Gents & Dames
Two: Follow the Fold
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Nick, David, and Ben glanced up from their smalltalk to see an all too familiar policeman looming at the edge of their table.
"Good afternoon, Officer Brannigan," Nick said politely. "I do hope things are going nicely for you."
Officer Brannigan rarely appreciated Nick's attempts at politeness, and this was no exception. "So here we have two flunkies, gamblers and hooligans to the core...having dinner with a respectable scholar?" He raised an eyebrow. "Interesting company you keep, Mr. Jacobs."
"That's one word for them," David answered.
"Perhaps you should consider taking dinner with a more respectable crowd. Next thing you know, these two will have you up at that crooked theater of theirs."
"That what?" Ben asked cheerfully.
"Don't think I don't know what goes on in that place," Brannigan snapped.
"Then why didn't the convictions stick?" Ben asked. Nick kicked him under the table.
"I've got my eye on you," Brannigan said darkly. "All three of you." He turned and stalked off.
"We do not mean to get you in trouble by association with our small group," Nick said sincerely.
David shrugged. "Brannigan's been on my case for awhile anyway. You should have seen the fit he threw when they wanted me to speak at the library dedication. He called me a deviant."
"You?" Ben sounded surprised. "You're a fine, upstanding gentleman, was always my impression."
"Yours, and the Library Committee's," David said. "But according to Officer Brannigan, upstanding gentlemen don't frequent the Hotbox."
Nick considered it. "You know, David, he just might have a point."
*
David still lived with his parents, though it was now more on his own terms. Specifically, it was in his own apartment: his city worker salary was enough to afford something nicer than a tenement, and he certainly didn't want his parents to stay in such a miserable place. So now they lived in a modest but clean, safe apartment—David, his parents, and Sarah.
But of course, Sarah was moving out soon. Her belongings were already being boxed up, her clothes put in trunks. She was finally getting married in a few days, the day the library opened, in fact. Then she and Ari, her soon to be husband, would be off in his place. David wasn't yet sure if he'd miss her or not—he'd missed Les after he moved out to his own place with his wife, but had gotten used to it fairly quickly.
And in a few days time, he'd be the only one of the Jacobs children who was unmarried. He mused over that fact as he hung up his jacket and loosened his tie. Before she met Ari, Sarah had all but resigned herself to a life of spinsterhood; at almost thirty, she was the only one of her friends who was unwed. Les had married at twenty.
So David would be the child who stayed with his parents and took care of them, on his own. He sighed. It wasn't that he minded, precisely; he loved his parents, and was glad he could care for them. And Sarah and Les weren't far away—they'd still be there to help.
David shook his head a little, and stopped to open a bottle of wine. He poured himself a glass and walked over to the window. A thick curtain hung over it, keeping out the city lights. David slept in the living room, to give his parents the privacy of the main bedroom, and Sarah her privacy as well. Though he had to admit he was looking forward to moving into her room, after she moved out.
It had taken her a long time, but Sarah had always wanted to be married, like just about everyone else seemed to. But somehow, David never had even thought seriously about it. It wasn't that he didn't know women; he'd met enough of them through the Library Committee. Younger ones who had enough time on their hands to volunteer with the library, and older ones who wanted to make some sort of social difference, and who had young, unwed daughters.
It wasn't that David didn't know women. He just hadn't met a woman who made him feel...Well.
He didn't know what love felt like; so far as he knew, he'd never experienced it. He'd come close once, but that hadn't worked out. There was no way it could have.
David downed the glass of wine. He didn't like to think about that, about what it meant about him that he'd only ever come close to love once, and it hadn't been close to normal. And that, for all Nick made jokes and he had Officer Brannigan breathing down his neck, he spent a few evenings a week watching Adelaide at the Hotbox.
Caring for his parents was as good an excuse as anything else for never getting married. He sat down in an easy chair, shut his eyes, felt the taste of wine still in his mouth, and thought about the guys coming back to town to visit. And tried not to think about how, no matter how many of the old gang showed up, it would never feel complete.
And as he drifted off, he tried very hard not to remember.
*
The sound of the door shutting woke David. He blinked, opened his eyes, and glanced around. Sarah was standing just inside the doorframe, smiling to herself.
"You were out late," he noted.
"You're home early," she answered.
"Good point." He sighed. "Ari is aware you aren't married yet, isn't he?"
"We're close enough." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I'm going on thirty, David; I'm not worried about my reputation anymore. It's yours people chat about now."
"Don't remind me." He groaned. "Would you believe I've got a police officer who knows me on sight?"
Sarah laughed. "You've always had that side to you, Dave." She walked to the window and pushed aside the curtains, then took a long look out at the city beyond their window. "I know you've tried to bury it under the fancy university degree and the respectable job, but honestly, David, you've always been a rebel."
David sighed. "That wasn't me. And I was just a kid."
"But you miss it, don't you?" Sarah perched in the window sill and gave him a knowing look. "David, that strike was the biggest thing you were ever a part of. And Jack—"
"I don't want to talk about Jack!"
Sarah ignored him. "—was a big part of that. But you don't need him, you know. You can go off and do good things on your own."
David rolled his eyes. "I'm doing good things."
"But the library doesn't excite you."
"Life isn't always exciting, Sarah," he snapped.
"Cynic," she answered, then smiled. She stood up and started towards her bedroom. "I'm getting married in three days. Life is exciting."
He sighed. "And I'm happy for you."
"And there is someone out there for you."
She shut her door behind her, and David reached forward to shut the curtains.