________________________________________________________________________
On those once every two weeks or so occasions when he and Marsha did make love, try as he might, do what he might, her continued lack of enthusiasm greatly detracted from his enjoyment, usually leaving him with—other than the sense of relief orgasm may leave a man—a sense of depression.
Returning to Chicago was something he did not want to do, but the offer proposed by Gene Tarnowski and—as titillating and frightening as it was—the offer suggested by Elizabeth Herzon was an offer he could not refuse.
________________________________________________________________________
Des Plaines, Illinois
August 27 to September 24, 1961
“Mother, hi!… Think we can talk to you at Uncle Harry’s in about…” looking through the telephone booth door…
“An hour.” Mitchell said.
“In about an hour.” Looking at her watch, “At about one thirty.”
****
In the car, heading southeast, towards the north side of Chicago. “Think she’ll go for it?”
“She stole our wedding money.”
“She thought she was helping us.”
“Know what, Mitchie? You trust her more than I do and she’s my mother.”
Knowing that Rhea had been, minimally, a motivating factor behind their two separations, still, though, having a soft spot in his heart—or possibly a hard spot hidden way down in his sexual psyche—for his beautiful, big busted mother-in-law, “Okay,” he said. “But I still think she’ll help us if she can.”
“We’ll see.”
Chicago, Illinois
Putting her coffee cup down, “It’s where?”
“In Des Plaines, Mother.”
“Des Plaines? That’s in East Kishniv (a mythical place at the end of the world).”
“Mother,” suppressing a smile, “It’s not in Kishniv. It’s only…”
“Eighteen miles from Skokie,” Mitchell said.
Glancing at her husband, “and it’s only an…”
“Yes, I know,” Rhea said, “an hour from here.”
“Mother,” Marsha said excitedly, “it’s so beautiful! It’s got…”
“A house? You kids think you can afford a house?”
“It’s not exactly a house. It’s…”
“A townhouse, and it’s got…” Mitchell interrupted.
“A townhouse?” Rhea looked at her son-in-law. “That’s where the neighbors’ houses are attached to your house?”
“Well, yes, Mother. But the one we’re interested in is on the…”
“And what’s the price on this townhouse in East Kishniv?”
Sighing, “Well, they’re brand new and the price is…”
Piping in again, Mitchell said, “$19,999, with $999 down.”
Looking at her husband, “With about $500 for closing costs,” Marsha added.
“And again I ask: Do you kids think you can afford the payments?”
“Well, the savings and loan the builder is using is charging nine percent interest, and at nine percent interest our payments will be…”
“Hold on. Let me get this straight.” Rhea said. “The place is $19,999, with $999 down at nine percent interest?”
Hearing it said that way did sound a little strange, so Marsha simply said, “Yes.”
“And the payment’s will be what?”
“Well,” Mitchell said, “there’s something called impounds…”
Marsha explained. “That’s where you pay monthly for yearly taxes and insurance.”
“Yeah,” Mitchell said. “And the monthly payment’s will come to…”
“A hundred, fifty-three dollars a month, and…”
“And your rent now?”
“It’s only $75 a month. But,” Mitchell added, “that’s less than we were paying in Chicago before we moved to Peoria. And Transco’s…”
“Transco’s starting him on a higher draw…” Marsha interrupted Mitchell.
“Yeah, they’re starting me out at $175 a week.”
Never wanting more than one child. To that day not knowing if the conception of Marsha had been planned by Eli or was truly an accident. Although understanding the need to “give Eli a name” and appreciating Marsha’s and Mitchell’s haste in doing so. “But there’s four of you now,” Rhea said.
“I’m getting part of one of the best territories in Chicago,” Mitchell went on. “So I’ll be making much more than I’ve ever made.”
Knowing where this was leading. Still feeling more than slightly guilty over losing their wedding money. “And you’d like me to help you with the down payment.” This posed as a statement rather than a question.
“Well, Mother…”
“You know that when your father, alav hasholom (on him peace),was killed by that savage he left no insurance…”
****
Knowing that her mother was in no way a religious person. Actually, Rhea was just the opposite, so whenever Marsha heard her evoke the Hebrew blessing for the memory of her father it caused a spark of irritation. Also, she was well aware that in a fit of anger—the insurance broker being the one of her mother’s lovers who had made the mistake of telling her, “You know you’re no longer a spring chicken”—Rhea had cancelled her husband’s life insurance policy just days before he was murdered.
One might think that a woman as smart as Rhea imagined herself to be would learn: first the fire that demolished the slum apartment building and now the murder of her husband that would have brought a double indemnity payout—when in a spat of anger, or just forgetfulness insurance policies were cancelled or allowed to lapse.
****
“…But,” Rhea went on, “I had some money put away…” In actual fact, thinking of a nine loose diamonds that had been in jeweler’s envelope laying in her jewelery box for years that she figured should bring about, “…and since I was responsible for losing your wedding money, I’ll give you the fifteen hundred you need.”
****
Following the death of Eli, in need of money, Rhea browbeat Roger into continuing to work at Eli’s” along with Eli’s brother, Mark.
Taking a mental toll, hating being in the same place his father had been killed day after day, seeing the spot he’d seen his father laying dead, day after day, within two months, threatening to find another job, Roger was able to pressure his mother into looking for a buyer for the hot dog stand. And after a succession of helpers that robbed the till, within another few months, having only fixtures and good will to sell, Rhea finally found a buyer for “Eli’s.”
The money from the sale not enough to live on for very long, Rhea was offered and accepted the job—at far more than she was worth—as the hostess at her brother-in-law’s, Harry Rafkin’s, popular north side delicatessen. Also, they turned their heads the other way when Rhea bequeathed herself “care packages.”
Des Plaines, Illinois
“Christine, it’s for you!”
“One moment, please.” Excusing herself from the couple sitting on the opposite side of the desk, “Hello. Cris speaking.”
Hardly able to believe this was really happening, “Chris,” barely able to contain himself, “hi, it’s Mitch Lipensky.”
“Oh, yes, Mitchell.”
“You say we only need a hundred to secure it?”
Said with a straight face, “Actually, $99.99.”
“Marcie and me, we’re going to take it!”
“Looking at a notation on her desk. “The end unit?”
“Unless you’ve sold it to someone else.” Saying a silent, Please, no! “Yes, Ma’am.”
“No, it’s still available.”
Thanks, God! “Great! We’re heading back to you right now to sign the papers.”
“Then it’s okay to flag 9116?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Please!”
****
“How long do you think it’ll take? When do you think we’ll know?”
“Today’s Sunday. I’ll get the papers to the bank tomorrow and we should know within seven working days.”
“And once we’re approved…” Glancing at Mitchell, both thinking, Please, God! Marsha asked, “when’ll we be able to move in?”
“Mortgage docs and all the paperwork work will take another week.” Looking at a calendar, “If all goes well,” Christine said, “on the outside, oh, I’d say by the fifteenth… You give any thoughts to upgrades?”
“Upgrades?”
“Yes.” Christine’s eyes shifted from Marsha to Mitchell. “Once we have bank approval, we’ll finish the interior; you know, painting, carpets, linoleum. So now’s a good time to talk about what comes with your new home.” Taking a card holding two inch square carpet swatches from the file cabinet, thinking she knew who made the decisions in this family, “You can have your choice of any of these five standard colors,” she said to Marsha. “Or…” removing a card with ten swatches, including a sample of “upgraded” carpet…
“Mitchie, with Mikey, Ellie and Mercy, I think we’d be better off with this brown carpet, and it’ll go much better with our furniture.” Without waiting for a response, “How much more is this carpet, Chris?”
****
“The appliances come in your choice of two colors: harvest gold or avocado.”
“I don’t care for either…. How’s ’bout you, Mitchie?”
Without waiting for an answer, “What other choices are there?” Marsha asked.
****
“Here’s what we install in the way of linoleum.” Christine said.
“They’re all pretty icky, what else have you got?” Marsha asked.
****
“Here’s the Formica counter top selections.”
Curling her lip, “Yught!”
****
“Here, take a look at this!”
“Oh, I like that tile, Chris!”
****
“As for paint, we paint everything white.”
“The whole house, everything gets painted white?”
“Well…” removing a paint swatch catalogue, “you can pick up to three different colors.”
****
“Chris, how are we supposed to pay for all this?”
“No problem, Mitch! We’ll add it to your mortgage.”
****
Not quite as elated as they’d been an hour earlier, heading to Skokie, “Oh well.”
Taking his eyes from the road, glancing at Marsha, “We’re going to be living there a long time, so we might as well enjoy it.”
“Yes, but another $1,400!”
“Let’s not tell anybody about the upgrades.” Mitchell suggested.
“Yeah, I was thinking that, too.”
Skokie, Illinois
“So, how are you planning on working it?”
“What we’re planning on doing, Dad, is to head back tomorrow and start to pack. And because it’s new, we’ll be able to move in…”
“We’ve already picked out the tile and carpets and paint we want, so it’ll…”
Cutting Marsha off after she’d cut him off. “So we should be able to move in in about two weeks after we get approval.”
“Fine and good,” Walter said. “But what happens if you’re turned down?”
Having paid off most of their past debt with the $5,500 from HFC last January, and never being late on any of the $83.33 payments, Marsha and Mitchell had thought of this—and confirmed by Christine Ferguson—as a positive mark on their credit report rather than a blemish.
“Christine, the Realtor, told us that hardly anyone ever gets turned down at this bank. But if we do,” glancing from his father to Marsha and back again, “I’ve given your name as a co-signer.”
Not too pleased with this idea, “Me? You don’t think you should have asked me…” looking at his wife, “us, about this first?”
“We didn’t have time, Dad. It came up while we were filling the papers out. Besides, you’re the only one we have and, if we need you and you don’t want to, you don’t have to sign the papers.”
Still hoping to make, if not a daughter out of Marsha, then, at the very least, a friend. “It’s okay, Walt. They’re our kids and,” looking directly at Marsha, “if you need us we’ll be glad to help.”
Having not only Mitchell, herself and a home to consider, there was also Michael and Ellie, to say nothing of a full grown Dalmatian, so, “Thank you…” hesitating, feeling her throat constricting at the mere thought of saying the word, but looking directly at her mother-in-law, “Mom.”
Hearing “it,” feeling a sense of gratification, “You’re most welcome, Marsha,” Myra said.
Catching the interplay of words between his wife and mother. “But, really, Dad, it shouldn’t have to come to you co-signing for us because we’ve always paid our bills on time.”
More or less, Marsha thought.
“So what we’re going to do,” Mitchell went on, “is to give notice on the house in Peoria and start to pack. If WHIP wants me to continue to work for them for the next two weeks, I will, but I really don’t think they will, and if they don’t, because I haven’t had any real time off in years, I’ll start packing and hang around the house till Transco wants me to start…”
“Then he’ll leave the kids and me in Peoria and start work in his new territory, and drive back to us on weekends.”
Even though he’d asked on the phone, looking at his mother for approval, “I thought, if it’s okay, I’d stay with you during the week.” Hoping she would volunteer, Mitchell was overjoyed when…
Wanting to insure her continued ride on Marsha’s approval, “I don’t like the idea of my daughter-in-law and grandchildren being left alone. Tell you what…” All of Walter’s decisions, large or small, hypothetically, must only be made after consulting with his wife. Myra’s decisions on the other hand: “…when it’s time to get out of the house in Peoria, if Transco will pay for you to put your things in storage till you move into your new place, you can all stay here, with us.”
