Wilderness House Literary Review 10/2. D.E. Kern Hell s Kitchen

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Mabel Casey
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1 D.E. Kern Hell s Ktchen Chapter Two June 20, 1916 I stand on the quay at 12th Avenue and 48th Street and watch the Hudson s waters rse and fall. It s drty as death, a mx of blood and ol, the lqud fouled by tannng and dyeng. One block to the east, the ralroad clatters wth comng and gong, makng and shppng. I struggle to keep my fag lt n lght of steady wnd, a welcome remnder of home. I am an hour removed from a shft on the docks loadng parts of unknown orgn for contraptons to be made who knows where. Frankly, I do not care. Busness strkes me as a matter of necessty one that hts me ntermttently wth a certan level of gult but I need to eat and keep a roof over my head. So I put n my tme stoopng and hostng, haulng thngs untl the sweat makes a dsh rag of my shrt. I engage n all ths nonsense along wth Jmmy who works the second shft for the same transport frm. The boss man s a bg, wretchedly foulsmellng fellow named Jones, though judgng by hs talk I magne he changed t whle stll on the boat. He sports a consderable and greasy mustache strewn wth bts of several meals that I suppose cause the odor. When we appled, he told us he would put us on dfferent shfts so the other boys ddn t carp too much about hm takng on more Irsh. Besdes, Jmmy looked strong and I looked smart. Jones just asked us to hde the fact we re brothers. That s easer than he or anyone else may thnk. Jmmy takes off most nghts, tradng n stores and sps wth anyone game. Meanwhle, I tarry over a book at home, sttng besde the open wndow and half expectng hm to fnd trouble. At least he s a good-natured fellow, gven to carousng more than volence. Thus I doubt he s dug n wth the Gopher Gang or any of ther lk, though I m uncertan of hs frends. I m deep nto Conrad and fndng the story more moral than exctng. Sometmes, I wonder f Jm dd anythng wrong, survvng beng a necessty and all. Who s to say f the people on that shp held the promse he dd? I magne the Darwnans could tumble qute a bt over that queston. But my brother would not struggle over t so much. He d day t s just the sort of cowardce to expect from an Englsh salor. My Jmmy s not much for tangled up stuff. We share a room n a three-story buldng on Nnth Avenue just nland from where I m standng. It s scarcely bgger than our cabn on the boat and just as seedy. The walls do not breathe, so the heat makes them sweat. And the rest of the tenants about a thousand based on my count warn me t s just as dstressng n the wnter when cold makes ce of your drnkng water. The roaches are the sze of a dress button, and I fear the rats joned us n extng the boat. We keep a fst-szed rock on the wndow sll and use t to drve them back nto the walls. On our second nght,

2 Jmmy caught one good wth a jagged edge and klled t on the spot. We looked at one another and consdered eatng t. The next day we found our jobs. I hear Jmmy and hs company, the Spanard and Italan, before I see them. Those two came through the sland wth us and, n spte of hearng Hell s Ktchen was a predomnantly Irsh place, decded to stck nearby. They share a flat over a barroom nearby and get a certan sum scratched from the rent n exchange for odd jobs. Jmmy s the loudest of the three, croonng on about some heroc rebel or another n a voce remarkably true for a drunk. Solders are we, whose lves are pledged to Ireland. Some have come from beyond the wave. Sworn to be free, no more our ancent sreland, shall shelter the despot or the slave. Tonght we man the bearna baol, n Ern s cause, come woe or weal, md cannon s roar and rfle s peal, we ll chant a solder s song. He opens the door, pushes through hs red nose, and greets me n full voce. Ah, Andy! How n the hell can you st here sweatn your balls off readng a book? Ths cty s alve. The pnts are cool. And the lades have ther skrts hked up consderably. He crosses the room and slaps me on the back. I ve seen much worse nghts, brother. I take a deep breath. Please call me Andrew. That s what you ve got to say? Jmmy takes off hs hat and scratches hs head. I come n here, greet you wth a song and a smle, nvte you to drnk wth me, share ntellgence on the beautes, and you get all sorts of fncky n regards to your feckng name? I smle n spte of myself. Yes. The terseness of my reply humors Jmmy s frends, who attempt to squelch ther snckers. I contnue. At the least, I expect to have some control over what I am called. Also, I have told you many tmes I don t lke pubs. They are loud and smoky, crowded even for slums, and reek of sweat. Add to all that, they are full of dullards. Well, an t that rch? Jmmy shakes hs bare head. In addton to dsturbng the peace and smellng lke horse pss, I m dull! He pauses for emphass. Now, Andrew, that hurts. I do not have the heart to tell hm that s not precsely what dullard means, so I change the subject. How was work? He reads my ntent yet plays along. Ah, t was grand, better than lunch wth the Astors! Perhaps the best ten hours of my lfe, stoopng and stackng crates tll my fngers bled from splnters. I haven t grunted so much snce last I held a lass. He tosses hs hat across the floor toward the largest of the rat holes. My God, Andy! It s a job. Do you expect me to lke t? 2

3 I m just makng conversaton. Oh? Forgve me I thought we were talkng about you jonng us for a drnk. It s just that we can ll afford to lose our jobs. We have to buld somethng here, make somethng better. Besdes, the rent s up, and the landlord came knockng. Who are you talkng about the rent s up Mum? You seem to be sayng you re better at your precous job because I dally n pubs. Or s the trouble the company I keep? As he asks ths, hs frends step forward and cross ther arms. Would you rather I st here and read a book? Well, let me say ths once and forever, Andrew. Books are not worth a shte. At ths the Spanard, who once told me hs grandfather wrote for the stage, draws a deep breath. I tremble. Unlke you, I ddn t ntend to be hurtful. You were havng no parts of my explanaton as to why I steer clear of pubs, so I changed the subject to work. I don t expect you to lke the job, I certanly don t, but we need t. We have lttle and the water s rsng fast. One good thng about Jmmy s the fact that n terms of hs temper he s lke a Lucfer. He flames quckly then backs off to nothng. So he gathers hmself and crosses the room to our crude work spot, just a stool and an off-balance table left by the prevous tenant, to take a seat. Hs guests understand ths s some sort of nvtaton and help themselves to spots on the floor where they st cross-legged. The Spanard appears to be dealng wth the weght of Jmmy s assault on lterature. He holds hs head n hs thumbs wth hs hands folded, the fngers clasped and coverng hs nose. I wonder f he s prayng, but hs eyes are open and dartng about the room. The Italan, who has put consderable work nto hs Englsh, s anmated and surprsngly supportve of my poston. Andrew speaks truth, he says. As long as we stay here, our feet slp n the mud. We re too many lke bees by the rot ple. No one looks for the good n the bad. Jmmy squnts and rubs hs hands on hs thghs. There are good bees n the slop? But the Italan I thnk hs name s Medna s undeterred by my brother s mockng. I mean t s hard to show your your use. You mean your mert? I lean forward n my char. Yes! Medna smles and claps hs hands. Your mert. We all laugh at ths, but Medna contnues. We stay here and t s just lke the Old Country. Maybe somethng good comes, maybe not. We need to move on to the place where we can be the Italan, the Spanard, and the Irsh not just one among thousands. 3

4 Now t s Jmmy leanng forward n hs char. If we go, do you thnk they ll make the Irsh lug crates? I crack the wndow farther, usng the book for a prop. We ll never know f we don t go. I wnk at hm and run my fngers through my har. June 30, 1916 I walk the battery at the south end of the sland regardng the reflecton of the sun on the water, whch sparks at each eddy. I admre the statue too. She s unshrouded as opposed to the mornng I frst saw her and regal n every sense of the word wth her flowng robes and lamp ponted skyward. But t s her feet, shod precarously n sandals and grounded on somethng larger than her person, I fnd most welcomng. She domnates the small key we landed on before reachng Manhattan. I know now they call t Ells Island though t seems the name prod sland fts t better. We and our shpmates receved a gong over there normally reserved for horses at sale. Jmmy got a chalk mark for not standng up straght, but he flpped hs jersey around and passed through. There were anxous moments regardng the Spanard s scalp too. But, after a few knowng glances, we were all smles. I shake my head over our nervousness now. Arrvng here and passng nspecton seemed lke a trumph. But, as I kck my way through the garbage floodng the streets, t feels lke no feat at all. Don t get me wrong. I m by no means mserable. Amerca s the land of far shakes and all. But I wsh we were makng more of our plans to move on. Medna s rght; ths s the sort of place where a fella can get stuck n a mllon ways. And t seems there s somethng I owe mum for the tcket after all. Dealng wth Jmmy, however, takes a delcate touch. In many regards, he s the leader of our lttle group. Of course ths s common among aces, people whose passons run hgh. He lends lfe to any party, makes Othello pure comedy. He just requres a bt of help to fnd hs vson. July 1, 1916 Lke I sad before, Jmmy s just a so-so reader, but he s commtted to dgestng the news from home about the Rsng. Today he s ft to be ted over a report n the Cork Free Press about condtons at Frongoch. Accordng to ther man, the place s knee-deep n flth and all sorts of thngs to drve a body mad. I cannot say as I m surprsed. I never assumed prson was a place for holdng hands. But I can see my brother s motvaton buldng. He s hatchng plans lke eggs. 4

5 Bastards! He raps the rolled paper on the table. It s one thng to fght a man on a feld, qute another to toss hm n a cage and poke hm. I gnaw on a pece of toast and nod. Jmmy contnues. I bet Stephen s all sorts of knotted. He beleves n dgnty after all. No doubt. I sp tea from a mug the Spanard found at work. I wonder f mum read t. If so, she s worred sck. He btes hs bottom lp. You re rght. Have you sent her a post? It s been a fortnght. I maled one to say we were here and another one once we had work. I set down the tea and wpe a soggy crumb from beneath my lp. She sent back a tn of tea bscuts lned wth blls. He nods. I d rather she ddn t do that. You never know who s nspectng the posts. Agreed. Remnded of them, I pull the przed soda bread cookes out of our bag and slde the tn across the table. Ths should dress thngs up a bt. Ah. Jmmy pres the ld and pulls out a bscut. The comforts of home. I try to steer us back to the topc at hand. Say, do you thnk he s stayng stout n there? I mean a few rats and rubbsh aren t about to take hm down. My brother rases hs eyebrows and chews. Not lkely. He snatches the mug and sps. He s Irsh. He s been dealt wth lke a dog before. So what s the Brts play? Not a bloody good one. He taps hs fngers on the table. I suppose they re tryng to break them down upset ther stomach for t. If there was a better play, the whole lot of them would be dead. The prme mnster fgures one war at a tme s enough, and for once I gather he s rght. You thnk he s delayng. Jmmy nods. That s my guess. I suppose my brother s mostly rght. The Englsh have ther hands full across the Channel, and they need Irsh bodes. It s common knowledge the republcans at the Rsng carred German guns, and Kaser Wlhelm has every reason to arm them agan. Asquth knows better than to stoke the fres. But there mght be a flaw n hs plan. By all accounts Frongoch s great sol for the seeds of dscontent. The ragged rebels there are weavng ther thread-bare hearts nto somethng ntermnably stronger. Collns s gatherng hs men and lecturng hs leutenants. The unversty s n sesson, and I don t know f t s Jmmy or me who s more n a lather. 5

6 July 4, 1916 It s Amerca s Independence Day and, for reasons unknown to ether me or Jmmy, Mr. Jones has decded to gve most of the mules hs name for crate bearers the day off. My brother nssts ths makes Jones a Socalst, but I am not about to argue wth the decson. A day to relax s an uncommon thng, and t s a gorgeous day n the dronng cty, a bt cooler than most ths summer wth a hgh blue sky. I have managed to save a pocket s worth of change from the last two pays and start the day wth a vst to a bakery ran by a fat woman from the Baltcs. She sells tortes, dumplngs, and flled sponge cakes out of the narrow wndow of her apartment on Eghth Avenue. I drop three cons n her floured hand and receve two treats n return. Meanwhle Jmmy, who I charged wth the task of fndng tea, s watng for me on a bench set fortutously beneath a broad-spannng oak. He s smlng and holdng two steamng cups. We exchange a pastry for a drnk, and I settle besde hm wth a sgh. To my surprse, he returns the money I gave hm for tea. I helped some lass a few blocks off load flowers on her cart, and she gave thanks wth a taste of her mornng brew. I wnk at hm. Such a charmer. I lft the cup and take a careful sp. It s passable, nothng to wrte mum about. Whatcha thnk? Hs eyes are brght and typcally devlsh. I thnk t s not bad for somethng bought wth flrtaton. Ah, and wthout the fever or tch! He laughs loudly as f he s uncertan I got the joke. At least t s not coffee. I pucker my face and gag. Coffee! How n the hell can people drnk that btter shte? Even across St. George s Channel they know t s proper to start a day wth tea. Weak tea I gve you but tea. A drnk ft for a queen! Jmmy btes through a cake flled wth raspberry preserves. Say, you gve any thought to how we d spend the day? Not really. He reaches nsde hs pocket and produces a stack of blls thck as two loaves of bread. I thought perhaps t was a grand day to go vst the pones. My eyes pop out of my head. Holy Jesus, Jmmy! Where n the world dd you get that wad? It seems our frend Medna s a louse at poker. I gather my breath. Seems so, but you cannot spend that all at the races. Spend who n the hell sad a thng about spendng? He waves the cash nches from my nose. Take a good look, Andy. I m a wnner. I roll my eyes. Even you aren t that bg of a fool. Phht. Nothng ventured, nothng ganed. 6

7 That s three month s rent and food for two more. Just magne f t s doubled. I look at hm sdeways. It s useless to thnk I ll get my way straght out. How about we take a thrd of t to Mr. Belmont s Park and use the rest for necesstes? Not countng the trolley fare? I thnk ths s an odd pont to stand frm over, but my lne of thnkng cuts both ways. Fne, I say, A thrd of t all for the races. Jmmy s smle s so brght I doubt the freworks can compete. It s gong to be a fne day, Andy. Now, let s go wn me a hat and a hook to hang t on. I shake my head as I push myself off the bench and turn n the drecton of Blackwell s Island Brdge. Hat s aren t that expensve you know. Don t be so lteral, Andrew. It won t make you any frends. 7

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