One More Weekend (Sapphics in the City #5)

11. Sy

11

SY

The boat jostled into the ferry slip as the engine ground to a halt. There, Jenna and I followed our tour guide Tyler – and the rest of our group – off the boat. We were one of the only ferries on Ellis Island on this quiet weekday.

“Over a century ago, if you’d come off a ship here, you’d be clutching your luggage and filing outward the main immigration building where we’ll start our tour. This would be the first land you’d stepped on in weeks and the hope of a new start fills your body.” Tyler smiled as he led us toward the entrance of the museum.

Immediately inside, a massive hall opened to us. Stacked in piles across the floor of the Baggage Room, suitcases and luggage from corresponding eras demonstrated what each person was allowed to bring.

I kept my eye on Jenna, watching her as she examined each pile. Still a student at heart, she barely looked up at our tour guide or anything but what was being discussed.

The corners of my lips rose to a smile as I watched her eyes light up. When Tyler led us into a new hallway, showing the Journey of immigrants before Ellis Island, I turned to Jen. “What do you think?”

“It’s pretty amazing.” Jenna shrugged. “I know it’s all complicated and we can’t pretend like our history is clean but I can feel the hope in the room.”

She was right. Tyler wasn’t shying away from the gory details, the horrible treatment of these immigrants upon their arrival, the immediate distrust. But they’d all come here with one thing in common, a belief in a future they couldn’t see anywhere else.

Looking up at the glass windows touring above us, Jenna sighed. “Did I ever tell you that my family came through here too?”

“I think so.” I smiled. Of course I knew, she’d told me a few times and I’d loved to hear the story. It was the entire reason I’d brought her here, and there was so much left to show her.

Cutting us off, Tyler guided us deeper into the museum and upstairs.

At the top of the stairs, my jaw dropped. I hadn’t seen this room since I was a kid on a school field trip but seeing it now, it was somehow more grand than I remembered.

“Welcome to the Registry Room.”

A massive hall, not unlike Grand Central, sprawled out before us. Bright red bricks lined the floor. Columns rose from the brick, a beige line drawing my eyes up to the balcony overhead and the glass, multi-paned windows that formed perfect arches just below the tiled roof.

“Wow.” Jenna’s feet were glued to the ground.

“Right? The architecture is amazing.” I nodded as the weight of the area set in. Here, immigrants would face their fate, which sat in the hands of fickle officers with their own prejudices.

Tyler explained in detail, dreams came true here but so did worst nightmares.

We stood together in silence as Jenna led us from plaque to plaque, image to image.

“It’s hard to imagine. I wonder if my great-grandmother had to change her name or something. I wonder if she remembered it at all.” Jenna bit the inside of her cheek as she rested her chin in her palm.

Once the tour started to move, I leaned into Jen’s ear and lowered my voice. “Do you want to choose our own adventure a little bit?”

Wrinkling her eyebrows, Jenna looked around the Registry Room. “What do you mean?”

“I have another surprise if you’re ready to peel off from the group.”

“Is that allowed? How do we get back to Manhattan?” Always thinking about the details, Jen couldn’t stop herself from worrying about getting left behind.

I met her gaze. “The ferries leave at set times, you don’t have to leave with your tour group so we can stay as long as we want.”

“Then yes, lead the way.” Satiated, Jenna nodded enthusiastically.