james goes downtown
Nov. 19th, 2011 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzie"What would Matthew ask him to do?"
"I do not know. Hold his tongue for half an hour?"
James finds that incredibly funny, and Julia cannot keep from laughing either.
"What is so funny?" Aimee asks, appearing behind Julia.
"Con thinks he is a gentleman," James says. Aimee does not look convinced. Julia giggles to herself.
"Why?"
"I do not know. He made a bet with Matthew over baseball teams, and shook on it like gentlemen. They called it a gentlemen's bet."
Aimee just shrugs, not only unconvinced but uninterested, and walks out of the room.
The one time Sean brought the baseball bat and ball and mitts turns out to be the only time, to James' disappointment, but one Sunday he is gifted with something better – the opportunity to have Mr Sewell drive him to Sean and Liam's neighborhood so he can spend the day with them. He does not know what has convinced his mother, and he does not ask.
"Mrs O'Donnell talked to her," Julia tells him at breakfast. "I think she did it because Sean and Liam were pestering her so much, she needed to shut them up."
"Does this mean she will let me go to Luna Park with them?"
"I do not think so, unless Mr Sewell drives and Luisa and perhaps Mrs O'Donnell go with you. In their neighborhood, you will be with their mother. At Luna Park, you will be in the company of freaks and showmen and elephants and barkers."
"It sounds fun."
"It does. You will get there someday, never fear."
James thinks he should bring the O'Donnells something, because he is visiting their house and that is what people do when they go visiting. He mentions this to Mrs Malcolm, thinking that Sean and Liam might like some cake, or perhaps some oranges, but she says it is not necessary. But she knows Mrs O'Donnell likes bananas, so if he were to bring a small loaf of banana bread, which was just baked yesterday, that would be kind of him.
It occurs to James in the car that Sean and Liam have been spending time in his house and eating Mrs Malcolm's food for two months already, and if anyone needs to be reciprocally kind, it is them.
It then occurs to him that he might be thinking that way because the banana bread smells good and he wants to keep it for himself. But that would be selfish, and he knows Mrs O'Donnell is going to feed him lunch at the very least, and that is generous of her, so he can contribute one small banana bread, Besides, if he asks, Mrs Malcolm might bake him one of his own.
The O'Donnells live at the edge of a neighborhood called Chelsea, many blocks south and west of the Godwins' house. The buildings look older down here, browner and redder and less well-kept. James knows he should not be surprised that Sean and Liam live in a poorer neighborhood, but at the same time, except for the time he and Julia took the streetcar to Union Square, he has never really been in any parts of the city that were not fairly similar to the block where he lives.
Mr Sewell says only "I will be back at five" as he pulls up in front of a red brick apartment building with curtains blowing through the open windows and people sitting on the front stoops. James climbs out of the car, wondering why people are watching him – he is a little boy getting out of a car, how strange is that? – and looking around for Sean and Liam. He hears them before he sees them, and then Sean is grabbing his hand and pulling him up the steps and through one of the front doors, and James has just enough time to wave to Mr Sewell before he is inside the building.
The apartment building where Sean and Liam live is noisy and crowded and hot, and the hallways smell of cabbage and people. James can understand why they prefer his house on Saturdays. They live on the third floor in a small apartment – a main room, two small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a tiny bathroom – that is also crowded and hot but at least smells pleasantly of clean sheets and fried onions.
(James likes fried onions, and he likes the way the kitchen smells any time Mrs Malcolm cooks them.)
"This is our house," Liam says proudly, pulling James into first one bedroom and then the other, and then into the kitchen where he seems very proud of the gas stove. James' only comparison is the stove at home, which is bigger and shinier and he thinks more modern. But it would be rude to say so, especially when Liam looks so proud, so he just nods politely.
There are pictures of Jesus and Mary and the Pope on the walls, and a painting of a place that Sean says is Galway, where Mr O'Donnell's family is from. There is a plant in a pot on the windowsill, and a line running from the window across the alley to a building on the other side, which is apparently used for hanging up the washing, to judge by the other lines strung between buildings and the number of clothes and sheets hanging from them.
It is all very interesting to James, even if he keeps comparing it to his own house and coming up a bit short. He has only ever seen the houses of his classmates and his brothers and sometimes his parents' friends, and they all live in houses very similar to his. This is new and different and therefore exciting, and Sean and Liam are so pleased to have him, and he is so pleased to be here, that it does not matter how they live or how it compares to life as a Godwin.
After they have shown him everything in the apartment worth showing, Sean and Liam drag James back out into the hall and down the stairs to the Mearas', where he meets old Mrs Meara and her pretty daughter Mary Margaret.
"Sh," Mary Margaret says to the boys. "The baby is sleeping."
"Can James meet him?" Sean asks.
"Yes, but be very quiet."
The Mearas' apartment is no bigger than the O'Donnells', but there is still a tiny crib crammed into one of the bedrooms. James tiptoes up to it, Mary Margaret right behind him, and leans over the side. The baby is is lying on his stomach with his thumb in his mouth, blissfully asleep. His hair is bright range. James glances at Mary Margaret, who is blonde, and wonders where the hair came from. Her husband, most likely, but he has heard whispered rumors in school and from Julia and Con about one person or another, how they look like the milkman or the gardener, rather than either of their parents.
"This is Johnny," Mary Margaret whispers. "He seven months old and he looks just like his da."
Mary Margaret's husband is a cop, James remembers. She must feel very safe, with a policeman for a husband.
"You will probably not get to meet him," she continues. "He is on shift all today. They would not even give him the morning off to go to Mass." She sounds annoyed, but then she reaches around James to stroke Johnny's hair, and when James glances up at her again, she is smiling.
"Come," she whispers, taking his hand and leading him out of the bedroom. She shuts the door behind them. "I think Sean and Liam have better plans for you than watching my baby sleep all day."
"We have to go to the grocer's," Sean says. He holds out his hand to show James a dollar bill and a pile of coins. "And Mrs Meara says if there is money left over, we can get an ice cream."
"Ice cream before lunch?" James asks in disbelief. Is this how poor people live? He could get used to this kind of eating schedule.
"Ice cream for lunch!" Liam says.
"Bring me back my tomatoes and pickles," Mrs Meara says, "and don't forget the rolls and the Coca-Cola."
Sean and Liam both nod, Sean stuffs the money into his pocket, and then they grab James' hands again and drag him out of the apartment, down the stairs, and outside.
They stop and yell "Albert!" at a man walking his dog on the sidewalk across the street. He sees them and waves, and the dog barks at them. The dog, which James remembers is also called Johnny, is white and brown and has short fur and pointy ears that stand straight up. Johnny pulls against the piece of rope tied to his collar, so that Albert has no choice but to walk him across the street to say hello to the boys.
"This is James," Sean says, and James politely says hello to Albert. "He lives uptown."
"Do you, now?" Albert asks, smiling playfully. He looks old, at least as old as Mr Godwin, but his face is kind and his eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles. Johnny sniffs James all over and licks his knee. James yelps, surprised, but Albert only laughs. "You must taste good," he says to James, and "I fed you already," to Johnny. The dog just barks.
James takes a step back and holds out his hand for Johnny to sniff, a trick that Mrs Albrecht taught him to do with Ming. Johnny licks James' palm, which is much better than licking his knee, and James pets him on the head.
"I think he likes you," Albert says.
"James is very likable," Liam says. James can see Sean roll his eyes, which inexplicably makes him giggle.
"We have things to sniff and hydrants to mark. See you boys later. It was nice to meet you, James."
"It was nice to meet you too," James says. "And Johnny, too."
"Come on, you mutt," Albert says to his dog, pulling on Johnny's rope as he starts walking away down the sidewalk. Johnny barks once at the boys and then turns and trots after his owner.
"I like him," James says, meaning the dog.
"Now you can meet the grocer's cats," Liam says excitedly. "Come on. Mrs Meara will probably give us something to eat when we bring her groceries back."
"If there is enough money left over, we are going to have ice cream," Sean reminds him, "so she won't have to feed us."
"Where is Mrs O'Donnell?" James asks.
"She went to Mass, and then she will probably have to visit with all her friends. She said she would be back to say hello to you before you have to go home, though, and if we get hungry Mrs Meara or Mary Margaret can make us something in our kitchen. Or we can have sandwiches. Are you hungry?"
"No," James says, a little surprised at this rush of words. He is not used to Sean being so chatty about his family and his neighborhood. Usually Liam is the one who cannot shut up.
Liam has already headed down the sidewalk, presumably towards the grocer and his cats, and as soon as Sean notices that his brother is missing, he yells "Liam! Wait up!" and jogs after him. James follows, but when they catch up to Liam, he starts running and they have to give chase.
Chasing Liam down a crowded sidewalk in his and Sean's neighborhood is much different from chasing him up and down the hallways at the Godwin house, or around a field in Central Park. The brothers are better at dodging people and carts than James is, but James is also fast and determined to catch up, and he stays right on Sean's heels the whole way to the grocer's. Sean stops short right in front of him so that he runs right into Sean's back, pushing both of them into Liam who falls against a display of peaches.
"Ow," Liam says. "You cows."
Sean just laughs at him and goes inside.
The inside of the grocer's shop is small and not very well lit, but James can see piles of potatoes and cabbages and lettuces and tomatoes, and cans stacked on shelves, and as Sean is talking to a man who James assumes is the grocer because he is wearing an apron, a black and white cat appears out of nowhere and rubs against his legs.
"Kitty!" Liam exclaims, squatting down to stroke its fur. The cat transfers its affection to him, then back to James, and then it wanders off to wind around the grocer's legs instead.
"Go away, cat," he tells it, but it ignores him.
"Can we show James the kittens?" Liam asks him.
"If they're there. They should be hunting mice for me."
"I thought you were going to find them homes," Sean says. "Ma said we could have one, maybe."
"I'm going to keep at least some of them. But I'll keep your ma in mind. Wait here, I'll get your pickles."
"Did he say we could see kittens?" James asks,
"Yes," Sean and Liam say at the same time. "You go show him," Sean continues, pointing to Liam. "I'll wait for the groceries."
Liam takes James back outside and down a couple of storefronts to an alley. They turn down it, and it is close and smelly and James does not like it, but then it opens into another wider alley running behind the building, and farther down this alley, between two garbage cans, is a wooden crate with two kittens asleep inside.
"There are four kittens," Liam says. "The other two must be mousing."
"Is the grocer not worried that they will run off?" James asks.
"They are kittens. They want to be near their mama. No one would steal them, either – the grocer is friends with Benny Mears, and no one messes with him."
"Who is Benny Mears?"
"He runs a gang in Hell's Kitchen. He is a little bit scary, unless you are one of his friends." Liam leans in close to James and lowers his voice. "Ma says he killed a man and we are to turn and walk the other way if we ever see him out on the street."
James does not know what to say to this. A gangster! How exciting!
words: 2396
total words: 30,279
quickie research: hell's kitchen, chelsea
"I do not know. Hold his tongue for half an hour?"
James finds that incredibly funny, and Julia cannot keep from laughing either.
"What is so funny?" Aimee asks, appearing behind Julia.
"Con thinks he is a gentleman," James says. Aimee does not look convinced. Julia giggles to herself.
"Why?"
"I do not know. He made a bet with Matthew over baseball teams, and shook on it like gentlemen. They called it a gentlemen's bet."
Aimee just shrugs, not only unconvinced but uninterested, and walks out of the room.
The one time Sean brought the baseball bat and ball and mitts turns out to be the only time, to James' disappointment, but one Sunday he is gifted with something better – the opportunity to have Mr Sewell drive him to Sean and Liam's neighborhood so he can spend the day with them. He does not know what has convinced his mother, and he does not ask.
"Mrs O'Donnell talked to her," Julia tells him at breakfast. "I think she did it because Sean and Liam were pestering her so much, she needed to shut them up."
"Does this mean she will let me go to Luna Park with them?"
"I do not think so, unless Mr Sewell drives and Luisa and perhaps Mrs O'Donnell go with you. In their neighborhood, you will be with their mother. At Luna Park, you will be in the company of freaks and showmen and elephants and barkers."
"It sounds fun."
"It does. You will get there someday, never fear."
James thinks he should bring the O'Donnells something, because he is visiting their house and that is what people do when they go visiting. He mentions this to Mrs Malcolm, thinking that Sean and Liam might like some cake, or perhaps some oranges, but she says it is not necessary. But she knows Mrs O'Donnell likes bananas, so if he were to bring a small loaf of banana bread, which was just baked yesterday, that would be kind of him.
It occurs to James in the car that Sean and Liam have been spending time in his house and eating Mrs Malcolm's food for two months already, and if anyone needs to be reciprocally kind, it is them.
It then occurs to him that he might be thinking that way because the banana bread smells good and he wants to keep it for himself. But that would be selfish, and he knows Mrs O'Donnell is going to feed him lunch at the very least, and that is generous of her, so he can contribute one small banana bread, Besides, if he asks, Mrs Malcolm might bake him one of his own.
The O'Donnells live at the edge of a neighborhood called Chelsea, many blocks south and west of the Godwins' house. The buildings look older down here, browner and redder and less well-kept. James knows he should not be surprised that Sean and Liam live in a poorer neighborhood, but at the same time, except for the time he and Julia took the streetcar to Union Square, he has never really been in any parts of the city that were not fairly similar to the block where he lives.
Mr Sewell says only "I will be back at five" as he pulls up in front of a red brick apartment building with curtains blowing through the open windows and people sitting on the front stoops. James climbs out of the car, wondering why people are watching him – he is a little boy getting out of a car, how strange is that? – and looking around for Sean and Liam. He hears them before he sees them, and then Sean is grabbing his hand and pulling him up the steps and through one of the front doors, and James has just enough time to wave to Mr Sewell before he is inside the building.
The apartment building where Sean and Liam live is noisy and crowded and hot, and the hallways smell of cabbage and people. James can understand why they prefer his house on Saturdays. They live on the third floor in a small apartment – a main room, two small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a tiny bathroom – that is also crowded and hot but at least smells pleasantly of clean sheets and fried onions.
(James likes fried onions, and he likes the way the kitchen smells any time Mrs Malcolm cooks them.)
"This is our house," Liam says proudly, pulling James into first one bedroom and then the other, and then into the kitchen where he seems very proud of the gas stove. James' only comparison is the stove at home, which is bigger and shinier and he thinks more modern. But it would be rude to say so, especially when Liam looks so proud, so he just nods politely.
There are pictures of Jesus and Mary and the Pope on the walls, and a painting of a place that Sean says is Galway, where Mr O'Donnell's family is from. There is a plant in a pot on the windowsill, and a line running from the window across the alley to a building on the other side, which is apparently used for hanging up the washing, to judge by the other lines strung between buildings and the number of clothes and sheets hanging from them.
It is all very interesting to James, even if he keeps comparing it to his own house and coming up a bit short. He has only ever seen the houses of his classmates and his brothers and sometimes his parents' friends, and they all live in houses very similar to his. This is new and different and therefore exciting, and Sean and Liam are so pleased to have him, and he is so pleased to be here, that it does not matter how they live or how it compares to life as a Godwin.
After they have shown him everything in the apartment worth showing, Sean and Liam drag James back out into the hall and down the stairs to the Mearas', where he meets old Mrs Meara and her pretty daughter Mary Margaret.
"Sh," Mary Margaret says to the boys. "The baby is sleeping."
"Can James meet him?" Sean asks.
"Yes, but be very quiet."
The Mearas' apartment is no bigger than the O'Donnells', but there is still a tiny crib crammed into one of the bedrooms. James tiptoes up to it, Mary Margaret right behind him, and leans over the side. The baby is is lying on his stomach with his thumb in his mouth, blissfully asleep. His hair is bright range. James glances at Mary Margaret, who is blonde, and wonders where the hair came from. Her husband, most likely, but he has heard whispered rumors in school and from Julia and Con about one person or another, how they look like the milkman or the gardener, rather than either of their parents.
"This is Johnny," Mary Margaret whispers. "He seven months old and he looks just like his da."
Mary Margaret's husband is a cop, James remembers. She must feel very safe, with a policeman for a husband.
"You will probably not get to meet him," she continues. "He is on shift all today. They would not even give him the morning off to go to Mass." She sounds annoyed, but then she reaches around James to stroke Johnny's hair, and when James glances up at her again, she is smiling.
"Come," she whispers, taking his hand and leading him out of the bedroom. She shuts the door behind them. "I think Sean and Liam have better plans for you than watching my baby sleep all day."
"We have to go to the grocer's," Sean says. He holds out his hand to show James a dollar bill and a pile of coins. "And Mrs Meara says if there is money left over, we can get an ice cream."
"Ice cream before lunch?" James asks in disbelief. Is this how poor people live? He could get used to this kind of eating schedule.
"Ice cream for lunch!" Liam says.
"Bring me back my tomatoes and pickles," Mrs Meara says, "and don't forget the rolls and the Coca-Cola."
Sean and Liam both nod, Sean stuffs the money into his pocket, and then they grab James' hands again and drag him out of the apartment, down the stairs, and outside.
They stop and yell "Albert!" at a man walking his dog on the sidewalk across the street. He sees them and waves, and the dog barks at them. The dog, which James remembers is also called Johnny, is white and brown and has short fur and pointy ears that stand straight up. Johnny pulls against the piece of rope tied to his collar, so that Albert has no choice but to walk him across the street to say hello to the boys.
"This is James," Sean says, and James politely says hello to Albert. "He lives uptown."
"Do you, now?" Albert asks, smiling playfully. He looks old, at least as old as Mr Godwin, but his face is kind and his eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles. Johnny sniffs James all over and licks his knee. James yelps, surprised, but Albert only laughs. "You must taste good," he says to James, and "I fed you already," to Johnny. The dog just barks.
James takes a step back and holds out his hand for Johnny to sniff, a trick that Mrs Albrecht taught him to do with Ming. Johnny licks James' palm, which is much better than licking his knee, and James pets him on the head.
"I think he likes you," Albert says.
"James is very likable," Liam says. James can see Sean roll his eyes, which inexplicably makes him giggle.
"We have things to sniff and hydrants to mark. See you boys later. It was nice to meet you, James."
"It was nice to meet you too," James says. "And Johnny, too."
"Come on, you mutt," Albert says to his dog, pulling on Johnny's rope as he starts walking away down the sidewalk. Johnny barks once at the boys and then turns and trots after his owner.
"I like him," James says, meaning the dog.
"Now you can meet the grocer's cats," Liam says excitedly. "Come on. Mrs Meara will probably give us something to eat when we bring her groceries back."
"If there is enough money left over, we are going to have ice cream," Sean reminds him, "so she won't have to feed us."
"Where is Mrs O'Donnell?" James asks.
"She went to Mass, and then she will probably have to visit with all her friends. She said she would be back to say hello to you before you have to go home, though, and if we get hungry Mrs Meara or Mary Margaret can make us something in our kitchen. Or we can have sandwiches. Are you hungry?"
"No," James says, a little surprised at this rush of words. He is not used to Sean being so chatty about his family and his neighborhood. Usually Liam is the one who cannot shut up.
Liam has already headed down the sidewalk, presumably towards the grocer and his cats, and as soon as Sean notices that his brother is missing, he yells "Liam! Wait up!" and jogs after him. James follows, but when they catch up to Liam, he starts running and they have to give chase.
Chasing Liam down a crowded sidewalk in his and Sean's neighborhood is much different from chasing him up and down the hallways at the Godwin house, or around a field in Central Park. The brothers are better at dodging people and carts than James is, but James is also fast and determined to catch up, and he stays right on Sean's heels the whole way to the grocer's. Sean stops short right in front of him so that he runs right into Sean's back, pushing both of them into Liam who falls against a display of peaches.
"Ow," Liam says. "You cows."
Sean just laughs at him and goes inside.
The inside of the grocer's shop is small and not very well lit, but James can see piles of potatoes and cabbages and lettuces and tomatoes, and cans stacked on shelves, and as Sean is talking to a man who James assumes is the grocer because he is wearing an apron, a black and white cat appears out of nowhere and rubs against his legs.
"Kitty!" Liam exclaims, squatting down to stroke its fur. The cat transfers its affection to him, then back to James, and then it wanders off to wind around the grocer's legs instead.
"Go away, cat," he tells it, but it ignores him.
"Can we show James the kittens?" Liam asks him.
"If they're there. They should be hunting mice for me."
"I thought you were going to find them homes," Sean says. "Ma said we could have one, maybe."
"I'm going to keep at least some of them. But I'll keep your ma in mind. Wait here, I'll get your pickles."
"Did he say we could see kittens?" James asks,
"Yes," Sean and Liam say at the same time. "You go show him," Sean continues, pointing to Liam. "I'll wait for the groceries."
Liam takes James back outside and down a couple of storefronts to an alley. They turn down it, and it is close and smelly and James does not like it, but then it opens into another wider alley running behind the building, and farther down this alley, between two garbage cans, is a wooden crate with two kittens asleep inside.
"There are four kittens," Liam says. "The other two must be mousing."
"Is the grocer not worried that they will run off?" James asks.
"They are kittens. They want to be near their mama. No one would steal them, either – the grocer is friends with Benny Mears, and no one messes with him."
"Who is Benny Mears?"
"He runs a gang in Hell's Kitchen. He is a little bit scary, unless you are one of his friends." Liam leans in close to James and lowers his voice. "Ma says he killed a man and we are to turn and walk the other way if we ever see him out on the street."
James does not know what to say to this. A gangster! How exciting!
words: 2396
total words: 30,279
quickie research: hell's kitchen, chelsea
