JOHN AND ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Five
August 25, 1928
"I’m going to miss you so much!"
Mary hugged her sister, looking her over critically as they stood in the
bustling train station in Cedar Rapids, hardly noticing what was going on
around them.
"I’ll miss you, too, Mary." Nadia
hugged her sister back, getting teary-eyed now that the time had come for them
to part. They’d had their share of squabbles over the years they were growing
up together, but they were still sisters, and now they were going their
separate ways.
"Don’t forget to write." Mary stood
back, looking at Nadia.
"I will…as soon as you get a permanent
address."
Mary had finished the picture Rose had cast
her in and was on her way to California, Rose accompanying her. Nadia, in spite
of her parents’ misgivings, was on her way to Mississippi for college. Their
bags and boxes were packed and loaded onto their separate trains, and the whole
family had accompanied them to the station.
Rose walked up to them, hushing a fussing
Jane, who would be coming with her to California. She would stay with Mary for
two weeks to help her get started before returning home.
"Nadia, if you want to write to Mary,
you can send the letters to us at first, and we’ll make sure she gets
them."
"I’ll do that, Mom." Nadia looked
up to see that her father and Christopher had joined them. "I’m going to
miss you all so much!"
"We’ll see each other again,
Nadia," Mary assured her. "We’ll all be together for holidays, and
you’ll come home for the summer."
"I know, but…it just won’t be the same.
We won’t all be one family living together anymore."
John hugged both of his elder daughters,
seeing how Nadia was trying to not to cry. Mary, in contrast, was excited about
moving, her eyes sparkling, even though she would miss them, too.
"It’ll be all right, Nadia," he
told her. "You’re going to be fine, and you’re going to get the college
education you’ve dreamed of. I must admit that I wish you were closer to home,
but you’ll be all right wherever you go. Just remember that I love you…we all
do, and you can come home to visit whenever you like. If you need money, just
wire me."
"I’m just going to Mississippi."
Nadia gave him a brave smile. "It isn’t that far away. You can get there
on the train in only a day."
"That’s right, and we’ll probably come
to visit sometime in October. As for you, Mary, don’t get so caught up in your
glamorous new life that you forget about us. It takes a lot longer to get to
California than Mississippi, though we’ll try. I expect you to make the effort
to keep in touch with us."
"I will, Dad. Don’t worry." Mary’s
eyes gleamed at the thought of where she was going. "Anyway, acting isn’t
all glamour and everything. It’s a lot of work, too. Remember, I’ve been in
three of Mom’s pictures."
"I know." John had learned that
actors making a motion picture sometimes kept very strange hours, and even
stranger company. Rose had managed to get people from Hollywood and New York to
work for her, boosting the business in the local hotels and restaurants
considerably. She had also used local talent, whoever she could find, including
filming him working when she couldn’t find a suitable actor for a bit part as a
businessman. It had taken several tries before he was calm enough in front of
the camera to work normally.
"Just don’t be too disappointed if
you’re not a huge success right away, Mary," Rose told her, handing the
baby to John for a moment. "It took me several years before I became a
star."
"I know that. But you know what, Mom?
Even if I’m not a huge star, I still want to act. I just…like it. It’s fun.
There’s nothing better than turning into someone else for a while, and having
people believe in what you’ve become."
"That’s an attitude that’s likely to
succeed," Rose said, smiling. "A lot of people go to Hollywood or New
York looking to be big stars, without any idea of how much competition there is
or how much work it takes. And don’t forget, motion pictures aren’t the only
acting venues. There’s also stage and radio…I’ve even heard that they’ve been
trying to develop a kind of machine where moving pictures can be broadcast into
your house, like radio, except you can watch it, too."
Mary’s eyes widened at the idea. Imagine
being able to watch moving pictures from the comfort of one’s own home! Some
rich people had their own screens and could get films, of course, but her
father hadn’t gotten one. If there was a machine that could do it like a radio,
it would be such a convenience.
"If anyone gets something like that to
work, I want to be a part of it. Maybe there could be special pictures for the
moving picture machine, just like there are programs for the radio."
"Well, someone has to get it to work
first," Rose advised, but she shared Mary’s enthusiasm, thinking of all
the fascinating things that could be done with such a machine.
The train whistles blew, startling them. John
hugged both of his daughters, giving them each a long look. His girls were
grown now—Mary, the child of his marriage to Jane, and Nadia, the frightened
toddler he had adopted after she had lost her mother on the Titanic. Each of
them had their own hopes and dreams for the future, and much as he would have
liked to keep them close, they needed to go out into the world and work toward
those goals. He was more fortunate than Rose’s mother had been, he knew. Mary
and Nadia felt no need to run away, to cut themselves off from him, and
certainly he was more fortunate than Elizabeth Anders—his daughters were alive
and well, and not afraid to share what happened in their lives with him. When
they married, he would be there, not an ocean away with no knowledge of what
was happening. And if something happened to one of them, he wouldn’t have to
find out from a stranger claiming to be a husband.
"Bye, Dad." Nadia hugged him
tightly. "I’ll be fine. It’ll just take some adjusting."
Mary hugged him, too. "We’ll be back
often enough. You haven’t seen the last of us," she joked. Then she hugged
her sister. "Study hard, Nadia, okay? I know you like to study, but you
have something to prove—that your darker skin doesn’t make you dumb, and that a
woman can go to college to learn, instead of just to look for a husband. Of
course," she added, "if you do find Mr. Right, don’t let him
go."
"I will, Mary." Nadia hugged her
back. "And you tell me whatever you’re doing, okay? If you’re in a motion
picture, I want to know so I can see it. And if somebody gets those machines to
work, and you’re in a picture for them, you’ll have to tell me that, too."
"I will." Mary stepped back.
"You’d better get on your train before it leaves without you."
"Yeah." Nadia gave Mary one last
hug, then quickly embraced Rose and Jane. "Bye, Mom. Bye, little Jane. I
bet you’ll have grown so much when I see you again."
Jane gurgled, looking at her older sister.
Rose hugged her stepdaughter back.
"We all love you, Nadia, and we’ll miss
you."
"Yeah," Christopher added,
shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "I’ll miss you, too."
"I’ll miss you, too, kid." Nadia
gave him a quick hug, then looked up at him. Seemingly overnight, he had
sprouted to nearly six feet tall, although he was still very lanky.
Her train’s whistle blew again, and she
stepped away, picking up her bags and turning toward the train.
"Bye, everybody. I love you all."
She hurried away, not looking back until she was on the train.
Finding a seat, she stood at the window and
waved as the train pulled out of the station, watching until everyone had
disappeared from sight.
John watched the train go, waving until it
was out of sight. One of his children was grown and gone, and another would follow
in a few minutes. Sighing, he turned to look at Mary, Rose, and Jane.
Mary had her bags and Rose’s, while Rose
carried the baby and a diaper bag. They juggled their loads, looking toward
where their train was boarding.
"I guess this is it," he said, hugging
Mary. "Nadia’s off to college, and you’re off to Hollywood."
"We’ll be back to visit, Dad," Mary
promised, hugging him back. "Especially Nadia, since she’ll be back in the
summers. But I’ll come back, too, and if Mom needs an actress, I’ll be
there."
"I know, Mary. My little girl. It’s so
hard to believe you’re grown."
"I can believe it. It took forever
sometimes."
"Well, remember that it will go a lot
faster from here on out. You’ll be nineteen in December…hard to believe."
"I’ll be fine, Dad. Mom will show me
what I need to know. I’m willing to work hard and do what it takes to be an
actress."
"As long as you don’t do anything
that it takes," Rose interjected. "You know what I’m talking about.
Not only did you have that bad experience with that director, but we discussed
what young actresses sometimes face. Watch what you do and stay out of trouble,
or I can guarantee that your father, in spite of the fact that you’re grown,
will ship you back to Cedar Rapids so fast you won’t know what hit you, and
keep you here until you’ve finished college."
Mary looked horrified at the idea. She’d had
her fill of school, and four years of college did not appeal to her.
"I’ll behave. I promise!"
"Good to hear." John looked at
where the train was nearly finished boarding. "I guess you’d better get
going."
"Yeah." Mary gave him a quick kiss
on the cheek. "I love you, Dad. I’ll be back."
"Thanks, Mary. I love you, too."
Rose gave John a kiss, too, balancing the
baby and the bag in her arms. "I’ll see you in about three weeks,
love."
"It’ll seem like three years," John
replied, kissing her back.
Christopher rolled his eyes, embarrassed to
see them acting like that in public. Turning to Mary, he told her, "Have
fun in Hollywood. I was in a picture there once, when I was little."
"I know. You’ve told me so a thousand
times."
"Yeah…okay. Well, do what Mom said and
stay out of trouble. Oh, and one other thing." He grinned. "Stay away
from cactus."
"Good advice, little brother. You should
follow that advice, too. Stay out of trouble and cactus." Christopher got
himself into almost as much trouble as Mary had growing up.
"Shut up."
"You shut up." Mary reached up and
ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance. "I’ll see you at Thanksgiving,
Christopher. Maybe you’ll find a girlfriend by then."
"Shut up."
Mary turned and headed towards the train,
Rose following. They got aboard just as it was about to pull away, and stood in
the doorway for a moment, waving.
When the second train was out of sight, John
sighed and looked at the one family member remaining at home for the moment.
"Looks like it’s just you and me, Christopher."
Christopher shrugged. "No women to boss
us around. We can do whatever we want and be as messy as we want."
"Not likely. The housekeeper will have a
fit."
"Well, at least Mom won’t tell me what
to do for a few weeks."
"Be respectful of her, Christopher. She
wants what’s best for you."
"I know, but…" He dug the toe of
his tennis shoe into the dirt outside the station. "Well, she won’t
lecture me," he finished. "You don’t lecture. Can’t things be a
little different while she’s gone, like letting me stay out later and bring
girls home?"
"You can stay out an hour later as long
as you stay out of trouble." John was willing to concede that much.
"But you can’t bring any girls home if I’m not there. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," Christopher
mumbled.
"Don’t look so glum, Christopher. You’ll
grow up soon enough. I don’t want you getting a girl in trouble before
then."
"You mean I can get a girl in trouble
after I’m eighteen?"
"Don’t be a smart mouth. You know what I
mean." He dug into his pocket for the car keys. "Let’s go home."