THE EDUCATION OF ROSE DAWSON: PART II

Chapter Ten

Cessation

After supper, Amsterdam washed and dried the dishes and took out the garbage. Jenny and Rose stayed behind to clean up the table.

“Would you like more tea?” Jenny asked Rose. “I finished boiling more water for it.”

“I certainly would, but please let me serve it. You can sit down in the living room.” That was where Jenny retired to while Rose mixed the hot water with the tea leaves in the teapot. Then she brought that and two teacups to the living room and filled each cup with tea – a custom that she knew well, having performed it many times back in Philadelphia when the Bukaters received guests.

Jenny, however, underestimated the temperature of the tea, and she winced as she took the first sip. She put a hand to her mouth to make sure it was all right.

Rose put down her cup to check on her. “Is it serious, Jenny? I am sorry; I should have told you earlier.”

Jenny sighed. “I’m all right, Rose. This mouth has been through a lot over the years.”

“Yes, it seems to have taken a great deal of punishment, if you do not mind me saying so.”

“No, I don’t mind. Back in the day, we didn’t have the kind of dental care you have now. Teeth rotted more easily, and those that gave you toothaches were pulled out by the blacksmith. Only the rich could afford dentists, but their practices were suspect.” Jenny pointed to an empty space at the back of her mouth where a molar used to be. “This tooth the rioter knocked loose – I almost choked on it. But I ended up keeping it for many years, only losing it on my way back from California.” She then grinned in satisfaction. “Maybe the tooth fairy took it and left this apartment for us because we found it right after we arrived in New York. It’s not much, but it’s home.”

“I could not have said it better, Jenny. It is home.”

“If I’d lost more teeth, the tooth fairy would have given us a mansion,” joked Jenny. She ran her tongue through her remaining teeth. “There’s still time, though.”

“I hope you can keep the rest of your teeth, Jenny. But they do look like…they have undergone a lot of wear, even for you.”

Jenny was not put off by Rose’s remark. “That comes with the privilege of being married to Amsterdam Vallon. Given his tendency to perform dangerous work and protect himself, Ammie wrapped leather bands around his hand when he was younger. He’d been doing this since his days with the Rabbits. So I bought some leather skins, cut them up, and then chewed them to make them softer. They had to be flexible, but sturdy, and chewing was better than using tools. Then I tied them securely around Ammie’s hands. After they wore out, I repeated the process – and ruined my teeth.”

“You really sacrificed your health for your husband. But I think he appreciated it.”

“I’d sure hope so. Ammie’s a magnet for trouble. As you noticed, he’s always risked his life to stand up for what he believes in. That’s why he was always getting hurt, and I’d have to nurse him back to health. No doctor could watch over him day and night, and he’d have exhausted the patience of most women. But then, I couldn’t bear to leave him, so I joined him in many of his shenanigans, and it almost cost me my life at times.”

“…I couldn’t bear to leave him…and it almost cost me my life…” Rose had epitomized these words on Titanic when she went back for Jack after he was handcuffed to the pole in the Master-at-Arms office and left to die as it flooded. “You are not alone. I, too, was very committed to my husband during the brief time we were together.” She took Jenny’s hand and reciprocated the squeeze. “Nothing could come between us – except his passing.”

Jenny smiled. “That reminds me of a song sung in the Five Points all those years ago, which ended like this: ‘And the best of all blessings we can meet in this life is a kind, loving husband and a good-tempered wife.’”

“Were you always the good-tempered wife?”

Jenny paused for three seconds before answering with hardly a hint of remorse: “No.” They both laughed simultaneously at this frank admission. “Let this be our secret,” she whispered to Rose.

“It is safe with me.”

Jenny turned somber again. “Only death will separate me and Ammie – unless we leave this world together. But we still intend to be buried together.”

Rose found the idea appealing. “That is what I would want for me and my husband.” If I could locate Jack’s body.

Jenny returned to the subject of the leather bands. “However, we found a new way to soften up the leather – with a mouse! Ammie brought one home and trained it to chew on the leather in return for food. Since its teeth never wore out, the mouse was a godsend – but too late to save my own teeth.”

Rose laughed and flinched at the same time. “That is amazing, but I doubt I could ever handle a mouse. I am so afraid of them.”

“Oh, we saw them all the time in the Five Points. Mice aren’t too hard to handle, unlike rats. If you overcome your fear of both, you’ll see how friendly they are – a lot friendlier than the two-legged kind who roam the streets, I assure you.”

Conquer your fears. “Yes, you are right, Jenny, but it will take some time.”

*****

Amsterdam returned to the apartment soon after, and it was just as well, as it began to rain hard. It was already dark, and while this and the tenement’s packed locale prevented Rose from seeing how much rain was coming down, she could hear some of the deluge beating on the apartment’s windowpanes. Five minutes passed, then ten, and the rain still did not let up.

“This looks like a major storm,” observed Amsterdam.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Jenny went to open it for a dripping Sam, who obviously did not have an umbrella with him. “Sammy! Do come in!”

“Thanks, Mrs. Vallon. I promised I’d come over to check on yous. I ran here as fast as I could after the rain started pouring. But not fast enough!”

Jenny helped him take off his jacket, which she laid on the bathtub. Then he handed her a small bunch of fully ripe bananas, which he had protected from the rain. “These are for all of yous,” he proudly announced. “They’re part of my payment for moving some heavy loads today.”

“Why, that’s very thoughtful of you, Sammy, but don’t you want to take them home and share with your mother?”

“My mama don’t like bananas. That’s why I brought them here.”

“Well, then, thank you very much. We haven’t had this in a long time.” Jenny showed the bananas to Amsterdam and Rose. “Dessert has arrived!”

“That looks delicious,” said Rose. “Thank you, Sammy!”

“My pleasure, Rose.”

“Just have a seat, Sammy,” suggested Amsterdam. “Don’t worry about yer shoes.” He pulled up a chair for Sam, who made it almost disappear under his large frame. Jenny passed out a banana to each person and they all sat down to enjoy them together.

After they finished, Amsterdam went to bathe, so everyone else went into the living room to give him some privacy. Rose poured a cup of tea and offered it to Sam.

“Thanks, Rose. So how’s your shoe now?” he asked half-sarcastically. Seeing that Rose glared mirthfully back at him, he teased her a little more. “Aren’t you glad I didn’t mention it when we was eating?”

“Do not worry, Sammy. Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.” Rose winked at Jenny.

Her words amazed Sam. “Spoken like a true fighter, Rose. Nothing stinks like manure. I think I’ve scooped enough of it in this life to cover all of Central Park two feet high. It numbs me so much a banana’s like Heaven next to it.”

“Then do show up for supper next time,” said Jenny. “As long as you don’t talk about manure.”

Sam snickered. “Next time, Mrs. Vallon, I’ll be here. And I’ll be good.”

“Where does all that manure go?” queried Rose.

“Much of it used to go across the river to Long Island—Brooklyn and Queens. There used to be many farms there, and farmers needed the manure to fertilize their soil. They grew their crops and sold them back to the city. So there was a cycle. Now Long Island’s becoming like the city, with cars replacing horses, and the farms are leaving for Florida and California.”

California again. “California seems to be the final destination for everything.”

“Not quite,” retorted Amsterdam, who had overheard the entire conversation from the bathtub.

“Oh, go finish washing up first!” Jenny told her husband. “There’s a line waiting!”

*****

After Amsterdam finished bathing and drying himself, Jenny returned to the kitchen to look out the window. The rain continued to beat down as hard as ever on the windows. That was when Rose realized that she had a problem. “How will I return to the shelter in this weather?”

“Why don’t you spend the night here?” advised Jenny. “I could make some room on the couch in the living room. It’s more comfortable than it looks.”

“That is very kind of you, Jenny, but I am afraid they will worry about and not know how to locate me.”

“Do you know the shelter’s phone number, if it has one?” inquired Amsterdam.

“Unfortunately, I never checked.”

“Where’s your shelter, Rose?” interjected Sam.

“It is at 316 East 15^th Street between First and Second Avenues.”

“Oh, the Salvation Army shelter. That’s not far from my home. I can leave now and stop there on my way home and tell them where you’re staying tonight.”

Rose considered Sam’s plan for a moment. “That is very kind of you, Sammy, but do you really want to go out in the rain right now? I could just spend the night here and explain to them where I was tomorrow.”

“I have to go home anyway, and you should tell them earlier so they won’t worry. I know I sound like your mama, Rose, but my mama does the same for me because she cares. It’s good to have a mama who cares about you, no matter how old you are.”

“Yes, you are so right.” So right indeed.

“Relax, Rose. The rain ain’t the deadliest thing I’ve faced. I’ll tell the Army you’re staying with Vallon, so you’re in good hands.” Sam looked out the window again. “I doubt it’s going to let up soon, so I’ll leave first.” He put on his jacket and accepted an umbrella from Jenny. “Good night! I’ll try to see yous tomorrow.”

*****

After Sam left, Jenny went to remake the couch into a bed. Amsterdam and Rose sat around the kitchen dining table continuing to stare out the window.

“Sammy is so selfless,” said Rose.

“Yes, and he’s one of the few lucky ones who had good people guiding him in the right direction at every stage of his life: his father, mother, grandmother, brother…”

“You and Jenny.”

Amsterdam bowed his head slightly to acknowledge the compliment. “We hope so. Sammy was born poor, and that’s tough enough. But when you’re poor and colored, you’re twice as damned in this country. I hate to see good people lead the life I led, so I’ve tried to help whoever I could – like Sammy, like you. Jenny and I never had children, but if we did, we’d probably want them to be like you two.”

“We do appreciate that, Amsterdam. I cannot say this enough.”

“Sammy and his mother said the same thing after I taught him some boxing moves. He needed them to survive the Gashouse District, which is separated from yer shelter only by the El, and she wanted him home safe every night. The difference between the two places is like night and day. You heard him say the rain ain’t the deadliest thing he’s faced. That’s why.”

“Wow, I did not know that. Then again, I have only ventured past the El once – yesterday – and we know how that turned out.”

“Yes, we do.” Amsterdam then became curious. “So, how did you end up with the Salvation Army, Rose? I know why, but what made you choose it over another place?”

Rose knew Amsterdam would ask such a question sooner or later, and thereby had to give a compelling answer without giving away too much of her past. “After my husband died, I was alone in the city. Our landlord refused to rent to a single woman, and so evicted me. I had no other close kin, so I was on my own. The Army was the first to approach me and offer me shelter, and I accepted. So, you can say we chose each other, and it has worked out well so far.”

Amsterdam’s reaction was nonchalant. “So it has. Just be careful or they’ll have you singing hosannas to the virtues of temperance.”

Those words made Rose recall Brigadier Bown’s mention of her trips to the bars of the Lower East Side to convince patrons to renounce drinking, even if it meant singing to them. “Now I see why you hesitated to enter the shelter last night.”

“I’ve had enough religion in this life, Rose. Sometimes it’s enough to make people kill in its name—like the Rabbits and Natives. Yes, my father was a priest and I still wear my medallion with pride, but there are many other people more worthy of God’s help than me.”

“I know the Army delivers its messages in unorthodox and conspicuous ways that many people may not accept.”

“And that’s exactly why I despised it,” admitted Amsterdam. “Who was it to tell people what to do? No church came out against our right to drink harder than the Army, even if it did so peacefully. We ridiculed them for their purity, and some of us—not me—even attacked them on the streets. In England, the bar and brothel owners encouraged their patrons to form gangs to beat up Salvationists when they marched on the streets to denounce sin. These gangs was collectively known as the Skeleton Army, and even had the blessings of the cops. Copycat gangs formed in this country for the same purpose, and even though they was smaller, they was no less violent. I didn’t care when they spat on the Salvos, but once they started beating and throwing rocks at them without the Salvos fighting back, I began to have a change of heart. Jenny and I even helped an injured Salvo one time after she was kicked in the head after being knocked down. Once the gangs tried to burn down a Salvo church, I stopped supporting them, as did many other people. And that was the end of the anti-Salvo movement.”

Rose was simply glued to yet another of Amsterdam’s gripping chronicles about his earlier life. Although she had known him for only about twenty-four hours, she had learned more about the lives of ordinary people from him, Jenny, and even Sam than she had learned in all those years of private tutors and finishing school. “That reminds me of Aesop’s fable about the wind and the sun, who competed to see who could make a man take off his coat. The wind blew on the man with all its strength, but that only made him bundle up even more. The sun only had to shine to make him take the coat off. The moral of the story was that gentleness can accomplish what force cannot, and the Army must have won a lot of sympathy by not retaliating.”

“Yes, I must say. That episode taught me a lesson: to respect someone who stands up for what he – or she – thinks is right, even if I think he – or she – is wrong. What I don’t like are those vacillating cowards who take a position only when it’s popular and then abandon it when it’s not. Them Salvos will never be my best friends, but they’re at least willing to risk insult and injury to promote their cause.”

“Similar to your Rabbits?”

“Yes, but without the fighting. When you must stand up for yerself, there are times when you have to fight – like yesterday – but remember what I said about Johnny Devine. You must know when to pick yer fights. The Salvos chose not to fight then, so now they’re loved by many.”

*****

“Rose, I’ve finished fixing your bed,” announced Jenny. “Come in and have a look.”

Rose returned to the living room and saw the couch, now remade into a bed. “That looks very comfortable, Jenny. Thank you so much.”

“Would you like to wash up and brush your teeth before going to bed? Don’t worry, we won’t look and I’ll draw the shades!”

“But I do not have a change of clothes.”

“I can lend you one of my old nightgowns. It’ll be a little tight, but I think it will fit you.”

Rose thought about her options for a moment. “All right, I will wash. But let me brush my teeth first.”

Jenny gave her a toothbrush and a can of tooth powder. By the time she finished brushing, Jenny had filled the bathtub with warm water and laid out some soap, a washcloth, and a towel for her use. Then she gave Rose all the privacy she needed by drawing the shades to the kitchen window and going into her bedroom.

For Rose, bathing in a bathtub that was placed in such an odd location was a strange experience. Even alone in the kitchen with the shades drawn, she initially feared that her privacy had been compromised. But then, she reasoned, how different was bathing in a kitchen from posing nude for Jack in the First Class suite on Titanic or making love inside the car in its cargo hold, both of which also carried the risk of being seen by uninvited eyes? That assuaged her concern, and she promptly finished bathing with no problems.

Once Rose was ready for bed, Jenny came back out and helped tuck her in before turning off the lights. “Good night, Rose. It’s been a long day.”

“Good night, Jenny. And please say the same to Amsterdam for me.” It had been a long day for Rose, but it was constructive – perhaps the most constructive of her days ever since she returned to New York. It started out discouragingly with an unsuccessful job interview and a story of yet another maritime disaster involving a huge loss of life, but it improved as it progressed. At least Rose had the opportunity to explore more of New York and sample food and drink from different parts of the world. Most importantly, she found three more new friends in Amsterdam, Jenny, and Sam. All three were educated in the school of life, which offered lessons that no formal school of any kind could ever provide.

Tired, she quickly dozed off, not knowing what dreams might come overnight.

TO BE CONTINUED

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