IT WAS ANNOYING. I mean, it shouldn’t have been. What did I care? Still, it was annoying that I was annoyed.
Ethan was ignoring me again.
He pretended to be busy with the stage and sound equipment. It struck me while he was fiddling with the speakers that he had soothing hair. Like if you touched it, you’d feel better. Ethan’s hair was dark, not as dark as mine, but dark, and it was a cross between curly and wavy and shiny under the lights. Not that I thought about it much.
Ethan could afford to stay away now that the infamous Rachel had returned from running away with her trumpet-playing boyfriend. Rachel and I manned the floor while Ethan went back to doing whatever he did before she took off.
I liked her right off, even though she cried a lot and not all that quietly either. Rachel was a hard worker and totally efficient, but she cried nonstop. “Why didn’t anyone warn me?” she’d wail. “The bum!” The patrons didn’t seem to mind. Actually, they didn’t even seem to notice, which led me to believe that Big Bob was right. They’d been through all of this with Rachel before.
“Don’t go near a trumpet player, or any kind of horn for that matter.” We were at the espresso machine. “I mean, run, don’t walk, as soon as one smiles at you.”
I promised that I would indeed run from any fast-approaching, smiling trumpet players. She hugged me. “I like you, Toni.” And then she started sobbing again.
I kept trying to catch Mr. Goldman’s eye before the first set but couldn’t. Finally, the set ended and I started to make my way backstage after him. Out of nowhere, Ethan caught up to me. “Hey, Toni, look…this is stupid. I just want to say…”
Mr. Goldman was heading for the back door. He liked to smoke his hand-rolled cigarettes out there sometimes. I only had a minute. “Uh, sure, Ethan, but I just have to have a word with your father first.”
“With my old man? Why? You still on about that?” He threw his hands up. “You’re hopeless.” He walked away, shaking his head. “The girl’s a flake. Deal with it, Ethan.”
Was he talking to himself? Flake? Like snowflake? That was sweet.
I followed Mr. Goldman outside. Sure enough, he was taking a long drag on his cigarette.
“Toni? Is something the matter?” He sat down on an oil drum.
“Oh no, sir.”
He smiled and took another drag. “Good. We all like you, you know. You’re doing great here.”
“Thank you, sir.” I felt an overwhelming sense of family connection with him. Way more than I had with Mr. Tyson, to tell the truth. But now was not the time to get into that. “Grady said that you might be able to help me find someone who knew my mother.” Should I tell him my mother’s name? Gauge his reaction? No, that would be rushing again.
He took another drag, closed his eyes and nodded. “Sure thing, Toni. Who do you want to know about?”
“I believe her name is Scarlet Sue. I don’t have a last name, I’m afraid.”
“Old Sue! What a dame!” Now he was smiling with his eyes closed. “Man, the Village was full of great characters back in the day. Better days, better days.” Then he opened his eyes and sighed. “Unfortunately, Sue got picked up so many times that the last sentence was for a hard, long one.” He took a last drag and then stubbed out the teeny piece that was left. “Worse yet, she was hauled off to the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women. A real snake pit of a place.” Mr. Goldman shook his head. “There was nothing I could do. She’s still there, poor doll.”
“Is it in Toronto?”
“Sadly, yeah. Man, they should just blow it up, but yeah, it’s here and she’s there.”
“Oh, that’s great! I mean, not that she’s there, but that she’s there and I can write or maybe even see her.”
He stood up. “Stay away from that hole, Toni. Write, if you got to, but that’s no place for a girl like you.”
“Yes, sir, thank you, sir. Well, I better get back to my tables. That was a great set, Mr. Goldman.”
I dashed back inside and searched for Ethan. I caught him by the sound equipment. “Hey, what did you want to talk to me about anyway?”
He didn’t even turn around. “Nothing. Forget it.”
“Fine.” I put my hand on the Star of David under my turtleneck and stormed away in my best huff, which would have been so much more effective had I not tripped over the speaker wires.
He was going to be so, so sorry when I put all the pieces together.
I was still huffing back to my section when I felt a hand on my wrist. “What’s a guy got to do to get a cup of coffee in this place?”
Cassidy! Two things flashed at the same time. First, did he see me trip, and second, just as important, was I wearing lipstick? I looked tons older with lipstick.
I had almost given up on him. “Hi, oh hey, hi!” Really, Toni?
He looked even better in the Purple Onion than he had in the Bohemian Embassy.
“I’ve been away on business, but I came in as soon as I could to see you in action.”
“Is there a problem here?” It was Rachel. Her mascara was all over her face, but at least she wasn’t leaking fresh tears.
“No, no, not at all! Rachel, this is Cassidy, he’s a—a friend.” Cassidy smiled at Rachel, and I could tell that it was a direct hit. He was, technically, sitting in her section. I looked at her imploringly.
“Nice to meet you, Cassidy. I’m sure Toni will fix you right up.”
“I’m sure she will.”
He winked at her before she turned, and she winked back at me.
“I make a mean cappuccino. Interested?” Whoa, I defy Grady to pull off a better line. Everybody look, look! I am handling this so well! Especially considering that he still had his hand on my arm and Ethan was glaring at me from onstage.
“You interest me, Toni.” He leaned back in his chair, and I couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in the leaning. “How goes your quest? I hope you’re getting somewhere.”
He remembered! Wow! “Oh, kind of, but not really.”
Wait, did he say that I interested him?
I ignored three of my own tables in the rush to the espresso machine. The Ramblers busted into their cover of “I Saw Her Standing There” and I sang right along with them.
“I smell trouble.” Rachel shook her head as she opened Coke bottles. “That man’s way too good-looking for his own good. Is he a trumpet player or musician of any kind?”
“No, I promise.” I started foaming the milk. “He’s a businessman. Isn’t he dreamy? I met him at the Bohemian Embassy. I didn’t even know anyone could look like that. It’s the smile, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean…” But she looked doubtful or sad. I didn’t know Rachel well enough to tell which. “I just got a feeling is all, but then, you got to consider the source, and I’m more wrong than I am right, right?”
“Rachel?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“You might want to fix your eyes a tad. They’re a bit…”
She started to tear up again.
“What?”
“Nothing. You’re so sweet is all.”
My hand shook like an earthquake as I handed Cassidy his coffee. He pretended not to notice. “Thank you, Toni. I wish you could join me.” He pretty much emptied the sugar canister into the cup. I liked that, since I did it too. “Sadly, I have some commitments, so I won’t be able to stay for the whole set.”
Was Ethan still watching? I hoped he was.
“But the next night I get free, I would like to take you to the Minc Club after your shift. I think you’d like it a lot.”
Was that a date? Was he asking me out? Seventeen magazine had all sorts of advice about this. I should play it cool, check my calendar, say I’d have to get back to him, look like I was conflicted.
“Wow, that would be great!”
One of my regulars, who hadn’t been served yet, was giving me the stinkeye. “Sorry, I have to go and…”
“Of course.” He raised his cup. “Until we meet again.” He blew me a kiss right in front of everybody and everything. My heart almost stopped.
Was this what love felt like? Okay, kind of fast, but it went like that in my head all the time. When it’s right, it’s right. I couldn’t get back to the table to clear until almost the end of the set. Cassidy was long gone.
But he had left me a ten-dollar tip!
Ten whole dollars! Oh my god! I could buy a whole new outfit with that! And I would. I had to look my most absolute best from here on in. I would be ready for Cassidy whenever he came in. My whole world was opening up. I couldn’t wait to write to Joe and tell him about my progress and how well I was doing and, well, all about this.
Joe would tell everybody, and they’d all be so proud. Actually, they’d be shocked out of their brains. I’d been in Toronto by myself for weeks and weeks, and I hadn’t gotten into trouble once!