The Silents

12

CHAPTER 12 CHARLIE MANDEL sent one of the boys who hung around the candy store to our apartment with a message. Mama read it and handed me the note. "Marian is coming at three o'clock," it said. Mama seemed excited, but it wasn't unusual for Aunt Marian to show up. Halfour dolls were gifts from her and Mama's other sisters. If it wasn't a doll, it would be a new dress or a pair ofshoes. Adelaide wheeled her dolls around in the doll buggy in high anticipation. I was hoping for a new dress since I was more inclined now to pretty bows and fancy sweaters. I watched my sister cram everything to one side to make room for another doll and laughed. "What do you think we'll get this time?" she asked. "I don't know, but we have to remember to say thank you." "Sure," she said, inching the dolls closer to each other. Ifthey could have breathed, they would have suffocated. AUNT MARIAN stood in the doorway smiling like Rosalind Russell, dressed in a pleated skirt and an angora sweater draped over her silk blouse. She held a Philco radio in her hands-its speakers covered in brown cloth and its two shiny knobs sticking out from the wooden case. "Look what I've brought you. It's a radio. Where shall we put it?" My heart pounded at the sight. Adelaide giggled, "Is it really ours?" "Of course, unless Mama says no. Is it all right, Ruthie? I 93 thought they should have it. Don't you think?" she winked at Mama. "I think it's a wonderful gift," Mama said. Then she eyed the living room and took a small lamp off the table that stood in the corner next to her chair. "What do you think, Marian? Ifwe put it here, will the sound come out right?" "You can put it anywhere. You can put it in your bedroom in the back ofthe house, and the girls will still hear it." "What would I do with a radio in my bedroom?" she laughed. But it was a nervous laugh, as ifshe'd been wishing for this for a long time or, I thought, she'd had some secret meeting with Aunt Marian. Planned this without telling Adelaide and me. I certainly never believed that a gift like this would come from any of the aunts. Taking a second look at the radio, I recognized it as Aunt Marian's own. Another hand-me-down, I thought. Well, that was okay. It was a fine looking radio, and it had to work or Aunt Marian wouldn't have given it to us. Mama kept beaming at the radio, still tittering. I wondered ifshe knew how the radio worked. She had never encountered anything like this when she was a little girl. I wasn't sure myself how it worked. I'd listened to one in Hannah's living room, but I'd never fiddled with it. This radio didn't even look like Hannah's. Hers was a giant box that stood on the floor and had so many knobs even Hannah got confused. Aunt Marian dropped to her knees. "This is the volume knob." Suddenly sound filled the living room. Adelaide ran back to the kitchen. "Aunt Marian's right," she shouted. "I can hear it all the way back here." "Ofcourse, I'm right," Aunt Marian said. Mama was confused at first at the way Adelaide ran past her but soon figured it out. She laughed again. I'd never seen her look so happy. Tears were forming in my eyes, but I decided it was silly to cry over a radio. Aunt Marian would never have cried over such a simple thing, so I said, "Thank you, Aunt Marian. It's the best present I ever got." 9+ I kicked Adelaide in the behind. "Yes, thank you," she parroted . "I love this present." "Well now, you know how to work it. Just move this knob to the station you want. That's all you have to do." She turned to Mama and spoke nose to nose. "Ruthie, can I have a cup oftea?" Mama led her into the kitchen. Adelaide fiddled with the radio. "Where's The Green Hornet?" "I don't know ifit's on right now." "Well, how are we gonna know?" "I...