[no entry today]
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Rothstein on the telephone, he tells me H. now lives in Williamsburg and I tell him I know because I have met her at the Dist. He says he knows about the Dist. He tells me again H. is now in Williamsburg with her aunt, an American. I touch the head set for my radio and remember Gigli is in Philadelphia with Serafin and the rest, I must check to see if they are on the air.
And now I picture my father olam haba and how he stood over the row of desks, his crippled arm tucked into his pocket his other arm holding open a book, he turned pages with his thumb and read the lessons and my heart would fill with pride and sadness both, how he struggled yet was the equal to other men, superior in so many ways to other men. I long for his advice, but what he would say I think I know, I am sure I know. Did he ever use a telephone? Did he ever see one?
The father of H’s aunt was from Frankfurt or possibly Strasbourg, Rothstein says, and he owned a factory, blouses and dresses and he owned part of a newspaper also. I own a whole newspaper I tell him, I bought it from the boy just this evening, it is a joke but Rothstein has other things to discuss. I agree to have dinner with him at the Parkway on Saturday. We say goodbye and as if by some unseen hand I lift out of my chair all at once and rush out and down the stairs, careful only not to slip on the shiny lip of the last step, the lip of the last step worn smooth, worn shiny. Then I am on the street, no hat, no coat, but others are without coats too, it is so warm it could be May or September but for the naked trees.
I decide to see a movie at the Clinton and I go back upstairs for my hat and the telephone rings. It is H., I breathe hard from my speedy trip up and down the stairs yes it is H. on the telephone, is it not like a girl of her type to ring me up? It is a perfect gesture, just a perfect gesture her voice a sweet trill, a string of notes more lovely than any song the radio affords me. She asks me if I will be at the Dist tomorrow and of course the answer is yes, I remind her of her promise to help me with the circulars and the program in the evening and she laughs and says of course, oh of course, she has just returned from a drive with someone, I do not know him, and she claims she had so much fun she forgot momentarily. “He gave me a nifty tip and now I have an idea,” she says in a whisper and says she cannot wait to tell me.
She hangs up and I collect coins and I look at a buffalo, his face down his head pointed forward and I cannot decide does he want to break through the edge of the nickel or is he at rest? I have a few coins only but enough for a movie ticket, yes more than enough for a movie ticket.