Chapter 5
Chapter Five
S carlet and Catherine went out for pizza that night in Little Italy. Catherine was glum and fidgety, tearing her napkin to shreds. Scarlet remembered a time when Catherine might have asked her children to stop doing that. But Scarlet knew better than to poke and prod her mother right now. Catherine was obviously mystified. She’d come to Manhattan to secure the root truth of her grandfather’s immigration—and she was let down.
“We just have to go back tomorrow and ask,” Scarlet assured her, touching Catherine’s hand over the table.
Catherine tried to smile, but her lips immediately fell again. “I just can’t believe I saw that photo and thought, ‘Of course! It’s him!’ I mean, I grew up knowing my grandfather. It’s obvious that the man in the photo is a completely different man.”
Scarlet laughed gently. “It’s funny what tricks the brain plays on itself, right?” She sipped her red wine, then added, “It’s like me and Owen.”
Catherine tilted her head with surprise. Scarlet understood. She very rarely brought up her ex, and her mother very rarely asked about him. It was clear she was dying with curiosity.
“I wanted to believe we were happy and in love. I wanted to believe he loved me for who I was rather than the money my family had,” Scarlet said.
Catherine sighed. “Oh, honey.”
“I don’t want pity,” Scarlet reminded her sharply. “I’m just saying. Our brain isn’t always there for our own self-interests. We often trip ourselves up. This is a very brief mistake that is easily rectified with another trip to Ellis Island. I’m sure there’s another boatload of Gionnocaros. Maybe Deb isn’t as good at her job as she thinks she is.”
Catherine stifled a laugh. “You’re too good to me,” she said. “And wise beyond your years.”
“I’m twenty-four,” Scarlet said, flipping her jet-black hair behind her shoulder. “I hope I’ve learned a few things along the way by now.”
Their pizza was a massive vegetable-and-cheese smorgasbord that left them stuffed and eager to go for a long walk through Littly Italy and Chinatown before they returned to their hotel. They decided to watch a movie— The Talented Mr. Ripley— during which Catherine fell asleep.
This left Scarlet with a bit of time with her own mystery.
Scarlet tiptoed into her bedroom and got under the covers. After the deletion of the Reddit post about the “conservative hippie girls,” she’d asked Reddit another few questions, begging Nantucketers or anyone who vacationed there for answers. She’d gotten another ping.
evman12: I’m pretty sure they got my sister. She left without leaving a note, and my parents are beside themselves. Let me know if you want to meet up to talk more. I live in the city but can come to Nantucket. I want to look for her.
Scarlet shot out of bed. Adrenaline coursed through her. Immediately, she private messaged the user and said she was in the city now. She could probably meet up before she left. She’d love to hear anything he had to say about his sister.
He responded within the hour.
evman12: Great. I work at a cinema in Greenwich Village. I get off around seven thirty tomorrow. Maybe we can meet there?
Scarlet appreciated that he wanted to meet in a public and crowded place first. She wrote back that she’d be there, then wrapped herself in blankets and tried to sleep. But her thoughts twisted and contorted, and she had no control. She couldn’t find sleep till sometime after two. She dreamed of bonfires on a Nantucket beach. She dreamed of young women in dresses, singing fantastical songs in strange languages.
True to Catherine Copperfield form, once Scarlet was up and out of bed, Catherine had already run five miles and re-oriented her mental state. Any depression she’d felt yesterday was a thing of the past. Scarlet sipped her coffee and listened to her mother’s monologue about how exciting today would be. It wasn’t till fifteen minutes in that Scarlet remembered to tell her she had plans tonight.
“It’s a guy I knew at NYU.” She lied because she didn’t want to get into it.
Catherine looked on the verge of gushing with joy. She clasped her hands and inhaled. “That’s wonderful, honey. I’m so glad.”
“It’s not a date,” Scarlet said.
But Catherine’s eyes glowed. It was as though she hadn’t heard.
She just wants me to be happy, Scarlet reminded herself. She didn’t want to be irritated.
Like yesterday, Scarlet and Catherine took the ferry to Ellis Island. But this time, they didn’t have an appointment. They got in line and waited forty-five minutes before they were allowed inside. Far down the hallway, they spotted the blond flash of Deb’s bob and hurried toward her. She gave them a curious smile.
“There seems to be a problem,” Catherine explained. “That wasn’t my grandfather yesterday.”
Together with Deb, they returned to the database to look for all manner of Gionnocaro Fellinis. They searched for mispellings; they searched for nicknames; they searched and searched through 1942. But nothing came up.
Catherine’s face was gray with dismay. Scarlet laced her fingers through her mother’s and squeezed.
“I’m sorry about this,” Deb said, as though the database’s failure was her own. “I don’t understand it. Every single name should be listed here.”
Catherine sucked in her cheeks.
“Something must have happened,” Deb said. “Maybe he slipped through the cracks. Like you said, he was wealthy when he arrived. Maybe he was able to pay his way into the country instead.”
Catherine’s eyes shifted dreamily. “Yes. That’s a great point.”
“I’d check libraries and record offices, things like that,” Deb continued, snapping the pair of gloves she carried in her hands. “Did he live in New York for the rest of his life?”
“He did,” Catherine said.
“An obituary might have more information,” Deb suggested. “Leave no stone unturned.”
Catherine smiled. “I worked as a journalist for many years.”
“Then you already know,” Deb answered.
Catherine and Scarlet left Ellis Island for the last time. Scarlet watched Catherine’s face for signs of an approaching breakdown, but Catherine’s jaw was firm, and she looked driven and secure.
“I’m headed for the library,” Catherine said as they got off the ferry.
“I’m happy to help,” Scarlet said. “I just have that meeting later.”
Catherine turned to look Scarlet in the eye. Her face was difficult to read. Scarlet had the sensation she was speaking to Journalist Catherine rather than her mother.
“Why don’t we meet up later?” Catherine suggested.
Scarlet understood that her mother needed space to consider what might have happened to her grandfather. She needed to pore over documents, make notes, and restructure her novel.
Scarlet didn’t want to get in the way of her mother’s creative and research processes.
“Sounds good,” Scarlet said. “I needed a day in the city to myself anyway.”
“That’s my girl,” Catherine said.
They hugged and parted ways. Catherine slipped into a yellow cab and waved as it bucked from the sidewalk. Scarlet had a strange and exhilarating sensation. The city spread out before her like an elaborate quilt. She had many hours until her meeting with the Reddit guy at the cinema in Greenwich Village. What could she do with her time?
Scarlet did what all New Yorkers loved most—she walked for over an hour, then sat at one of her favorite diners with a grilled cheese sandwich and a book. The book was The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns, and it shattered her. The writing was sensational. Did people write like this anymore? She decided it was a lost art.
With still a few more hours to kill before her meeting with the Reddit guy, Scarlet checked online to see what was playing at the Greenwich Village cinema where he worked. Her idea was simple. She’d go, stake it out, maybe figure out which guy was the one she planned to meet, and figure out if he was safe. Maybe she’d even watch a movie. They were playing a few classic ones, including Rear Window and All About Eve. She decided to grab a seat for Rear Window . It was an Alfred Hitchcock film she’d never seen before.
Scarlet entered the cinema a few minutes after five.
“Scarlet? Scarlet Copperfield?” a voice rang out from behind the concessions counter.
Scarlet hurried forward to find Nathan Ratcliffe smiling at her. Her soul flew out of her body. Despite the silly red-and-yellow concessions hat they made him wear and a collared shirt that read GREENWICH CINEMA, he was still wonderfully handsome, with curly brown hair and big, soft, kind eyes. The eyes of a golden retriever. He was a little over six feet, with large hands and broad shoulders.
He was the first boy she’d ever kissed. Scarlet would never forget.
“Nathan?” Scarlet cried. “What are you doing here!”
Nathan walked around the concessions counter and scooped her into a hug. Scarlet inhaled his scent, which was buttery popcorn and the same cologne he’d worn back in early high school. Memories consumed her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him. Probably long before she’d fallen for Owen.
“I work here,” Nathan answered finally as their hug broke. “And you? I heard you skipped town.”
Scarlet nodded. “I did. I left, then came back to graduate from NYU, then left again. But I’m back for a visit with my mom.”
“The epic journalist,” Nathan said.
“She’s on the hunt for her newest story,” Scarlet said. “She sent me away, though. I think I distracted her.”
Nathan laughed appreciatively. “Are you here to watch a movie?”
“That was the plan. Rear Window. ”
“It’s killer,” Nathan said, then laughed. “Sorry. That was a bad joke.”
Scarlet shivered and smiled.
“Let me get you some popcorn,” he insisted. “Any candy?”
“I’m not fourteen anymore,” Scarlet said. “I can’t eat everything that isn’t nailed down.”
Nathan laughed and patted his stomach, which was just as slender as ever. “I’ve gained five pounds working here,” he explained.
Scarlet placed her elbows on the glass counter and watched him prepare the popcorn, pouring melted butter over the top and shaking it. Did he know the guy from Reddit? There was a door near the popcorn machine. Maybe that led to the back offices. Perhaps that was where the Reddit guy was.
She’d know at seven thirty.
Nathan poured her a big Diet Coke and waved his hand to say she owed nothing. “Please. Soda and popcorn cost the theater nothing.”
Scarlet laughed and thanked him, then paid for her ticket and walked into the dark cinema. It was nice and cool inside, like a cave, and she sat directly in the middle with the best view of the screen. Only three other people milled in. It was too early for people who worked nine-to-fives, and it wasn’t exactly a hot ticket. It had been out since the fifties.
Scarlet tried to get the Reddit user and the conservative hippie-dressed girls out of her mind. For the first few minutes of the film, that proved difficult. She was hungry to tell this story; hungry to get to the bottom of it.
But then, it was as though Alfred Hitchcock performed a magic trick.
Suddenly, Scarlet was immersed in his world. Jimmy Stewart was an incredible and captivating actor. Latched away in his apartment and unable to walk, he peered out the window of his apartment, trying to make sense of what was happening in the apartment across the way. The woman who loved him—the gorgeous Grace Kelly—did everything for him, and still, it was as though Jimmy Stewart was too obsessed with his neighbor to care about her love. That’s the same as ever, Scarlet thought to herself as she chewed her popcorn. Men do whatever men want to do, and women try and try and try to understand them.
But all at once, Scarlet realized she wasn’t alone in her row. A man in a red-and-yellow hat sat down beside her, smelling like early high school and buttered popcorn. Scarlet’s throat swelled. She glanced over and smiled at Nathan. Why is my heart pounding so hard?
“Who’s watching the popcorn stand?” she whispered.
“My coworker has it,” Nathan explained.
The Reddit guy! she thought.
Scarlet shifted her popcorn bag over to share with Nathan. He took some in his mouth but chewed so softly that she didn’t hear him. It was an art form, maybe. That, or he thought of the cinema as similar to being in church.
Now that Scarlet thought about it, she wasn’t sure what Nathan had done after high school. She hadn’t kept track of him. He’d always been brilliant and funny and creative. It seemed bizarre that he spent his days hunkered in the shadows of a movie theater, pouring butter on popcorn. Then again, in this economy, plenty of people in the city had to work multiple jobs to pay 2500 dollars in monthly rent—and that was often just for a single room or a tiny studio.
How does anyone live? Scarlet thought.
With shame, she remembered her great-grandpa Gionnocaro and the loss of his remarkable sums of money. Had someone stolen from him when he reached America? Had he floundered it? Was that why he’d started the bakery?
What if Scarlet lost everything? Would she know how to start over from the ground up? Would she work at a cinema and make minimum wage and give herself over to the pursuit of the dollar?
Scarlet was suddenly ashamed that Nathan had to work so hard.
Then again, Scarlet had refused her father’s money when she rented the apartment in the Historic District of Nantucket. She’d wanted to step out on her own for the first time. She’d wanted to know, in her heart of hearts, that she could.
The movie finished, and Nathan and Scarlet waited until the credits were finished before they stood and went into the lobby. Scarlet had a thousand things to say about the film. “I thought it was extraordinary,” she said when Nathan asked.
Nathan’s eyes were illuminated. He looked even more handsome when he was excited about something.
“We should talk about it sometime,” Nathan said. “Maybe we could go for a drink before you go back home.”
Scarlet’s head spun. She would have liked to join him now. But of course, she had plans with Reddit guy. She scanned the crowd at the concessions stand, hunting for another guy dressed in a red-and-yellow hat. There was just the guy behind the counter, pimply with red hair that hung over his ears. That must be him. But already it was seven thirty-five, and he gave no indication of stopping.
“I wish I could take you now,” Nathan confessed. “But I have plans tonight.”
“Don’t worry. I’m meeting someone, too,” Scarlet said.
Nathan looked deflated, as though she’d just confessed to being in love with someone.
“I don’t know him,” Scarlet said hurriedly, then realized it sounded like she was meeting a guy from a dating app. “I mean, it’s complicated.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Nathan assured her. “We haven’t seen each other in years.”
“It doesn’t seem that long right now,” Scarlet confessed. She couldn’t believe she was so honest.
Together, Nathan and Scarlet stood in silence in the lobby of the theater. Scarlet’s eyes went left to right, left to right. Still, there was no sign of the pimply worker hanging up his apron and leaving for the day.
“You can go,” Nathan told her. “I’m still waiting for someone.”
Scarlet felt the words like electricity through her body. “You’re waiting for someone? Here?”
Nathan’s lips twisted into a funny smile. “Don’t tell me you’re on Reddit.”
Scarlet’s mouth hung open. A beat of silence came between them. And then, she felt only horror. She took his elbow and said, “Maddie’s gone.”
Nathan dropped his head forward and stared at his shoes. The look on his face was all the information she needed. Maddie joined the group on Nantucket. But why?
“Let’s get that drink right now,” Scarlet said softly. “It looks like you need it.”
“More than anything,” Nathan said. His eyes were soft and round.