13.
EVERYBODY LIKES MOOSE
Sunday, August 18, 1935
The next morning I head straight for the dock, the Definitive History of Baseball under my arm and all the money my grandma ever sent me in my pocket. I think about stopping by the Mattamans’ on the way down, but I decide against it. My dad says when it comes to girls the fastest route from A to B is hardly ever the best one.
Once I’m down at the dock, I begin to stew. What if Theresa doesn’t come? Luckily, it isn’t long before I see her dark uncombed head poke out of her front door, her church coat and hat in her hand.
But wait. What’s she doing now? She’s going upstairs, not down. Uh-oh. She’s not headed for Annie’s house . . . is she?
She is.
Theresa’s decided not to come? But then why is she wearing her good clothes? Okay, she’s back outside now, tugging on Annie’s arm. Annie has her church clothes on too.
Annie’s coming? Uh-oh. And what’s Annie have with her? A bag with her baseball bat sticking out of it. She’s wearing her church clothes and she has her baseball gear?
By the time they get down to the dock, Jimmy appears. He must have been watching from the canteen. “Where are you going?” Jimmy asks Annie and Theresa.
“Gonna visit Natalie,” I tell him.
“Me too, and Annie’s coming, aren’t you, Annie?” Theresa smiles up at her.
“I thought you were never leaving your room,” Jimmy mutters.
“I had to,” Theresa explains. “Moose needs my help, don’t you, Moose?”
“And you?” Jimmy’s eyes dart to Annie. His tongue pokes his cheek out of shape. “You got your baseball gear?”
“Don’t look at me,” I say. “I have no idea why she’s bringing her baseball gear.”
“Like I believe that,” Jimmy says.
“I don’t,” I insist, watching a gull land with a live crab in its mouth. The bird sets the crab down gently, then snaps a leg off and swallows it.
“I thought I’d just see, you know, if he was at the field,” Annie explains.
“He, meaning Scout?” Jimmy asks.
“Scout’s not going to be there,” I tell Annie.
“How do you know?” Annie asks.
“I just do,” I explain, watching the gull snap another leg off the still-moving crab.
Annie grinds her teeth. Her lids lower on her pop-out eyes. “You just don’t want me to play with him.”
“I don’t want you to pull a stunt like you did the last time, if that’s what you mean.”
She shrugs, her eyes focused on her trousers, which I see she is wearing under her dress. “I can’t stop you from playing in the city.”
“You can’t stop me? What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.
Annie shrugs. “It was for your own good what I did. But maybe I know more now.”
“What are you talking about?” Theresa demands.
Annie looks over the top of Theresa’s head. “I’m just looking out for you.”
“Sure doesn’t feel that way,” I say as the gull swallows the crab’s legless body whole. Is this what Capone’s hit men are going to do to me?
The boarding whistle blows.
“Look, go get your gear. Hurry or we’ll miss the boat!” Annie puts on her bossy voice.
“Yeah, Moose, hurry,” Jimmy echoes dryly.
No way I’ll be playing ball today. I’m just hoping I don’t end up like that poor crab, eaten alive one leg at a time. Still, I go get my gear. I never say no to baseball. On the way up to my apartment, I try to sort out this mess. How am I going to get roses for Mae if Annie’s with me? How am I going to get back on the 2:00 boat with Theresa and the flowers if we go to visit Natalie and then go to the Marina to play with Scout?
I should have told Annie she couldn’t come with us because Natalie isn’t allowed that many visitors. Is it too late for this? I could say I forgot this rule. People forget . . . don’t they? Then maybe Jim won’t be mad because he won’t feel so left out.
This is a good plan I decide. But when I get back to the boat, Jimmy is gone, and my father, in his officer’s uniform, and Mrs. Mattaman, in her apron, are both standing with Theresa and Annie.
My dad pats my back. “What a good idea, Moose. Natalie will love having a whole Alcatraz contingent come visit her.”
What am I going to do now? I could say my hives are bothering me and I can’t go. But then how will I get on the boat an hour later? I could send Theresa and Annie off to find Scout, while I get the roses. Or maybe I could . . . I could . . .
“Natalie’s going to be pleased as punch to see you three,” Mrs. Mattaman says as the key sails down the guard tower guy wire. She hands me a package all tied up with string. “You eat the others already, Moose?”
“Might have.”
My father laughs.
Mrs. Mattaman’s eyes glow with this information. “Glad you’re not my son. Between you and Jimmy, you’d eat me out of house and home,” she coos.
“You girls keep a close eye on him, okay? Make sure he saves some for Natalie.” My father winks.
“Probably should have baked a lemon cake.” Mrs. Mattaman winds her finger around her apron string. “You tell her I will soon as she gets home. You betcha.”
“Last call ten a.m.,” Trixle bellows, his bullhorn directed at us.
“You heard the man. On the double, you three.” Mrs. Mattaman shoos us down the gangplank. She stands on the dock watching us as we push off. The boat rail gently moves up and down. The motor rumbles under my feet.
“My mom sure likes Moose,” Theresa tells Annie.
“Everybody likes Moose,” Annie says. “That’s the trouble.”
“Why is that the trouble?” I ask.
Annie shakes her head. “It just is.”