Chapter Nineteen

NINETEEN

SEPTEMBER 1987

The next morning, Augusta couldn’t shake the image of Nathaniel covered in frosting and melted green Jell-O. As horrifying as the evening had turned out, and as angry as she still was at Irving, she couldn’t keep herself from laughing. She snickered while her coffee brewed; she chortled while putting on her bathing suit. During her walk to the swimming pool, she replayed the scene so many times in her mind that she fell into a fit of hysterics and had to stop to catch her breath. She had only just managed to regain her composure when she walked through the swimming pool gate, saw the green Jell-O stains on the pavers, and began cracking up all over again.

“What’s so funny?” said Shirley, looking up from her magazine.

Augusta tried to suppress a snort. “Nothing…” she said.

“That was quite a scene, last night. I have to say, there’s been a lot more excitement at this place since you arrived. It’s not every day that we have a fight break out—and over a love triangle, no less.”

“It wasn’t a fight,” Augusta protested. “And it certainly wasn’t over me.”

Shirley lowered her sunglasses and fixed an amused gaze on her friend. “That’s exactly what it was, and it was most certainly over you. Irving Rivkin is so in love that I’m surprised the man can still see straight. I suspected as much a while back, but after last night, I know for sure. Hell, after last night, everyone knows. Including Vera, I’m afraid.”

“Oh no. Did she say anything to you?”

“What was there for her to say? The man she clearly thought was her boyfriend followed you onto the dance floor, tried to cut in, and when that didn’t work, he shoved your dance partner into her Jell-O mold.”

Another chortle escaped Augusta’s lips and her shoulders began to shake. “That Jell-O,” she said. “It was so messy and so… green .”

Shirley began giggling, too. “Did you know that some of the old biddies here insisted on eating the crushed bits of my cheesecake, even after Nathaniel sat on it? They said they didn’t want it to go to waste.”

The image sent Augusta into fresh peals of laughter.

After both women recovered, Shirley cleared her throat and took Augusta’s hand. “I want to tell you something,” she said. “And I want you to give me your honest opinion.”

“Of course,” said Augusta. “Should I be worried? You’re very serious all of a sudden.”

“Nothing to worry about,” said Shirley. “But dancing with Nathaniel last night made me realize something.” Before she could finish her thought, Nathaniel himself appeared at the pool gate.

“Nathaniel!” Shirley said, waving him over. “The two of us were just talking about you. Are you all in one piece? Any bruises?” She was looking at Nathaniel with a brightness that Augusta hadn’t noticed before.

Nathaniel flashed a sheepish smile. “A little twinge in my shoulder, but other than that, everything’s fine. I’m sorry about your cheesecake, Shirley, though I do think it helped to break my fall.”

Augusta apologized for the umpteenth time, but Nathaniel cut her off. “No more apologies necessary,” he said. “There was absolutely no harm done, except to the desserts, I’m afraid. Anyway, ladies, I’m off to do my laps. Enjoy the sunshine.”

Once Nathaniel was safely out of earshot, Augusta asked Shirley what she’d been planning to tell her. “Oh, nothing important,” Shirley murmured. “I’ll tell you another time.”

Augusta did not want to press, so she waited for Shirley to steer the conversation. Eventually, the topic returned to the strange events of the previous evening. “What do you think Irving meant last night when he said that Nathaniel had ruined things for him?”

Augusta shrugged. “I have no idea. From everything that I remember, the two of them used to be friends. Nathaniel used to date my girlfriend Evie, and eventually he married her. The four of us went on some double dates.”

Shirley clapped her hands together like an overexcited schoolgirl. “You and Irving were an item, then? I knew it! Why didn’t you tell me before? And Nathaniel eventually married Evie. So what was all that nonsense Irv was saying? Do you think he had a thing for Evie, too?”

Augusta shook her head. “Definitely not. And I didn’t tell you about me and Irving because… honestly, it’s embarrassing.”

“Why should you be embarrassed?”

Augusta winced and lowered her head. “I was only eighteen years old, but you know how it was back then. A lot of us got married at that age. Anyway, Irving was a few years older. He worked at my father’s pharmacy, as a delivery boy. He was never much of a student, but he was good at his job.

“The two of us were best friends for years, until things turned romantic between us. At least I thought they were romantic. I thought he and I were meant to be, but I misread the signs. I really thought he might propose… I was young and very naive.” Augusta briefly closed her eyes at the memory.

“Anyway, a week after Nathaniel proposed to Evie, I found out that Irving had proposed to someone else—a girl from the neighborhood named Lois. I hadn’t even known they were dating! There were a lot of rumors then. The next thing I knew, her whole family moved to Chicago and they took the two lovebirds with them. Irving never said goodbye, and I never saw him again.”

When Augusta finished telling the story, Shirley looked as if she were about to cry. “Oh, Augusta,” she said. “What an awful story. No wonder you’re so prickly with him. Irving was your first love, and then he went and broke your heart!”

“Shh,” said Augusta. “Not so loud, please. And you don’t need to be sorry for me. It’s been sixty-two years. Trust me, I’m over it.”

Shirley reached for Augusta’s hand. “I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “At our age, we’re so set in our ways that we can be afraid to admit our feelings.” Shirley glanced over at Nathaniel, who was busily finishing up his laps. “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”

Later, at home, Augusta continued to ponder the real reason for Irving’s ill will toward Nathaniel. Nothing about it made any sense. According to everyone at Rallentando—including Nathaniel Birnbaum himself—Irving’s resentment toward Nathaniel had been obvious long before Augusta arrived. So even if the attention Nathaniel paid her exacerbated the grudge, that certainly hadn’t been how it started.

Could Shirley’s theory possibly be right? Had Irving been in love with Evie? Was that what he meant when he told Augusta that Nathaniel had taken something from him?

Augusta let her mind return to the night Nathaniel proposed to his wife. The four of them had gone to Arcadia Gardens, the fanciest restaurant in Brooklyn. It had started out as a perfect evening. Augusta had never been to such an elegant place, and she’d been mesmerized by the lights and the people, by the swell of the music and the buzz in the air. One moment, Augusta was passing Irving the flask she’d filled with her father’s whiskey, and the next thing she knew, she and Irving were watching Nathaniel slide down to one knee in the middle of the dance floor. In all the excitement and chaos that had followed, Augusta lost Irving in the crowd. He never came to find her later, and she’d gotten a ride home with Nathaniel and Evie.

Of course, when Augusta told Shirley about that time, she’d revealed only the bare minimum. She’d said nothing about who Lois’s father was or his dangerous reputation. She hadn’t mentioned the name Zip Diamond, or the role he had played in their neighborhood. She’d spent the better part of her life blocking out every memory of him and his daughter.

There were other details of those early days that she’d forced herself to block out as well—memories she never spoke about, memories she never allowed to resurface: her great-aunt Esther, bathed in moonlight, sharing her knowledge during late-night lessons; the lonely nights Augusta had tried and failed to apply those lessons on her own. For sixty-two years, she had managed to keep all that unpleasantness out of her mind. And now here she was, being forced to relive it.

All because of Irving Rivkin.