The Prince of Steel Pier

The Prince of Steel Pier — page 3 — 2 guest dying on us The guests at the St. Bonaventure are so old that two or three usually die during the course of a season but my dad never let me see one before Such a shame Mrs. Goldberg was a good guest Paid for the whole summer up front Never missed our Shabbat services She gave good tips too says my oldest brother Reuben Slipped me an extra ten at the end of August in '73 and '74 She didn't have to do that She looks like a piece of gefilte fish my other older brother Simon mutters Dad glares at Simon What's the matter with you Simon rolls his eyes Under his breath he says It's not like she can hear me Uh oh Whatever's in my stomach starts tossing itself around like a bunch of beanbags Uncle Sol turns to my brothers Pack her things I'll go downstairs and make the phone calls Reuben and Simon begin moving around the room Simon pulls Mrs. Goldberg's suitcases from the closet and Reuben starts emptying the dresser drawers When Uncle Sol pulls the bedsheet over Mrs. Goldberg's Goldberg's face I press my hand to my stomach Why is the room tilting Everyone turns and gapes at me Oh wait did I say that out loud

The Prince of Steel Pier — page 4 — 3 Dad sighs in his I knew this would happen way He grabs my shoulders and practically pushes me across the room to get me out of there I notice two dead flies on the carpet by the bathroom threshold Dead flies and a dead old lady A weird zombie like groan escapes my throat and I throw myself at the toilet just in time to puke my guts into the bowl Perfect Way to go Joey Really impressive I can't imagine a worse start to my month down here at the shore Someone puts a hand on my back You okay squirt It's Reuben Too much for you huh I answer him by barfing some more When I'm sure I've emptied myself out completely I squeeze into the space between the toilet and the tub I swipe at my face with my shirt sleeve Great Shaking throwing up and crying My eyes float over a framed picture on the wall across from where I'm huddled It's an old colorful print of Steel Pier and the Boardwalk and the beach back in the 30s or 40s back when Atlantic City was the most popular vacation vacation spot in the country The sky in the poster is the color of robins eggs nd I press my lips together hard thinking thinking I'll never again see the sky that blue the sand that clean Steel Pier that golden and glowing Once you've seen a dead body things don't look that perfect anymore

The Prince of Steel Pier — page 5 — 4 No other guests die over the weekend but my whole family still tiptoes around me like I'm a hospital patient They whisper in corners thinking I can't hear them but if there's one thing about us Jews it's that we're not quiet people Mom keeps putting her hands on her cheeks and shaking her head He could be traumatized for life Then she grouches at Dad for bringing me up to Mrs. Goldberg's room Bubbe and Zeyde my grandmother and grandfather keep telling me to go lie down That's their response to everything Skin your knee Go lie down Have a rash Go lie down At least five times Reuben says I could take him for a slice of pizza Uncle Sol thinks he's a doctor Give him flat ginger ale That will settle his stomach Even my ten year old brother Ben has something to say about the whole thing I coulda told you that Joey was gonna upchuck when he saw the dead lady When the next guest dies I'm going to go look at the body It'll be good for my acting Maybe the next part I get will be as a corpse He rolls his eyes back and dangles his tongue out of the corner of his mouth

The Prince of Steel Pier — page 6 — 5 black Here's what nobody says It's okay Joey We know there's a strong coolheaded guy inside of you somewhere somewhere Nope No one says that By Monday I've had it with the adults nervous glances and Simon's annoying jokes Hey Joey what's up Oh it's your breakfast I'm more than ready to leave my grandparents house in Margate which my parents and my brothers and I take over for the month of August and go back to my nonpaying job as a waiter in training at the hotel I work the breakfast shift in the dining room with Reuben and Simon They're seventeen and sixteen so they're real waiters They talk to the guests I assist This basically means I follow them around the dining room and pick up all the stuff that the guests drop on the floor The dining room empties out by nine thirty The guests go off to do whatever it is old Jewish people do in Atlantic Atlantic City They'll all be back for lunch at noon on the dot I don't have to work until the dinner shift so I have the whole day stretching out in front of me It's time to get out of here and hit the arcade Which means I need some money I swing through the lobby over the Scuffed and white tile floor and past the round stone fountain with the four ceramic frogs shooting water out of their upturned mouths I rub one of the frogs heads like I

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