Bittersweet Brooklyn_A Novel by Thelma Adams

Author:Thelma Adams [Adams, Thelma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503904606
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

Weeks passed and the baby prospered. She held him constantly, a bulwark between herself and the world. When she needed to change clothes, she handed Mama the infant. Even four-year-old Adele had her turn (with close supervision), but not Thelma. Annie justified the rejection by telling herself her sister was irresponsible, but there was an underlying jealousy twisted up with anger: the fear that the child might bond to the sister and reject the mother (like Abie, like Louis, even Moe). As for Abie, she snubbed him, not inviting him to the circumcision, the bris. She wouldn’t let him upstage the holy event with showgirls or distract the mohel with schmuck jokes.

After that, most evenings the family followed the Thirty-Eighth Infantry’s progress against the Germans. In late September, after a fifty-six-hour assault, the Allies breached the enemy’s last defensive position on the Western Front, the Hindenburg Line. Louis had not only fought with the winning side—he’d survived enemy artillery, snipers, and mustard gas. The army promoted the family war hero to private first class. The French awarded him the Croix de Guerre for bravery. His division became known as the Rock of the Marne for changing the course of the war.

Louis remained in Europe as autumn folded like batter into winter. On a dank December 23, Annie held a newspaper, watching out the window for Thelma to return from work. Before the sixteen-year-old had shaken the sleet from her shoulders, Annie pounced, handing her the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

“What’s the rush?” Thelma asked, removing her damp gloves. “Is Louis’s name in the paper?”

“Read,” Annie urged, torn between shame and schadenfreude. She’d been waiting all afternoon for Thelma to come home so she could shove her nose in the paper. Now she’d watch her squirm.

“Is this what you wanted me to see: ‘Red Tape Delays Peace Conference’?”

“Not that,” Annie said, impatience rising.

“Don’t play games, Annie, I’m beat.” Thelma shimmied out of her coat. “This: ‘London Streets Decked with Flags in Wilson’s Honor’?”

Annie sucked her teeth. “Not that, either.”

“What then? And where’s Julie?”

“With Jesse,” Annie said, trying to keep a poker face. “Look lower.”

“This: ‘Eight Million Killed in the World War; Thirty-One Million Six Hundred Total’?” Thelma plopped on the sofa. Although the girl began weeping at the news, Annie couldn’t stomach her tears.

“Take off your boots.”

“How can you worry about feet at a time like this? I can’t even imagine that many people to begin with—and that many people dead. It’s a miracle Louis survived.”

“A miracle, right,” said Annie. She shifted the baby like a swaddled potato from one shoulder to the other, shook out a burp that launched stringy white spittle over the cloth covering her back. “Read below that article.”

“That’s local news.”

“What does it say?”

“You tell me.”

“Look.”

“It says, ‘Hold 2 as Store Looters.’” Thelma leaned in, placing her forefinger on the newsprint to mark her spot. “With the arrest of Abraham Lorber, alias ‘Yiddle’ . . .” Thelma looked up, eyes wide. She said in a rush, “Was Abie arrested?

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