Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 96.1: 1968, Georgina

Chapter 96.1: 1968, Georgina

It was the early afternoon, and Paulie had so far spent the day cleaning. I’d watched him from my wheelchair, silently staring at him as he went around methodically sweeping and tidying up. I’d noticed him pick up the Beach Boys record from on top of the TV that Sasha had absentmindedly left there a couple of days ago. That part had made my insides pinch up a little bit, remembering my conversation with Paulie after, about Avi.

Paulie hadn’t said a word about Avi for the past couple of days. What did that mean? That he was trying to avoid talking about him just as much as I was avoiding the subject? If it was, I hoped it was for the better. Not bottling up inside of him like a volcano or a bomb ready to explode.

As I’d watched him clean up, I felt like an invalid because I couldn’t help him. So I decided not to add to the mess by not picking up a cigarette. Inside, I was fighting myself, wanting the cigarette but not wanting the cigarette. Just like the bourbon, it was so similar. There was still about a fourth of the new pack he’d bought me a couple of days ago left. I’d been doing well.

In front of me on the other side of the living room, Paulie righted himself as he closed the glass doors of his record cabinet with a satisfying click. He stood there, staring down at it. His hands went on his hips, seeming to be in a pause. What was he thinking?

“Uh,” I said, not really sure why.

“Huh,” he said to himself, still staring down. I couldn’t infer anything from that.

“Yeah?” I asked, still not quite sure where this was going or why.

“I was thinking.”

“Oh.” Yeah, he’d been thinking. That’s why I’d said something.

“I was thinking about a movie.”

“Oh. What movie?” Something inside was releasing, relaxing. Talking to him like this. So casual.

“The Sound of Music.”

“Why?”

“Hm. Well…” He turned to me, staring at me now like he had at the record cabinet. I shifted in my chair, trying to look casual.

“Hm?”

“Well, your birthday’s coming up in about a week, right?”

“Is it?”

At this he let out a small snort of a laugh. Sort of like a pig, I thought. But a cute pig.

“What was that for?” I asked, not laughing with him. He just stared at me some more, then he smiled. It made me relax even more. All this tension in the room going away with it, tension I hadn’t realized was there until it was going away.

“Yeah, its your birthday in about a week. May 12th. I know it.”

“Oh, yeah.” To be honest, I had barely known it was May. The passage of time had nearly no meaning in this apartment. It always felt like the same day over and over again. Doing the same things every day. Was it really already May out there? What had I been doing, what was-

“I heard that there’s a little theater in New Jersey playing the Sound of Music tonight at midnight. Special showing. They show older movies sometimes, stuff like It Happened One Night and Casablanca. But they’re showing The Sound of Music. Remember when we saw that? We went four times. Remember?”

“I thought you hated New Jersey.”

“Shh. What was that for? Don’t you want to go see The Sound of Music with me again? It could be for your birthday. I know its not your birthday yet, but they’re only showing it once. It would be nice.”