A “Becoming” Excerpt in sequence: “The Mothers”

July 5, 1955, to August 29, 1955

Chicago/Skokie, Illinois/Staten Island, New York

Two Families

Waiting at the table... Waiting for the phone to ring…

Bounding from the chair and grabbing it on the first ring. “Yes, Operator...” she said a bit breathlessly “... I’ll accept it… Mitchie!”

“Marcie, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, baby, everything’s fine. How’d your folks take it?”

Stretching the truth, just a ‘little’. “They both loved it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure. My mom’s always wanted a daughter and she’s going to be calling any minute to invite you’n’your folks over for dinner so everyone can get to know each other… So, how’d yours take it?”

“That’s so nice of your mom… Mitch, the greatest thing has happened!”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Mother and daddy asked if I want a big wedding and of course, what girl doesn’t want a big wedding, so I said ‘yes’ and they’re going to make us a wedding—A ‘real’ wedding!”

“Uh, Marcie...” His mothers’ words coming back to him “...business hasn’t been so great for my folks for a while and I don’t think they’ll be able to afford to do something like that.”

Marsha’s heart sinking a bit. Thinking, Their own home and business, and a boat, and they can’t afford a wedding for their son? “Don’t worry, Mitchie,” she said, “my mother’ll pay for most of it.”

‘Most of it’? Anticipating a problem with ‘most of it’.

Well, he wisely thought, I’m here and they’re there. So let ‘them’ work it out.

“When’ll it be, Marcie?” Anxious, very anxious. “How soon can we do it?”... ‘Do it’ having more than one connotation.

“There are so many things to do: have a dress made; find a place to have the service and reception; reserve the rooms; get a band and a photographer and a caterer…” Catching her breath, “I think it’ll be sometime in November or December.”

‘November’! he thought. ‘December’!he thought... “ ‘November’! ‘December’!” he said. “Marcie, today’s the fifth of f... uh, July!”

“I know, Mitchie, but it’ll be something we’ll remember all of our lives; the movies’ll be something we can show our kids.”

‘Kids’? He’d said it to his mother to soften her up, but, the brief reference aside, the thought of him having a kid, let alone kids, was preposterous.

Looking through the apartment at Rhea who was still sitting on the sofa. Moving further into the kitchen, out of sight and the range of her mother’s hearing. “Mitch, we need ‘everything’! We don’t have a stick of furniture or a TV, or a pot or pan or even a towel or ‘anything’!”

Loneliness and sex aside. ‘Kids’, ‘pots’, ‘pans’, ‘towels’! The practical impact of marriage began to sink in.

“I know I’ll have at least two bridal showers—one from my family and one from my friends—and probably one from your family, too. And between the showers and the wedding we’ll probably get just about everything we’ll need to set up housekeeping. Also, knowing my relatives and some of my mother’s ‘friends’ we’ll get money, too. Maybe a ‘lot’ of money and then we won’t have to go to New York broke and empty handed.”

Money!

He’s been lonely before and he’d survived and, God knows, he had wanted to have intercourse all of his life, so it seemed. And if he’d been able to wait this long, what was another month or two… or three or four or, Shit! five? So, “Think there may be enough for the down-payment on a used car?”

“I thought the DeSoto was yours.”

“Used to be. But when I enlisted I gave it to my mother and, actually, she ended up making most of the payments on it.”

“Well, I didn’t like the car all that much anyway and yes, there may well be enough money… When Roger got married, Brenda’s folks couldn’t afford to make a wedding and they had to get married by a judge, and even at that they got over two thousand dollars. And when my cousin ‘Phyllis’ got married, they say she got over four.”

“Huh?” Almost choking on this. “Jesus, ‘four thousand dollars’!”

“Yeah. And knowing some of my mother’s ‘friends’, maybe we’ll even get more.”

‘Four thousand bucks—maybe even more’!

“Marcie, you really do want this wedding, don’t you?”

“Yes, Mitchie, I ‘really’ do.”

“Okay, baby. I hate having to wait any longer than necessary, but...” ‘four thousand bucks, maybe even more’! “...I won’t be selfish. If that’s what you want, then a big wedding’s just fine with me.”

The Machetunim, They Meet

Rhea: Self-centered. Narcissistic. Beautiful. Dainty. Sure of herself and her hold over the men in her life.

A highly manipulative woman, Rhea was wholly content with the power her sexuality afforded her.

Rhea’s children: Selfish of her love and attention,

Rhea had lavished what there was of her love and attention on her son, denying, up until the announcement of Marsha’s engagement, the smallest iota of her mental or physical self to her daughter.

Myra: Big-boned. Attractive. Lacking in self-confidence.

Myra rarlely wore makeup, fingernail polish, stylish clothing or attempted in any way to take advantage of the multitude of products invented and designed to help women appear more alluring and feminine.

Myra had always been an attentive, loving mother.

The relationship between the mothers was perfect!

Taking advantage of her helpless, china-doll demeanor…

Rhea was the eternal ‘exploiter’.

One of those people who somehow was always able to find another person who was only too happy to do her bidding.

Myra often felt beneath the people she knew, so thought she must work to earn and retain their friendship.

With Rhea, the ‘exploiter’…

Myra happily became the ‘exploited’.

Eli: Intelligent. Soft spoken. Modest. Always immaculate—other than at the grill—Eli wore well-pressed, stylish clothing.

Walter: Tall. Paunchy. Extremely vocal when putting forth an opinion. Proud of his ‘working skipper’ image, Walter tended to be sloppy about his leisurely appearance, and avoided shaving on weekends, and whenever else possible.

Eli considered Walter gruff and highly opinionated.

Walter considered Eli prissy with a milquetoast personality.

July 12, 1955

“Mitchie! Hi, baby.”

“Hi, Marcie! Boy, it sounds good to hear your voice again. I miss you so much.”

Each Tuesday at approximately eight o’clock Chicago time, he was to call ‘collect’, one week at her home and—Marsha would be picked up, brought to the Lipensky home for dinner—the next week at his.

“Me, too, Mitchie… Mitch, I’ve got some good and some bad news.”

“Uh-oh! Give me the bad first.”

“We found out that after the blood tests there’s a three-day cooling off period before we can get married, and if there’s a ‘screw up’ someplace it’ll really screw things up!”

“ ‘Three days’. Marcie? I’m only going to be able to stretch it for twelve days and that won’t give us hardly any time at all.”

“Yeah, that’s the bad news. Want to hear what we figured?”

“This is the good news?”

“Yeah. So to be on the safe side, we’re going to be married twice.”

“ ‘Twice’? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. But first, do you think, under ‘certain’ circumstances that you might be able to get a three-day liberty and take a two-day leave at the same time, maybe right after your next patrol?”

“A seventy-two-hour pass and a two-day leave? The XO’s a pretty good guy so, ‘under certain circumstances’? Maybe. I can try. Why?”

“If you can do that, it’ll still give us ten days leave for the ‘real’ wedding and time for us to get to back to New York and, uh... get acquainted.”

Marsha was looking forward to the ‘get acquainted’ part just about as much as Mitchell.

“Marcie, ‘pleas’e tell me what you’re talking about!”

“Okay, look. When you get back from patrol, on your first liberty weekend, see if you can get that Friday off also, with Monday and Tuesday leave.

Leave the ship sometime early Friday morning and fly here. We’ll pick you up at the airport and go ‘directly’ to get our blood tests and then we’ll be married on Monday by a judge or a justice of the peace.

We’ll arrange that, and that’ll give us all day Monday, and Monday night, for us to be together before you have to go back on Tuesday…”

‘Monday night’ was not lost on Mitchell.

“…And that way, when we do have the real wedding, we’ll still have ten days before you have to report back.”

July 19, 1955

“Marcy, I talked to the XO and explained ‘everything’ to him and he said that he couldn’t allow me to take a seventy-two hour liberty. But because of our timing what he’ll let me do is to take a three-day leave with my regular weekend liberty sandwiched between, so that’ll leave us nine days for a honeymoon.

The ship will be back in port on the tenth or eleventh of October and I’m in the liberty section that first weekend. So we’ve got the paperwork set up already and I’ve made the reservation. I’ll be home on Friday the fourteenth.”

“The ‘fourteenth’! My birthday’s on the fifteenth and we’ll be married two days later. What a ‘great’ birthday present!”

“Yeah, I thought of that...The plane’ll land at eight-thirty and we can go right to the doctor’s office for the tests.”

Everything falling into place, both were silent a moment.

“Mitchie, I’ve got some good news, too: the wedding is set for the nineteenth of December, at the ‘Palmer House’.”

December nineteenth. Today’s July nineteenth. Ticking the months off on his fingers, “That’s ‘five’ months away,”

Both minds thinking the same thought…

“I know, Mitchie. But October isn't.”

Under different circumstances he would be upset that the marriage was that far off, but October seventeenth was only three months away and — after all— he had waited all his life for this and now knowing ‘exactly’ when it was going to happen…

Standing in the telephone booth in Staten Island, New York, Mitchell Lipensky sensed a tightening in his shorts.

August 2, 1955

“I went to see my dad’s Aunt Ida. She lives in a place called ‘Seagate.”

“Seagate?”

“Yeah, Seagate’s on the tip of Coney Island.”

“Where they have the big amusement park?”

“Yes. And it’s the neatest place. It’s surrounded on three sides by water and there’s a fence and a guard’s gate in front and unless you live there, or are a guest of someone that live’s there, you can’t get in.”

“ ‘A guard gate’? That’s kind of different.”

“It’s really nice there. There’s lots of old mansions that have been converted to apartments and Aunt Ida said there’s some that are pretty inexpensive.

The bus stops right outside the gate that goes to the subway, and Coney Island is right next door to Bensonhurst, where you’ll probably go looking for a job.

Aunt Ida’s a real nice old lady and if you do want to live there, then at least we’ll have a relative near by so when I go to sea I’ll feel better knowing you’re not alone. And also because it’s safer for you because of the gate.”

“And we’ll live right near the ocean.”

“Surrounded by the ocean.”

“Yeah, Mitchie, it sounds ‘great’!”

August 9, 1955

“Marcie, I’ve got the ‘greatest’ news! Aunt Ida introduced me to an old friend of hers who owns the building directly kitty-corner from her. And this lady and her husband are ‘completely’ remodeling the building and ‘everything’ in it is going to be like brand new. And guess what?”

Catching his excitement, “What?” she asked.

“They own some kind of a furniture factory and they’re furnishing some of the smaller apartments with brand new furniture. What she calls ‘seconds’ and ‘everything’s’ going to be really nice and this lady, Mrs. Tennenbaum, showed me one of the apartments. It’s only one big room and a kitchen, but she said we could have it for seventy bucks a month ‘completely’ furnished. And guess what else?”

“Mitchie, honey, slow down! It sounds too good to be true . I hope you told her ‘yes'. What else could there possibly be?”

“The building won’t be ready ‘till early December and you’n’me’ll be the very first people in the apartment.”

“So, what did you tell her?”

“Are you ‘nuts’? What do you think? Yeah! I told her ‘yeah’!”

****

What he didn’t tell Marsha was that since the apartment he’d agreed to had not been painted or carpeted, Mrs. Tennenbaum allowed Mitchell to pick the carpeting and paint paint colors.

Knowing that Marsha’s taste ran to shades of lilac, as a surprise he’d picked a pale lilac paint for the walls and a contrasting lilac for the wall-to-wall carpeting.

Personalities/The Mothers

In an attempt to solicit more attention from her husband: whose cognizance of her had— in her opinion—completely eroded; from Mitchell whose love, Myra felt, was being diluted due to Marsha— whom she was beginning to resent— and from Lawrence, whose attention, as he grew older was starting to focus outward, away from herself and her home, Myra began to use anger and illness—sometimes real and sometimes feigned—as a ploy to refocus attention to herself.

Myra had ‘always’ wanted a daughter but now, rather than attempting to cultivate Marsha for the role of ‘daughter’; going about it slowly, with patience, Myra attempted to become the girl’s mentor.

Trying to bury her growing jealousy, Myra undertook the unwanted task of ‘teaching’ Marsha how to be a good wife and homemaker, and in so doing became impatient and demanding.

Myra wanted Marsha to call her ‘Mom’.

As she had never called even her own mother mom, simply put, Marsha could not get the word Mom past her lips.

Also, though she truly hoped Myra would be the mother she’d never had, she now was trying to bury her own growing animosity and rather than show disrespect by calling her future mother-in-law by her first name, Marsha used no title at all when addressing her, which only caused Myra to become more disgruntled.

****

Almost nineteen years after the birth of Marsha, Rhea had found a smattering of love for her daughter. However— after nineteen years— Rhea didn’t quite know how to demonstrate her love so she showed love the ‘only’ way she did know: by spending money…

Lots of money!

And, oh, yes! Marsha took ‘great’ delight in her mother’s attention.

****

Though Eli made a good living at the store, it was, after all, ‘only’ a hot dog stand and he wondered where all the money—at least all the money he was aware of—came from.

But again, Rhea’s mother ‘Rose’ had always helped when money was needed.

And besides, if Marsha… If his baby was going to be married and move away then he was glad that she was going to have a ‘real’ wedding and to Eli, so long as he didn’t have to worry about it, the money became secondary.

****

As for Walter! He had liked Marsha from the moment he’d first seen her and at this time ‘did’ consider her as a daughter.

Whenever possible— weather permitting— he and Larry would pick Marsha up on Sundays, or at the lingerie shop after work, and take her to dinner and sailing.

Although Myra was ‘always’ asked to join them, even though it was by her own choice to always say “No!” this, of course, only added fuel to Myra’s fire.

Unaware of Myra’s jealousy and growing resentment, Marsha truly enjoyed the company of, and the time spent with, her future father and brother-in-law.

The sailing, however, she could have lived without.

Walter and Myra did agree on one thing: They considered the wedding—which, in their opinion, had grown completely out of hand and as an unneeded frivolity on the part of Rhea and planned on contributing as little as possible to it.

But even though Myra had dismissed herself from all but the smallest financial obligation, she did consider herself as a full partner in the planning of the affair and —in so being— was extremely outspoken regarding the way she felt things ‘ought’ to be.

Myra had become Rhea’s almost constant companion, and—since Rhea did not drive a car and Myra did—her self-appointed chauffer.

Rhea accepted Myra’s attention with condescending good nature and, for once in her life thinking of her daughter’s happiness, she held her tongue during Myra’s real and attempted manipulations.

Gossamer Threads and Widening Ripples

“No, here’s the right way to do it!” spinning

“Cut the vegetables smaller!” spinning

“Straighten the sheet!” spinning

“I’ll teach you how!” spinning

“Stir it harder!” spinning

“Mix it faster!” spinning

“Here’s how!” spinning

“Do it!” spinning

“Wrong!” spinning

“Right!” spinning

“Yes!” spinning

“No!” spinning

Marsha’s visits to the Lipensky house always became a lesson and...

As Myra pushed the girl harder, the visits became fewer…

Which only added fuel to Myra’s fire.

August 11, 1955

“You like that ring, don’t you?”

“Mother, who wouldn’t like a pear-shaped diamond?”

“How big’s the stone, Sid?”

“Two and a half carats, Rhea.”

“Take it out, will you.”

Sid, the “friendly” jeweler, took the ring from the showcase. Shined it with a jeweler’s cloth then slipped it onto Marsha’s ‘engagement’ finger.

“Oh, Mother!” Holding her hand forward, “It’s ‘beautiful’!”

“It’s a good stone, Sid?”

“Of ‘course’ it’s a good stone! Would I ever show you anything else?”

“You want it, Marsha?”

“ ‘Do I want it’?” Thinking she was joking, “ ‘Of course I want it’!”

Standing in silence, “Rhea, Mitchell doesn’t have anywhere near that kind of money!” Myra, however, did not think she was joking.

Looking at Myra…

Rhea stared at Myra for five long seconds . . . . .

Then turning back to her daughter, “It’s yours!”

Gasping as thought the breath had been taken from her lungs. “Mother!

“It’s yours!” Rhea said with finality.

“Sid, you and me...” their eyes locking, “...we’ll discuss price later.”

“Mother…” Marsha could not believe it: ‘a two and a half carat, pear-shaped diamond’!

“Rhea! My son cannot affor…”

Cutting her off “ ‘Forget it’, Myra!” Glaring at her. Daring her to say more.

“I’m paying the difference! And if Marsha wants a ring for Mitchell...”

The slits of her dark, stony eyes turning from Myra, “That one, Sid,” she said, pointing to a velvet-lined tray. “The one in the ‘gypsy’ setting, How big’s the stone?”

“One carat.”

“It’s a good stone, Sid?”

Shrugging his shoulders. “Rhea...” Sounding hurt. Looking at her over his glasses. “...you trying to make me crazy?”

“Show me, please.”

Wiping the ring with his cloth, Sid handed it to Rhea.

Holding the ring to the artificial light. Looking at it a moment then slipping it onto her daughters finger. “Marsha, would you like to give this ring to Mitchell?”

Marsha had never considered giving Mitchell a ring—other than a wedding band.

Dazed at what was either the ‘height’ of her mother’s generosity or—more likely— the ‘depth’ of her guilt.

Holding her hands to the fluorescent light Marsha looked at the sparkling facets of the two diamond rings on her engagement and wedding fingers.“God, Mother,” barely able to stammer, “yes!”

“Okay, Sid.” Once again looking at Myra. Once again daring her to speak. “We’ll take both.”

****

She had the money for the wedding and also for the down-payment on the ‘building’.’

I’ll be damned if I’ll let my daughter wear a six-hundred-dollar engagement ring to a seven-thousand-dollar wedding! she had thought.

On the trip back from downtown Chicago to the north side, Rhea contemplated how she was going to come up with the rest of the money needed to close the deal on the slum apartment building…

That just happened to be smack-dab in the way of the recently-begun ‘Edens Expressway’.

****

‘Morrie Jacobson’, Rhea’s long time ‘friend’ in Mayor Daley’s office had received the tip through a good friend in the City Assessors office, and for her friendship— and continued friendship— Morrie had given Rhea the, ‘Sure Thing! Big Money, hot tip.”

****

…A thought occurring to her. Well, I’m not going to be needing the money till the end of the year anyway. And by then I ‘know’ who I can borrow it from. Or maybe, so long as I’ll be holding the money anyway, I’ll just invest it for them.

Glancing at Marsha in the back seat, Maybe I’ll even make them partners.

Having solved her problem, Rhea sat back, lit a cigarette and enjoyed the ride home…

As Myra drove from the Wabash Avenue showroom to Pratt Boulevard in icy, angry silence.

August 14, 1955

Having lunch at Askanaz.

“I saw a television show the other night.” Myra took a bite of her sandwich. “The man, a soldier in Korea, wanted to propose to his girlfriend.” And washed it down with ice tea. “So he proposed over the phone and his mother put the ring on the girl’s finger. It was ‘so’ touching.”

Marsha and Rhea glanced at each other.

“I’ve been thinking: next Tuesday Mitchell is going to call at my house and I thought it would be a nice idea if I had your family over for dinner that night—even Roger and Brenda and the baby—and when Mitchell calls I… we’ll… have him propose to you over the phone, and…”

“But,” Marsha cut in, “he’s already proposed.”

Ignoring her, “…and then I’ll put the ring…”

Marsha nudged Rhea with her knee under the table.

“…on your finger.” Looking expectantly from Marsha to Rhea, Myra awaited confirmation of her idea.

“Really, Myra, that doesn’t sound like such a good idea to me. If you ask me, I think the kids should be alone when Mitchell puts the ring on her finger.”

“Oh, ‘really’!” Myra said icily. Shifting her gaze to Marsha. “And what do ‘you’ think?”

As retribution for Marsha not addressing her as ‘Mom’, lately Myra had taken to not addressing Marsha by name either.

Swallowing... Attempting to keep her anger down... Looking steadily at Myra. “If your son… If Mitchell agreed to do that,” Marsha said, “I’d call the whole thing off.”

Spinning…

Widening.

Next “Becoming” excerpt in sequence: “James Dean & Elvis”