Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 85.1: 1968, Georgina

Chapter 85.1: 1968, Georgina  

The sound of dishes being washed in the sink was singing me a lullaby as I continued to sit at the table. The dawn light was rising in the living room window, but I didn't care for it.

At the sink, Paulie was washing dishes systematically and putting them on the draining rack. Knowing his patterns, he'd be wiping them with a rag after he'd finished and then he'd put them away. I'd missed this, his washing dishes every morning before he went to work. He'd done it every morning when we'd lived together so long ago.

He'd never spoken when doing this, just silently doing his duty. But today was different, as he spoke. 

"I heard what you two were talking about."

And I was silent. There were no words for it. I studied the irregularities in the Formica before me, acting like I hadn't heard him. But he knew I wasn't deaf.

"I don't think its a good idea, either. They don't know. That kid is strong, kicking. He doesn't want a regular life. He wants the night life. That's what he came here for, that's what he's gonna get." He put a dish down into the rack with a clacking sound, then went onto the next, dipping into the soapy water and scrubbing with his brush. 

I nodded though his back was turned to me, just listening.

"I'll talk to him. See what he wants. But I can tell you right now, he's not going to want to go to Philadelphia. The way he talks about us? He's going to want to stay here. With us."

I shook my head, still staring down at the table. My thoughts remained, from when we were eating. Seeing Cha Cha and me in Hawaii, whatever that looked like. I'd only ever seen the beaches, in newspaper travel ads and such. Now that I'd had that vision, it remained. But there was no way I was going to talk to Paulie about it. Even to me, it seemed like a ridiculous notion. Bringing Cha Cha to Hawaii...when I wasn't sure I was going. When it still seemed so far away. Too far away.

"I don't know where they got this ridiculous idea. Yes, I did omit that they called him those things. But he's a tough kid. He got scared, but he was scared of Eddie when he started calling him the N word, and now look at him. Well, look at him before Eddie's people started picking on him. But my point is, he is a tough kid and he can tough it out."

When was I going to get to Hawaii? When was Frankie going to make this happen? We'd talked about it a few days ago. I knew he was serious, I had no doubt about his intentions. But could he really make it happen? Sometimes when I was alone I didn't think so. And now staring at Paulie's back, his reality, hearing the reality he was talking about. I couldn't bring myself to doubt Frankie, but there was a lingering. It made my brain too sore to go on, my heart too sore.

"Carl could put him into school, anyway. Put him in a school that's better for him, where people look like him. Oh, but he's different, too. The way he acts. I wonder how kids would react."

My hands curled on the table, the gravity of my thoughts folding over and over itself. Weighing on me. Too much.

"Paulie, do you think Hawaii is going to happen?" 

There was a pause. No more dish washing sounds. The dish currently being held dripped into the soapy water, motionless otherwise. I hadn't meant to speak a word, wouldn't have dared but my mouth had moved on its own.

But, right now this seemed okay. There was something in this room, making me feel more comfortable. Once it was out there, the gravity was lifting gently. It took this pause to make me realize that something was Paulie, somebody I could tell anything to. Always had.