Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 78.1: 1995, Ruiz

Chapter 78.1: 1995, Ruiz

"What are we doing here?"

"I figure its a Wednesday night. Nobody is out. We can get away and not be disturbed."

"But...how come we can sit all the way up here? I thought nobody was allowed up here. Its not safe. That's what you told me before."

It was a late Wednesday night. In fact, it may have even been Thursday by now. There was light in the movie theater, cast on the long red velvet curtains. It had been a long time since Miss Cha Cha had brought me to this theater, and seemed like even longer since Ambrose had. Though that wasn't the case. He and I had been here last year, last summer because he'd wanted to see Forrest Gump with no disturbances. We'd tried to go see it in Manhattan, but people had brought their children and it was not as family friendly as they'd thought. So we'd come here, to this one room theater in New Jersey that still had its original red velvet curtains that slid back when the movie came on. Miss Cha Cha had shown the theater to Ambrose first, saying it was one of her favorite places. Since then, it was one of Ambrose's favorite places, too.

But the original balcony had been off limits or so I'd thought, having been told by Miss Cha Cha over and over again. Everybody knew the balcony was the best seat in the house, or more like the front of the balcony. You could see everything, and this was how movies were supposed to be watched, according to Miss Cha Cha. "Such a shame the balcony is not open," she'd said to me.

However, apparently that wasn't the case anymore. If it had ever been the case.

"Shh, you know Ambrose is claustrophobic? It can kind of get claustrophobic up there, the ceiling being so low. I thought I'd take the pressure off of him, tell you the balcony was unsafe."

"Oh..." My heart softened weirdly. Of course she'd be thinking about him at that time, making sure he felt safe. I knew I'd asked about the balcony when I'd first seen it, so excited. In fact, I could remember that whole conversation. Something in me was making that conversation feel like it was so long ago, when in reality maybe it was.

Miss Cha Cha gently shoved my box of popcorn in my hands which surprised me at first but I took it with a small smile. I peered over the balcony and she did the same. There were a few other people here, all women. They weren't saying much. I wondered if they could hear us all the way up here since we could hear them. Even so, what they said just sounded like murmurs.

"So tell me what happened."

"Huh?" I was caught off guard. I peered to my side, at Miss Cha Cha's face. She wasn't looking at me, now deep in her mini daisy-center-yellow shiny plastic purse. As I watched, she carefully took out a piece of gum in its shiny foil and unwrapped it expertly. She folded this and put it in her mouth. 

"Mm. So," she sucked hard on the gum and then looked at me, "tell me what happened the other night."

"Oh." She looked so kind. Her smile was gentle, like her words. Unthreatening, but I still felt threatened and I couldn't shake it.

I leaned forward and gripped the brass railing hard, unsure what to do or say. But the middle of my shoulders rippled with her touch, instantly relaxing. Her fingers were warm even through my thin windbreaker. 

"My Mama said some...things." With this my throat instantly seized up. I wasn't about to cry, but my throat was unwilling. My stomach felt sick, the popcorn box on my lap suddenly unappetizing. 

"What kinds of things?" She said this very carefully, I thought. Not probing, like we were best girlfriends and she knew me better than anyone. It certainly felt that way. This made my stomach warm, the sick ebbing away a little bit.