Wednesday has come and I am getting ready to go back to the hospital when Papa Jake comes into the bathroom. He is wearing his Sunday best, as usual for him.
"Vito, I am going home." He says and I turn to look at him
"No! Please stay, just a few days longer!" I plead with him
"I need to catch my boat home now, I love you, boy." He says hugging me and walking out of the room, apartment, and my life. After all he is getting old and I don't know how long either of us will last.
I continue getting ready, slicking back my hair, and the works. When I am done a knock sounds from the front door. I go to answer it but Adrian lets herself in.
"Vito, we are going to be late to your session." She yells dragging me out of the door and taking the stairs two by two we finally take a tiny break. She hands me something and tells me to give it to the doctor that takes care of me. We then walk down the Boulevard quickly. When we reach the huge brick building with the Red Cross on the front we hurry in I smile at the nurse at the front desk and run past her. I know what room I am supposed to be in.
When I get there I am five minutes late. The woman giving me radiation today stops me at the door. "Honey, I'm going to need a pass from you." She says extending her hand forward. I hand her my crumpled piece of paper. She takes it and looks it over before ushering me into the room. "Now you need to calm down honey. Your heart rate is too high to start this." She says her accent is unfamiliar to me.
"Are you from the south?" I ask in my thick New Yorker accent but I am playing it up a little bit.
"Why yes, my accent probably is evident huh? Well my husband lost his farm and..." She goes on and on about her life's story but I just tune her out concentrating on the ceiling tiles when she says "And here we go!"
I had almost forgotten this is just an x-ray. It is done within a few minutes and she comes up to me with a needle and white gloves. "Just a pinch." she says sticking the needle into my arm after wiping down the skin around the area. It feels like a pin prick just as it is being pulled out.
"Okay, honey cakes we're going to do the radiation and look at the x-ray in a moment. Hold on you has a two hour session today, I slipped you a little more that the normal dose so you probably won’t really be coherent in well, now." she keeps talking but I can't hear her.
"Extra bunny, dosage, rainbows, illegal?" I ask her
"Of course honey. Starting now," She presses some buttons and the whirring sound starts again but I don't feel anything. I just lay still for a while until she puts her hand on my shoulder.
"Vito! You are done." she says smiling
"Flubbychosk nee cansske opstatis." I say returning her smile
"Yes, now you stay put, I'm going to go get your x-ray and talk to Dr. Reed." She says wiggling her eyebrows.
The world seems distorted. Like when you are dizzy and everything is stretched and such, yeah just like that except you can't shake the feeling. I'm assuming this is what being drunk feels like. I have been close to drunk before though, and I don't think this is what it feels like.
Flash back
I was eight.
"Vito, my boy, come here." My father calls me to him. Being Italian he has a thing for fine wine.
"Yes, Father?" I ask hesitantly
"Drink this," He says handing me a small opaque cup so I can't see it
"I don't know what it is." I say trying to hand it back
"Drink up this is your only underage chance, unless you like it of course." He says chuckling,
"Okay." I touch my tongue to the dark liquid. I quickly pull my tongue back into my mouth and swallow the rest of the foul liquid. It burns as it goes down my throat.
"Drink it all!" Father commands. I tip up the cup and down it. My throat feels like it is on fire, it burns roughly and hurts to talk, but I like it. A small smile spreads across my face.
"Wow." I say laughing
"You want more?" Father asks tossing me a bottle of wine
"You gave me wine?" I ask but still pour a small amount into the cup. I down it and repeat three or four times when Mother comes into the kitchen while I am mid-drink.
"What are you letting him do?" She shrieks yanking the cup from my grip.
"Don't worry, he has high tolerance." Father says sipping on his glass of wine as he talks.
"High tolerance? How could you take the risk and try to figure out if he did have high tolerance? What if he didn't?" She asks taking his wine glass and dumping it into the sink as well. Then she walks over and grabs the wine bottle. We live on the side facing the alley so she yanks up the rotting window and throws the bottle down. We hear a splatter as the sour liquid hits the asphalt.
"I'm sorry," Daddy starts looking at mom and then he turns to me "that you can't have more freedom, son."
"John, shut up." My Mother says leaving the room and pulling me with her to put me into bed.
As we walk I can tell she is shaken up. Her hand is a little shaky and her skin is pale. We reach my small mattress and she lays me down. She leaves for a moment and comes back with a cold cloth. She lies it on my head and strokes my cheek
"Vito, honey, I'm sorry your Father did this, he is drunk and doesn't know what he is doing. It won't happen again." She looks at me as if she is the one who needs forgiveness
"It's okay Mommy, it's not your fault." I say
"Yes it is I left you with him though I knew he was drunk." She says and I can see she is mad at herself.
"Mommy, are you and Father going through a fight? What is wrong?" I ask
"Nothing. It's nothing." She reassures me and with that she kisses my forehead and walks out of the room.
End Flashback
Now, I am starting to regain my senses. The nurse notices and helps me down from the examining table. She brings me into a dark room with two photos in front of light projecting out into the room.
"This is your x-ray."She says "It is looking better but we still have some tumors to get rid of. The ones in your neck are pretty much gone. The only ones left are the ones in the lymph nodes in your stomach/abdomen area which is okay. We will take care of you. Honestly hon, it’s looking up." The nurse says
"REALLY?" I ask all excited
"I wouldn't lie to you babe." She says "Now go on to that nice friend of yours." She shoves me out of the door. I run into Adrian.
"I was just looking for you!" She says
"The nurse," I say faking a frown and sad eyes "She says it is looking worse." I lie
"Oh my god, Vito." She says and starts shaking. Okay this was mean.
"Just Kidding!" I yell jumping happily "She said it's looking up! I'm getting better!"
"You Jerk!" She yells punching my shoulder playfully.
"Sorry," I say
"No apologies now." She says in mock anger but her smile gives her away.
"Did I ever tell you about my baby sister?" I ask her seriously.
"Yea, how she is awesome and adopted. Her name is Adrian and she disobeys all social laws." Adrian says like it is obvious, she is still joking, but I'm not.
“No, Ian, my real sister." I say
"No you haven't." She says knitting her eyebrows together. She takes my hand and pulls me out of the hospital. We are sitting on the steps and she says "Tell me now."
I have kept one secret from Adrian and that is Catherine.
YOU ARE READING
One day in Brooklyn
Historical FictionThere is a boy named Vito who lives in an apartment lost in the streets of Brooklyn. It is 1949, just after the war has ended. Vito is suffering grief, his father died in the war. His Father, though he might deny it, held his life together, when Vit...
