ll tell some great stories at the class visit.”
“You bet I will. Chrissie and I are going to rehearse tonight. You promised me no surprise questions, right, hon?”
There was heavy traffic and during the tedious drive home, I drifted off into sleep for a little while, dreaming of Jeff when we were young. When we were young was all we ever had. He was trying to tell me something. About his mother? No. Something else. Young love? Reminding me.
I lost it as soon as Dad wrestled his car into a tight parking space on my block and I opened my eyes.
At home, Chris assured all of us, including my dad, that she would provide supper.
“You will?”
“I know how to make a phone call, just like you do.” She stood up to my skepticism with comical dignity.
The ordered spaghetti and meatballs were there at the door in no time. Phyllis was critical of the sauce, but I noticed that she went back for seconds.
Dad cleaned up after dinner. He did it badly but I appreciated it, and then he left. Chris’ reactions to our visit finally came pouring out.
“It was so sad. So sad. She obviously loved him. It’s right there in her diary, the real thing. And those brothers? They just…they just…tried to break it up, like she had nothing to say about it.”
“Honey, they thought they had good reasons.” Phyllis spoke tentatively, not at all her usual style. “She was young and she would get over it. They thought…”
“No, Grandma! It wasn’t fair! Even young people have feelings and she wasn’t so young anyway. She was working and all. My mom and dad were young, too, but they knew what they wanted. How could her brothers take over like that?” Her eyes never left her grandmother’s and I held my breath, waiting to see what Phyllis would say next. I had not forgotten all she said when Jeff and I wanted to get married.
“They were good men, Chrissie, they were, my father and his brothers. They must have truly thought it was the right thing to do, protecting the family from trouble and threats, keeping their jobs. Without jobs, how do you feed your children and keep a roof over their heads? Pay a doctor? I’m sure they meant well. Sure of that.”
She sounded tentative, though, without her usual certainty. And as her voice dropped, Chris’ rose.
“And you said she seemed sad the rest of her life. You said that! It was cruel. They could have been happy.”
“You’re only a girl, you don’t understand.”
I could have told Phyllis those were fighting words.
“I’m not a little girl and I do so understand.” She punctuated the words with a dramatic stalking out of the room.
Phyllis looked shaken. “I was only trying to show her how it would have seemed to them. Was I wrong?”
Words I had never expected to hear in her voice. I was tempted to tell her that, but she stood up. “She is more important than those old fights. What do I know? I was just a child then.”
She walked upstairs and soon I heard teary sounds in Chris’ voice and firm ones in Phyllis’. Then there was some shaky laughter from Chris and steady voices, back and forth. Phyllis had accomplished her mission and I went to do some work of my own.
In the morning, they seemed to be the best of friends. Chris waved a handful of index cards. “Here they are, Grandma. All the questions we practiced. Ready?”
“Not before some breakfast, young ladies.” They both giggled at me laying down the law. I poured juice for Chris, and coffee for Phyllis, and set out both kinds of cereal, milk, craisins, and banana.
“The breakfast buffet for this morning.” They giggled again and ate a few bites. “And how is Grandma getting back after your class?”
“Didn’t I say? She is spending the whole day with me!” She quickly added, “The teachers said it was okay. Even in chem.”
“Phyllis, you think you’ll enjoy chemistry class? I don’t think Chris does.”
“But we have lab today. Grandma said she’ll pass us equipment. Right, Grandma?”
“Anything with my youngest granddaughter is a treat for me. Anything at all.”
Chris added, as they walked out the door, “And maybe we’ll get to blow something up in lab today. You’d like that, right, Grandma?”
“You betcha!” They giggled again, and again, I was baffled. How had they formed this cozy relationship? Did it matter that it did not include me?
I glanced at the clock and swore. My musing was going to make me late for work. Out the door and caught a downtown bus as it was pulling away from the stop.
I had routine work to do, and a lot of it, so my quiet morning was a welcome respite. A question still roamed around the back of my mind, though. Could I reach all the way back, sixty years or more, and find any records at all for a young man with no family who disappeared one night? I would have a chat with the museum archivist, but, I thought, Not bloody likely. I’d have to reconcile myself, and Phyllis and Chris, to the idea that this was the end of Philomena’s love story. Not looking forward to that conversation. Chris tended not to accept that there were no answers to some questions.
My thoughts seemed to have magically conjured up Chris and Phyllis, who were standing at my office door. It was already after school and my day had disappeared. I’d even skipped lunch.
“How was it?”
“Mom, it was great. Grandma is a star! She had such good stories about the old days.”
“What do you mean, old days?”
“You know what I mean.” Chris giggled. “And honest, Mom, everyone forgot she was old. In fact, they liked her stories so much, they invited her to come back tomorrow and visit the other history class. Cool, right?”
“But, aren’t you going home tomorrow? You have a ticket for tomorrow afternoon.”
“Chrissie will take care of it. She is going to call the airline for me.”
“What, call? Grandma, I can do it online.”
“Chris! You have never made plane reservations in your whole life. What makes you think…?”
“Mom, I can do anything online that I need to. Anything. Don’t worry. We will fix it and she can stay an extra day. So we’re good, right?”
No, we weren’t good. I didn’t trust her to wrangle with an airline and I didn’t want Phyllis to stay another day, either. She was a distraction for me.
Before I could even collect my thoughts, Chris was kissing me good-bye. “Gotta run. Come on, Grandma, we can go home and do another rehearsal.” She took her arm. “Don’t want to embarrass me tomorrow, do you?”
Phyllis looked indignant, saw Chris was joking and patted her hand. “Let’s stop for a treat. On me!”
As they were walking away I remembered something. “Call Grandpa and tell him Phyllis doesn’t need a ride to the airport tomorrow.”
Without even turning around, Chris wiggled her hand above her head and called back, “Already done. One step ahead.”
I put my head on my desk and contemplated a brownie from the nearby bakery. Or an overpriced latte. Or a glass of wine. Smart aleck daughter plus another day of Phyllis was more than I could stand right now.
I don’t think I nodded off but my mind seemed to swirl with young lovers. Philomena and her beloved. Jeff was there, too. I couldn’t hear his voice but I felt, somehow, what he was trying to say. It felt like good-bye.