Part 7 (2/2)
”The whole building?” Johnny didn't believe his ears.
”The whole building,” George said, then added cautiously: ”That is, if Peter don't ask too much money!”
Peter had just finished explaining to Esther why he thought they would not be able to take Borden's proposition when Johnny came running up the stairs. He burst into the room.
”Peter, we got it! We got it!”
Peter looked at him as if he were crazy. ”Got what?”
Johnny couldn't stand still. He picked up Esther and swung her around. Peter's mouth hung open as he watched them. ”Our worries are over,” Johnny sang out, ”George will buy it. The whole building!”
His excitement was contagious. Peter went over to him and shouted: ”Stand still a minute, you crazy fool! What do you mean George will buy it? Where'll he get the money?”
Johnny looked at him grinning. ”He's got the money. He says so and he wants to buy the place.”
”You're crazy,” Peter said with finality. ”It's impossible.”
”Impossible?” Johnny yelled. He walked over to the door and opened it. ”Hey, George,” he shouted down the hall, ”come on up!” He stood there holding the door open.
They could hear the footsteps on the stairs. They were slow and hesitating at first and then grew firmer as they came closer. At last George came into the room. His face was red and he looked at the floor as he stumbled across the room toward them.
”What's this Johnny tells us?” Peter asked him.
George tried to speak but couldn't. The English words just wouldn't come to his tongue. He gulped twice and then looked at Peter helplessly.
It was Esther who came to his rescue. Sensing the poor man's distress and divining the reasons that lay behind it, she went up to him and took his hand. ”Come and sit down, George,” she said quietly, ”and while you men talk it over, I'll make some coffee.”
And so it was settled. A week later George had bought the building and the nickelodeon for twelve thousand dollars, half cash and half notes secured by mortgage. Peter arranged for the sale of the merchandise in the hardware store to the only other hardware merchant in the neighborhood, who was only too glad to buy it because it left him with a clear field.
The very next day Peter signed his agreement with Borden and an hour later rented the building in which the equipment stood, thus taking care of his studio s.p.a.ce.
When the papers were all signed, Borden turned to Peter and grinned. ”Now you need some help to make pictures. I got a few relatives who know the business and they could be of real use to you. Maybe I should send them over to talk to you?”
Peter smiled and shook his head. ”I don't think I'll need them.”
”But you got to have help to make pictures,” Borden protested. ”I'm thinking only of your good. You don't know nothing about how to make them.”
”That's true,” Peter admitted, ”but I got some ideas I'd like to try out first.”
”It's all right with me,” Borden said, ”it's your funeral.”
They were seated around a big table at Luchow's on Fourteenth Street. Borden and his wife, Peter, Esther, Johnny, and Joe made up the party. Borden got up to make a toast. ”To Peter Kessler and his good wife, Esther,” he said, holding a gla.s.s of champagne in his hand. ”All the luck in the world in producing-” He stopped in the middle of the toast.
”I just thought of something,” he said. ”You ain't got no name for your pictures. What are you going to call them, Peter?”
Peter looked puzzled. ”I never thought of that. I didn't know I had to have a name for them.”
”It's very important,” Borden a.s.sured him solemnly. ”How else are the customers going to know they're your pictures?”
”I have an idea,” Esther said.
They looked at her.
Her face flushed a little. ”Peter,” she said, turning to her husband, ”what did the waiter call that big bottle of champagne you ordered?”
”A magnum,” Peter answered.
”That's it.” She smiled. ”Why not call it Magnum Pictures?”
A chorus of approval rose from the table.
”Then it's settled,” Borden said, holding up his gla.s.s again. ”To Magnum Pictures! They should be seen on every screen in the country just like Borden Pictures!”
They all drank and then Peter got up. He looked around the table and picked up his gla.s.s. ”To Willie Borden, who I will never forget his kindness.”
Again they drank. When they put their gla.s.ses down, Peter still stood there. He cleared his throat. ”This is a big day in my life. Today I went into the business of producing pictures. Tonight my dear wife gave them a name. Now I would like to make an announcement.” He looked around dramatically. ”I announce the appointment of Mr. Joe Turner as studio and production manager of Magnum Pictures.”
Borden didn't act surprised. He smiled and reached over the table and shook hands with Joe. ”No wonder Peter didn't want any of my relatives,” he said ruefully. ”You must have tipped him off.”
There was a relieved burst of laughter at that. Peter had been worried about how Borden would take it. He didn't know that Johnny and Joe had spoken to Borden some time ago about it.
”Wait a minute,” he said, ”I got another announcement.”
They looked at him.
He held up his gla.s.s. ”To my partners, Johnny Edge and Joe Turner.”
Joe just sat there with his mouth open; he gulped but couldn't speak.
It was Johnny who jumped to his feet and faced Peter. His heart was beating wildly and his eyes glistened moistly. ”Peter,” he said, ”Peter-”
Peter grinned at him. ”Don't get so excited, Johnny. After all, you only got ten percent apiece!”
AFTERMATH.
1938.
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