THE AMERICAN DREAM

1.12 ▫︎ APRIL, 1934 ↦ VIVIAN

VIVIAN

Vivian's young, nimble fingers danced over the keys on the grand piano in the parlor. Nocturne in C-minor was what she was playing. It was her mother's favorite piece. She always asked Vivian to play it while she balanced her fathers checking account.

It was a quiet afternoon. Her father had yet to come home from work at the office. He owned a chain of cinemas and still earned nearly as much money as he did before. Katherine went on a double date in Brooklyn. Her younger brother, Sydney, had been driving golf balls all day with his friends at the country club. Vivian didn't bother going out today. She had been a bit down lately about all the odds and ins of life. She had fallen out of sorts with her friends and didn't have much energy to reconnect.

School was nothing but dreary to her. She would play along with the fun of her peers, of course, but continuing the fun out side of school felt like too much for her. She preferred the company her own thoughts and her hobbies. She had well mastered the piano, and could make excellent art with her hands. She also found enough friendship in the family that she had at home. And her darling puppy named Darling that she had received for her birthday in April. Darling was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with a pure ruby coat and a red bow collar. Vivian held a special love for the young puppy which was only three months old.

As Vivian played, Darling danced excitedly next to her pale Walking Oxfords. She didn't bark too much. That made her mother happy.

"Vivian, I believe the tea had steeped long enough. Would you be a dear and put it on ice?" her mother asked from under her reading glasses.

"Yes ma'am," she agreed, stopping the song in a favorable place and standing up from the leather-padded bench. As she crossed the threshold of the dining room and kitchen, she heard the door violently open and close. Darling scurried into the tiled kitchen and hid behind Vivian's legs. She grimaced. Father must not have had a good day. She removed the tea bags from the kettle, then heard her mother's voice.

"You're home early, dear. It's not even dark out."

"That's the last time I ever let a Brooklyn man take me out!" Katherine seethed.

Vivian added a extra glass to the two she readied her herself and mother and poured a generous amount of tea over each glasses of ice.

"Well what happened?"

She placed the glasses on a tray and followed Darling to the parlor.

"Oh, it was awful," Katherine started. Vivian placed the tray on the glass table before the parlor chairs where her mother and Katherine were seated.

"Thank you Vivian," Mother said gratefully as she took a glass in her hand and took a small sip. Katherine took a glass too, without a work.

Vivian took her own and lowered to one of the chairs. Darling hopped on to her lap and sat politely as Vivian took her own sip of the cool refreshment. "Not only do I have to ride a train on my own to Brooklyn, but the friend that he brought for Wilma was insulting. He was barely a man at all. And he paid for the night out with dirty money."

Katherine took a sip of her tea and cringed. "Vivian how many times must I tell you that I hate lemon on my tea." She scooped the lemon piece out and dropped it onto the glass platter in disgust. Vivian sighed, for last time she required sugar and a lemon.

"Dirty money?" Mother asked, removing her glasses from her face and setting them gently on her notebook in the table.

"Mother, he boxes underground. Its ridiculous how think his wallet is for beating a man."

"In all fairness, they both agree to the fight, my dear," mother noted.

"Is he our age?" Vivian asked. "Doing boxing matches underground for money. That's so sad."

Katherine scoffed. "It's not sad. It's ridiculous, that's what it is."

"But dear, you still don't have a prom date like you wanted. Time is running out Brooklyn High is the last one," her mother reminded.

"I'd rather not attend with him."

"You may want to rethink that. Skipping out may be something you regret."

Katherine looked around the room for a second decide saying anything again. "I'll call his home tomorrow. But I'm not promising it will work."

"That's a good decision, Katherine," her mother said. "And perhaps you should apologize for calling his money dirty. It's hard these days, to make a living. Everyone is doing what they can."

Katherine grimaced, but he gave her mother a nod and placed the half drank glass back on the platter next to the discarded lemon piece. "Vivian. Come with me," she ordered. Vivian took a long sip of her tea before sitting it with Katherine's and following her to her bedroom.

"Can you keep that dreadful rat outside the door, sister?" Vivian looked lovingly at Darling before she gingerly placed her outside the door with a kiss on the nose.

Upon closing the door, Vivian smiled giddily. "There's more?"

A large smile stretched across her face. "I rather want to go back."

Vivian giggled a bit. "Why?"

"He was quite ravishing. Quite a man."

"Describe him!"

Katherine smiled and sat down at her desk. "He acting with arrogance. So much arrogant. But he also seems selfless. He's tall and strong with such a sturdy face"

"Well you are going to appeal, aren't you?" Vivian asked.

Katherine huffed. "The date was awful, Vivian. He insulted me and father."

"Did you insult him first?" Vivian asked quietly. Katherine's eyes thinned like a wild cat readying for the kills. Vivian didn't say much after that. When she saw an opportunity, she left the room and went back downstairs to join her mother.