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One-third of the city’s residents don’t speak English at home. Schools were overwhelmed; families were overwhelmed. Education sort of passed a lot of them by.
That’s why he knew an initial effort of literacy and numeracy for Jared’s crew was the way to go. The crew’s personal education improvements, the successful employment in careers of some, and the business ventures of others—all that was a huge success story for them all. I could see Hendrik's pride.
We spend a few quiet minutes while I think things over, and Hendrik just sits, looking at me.
“Well, you want to do more? How about you use some of your stinkin’ money,” and Hendrik gives me a belly laugh and kisses me, “to open a non-profit thing in that joint-venture building? With the non-profit thing, you can create something like an after-school or day-and-night community education program. You know—add something for the first- and second-generation immigrant adults of the neighborhood. Not just their children.”
I give him a questioning look, “After all, you came from a European country with a strong history of learning foreign languages, especially English. Your dad was favored by that, right?”
Hendrik admitted, “Yes, Vader spoke pretty good English when we arrived according to him. And I hardly spoke at all at age three. He taught me Dutch which we speak together to this day. But we always agreed to speak English everywhere else. So I learned easily.”
He got thoughtful again, “Papa’s big effort was learning how people actuallytalkedbecause he had mostly book learning by that time. And also he wanted to get rid of his accent as much as he could. But you are right. He had the advantage that other first- and second-generation Americans don't.”
So we added a bunch of ideas to our growing list of possibilities.
Hendrik is more and more excited about the whole idea.
Now that I'm “in,” he urges me to text Luz for an evening get-together next week to discuss it all with the three men who are his partners in the building ownership.
And, of course, to make sure it's an evening I can come, with his partners’ two spouses and one fiancé.
I guess I really am “in” now.
Chapter 55
Epilogue Hendrik: Six Months Later
Iwantedtospendevery day and every night with Beatrice. But the way we were both housed, in studios, wasn't going to make it that easy on us.
For a while, we got in the habit of her coming from work to my place three evenings in a row. Then we'd reverse it and I'd spend the following three or four nights at her place.
We didn't eat out as much, preferring to use her mom's new recipes that she was collecting from all the Aunties. Staying in most evenings, cooking together, sharing our day (not to mention seducing each other in creative ways!), helped us feel more intimately … one.
But what Beatrice did not know was that I had, not one more secretidentity, but one more secret nonetheless!
She’s gonnaThundering Tarnationme for this!
I sat her down and admitted to her, “It's getting really hard on us to live in two places. And I'm thinking of my mistakes with Carly.”
When I mentioned Carly (and I had not in many, many weeks), Beatrice perked up and stared me down. She knew something was on my mind.
She asked, “What are you thinking, my sweetness? Are you feeling more grief about Carly?”
“No, my Lady Fair, not since I have been with you,” I told her the truth. “Why I mentioned Carly is that, as I told you, she refused to marry me.”
Beatrice nodded and took my hands in hers.
“We also never lived together in the several years we were together. I don't want to make that mistake again. If Carly's death taught me anything—and believe me, my father's heart attack reinforced that lesson—it’s that the only day we have istoday.”
I looked at Beatrice tear up. “Oh no, my beauty! No tears. This is not a sad statement. I’m simply saying I want to spend every minute with you that you're not at work, that I'm not working. I’m getting impatient. I want a solution to achieve that right now. What do you think?”
She looked at me with tears glistening. “You mean you want us to live together? Somewhere else?”
I nodded. “I, uhhmm, I didn’t tell you this other thing yet. I know how you hate a mystery. But there is one thing I haven’t mentioned …”
She had a moment of panic. “What?Great Guns, Hendrik?! You don’t haveanothersecret identity, do you?”
Well, at least it wasn'tThundering Tarnation!
