The Prince of Steel Pier

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

The Prince of Steel Pier — page 7 — 6 always do and approach the front desk Uncle Sol is there working with an adding machine and a ledger His fingers fly across the keys and the printed tape spills over the counter and curls in on itself like a ribbon on a present present He wears a red sports jacket and a dark blue tie so he looks kind of like the guy who does the play by play for the Phillies games on TV A pin on his lapel announces him Solomon Broder General Manager Here we go Uncle Sol and I fall into the same routine routine every August Sometimes he ends up giving me some money and sometimes he doesn't But we always start with small talk I dread this Uncle Sol He glances up for a moment then returns to his calculations calculations Yes Joey I'm going to ask him some questions I already have the answers to Uncle Sol do you know where my dad is It's Monday Dad's at work back in Philadelphia which is where we Goodmans live eleven months of the year In August when the rest of us are helping out at the hotel Dad goes to work from Monday through Thursday Thursday and then he joins the rest of us down the shore for the weekend He's at work Joey It's Monday Uncle Sol's shirt is too tight and I watch his potbelly expand and contract with his breathing

The Prince of Steel Pier — page 8 — 7 head Oh right I knew that I pick at some pretend lint on my shirt Then You know where my mom is Mom's not here either She drove Ben to Philly for a TV commercial audition He narrows his eyes at me over his glasses like he's thinking Even though we both know that we both know the answer She took Benjamin to an audition She'll be back later Then he gives me his I'm trying to be patient with you look Our shtick is in full swing now Joey do you need some money I pull my kippah off my head and scratch at my mop of curly black hair just to have something to do Maybe a little You know for the arcade Skee Ball or something I know what comes next and I brace for it Money doesn't grow on trees you know Uncle Sol stops pecking at the adding machine He leans across the front desk on his elbows so his face is close to mine The arcade is a waste of money You know that right No return on the investment I chew my bottom lip for a moment I win lots of prize tickets though If I win enough of them I'll be able to get a really good prize He shakes his slowly Like what Those prizes are all junk Uncle Sol isn't married and he doesn't have any kids Dad says Sol has plenty of money to keep him warm at

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