Hunter's Redemption. Eleni P Sianis

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СКАЧАТЬ it will make for a beautiful backdrop.’

      “‘A movie! Wow, that’s incredible. I love movies.’

      “That’s how the friendship between Charlotte and Farah began.”

      Suddenly, Mason hears a knock on a door and Hannah’s voice. “Mason?” With that, Mason is immediately transported back to his bedroom as if nothing had happened.

      “Yes, Mom?” he replies.

      “What do you feel like having for dinner? I didn’t get a chance to make anything tonight, so we can order something for delivery, or I can pick it up. Italian?”

      Not mentioning anything he had seen and trying to look as normal as possible, Mason thinks for a second about what he wanted to eat. “Let’s go Greek tonight. I’m craving Avgolemono soup and grilled octopus.”

      “Perfect. Should I add an order of lamb chops?” Hannah asks.

      “Sounds good, Mom,” Mason replies as Hannah smiled and walked out of the room. Mason waits a minute before getting up to close the door again. The moment he turns around, he is back at the Palmer House with Wesley, watching like a ghost as Wesley continues to narrate his story.

      “Charlotte and aah were wed on a picturesque snowy January day in Boston in 1924. The event was spectacular, and Charlotte looked more dazzling than evah. Her wedding headpiece had diamonds that covered half her head, and her bouquet dripped down to the flo-wah. William and Grace rode the train in from South Carolina, along with a few aunts, uncles, and cousins. Grace said that she had never felt cold like winter in Boston befo-wah and couldn’t find anything warm enough to wear in the stores in Charleston. While the Southerners complained about the cold, they were few as most of our guests were Charlotte’s friends and family who lived nearby. Nonetheless, it was obvious to see who was from the south and who was from the north as us Southerners prefer to wear lighter colors while the northerners prefer deeper tones, and their women all had their hands in fur muffs to keep warm.

      “The Vine Mansion where we celebrated our wedding was decorated with enormous ice sculptures and fountains of champagne poured in pyramids of champagne flutes. The chandeliers sparkled, and our guests seemed to share our excitement. All in all, we had around one hundred guests or so. The music was fast and loud. We all danced the Charleston to a live band. Charlotte, Farah, Lillian Tolbert, Adrian, and aah must have danced fo-wah hours before the final guest left. The five of us remained at the end, and instead of a wedding night alone with my wife, we were laughing and drinking before passing out upstairs in one of the mansion’s great rooms.

      “Everywhere we went, it seemed that the universe was conspiring to help Charlotte succeed. Meeting Adrian on the train, arriving in Chicago, meeting Farah, the Women’s Fair, it was all in her favor. We continued on to Boston, but the ladies kept in touch and would later work together not only in planning the Women’s World Fair, but Adrian agreed to give Farah a small part in his movie. In Adrian’s movie, Farah played one of the mischievous dancers who took Charlotte’s character out fo-wah too many drinks the night before a big audition, causing that character to almost fail the audition.

      “Aah still remember the ladies’ excitement years later at the Women’s Fair, on April 18, 1925, when they heard Lillian give her speech. Ms. Tolbert was a big hit. She was a black inventor who devised a new kind of pitcher that kept ice separate in the core to keep drinks cold, called the Tolbert Pitcher. Ms. Tolbert beamed as she explained that the only man who had anything to do with her invention was the attorney at the patent office. Charlotte and Farah began discussing the possibility that a movie could be written, directed, and produced entirely by women. Aah thought it was cute. The three ladies became very good friends and quite an attractive threesome walking into several parties at the most coveted bars and restaurants of our time.

      “Aah financed Adrian’s first movie production, in its entirety. And the movie, which Adrian titled simply, Born to Dance, did rather well at the box office. More importantly, it skyrocketed me into the world of movie production. Adrian came up with several more film ideas and wanted Charlotte to star in them. Aah financed two more of Adrian’s films, but other movie writers began sending me scripts. Better scripts. It broke my heart to turn down Adrian’s next script, and it upset Charlotte quite a bit, seeing that the two had become quite accustomed to working together. That, plus Charlotte felt we owed Adrian some kind of loyalty. As far as aah was concerned, it was time to move on from Adrian. Our initial meeting on the train turned out to be fo-wah our mutual benefit. Adrian could not have gotten his first script to the big screen without me, and aah got my first start in the movie business. That’s all.

      “During that time, Charlotte and aah quarreled quite often, usually because Adrian was constantly discussing his ideas with her, but then when he presented them to me, aah had to turn them down. Charlotte was smitten with him. The way Adrian became overly excited about each film idea and his description of the role he created in each one especially fo-wah her. Aah overheard them discussing work more than once and, combined with a Gin Rickey, or two, it was just bad fo-wah business. Slowly, Adrian’s drinking got out of hand. It was a shame to see a man fall so hard. He stopped writing scripts, and we began to see less and less of him.

      “Aah produced and directed multiple films Charlotte starred in. She became quite famous. A few months after filming her fifth film, Charlotte became pregnant. We welcomed our daughter, Clara. She had beautiful gray-blue eyes and her mother’s reddish-blond hair. Charlotte spent as much time as she could with Clara her first year and then began preparing fo-wah our next film. We were busy all day every day. It was difficult fo-wah us leaving Clara with a nanny so often those days, but Charlotte was worried that she would not be able to revive her career after having a baby if she waited too long.

      “Unfortunately, Charlotte was never able to complete filming. On July 3, 1925, Charlotte and aah, along with Lillian and Farah with their dates, went to the Pickwick Club, a speakeasy, at Six Beach Street in downtown Boston. Even Adrian was there and congratulated us on the birth of our baby. We hugged and let bygones be bygones. Around 3:00 a.m. of July 4, there were still over one hundred people at the Pickwick. McGlennon’s jazz orchestra was on the bandstand. Aah can still hear Johnny Duffy singing ‘Twelfth Street Rag.’ People were out on the flo-wah dancing and having a great time. Adrian pulled me outside to discuss his next idea fo-wah a movie away from the loud music.

      “We stood outside smoking a cigar while Adrian shared with me his idea about two friends who become real estate tycoons and relocate to Florida where they build massive mansions and live lavish lifestyles until they fall in love with the same woman. Ultimately, the two men almost destroy everything they built together before they realize the woman was playing both of them.

      “Adrian was completely immersed in telling the story when we heard the strangest sound, like a bag of sugar falling on paper. People started yelling from inside the club. Adrian and aah ran in but plaster was falling over our heads…”

      “Mason! Dinner’s here!” Hannah shouts from the bottom of the stairs of their home.

      The Pickwick Club disappears, and Mason is once again in his room. He hurries downstairs to help Hannah set the table. Mason decides he did not want to share any of his experience with Wesley, in case Hannah overreacted and made much ado about nothing. So as he sits there eating his soup, Hannah asks him about his homework and if he had any big school projects coming up. They discuss their weekend plans, and Mason says that he would go see a movie with James and a few other guys from the hockey team.

      Hannah reminds Mason that if he ever needed a way out of a difficult situation with his friends, to text her their code phrase: “Did you remember to feed Belle?” That is the name of their pet parrot and signals for Hannah to go pick up Mason. It was Hannah’s way of protecting Mason СКАЧАТЬ