The Dressmaker's Son (4 page)

CHAPTER 6

Ruth had done a
good job of making room for an additional family.  Sarah’s bedroom had been
turned into a dormitory with the addition of a double-decker bed for Miriam and
Leah.  There was a small bedroom with a double bed for Jacob and Rachael and a
cot for Levi.  Downstairs, the sun parlor had two mattresses on the floor for
Solomon and Joshua.

            When Jacob and the
children walked in the house, they were met with the heavenly fragrance of a
home-cooked meal.  Ruth had prepared a Sabbath dinner and the aromas of baked
chicken and chicken soup filled the house.  “It smells good in here, Papa,”
Miriam said. “It smells like home.”

            After the
introductions, Ruth showed everyone their rooms and gave them a chance to wash
up for dinner.

            Ruth had outdone
herself with chicken soup and matzo balls, baked chicken, noodle kugle, green
beans and fresh baked challah.  For dessert she had made a chocolate cake and
raspberry rugelach.  They all ate as if it were their last meal.

            “Aunt Ruth,” Solomon
said. “This is delicious.  It reminds me of Mama’s Sabbath meal at home.  Thank
you for doing this for us.”

            Jacob beamed.  He was
so proud of his children, but Solomon was mature beyond his years.

            Ruth looked at
Solomon.  One could see she was touched by his words. “Thank you, Solomon.  We
are so glad to have you and your family here.  We were missing so much not
being able to watch our nieces and nephews grow up.  Uncle David and I are so
happy you have come to America.  I can’t wait to see your mother and Levi.”
            At the mention of Levi, his eyes teared over. “Levi is very sick,
Aunt Ruth,” he said in a husky voice. “I am worried about him.”

            Jacob put his arm
around Solomon. “Now, Sollie,” he said. “We need to think positively.  Levi
will be okay.  He is with Mama and he is getting good care.”  Then he turned to
Ruth. “Sollie is right, Ruth.  The meal was delicious.  And the children will
be thrilled to get a good night’s sleep.  If you will excuse us, I think I
should try to get the children ready for bed.”

Jacob went
upstairs with the girls and got them settled for the night.  Sarah, at five,
was younger than both Miriam and Leah.  She sat on her bed quietly watching the
girls get into their beds.  They had taken baths, and Jacob had managed to find
their nightgowns in one of the suitcases.  Once they were both in bed, Jacob
sat on the bottom bed with Miriam.  “Tomorrow I’ll leave early to go see Mama
and Levi,” he said so both could hear.  “You’ll listen to Aunt Ruth and help
her if you can.”

“Of course, Papa,”
Miriam murmured her voice heavy from sheer exhaustion.  Leah’s steady breathing
told Jacob she was already fast asleep.

Jacob went
downstairs to check on the boys.  He made his way through the living room where
the French doors to the sun parlor were open.

“Papa?” Solomon
called as Jacob approached.

“Yes, Sollie. 
It’s me.”

Solomon sat up on
the mattress.  “Will Levi be okay, Papa?”

Jacob sat down
next to him. “We pray so, Sollie.  His fever was very high, but hopefully it
will come down.”

“And I’ll go with
you to see him tomorrow, Papa?”

“Not tomorrow,
Sollie.  You have to stay and take care of the girls and Joshua.  You are the
oldest.  Maybe the next day.”

“You told Mama you
would bring me, Papa,” he answered, his voice cracking.  “Please, Papa, you
never break your promises.”

Jacob thought a
minute.  While technically he hadn’t really promised, he had intentionally said
he would bring Solomon loud enough for him to hear.  “You’re right, Sollie. I
said I would bring you.  Aunt Ruth will look out for the others.  I will take
you with me.  Now say your
Shema
, a daily prayer said each morning and
evening expressing faith and the love of God, and go to sleep.”

Solomon reached up
and hugged Jacob. “Thank you, Papa.”

Jacob reached over
and kissed Joshua on the forehead and then did the same to Solomon. As he left
the room he heard Solomon reciting the
Shema.

Jacob headed
toward the kitchen.  As he entered, David was at the counter pouring two
glasses of schnapps.  He handed one to Jacob.  “To you, Jacob, and your new
life in America,” he toasted.  They touched the glasses and drank.

David motioned
Jacob to the kitchen table.  They sat quietly for a few minutes. “So, David,” Jacob
finally asked. “What will my new life be?”

“Just like you
started, Jacob.  Only instead of traveling from town to town, you’ll be in one
place.  And instead of a lot of things to sell, you will start with piece
goods.  After we go to see Rachael and Levi in the morning, I’ll take you to
get your pushcart.  I’ve already made contacts to get you some bolts of piece
goods and we’ll find a place for you to sell from.  We will get you a license
so you will be legitimate.  Sometimes people don’t get one, but I know how you
are.  You will want to do it right.” 

“But where will we
live, David? How will I make a home for my family? Your letter said I’ll be
able to get a business.”

“The pushcart is a
business, Jacob.  One thing at a time.  First earn a living.  Then, we’ll look
for a place for your family to live.  Meanwhile, you’ll stay with us.  Ruth is
glad for the company.  It is good to see her busy with your family.  You know
she longs for a sister or brother for Sarah, but I’m afraid it isn’t going to be
God’s will.  Sarah is five already.”

Jacob just
nodded.  What could he say? He and Rachael were so blessed with their five
children.  He rose and patted David on the shoulder.  “Tell Ruth how much we
appreciate all she is doing for us.  The children are lucky to have such an
aunt!”

CHAPTER 7

Rachael was never
separated from Levi and for that she was thankful.  The quarantine center was a
separate building on Ellis Island.  It consisted of separate rooms with three
solid walls and a grated front.  There was a bed and a chair and a small basin for
washing.  In the hall, Rachael saw people coming and going, mothers trying to
find a nurse or doctor for a loved one, a doctor hurrying to tend to a
patient.  It was a busy place.  A doctor came and examined Levi.  He didn’t
know what exactly was wrong with him.

On the third day
when the doctor came, he determined that Levi was not improving, but finding
nothing to indicate a contagious disease; he had him moved to the hospital on
the island.  In his opinion, Levi seemed to be suffering from a respiratory
infection. 

While there were
mainly large wards at the hospital, there were also single rooms and Rachael
and Levi were put into one of them.  Rachael acknowledged that everyone there
was trying to help.  The nurses brought different liquids to get Levi to
drink.  Medicines were administered, poultices applied
¾
but nothing seemed to help. Jacob came every morning before
going to what he called his “new business,” and returned each evening.  He
tried desperately to get Rachael to go to David’s to bathe and rest, but she
wouldn’t hear of leaving Levi.  Solomon would come in the morning with Jacob
and hold Levi until Jacob said they had to leave. 

“Let me stay with
him for the day, Papa,” he would plead.

“No, Sollie.  You
need to help at Uncle David’s.”  His tone told Solomon not to argue.  Every day
he would say the same thing before leaving.  “Sollie will be back tomorrow,
Levi.  Try to get well.  You need to come see the toys we have for you at Uncle
David’s.” 

Levi, his eyes
half closed would sometimes muster the strength to give Solomon a half-smile.

“He’ll get better,
Mama.  I’m saying my prayers every night and in the morning.”

But every day he
seemed to get worse.  And Rachael would pray, “Please, God, don’t take him. 
Take me if you must, but let Levi grow up in America.”

           
Meanwhile
,
Jacob arranged the fabrics neatly on the pushcart. “I’ve gone backwards,” he
thought to himself.  “I started with fabrics on a wagon at least!” It had been
a huge adjustment the last ten days.  He got up at four in the morning to take
the ferry to the hospital to see Rachael and Levi and then he picked up his
pushcart and took his place on Hester Street.

Hester Street was
a whole different world for Jacob.  It was lined with buildings with apartments
on top and stores on the first level.  Parked on both sides of the street was a
kaleidoscope of pushcarts selling everything from produce and fish to
clothing.  The street was almost always busy with customers comparing prices
between vendors.  Jacob was not used to the haggling, but he took his place
among the others and tried to begin building a business.

Levi wasn’t doing
well.  Rachael wouldn’t leave his side and spent most of her time pleading with
the doctors to try something else.  The fever would seem to go down some and
then shoot right back up.  There were complications with his breathing.  He had
looked awful this morning and felt almost lifeless when Jacob held him in his
arms.  Solomon stood next to Rachael, leaning over and stroking Levi’s head.

“Dear God, don’t
let him die,” Rachael prayed softly at Jacob’s side.

But Jacob was
scared that Levi’s little heart couldn’t take much more.

He stood by his
cart watching the people walk by and listening to the haggling between the
shoppers and the peddlers.  The sound of Solomon’s voice startled him.

“Papa, Papa,” he
was shouting as he rounded the corner on a bicycle.

“Over here,” Jacob
yelled, waving his arms.

As he approached
the pushcart, Solomon jumped off the bike and ran up to Jacob. ”It’s Levi,
Papa.  Uncle David said to come and get you right away.  You have to go to the
hospital.”

“What’s wrong? Did
Uncle David say?”

“He said I should
pray for Levi, Papa.  He said he is very bad.  Is he going to die, Papa?” he
asked searching Jacob’s eyes for words of encouragement.

“I don’t know,”
Jacob replied.  But in his heart he knew.

“Stay with the
pushcart, Solomon. I’ll go to Mama.  Uncle David will come to get you and tell
you what to do with the cart.”

“No, Papa.  I have
to go.  I have to see him.”

“Solomon.  You
have to help me now.  Aunt Ruth took you to see him yesterday.  I could be
there all night.  Please, stay here.  And try to pray like Uncle David said.”

Jacob grabbed the
bike that Solomon had borrowed from his cousin Sarah and headed to the ferry to
Ellis Island. While Sarah had graduated to a larger bike when she turned five,
it was still quite a site to see someone of Jacob’s size riding it.

When he got to the
hospital, Rachael was sitting in a chair with Levi in her lap.  He looked like
he was sleeping, but Jacob knew at once that he was gone.  He knelt by her
side.

“Let me take him,”
he said softly.

She looked at
Jacob’s face.  “He’s dead, Jacob.”

“I know, Rachael,”
he answered putting one arm around her and the other around Levi.

            “I thought he was
getting better.  His fever was even down.  But he couldn’t breathe, Jacob.  He
tried, but he couldn’t.  Then he just stopped.”  Her voice was even without
emotion. “David is making arrangements,” she continued in the same monotone. 
“We don’t need any clothes.  It’s an orthodox synagogue
.
  He’ll be in a
sheet.  David said there is a Jewish cemetery and he can get a plot.  He’ll pay
for it.”

            Jacob knew there was
nothing he could say to comfort her as the tears streamed down his own face. 
He brushed them away with his sleeve.

            “Let me take him,
Rachael,” he repeated quietly.

            Rachael released her
grip and let Jacob lift him from her lap.  He placed his little body on the
bed.  A nurse with broken English approached him.

            “They are here from the
funeral home to get Levi, Mr. Shearmon, and there are some papers you need to
sign.”

Jacob nodded “Give
me a moment with my son, please.”

            She backed away as
Jacob leaned over Levi. “I’m so sorry, Levi.  Papa loved you.  I wanted to bring
you to a new country for a new life.” He bent down and kissed him.  “You will
always be in Papa’s heart.”

            Rachael stood.  “It’s
time to go, Jacob.  I have to tell the children.”

            But first there were
papers to sign.  And then Rachael had to finish the process of being admitted
to America.  Uncle David arrived to tend to Levi to be sure he was not left
alone.  He would ride with Levi to the funeral home. There, according to Jewish
law, a person would be assigned to keep a vigil over the body until the burial.

CHAPTER 8

            It had been almost six
months since Levi’s funeral.  Jacob would never forget the sight of that little
coffin.  He was beside himself with grief.  Rachael was silent throughout it
all: getting ready for the funeral, the service at cemetery where David had managed
to get a plot, sitting
Shiva
, when friends of David and Ruth came to pay
their respects.  She sat like a stone.  The only time she had cried was when
they had returned home from the hospital. 

David and Ruth had
met them at the door.  Embracing Rachael, Ruth had led her inside. She knew
there was nothing she could say to comfort her.

 “Can I get you
something to eat or drink?” she asked in an almost hushed voice. “The children
have already eaten.”

“No, thank you,
Ruth,” Rachael answered in the same monotone she had used at the hospital with
Jacob.  “I need to be with the children to tell them.  Where is Solomon?”

Ruth pointed to
the little sunroom off the living room.  As Rachael walked into the room,
Solomon was standing at the window.  No lights were on but the fading light
from outside seemed to envelop his body.  He was wearing a skullcap and the
tallit
he had been given by his Aunt Rebekah to wear at his Bar Mitzvah in America. 
By the rocking of his body Rachael could tell he was praying.  She approached
him quietly so as not to startle him.  “Sollie,” she whispered her voice
catching.  “It’s Mama.”  At first he did not move or acknowledge her. “Sollie?”
she repeated.

            Finally he turned to
her.  Rachael saw the intense pain in his eyes. “He’s dead, isn’t he?” he
asked, his eyes brimming with tears. “Why, Mama? I prayed and prayed.”

            “I know, Sollie,” she
answered reaching out for him and holding him to her.  “I know, but they
couldn’t make him well.”  She felt his hot tears on her shoulder and she
started to sob.

            Jacob watched from the
doorway as they held each other crying.  Joshua and the girls had heard Rachael
come in and were standing with Jacob as he tried to hold all three of them as
they wept together.  He had not seen Rachael cry since.

Every Friday night
Jacob, Rachael and Solomon went to the
shul
to say
Kaddish
for
Levi.  Ruth would cook Sabbath dinner; Rachael would help do the dishes; and
David, Jacob, Rachael and Solomon would go to the
shul
. Solomon cried
every time he rose to say
Kaddish
for Levi.  At first Jacob had tried to
tell him that because he was not yet Bar Mitzvah’d, he didn’t have to say it,
but Solomon would not hear of it.  Maybe it was because of the age difference,
but the bond between him and Levi had almost been like father and son.  He had
taken care of him from the day he was born.  Now he felt a sorrow and pain he
believed would never go away.

Rachael hardly
spoke.  She got up each morning to fix breakfast for Jacob and the children and
spent the rest of the day in her room.  At night she would mutely help Ruth
prepare dinner.  The children were all in school.  Solomon already had a job
after at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factor sweeping the floors of the room where
the patterns were cut.

Jacob spent his
days with his pushcart.  He had found additional suppliers for his fabrics and
had added some sewing notions to his display.  Every cent he made he saved for
the day he would be able to get a place for his family.  Although Ruth and
David were wonderful to them, he knew Rachael had to have a home of her own,
and soon.

His spirit was
still not daunted.  This Thursday afternoon as he looked around he saw others
with their pushcarts half full, the proprietors leaning lazily against them
chatting with each other and waiting to go home.  “I need to offer more
things,” he thought to himself.  “Buttons, scissors, ribbon, pins, patterns.  I
need to have a sign to catch people’s attention.”  His thoughts were
interrupted by a woman coming toward him.

“Jacob,” she was
shouting. “Is that you?”

As she approached
he recognized her from Russia as the wife of a neighbor who had come to America
two years earlier.  “Yes, Esther,” he said smiling. “It’s me. It’s good to see
you.  How is Morris?”

“Oh,” she sighed.
“He finally got work with a department store doing alterations.  But what about
you, Jacob? A pushcart?  In Yelizavetgrad you were such a prominent man.”

“I know, Esther,
but this is only temporary. I’m doing this until I can get my own store.  It
won’t be long.”

They chatted for a
few minutes and Esther left. “She’s right,” Jacob thought.  Quickly he covered
the merchandise on the cart.  “I’ll send Sollie to get this later,” he muttered
to himself, and started walking down the street to create his future.

             Four hours later, Jacob
bounded up the stairs to David’s house.  He could hardly wait to tell Rachael
his new plan.  Stopping in the hall to put his coat up, he heard Joshua and
Sarah arguing.

“We do have a
house back home in Russia,” Joshua was saying, “and it’s bigger than your house
and any house you ever lived in.”

Joshua turned as
he heard Jacob come into the room. “Tell her we have a big house back home in
Russia, Papa.”

            Jacob walked over to
where Joshua, Sarah and one of her friends were sitting on the floor.  Kneeling
down he looked into Joshua’s pleading eyes.

“Joshua,” he
started slowly.  “We had a house in Russia, yes, and it was very big.  But
there is no ‘back home,’ Joshua. The home we knew in Russia will never exist as
we knew it again.  It is gone for us except in our memories.  But the heart is
a big place.  It can make room for a new home, an American home.  When we refer
to home now, Joshua, it will be in America.  Soon we will have a new home
here.  I promise you.”

“Yes, Papa,”
Joshua barely whispered.  He felt sadness at this great loss his father had
just put upon him.

Jacob saw the
tears in his eyes.  He pulled Joshua up before Sarah and her friend could
notice.  “And what’s the matter?” he bellowed as he held him close.  “All of a
sudden you don’t get up and give your Papa a hug hello? Come. Let’s go find
Mama.  I have good news.”

When they got to
the kitchen, Rachael was setting the table, her back to the door.  Jacob let go
of Joshua and slid his arms around her.  “Soon you’ll be doing this in your own
kitchen, Rachael.”

She turned
twisting out of his arms and looked up at him, her wonderful dark blue eyes
pools of sorrow.  Jacob couldn’t help but wonder where the fearless, spirited
woman he had married had gone.  “And how will you do that, Jacob?” she asked in
the same monotone she had adopted since Levi’s death.

“I saw Mrs.
Petrovitch today,” he started excitedly.  “She couldn’t believe I was tending a
pushcart.  I must admit, Rachael, it hurt my pride, but it also inspired me.  I
am going to open a store.”

“And is Mrs.
Petrovitch going to help you?” she asked sarcastically.

“No, Rachael.  I
don’t need Mrs. Petrovitch to help me.  I can do it by myself.  I have enough
money saved to get us through the first three months.  I’ve found a store on
120
^th
Street.  It has rooms upstairs.  The rooms are nice, Rachael,
three bedrooms, a bath, a kitchen and a parlor. We will fix it up.  And the
landlord knows David.  I think he’d let me have it with no deposit.”

Rachael just
looked at him.  Joshua who had been listening pulled on Jacob’s arm. “Are we
moving to a new house, Papa? Can I tell Sollie? When will we move?”

“Soon, Joshua. 
Yes, you can tell Sollie.  Go.  Tell him before dinner.”

That evening Jacob
talked about the store and his plans at dinner.  He knew he could make a
success of it like he did in Yelizavetgrad.  “Suppliers will work with me,” he
said confidently. “I have experience.  I’ll go Monday to the ones I’m using
now, and then find others.”  David and Ruth offered some furniture they had and
told them about a place to buy beds cheap.  Rachael sat quietly.

When they finally
got in bed, Rachael reached for the light on the night table.  Jacob gently
pulled her arm away. “I thought you’d be happy,” he said.  “We need to be in
our own home, with our own family.”

“Our family’s not
the same, Jacob.  It will never be.  Maybe if we had stayed in Russia, my Levi
would be alive.  Maybe God didn’t want us to come to America.”

This wasn’t the
first time he had heard this.  “God didn’t take Levi from us.  He died from
complications from the infection in his chest.  According to the doctor he was
probably incubating it when we left Russia.  But God has him now, Rachael.  He
is in His hands.  My pain is as deep as yours, but we must go on with our new
life.  For us and for our children.”

“New life,” she
sighed. “What new life?  A store maybe you’ll get? My heart broken? There is no
new life for me, Jacob.  I can’t be excited like you.  Don’t you see what it’s
like here for everybody?”

“Don’t you,
Rachael?” he said, trying not to lose his patience. “The children are fine. 
Sollie has a job after school at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and is doing
fine.  All four are in school doing their lessons.” He muffled what would have
been a shout. “I won’t have it.  We are here, Rachael.  I’m going to make a new
life for us.  Remember when we met and I told you my plans?  You asked didn’t I
know what was going on with the Jews in Russia?  I knew, but I knew I could
beat it and we did.  It didn’t last, but I was successful.  I don’t look at how
hard it is for everybody else because I’m not everybody else.  I always thought
that was one of the reasons you fell in love with me.  I’m going to make a life
for us.  You must have faith and become a mother to our children again.  And
you must be a wife to me! Life will be what we make it, but I will be
successful.   I will provide for our family, but I cannot live in a home
without feelings, without any joy.  I want my beautiful Rachael back, with all
her strength, with all her warmth, with all her love, and with all her
passion.”

Tears were
streaming down Rachael’s cheeks as she stared into his eyes.  “I’m so scared,
Jacob,” she said trying to control her tears.

“Don’t be,
Rachael.  Believe in me as you did before.  I promise you I’ll make a good life
for us again.  We will do it together as we did before, but you must bring back
that strong, invincible woman I married.”

Gently he smoothed
her hair away from her face as she cried.  He still loved it when she let it
loose at night.  It was as though unleashing her hair unleashed the passion she
had inside.  Pulling her to him, he held her close.  Jacob didn’t know how long
she cried before she reached her arms around his neck.

“Love me, Jacob,”
she whispered.

When Jacob came
down for breakfast the next morning Rachael was cooking at the stove.  “Sit
down, Jacob,” she ordered. “The eggs are almost ready.” She turned briefly and
smiled at him when their eyes met.

“What’s Mama
smiling about,” Solomon asked as he seated himself at the table next to Jacob.

“I think she just
got to America, Solomon,” Jacob replied with a smile.