Page 44 of Twice
“Animals.”
The woman smiled as if I were pathetic.
“The only things we have with animals are for children.”
I nodded, as if that were obvious. Then I said, “Can I see those?”
Five minutes later, I had what I wanted. Or rather, what I could afford. Just then a voice came over the loudspeakers:“Gimbels customers, we’re sorry to announce that we will be closing in fifteen minutes due to the oncoming storm. Please make your final selections.”
A nervous energy spread through the place. Salespeople put away displays. The scant customers headed for the exits. I looked at my watch. Still twenty minutes before I was supposed to meet Gianna. I didn’t want to get soaked beforeshe got there, so I waited by the front, just inside the huge revolving doors, which kept spinning even when no one was going in or out. I guess they were on some kind of timer.
Outside, the rain had begun, and it was coming down in veils. The sky was occasionally shocked with lightning, and when the thunder burst, I could feel the rumbling even inside the store.Of all the days, I said to myself. I began to think Gianna showing up was a pipe dream.
I watched most of the employees leave through a side entrance by the customer service desk. Soon I was alone. I checked my watch again. Five minutes until our meeting time. The sidewalks were empty. Howling wind rattled the large windows.
I saw a bus splashing through the streets. It stopped on the corner. I whispered to myself, “Be on this bus. Be on this bus.” And when it pulled away, as if someone up above had heard me, there was Gianna, wearing jeans and a yellow blouse and holding a handbag over her head against the downpour. My heart jumped. She darted toward the store and I tried to get her attention, but the rain kept her from looking up. I saw her shoot her gaze left and right, searching. When she finally looked straight ahead, I windmilled my arms, and she smiled at me. Even getting wet, handbag over her head, she smiled. It’s something I would always love about her.
She jogged to the door, her sneakers splashing the pavement. I motioned for her to come in, because at least it was dry, but then I remembered they were closing and I didn’twant us to get locked inside, so I jumped into the revolving door just as she pushed in to join me. As we circled each other we made the goofy “oops” face.
And then, at that very moment, all the lights inside Gimbels went dark and the revolving doors jammed in place, with me in one pocket and Gianna in another. She pushed. I pushed. They wouldn’t budge.
“Alfie?” her muffled voice said. “What’s happening?”
?
Our best choices often come when we have no choice. My mother used to say that. That day at Gimbels, Gianna and I tried pushing, slamming, even kicking at the doors that trapped us. Whatever had made them spin was now shut off. And with the store empty, yelling for help was fruitless. Eventually, Gianna plopped on the floor, and threw her hands over her knees.
Then she started laughing.
She shook her head and laughed some more so I laughed and then she laughed harder and we kept going until all the anxiety had been released. Finally, with her voice thinned by the glass, I heard her yell, “Oh, God, Alfie, why do I hang out with you?”
“Because I’m fun!”
“Yeah, right!”
“Come on! What could be better than this?”
“What could be better thanthis?”
“Yeah. What could be better than this?”
Outside, the rain was pummeling the sidewalk so hard it splashed back up like ricocheting bullets. The wind blew trash and newspapers up the streets. Lightning kept flashing, as if someone were messing with the world’s electricity. And there we were, trapped inside the most unlikely of shelters.
“How long do you think it will last?” I yelled.
“What?” she yelled back.
“The storm!”
“Whataboutit?”
“How long do youthink ...”
I stopped and shook my head. Didn’t matter.
“Come closer!” she hollered as she shifted nearer the pane. I reluctantly did the same. I was always self-conscious about my face being too close to people. But Gianna, up close, was flawless. Not a blemish on her skin, her teeth perfectly spaced, her lips glossed with a shade of red lipstick that was seductive even through dirty glass.
“This reminds me of Africa,” she said. “Remember when it would rain like this?”
