JOHN AND ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Six
October 1, 1928
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Rose returned to Cedar Rapids after spending
two weeks in Hollywood with Mary, helping her to settle in. It hadn’t changed
much since she’d moved to Cedar Rapids. There were still dozens of would-be
stars, young and not so young, looking to break into the moving picture
business, most of whom had no idea what they were getting into. Privately, she
thought that Mary was much better off than most of them, since she had some
experience and knowledge, as well as a well-known stepmother in the movie
business. In addition, she didn’t have to worry about trying to make a living
while she worked toward becoming an actress—if she ran into trouble, her father
would send her money. Mary was determined to make it on her own, but Rose was
glad she had those resources. Life could be hard for a struggling actress, and
Mary was in a much better position than Rose herself had been when she had
started out thirteen years before.
Not surprisingly, Mary hadn’t been an
immediate success. Stars who were discovered and became immediately successful
were few and far between, and many weren’t prepared for the life of a
celebrity, burning out quickly and disappearing. But Rose had introduced her to
several well-known actors and directors, as well as some not so well-known
ones, feeling that there was no reason to discriminate against someone simply
because they weren’t famous. Every person was valuable to know.
Mary had signed up with several agencies that
hired extras, hoping that it would get her started just as it had gotten Rose
started. She had also immediately signed up for auditions for various directors
and moving picture companies, distributing the resume Rose had helped her write
and bringing clips of the films she had taken part in for Rose’s movie studio
in Cedar Rapids, the last of which had become surprisingly successful and was
being shown in theaters in major cities across the country, including Los
Angeles. She hadn’t gotten a break yet when Rose had left, but she was
determined to keep trying until she did, and Rose had no doubt that her elder
stepdaughter would make something of herself.
Rose had returned home to find that her
mother had moved back in with the Calverts. After Jane had been born, Rose had
succeeded in getting Ruth to rent a small house on the outskirts of town, but
when Rose had left with Mary, Ruth had decided to move back in to help John and
Christopher. Rose wasn’t happy to have her mother living with her again—they
had different ideas of how the house should be run and the children cared
for—and quickly began trying to convince Ruth to go back to her own house.
John and Christopher hadn’t been terribly
happy when they arrived home from the train station and found Ruth waiting for
them, but John was too polite to ask her to leave. Ruth had felt that they
needed someone to run the house for them while Rose was gone, although
Christopher had insisted that he and John could do it themselves. Ruth had been
adamant, however, giving the housekeeper instructions and hiring a cook when no
one was looking. It had taken all of Rose’s patience not to order her
well-meaning but aggravating mother out of her house when she had returned.
At least Nadia was doing well. She had
written home soon after she had arrived, telling them that she had gotten
settled into her dormitory without trouble and had signed up for four classes.
She had made a few friends, too, although some people eyed her olive skin with
suspicion, and others were put off by her accent, which marked her as a Yankee
instead of a southerner. Still, her letters had indicated that she was doing
well and was enjoying college.
However, on October first, the Calverts
received a letter with a much different tone from Nadia—this one upset and
almost frantic.
Dear Dad and Mom,
In spite of my earlier success in college,
I have run across a problem that I can’t seem to solve. Perhaps I should
explain exactly what has happened.
My roommate, or should I say, former
roommate, and I didn’t get along from the start. We both come from well-to-do
families, but hers has fallen on hard times, and for some reason she decided to
take it out on me. We managed to ignore each other most of the time, but two
days ago I learned that she had gone to the dean and threatened to leave the
school, all the while dragging its reputation through the mud, because she
didn’t wish to go to school with an ‘uppity nigger’, meaning me. For some
reason, she was observing the fact that my ‘summer tan’ didn’t fade, and this
convinced her that the school had been duped into letting me in, since they
don’t allow black students here.
She told the dean that she could
understand how the administration had been fooled, with the current fashion for
tanning and the fact that my family probably paid them well to let me in, but
she knew that no decent school could continue to let a ‘nigger’ study with
white students, and demanded that I be expelled immediately. She also pointed
out that it is probably against the law to allow students of different races to
attend the same school, even in college.
I told the dean that I wasn’t what she
said I was—I hate the word nigger. It’s so ugly, but it seems to be my former
roommate’s favorite word at the moment, at least when she sees me. At any rate,
he doesn’t quite believe me, but says that if I can prove her wrong, I can
stay. I am as entitled as anyone else to go here, even if there is a law that
says that schools can’t have students of different races. I think that law is
mainly aimed at keeping black and white students apart, and other races aren’t
given as much attention.
Dad, you told me once that you thought I
was probably Arab, so I looked up Arabs and found that we are scientifically
considered to be a part of the Caucasian race, even if we are a little darker
than your average Englishman. Personally, I find all of this argument about a
person’s race to be ridiculous, but I can’t change it, and right now I’m afraid
that I won’t be able to stay in college.
You said that you would come and visit, so
could you please come soon? You both have a lot of influence, especially Dad,
so maybe you can get me out of this mess. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone here, but
I like this college, in spite of my former roommate and some others who could
use a lesson in manners.
Please, please come quickly. I don’t know
how long they’ll let me stay otherwise.
Love,
Nadia