Part 39 (1/2)
”What?”
”Tonight. Six-thirty. Pizza from Spirito's. I forgot.”
He checked his watch. ”You're already late. You should call.”
”Would you do it for me?”
”It would be better if you did it yourself.”
She called from a phone booth along the boardwalk, feeding coins into the box as fast as Henry handed them to her. When Rusty answered, Miri said, ”It's me. I forgot.”
”We'll do it tomorrow,” Rusty said. ”No excuses.”
”Okay. Tomorrow.”
She didn't tell Henry until after they'd stopped at the hotel where the wedding would be, until after he'd shown her the garden where the chuppah would be draped with Grandpa Max's tallis and a white lace tablecloth brought from the old country by Leah's grandmother. Everything else would be decorated with peonies, Leah's favorite flower, in shades ranging from pale blush to deep pink. She didn't tell him until he asked, ”Would you like to bring Mason to the wedding? I know we didn't send him a proper invitation but-”
”We broke up,” she managed to say, holding back tears. If only she could have a do-over she'd take a different route home from school, or she'd have gone to Pamel's with her girlfriends, or maybe to the library. Then she wouldn't have run into him or seen Polina and Stash.
”You broke up?” Henry said. ”I'm so sorry.”
She leaned against him and nestled her head against his chest. ”He has another girlfriend. All this time he's had another girlfriend.”
Henry shook his head. ”I can't believe this. Are you sure?”
”She cooks at Janet. She has a little boy. He says he tried to end it with her...”
”But you don't believe him?”
She shrugged. ”Do you?”
”I don't know Mason as well as you.”
”Would you ever lie like that to Leah?”
”Never.”
”I don't see how he could have lied to me.”
”Maybe he didn't know how to tell you. He's still a boy, Miri. He has a lot of stuff to figure out.”
”I told him I never want to see him again.”
”That's a strong message.”
”I mean it.” Was this her punishment for her fantasy about Dr. O marrying her mother? To lose her boyfriend, the best boyfriend any girl could have? No wonder he'd never tried to get beyond first base with her. All the time he was doing it with Polina. How could she, a fifteen-year-old girl, compete with that?
”I don't know how I can keep going,” she told Henry.
”Miri, sweetheart-life is hard,” Henry said, ”but it's worth the struggle.”
”Are you sure?”
”Very, very sure.”
- ”I BROKE UP with Mason,” she told Rusty that night, ”and I don't want to talk about it.”
”Oh, honey,” Rusty said. ”I'm so sorry. Is it about Las Vegas?”
”I said I don't want to talk about it, and no, it's not about Las Vegas. End of conversation.” Let Rusty tell Irene. Let Rusty tell the whole world.
Henry Leah said Miri would learn from this experience. She said it wasn't realistic of them to think puppy love could last. But learn what? Not to trust? Not to believe? Not to love? He didn't agree with Leah. He wished he could make Miri's sadness go away. But there was nothing he could do except be there for her.
Christina Jack was beside himself. They were in his room at Mrs. O'Malley's. He paced up and down, punching his fist into his open hand while she sat primly on the edge of the bed. ”And now Mason won't come to Las Vegas because of that little b.i.t.c.h.”
”Do you know why Miri broke up with him?” Christina asked. ”No. Do you?”
”Because he lied to her. Because he's been...” She tried to put it delicately. ”He's been sleeping with Polina, the girl who cooks at Janet, the one Daisy took in after she lost everything in the Williamson Street crash.”
”Mason?”
”Yes, Mason. Polina told Daisy and Daisy told me. She thought I should know because of our...closeness.”
”My little brother?”
”Yes, your little brother. Polina said Mason broke up with her right after Miri found out he was cheating.”
”This is crazy. We're talking about kids.”
”Polina's not a kid. But she has one.”
”Jesus, Mary and Joseph! How do we know this is really true?”
”Why would Daisy lie to me? She's not a gossip. But you should ask Mason yourself.”
”Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”
”I wish you'd stop saying that.”
”What should I say?”
”I'm sorry, Jack.” Christina softened. ”It must be hard for you to hear this.”
”What's hard is that he thinks he can't confide in me, that he thinks he can't come with us.”
”Give him time. Let him cool off. I'll bet you anything he'll change his mind. If not right away, then as soon as he finishes high school.”