Folly Beach Part 26

"What's she doing in the car?" Patti said. "Hey, congratulations again, by the way."

"Thanks!" he said. "I had the easy part, you know."

"Gross," I said. "What's she doing? Is she coming in?"

"No, she's afraid to come in."

"What?" Patti said and we exchanged looks about his wife's questionable behavior, which was almost never the thing either one of us would do.

"What's she afraid of, son?" I said.

"Germs," he said.

"Ooooh boy," I said under my breath and thought great, it was going to be one long hot summer until that baby arrived.

Chapter Twenty-three.

Setting: The Porgy House at the piano.

Director's Note: Show photos of the beaches of Folly Beach, the church, and then George Gershwin with DuBose and Dorothy sharing a c.o.c.ktail on the backstage scrim. Voice of DuBose comes from off-stage.

Act III Scene 2 Dorothy: I'll remember that summer forever, the one when George Gershwin arrived on Folly Beach, with his cousin Henry Botkin, supposedly to get down to work. We were away when George showed up but I had rented a little cottage for him. When we asked him what kind of accommodations he wanted, he was adamant that he wanted to live like the natives. I thought, okay, I can manage that. The place I found was within walking distance of ours but it had no electricity or running water. He wanted native? I found him native. Wasn't that terrible of me? Surprisingly, there was no objection from him, probably because he fell in love with Folly Beach the same way everyone else does. But it had to have taken some getting used to for a city-slicker like him.

In fact, there was a story in the News and Courier that Ashley Cooper, the pseudonym used by one of our favorite columnists, came out to visit him, and George, ever the well-dressed man, appeared in a getup that he probably wore in Palm Beach-a sport coat and an orange tie! But soon he put his sport coat and orange tie in the closet and spent most of his time walking on the beach and diving into the waves. I think I forgot to tell him about the sharks.

Anyway, it wasn't long until George found himself a lady friend but as I hear it, she was not particularly impressed with him. She thought all his swimming and athletics were some silly attempt to make himself into a he-man. In fact, the rumor mill said that George spent more time swimming in the ocean and counting turtle eggs, painting watercolors, and playing golf than he did composing music.

By the time DuBose and I returned to Folly, George had a scraggly beard and he was as brown as a pecan. Well, DuBose was having no more delays and shenanigans from Mr. Gershwin, so the first thing he did was get him over to James Island where there was a huge Gullah population. He took him to schools and church services so George could see the "Double Clap" for himself. Don't you know George got so excited, he joined in? And, to his credit, George always left a nice donation so that word would spread and he'd be welcome to visit the next place.

I think the biggest disagreement between DuBose and George was about how much of Porgy and Bess should be sung and how much should be spoken like regular lines in a play. George wanted the spoken lines to rhyme, because that was the American operatic tradition. But I think DuBose wanted the actors to speak in straight Gullah, because that was authentic to the Gullahs of the Lowcountry. I said, gentlemen, this is your musical and you can do whatever you want. I don't think they were listening to me.

Then there was the argument of how much to keep and what to cut. The most unusual aspect of the writing of Porgy and Bess was that the majority of the time we were writing the libretto and some lyrics, we were in South Carolina and Gershwin was in New York. But George and DuBose devised their own notation system so that George and Ira could set our lyrics to music in the tempo we envisioned. Sounds wacky, but it worked!

So when George came down, I rented a piano for him from Siegling Music House, which was a real beauty, by the way, and we were to hear our lyrics set to his music for the first time. It was terribly exciting.

We went over to his cottage with some champagne and a shaker of something good and George played and played and played. It was so astoundingly beautiful and I was so moved that I cried like a baby. For the first time I saw George as he truly was in his heart. He wasn't just an egomaniac. He was a brilliant young man who loved his music and he loved to play it for you. Now I ask you. What's the matter with that?

Fade to Darkness.

Chapter Twenty-four.

The Sisters.

We went up in the elevator together-Patti, Russ, and I-and I led them to Aunt Daisy's room where Ella sat right inside the doorway, staring at Aunt Daisy in her bed, no doubt continuing to chastise herself and praying Aunt Daisy well at the same time. It was plain to see that nothing had changed. I tapped on the window to get Ella's attention. She came out, hugged Patti and then Russ. She had been crying and I decided right then that she was not going to spend the night there, working herself into a state of morbid anxiety and winding up sick herself. It just wasn't a good idea.

First, Russ went in for a few minutes and then Patti took her turn. When Patti came out she rolled her eyes at me and whispered, holy s.h.i.+t.

I nodded in agreement. Seeing someone you love in Aunt Daisy's condition was a holy s.h.i.+t moment if ever there was one.

"I'll be right back," I said.

I slipped down to the nurses' station and asked if Nurse Tolli Rosol was still around and she was.

"Oh, hi!" she said. "Just FYI? That was the best pecan pie I ever had in my life."

"Good, good! Ella will be thrilled to hear it. Listen, I actually wanted to ask you for a little help with Ella . . ."

She understood perfectly, because sentinel relatives and friends who held their posts like the Swiss Guards at the Vatican were a common occurrence and she knew exactly how to handle it.

"I'll give her about thirty more minutes, okay?"

"That would be terrific," I said, adding, "thanks."

And sure enough, about thirty minutes later she came strolling down the hall with Aunt Daisy's chart and stopped to say h.e.l.lo to everyone.

"This is my sister Patti from Alpine, New Jersey," I said.

"Oh! Nice to meet you," Nurse Tolli said. "I have a cousin in Summit."

"No kidding," Patti said, "small world."

"And this is my son, Russ, who coaches basketball at James Island and teaches, too."

"Really? What grade?"

"Tenth," he said and smiled.

"That's a challenge, I'm sure. And, Ms. Johnson? Did Cate tell you what I said about your pie?"

"She did," Ella said. She smiled and was all ears for the compliment to come. "Thank you."

"Well, it's true. Delicious! Now, y'all aren't planning to spend the night again, are you?"

"I most certainly am," Ella said and raised her chin a little. She didn't think for a minute that this little nurse was a match for her determination.

"No, you won't be doing that tonight," Nurse Tolli said.

"And why not?" Ella said, surprised.

"Because I'm here. Ms. McInerny is under total surveillance from my station. If her blood pressure changes one little bit or her temperature goes up or down even one tenth of a degree, all my alarms go off. We're so high-tech up here in ICU it's better than having her own mother watching over her, believe me. And you need to get your rest because when she comes home you won't have me!"

"But . . ." Ella started to object.

"Besides, even though you all think she's asleep, she's sedated. She knows there are people around her and she won't rest as well with an audience. So, y'all are welcome to stay a few more minutes but let's let Ms. McInerny get her rest. I know you wouldn't want to impede her healing process."

"No, of course not," Ella said.

She spoke to all of us just as politely as I had hoped she would but Ella knew the nurse's comments were directed to her. Ella also knew this was an experienced nurse who knew what she was talking about. And it was obvious that our sweet Ella was bone-tired.

"I know what," I said. "Let's all stop somewhere on Folly Road and get something to eat. And, Ella, I'll bring you back here in the morning whenever you're ready."

"Besides, if you don't go home, how're you going to make us another pie?" my favorite nurse said.

"That one's all gone?" Ella said, perking up again.

"Not a crumb left," Tolli said so sweetly that it pulled my heartstrings. "Now, if y'all will excuse me I want to check on my patient," she said and slipped into Aunt Daisy's room. "Nice meeting y'all."

"Nice to meet you, too," Russ and Patti said.

Nursing was truly G.o.d's work. And this young woman was practically glowing with a saintly presence, putting all our worries, but Ella's most especially, to rest.

"How about the Crab House?" Russ said. "It's not crazy expensive and it won't take all night."

"Alice isn't afraid of sh.e.l.lfish?" Patti asked. "You know raw sh.e.l.lfish can be dangerous in the first trimester. Smoked seafood, too. Not to mention sus.h.i.+ . . ."

"Oh great. Please don't bring it up," Russ said. "I'll encourage her to eat flounder."

"Yeah, and don't let her eat tuna salad, either," Patti said.

"Since when are you the OB/GYN nutrition expert?" I said.

"Oz was on Oprah last week while I was on the treadmill," she said.

"I hate treadmills," I said.

"Yeah, well, my walking buddy abandoned me and flew south," she said.

"I drove."

"Let's get a move on," Ella said. "It will do us good to have supper together. I know we ate a little something earlier but now I'm starving!"

I took it as a promising sign that Ella was so hungry. She felt relieved enough to get back in touch with her appet.i.te. And the Crab House was fun. It would lift everyone's spirits.

Locals in Charleston usually go out to dinner on the early side, so it should have been pretty easy for us to get a table at eight thirty. But the Crab House was still filled with patrons eating and drinking and having a good time. After seeing Aunt Daisy, we needed to be surrounded by happiness.

We waited for a few minutes, got a table, and ordered drinks.

"I'll have a gla.s.s of the Raymond Sauvignon Blanc," I said, choosing from the list.

"Me too," Patti said.

"Iced tea for me," Alice said. "I can't drink alcohol."

"Oh, no problem," said the waitress. I could tell she was wondering if Alice was on the wagon, out of rehab, allergic, or what.

"She's having a baby," Russ said. "Actually, my baby."

The waitress c.o.c.ked her head to one side and looked at Russ like he was warped to be telling her his private business that would be patently obvious as soon as Alice started to show.

"We're married."

"Well, good for you hon," the waitress said, without missing a beat.

Russ turned red. "And I'll just have an Amstel Light," he said.

"And for you, ma'am?" the waitress said.

"I'll have a Crab House Slammer," Ella said, looking up from the menu.

We all looked at her at once.

"What?" she said. "Y'all want to see my ID?"

"No! I think you should get whatever the heck you want," I said. "It's been a rough day."

"Absolutely," Patti chimed in.

"I'll get those drinks right out for you," the waitress said and left.

We all studied the menu, trying to make our decisions.

"So, Alice?" Patti said. "Tell me how you're feeling."

"I feel great, except that I want to eat everything in sight," she said. "I'm just really going to have to discipline myself so I don't get as big as a house, you know? Well, actually, you wouldn't know since you've never been pregnant . . ."

"How do you know?" Patti said, not wanting to miss the opportunity to stick it to Alice. "So, let me ask you this. Anybody rub your belly for good luck yet?"

"What?" Alice said.

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat and kicked Patti under the table.

"Ow! Sorry, so tell us how you plan to stay fit? Are there some new guidelines?"

"No, no. I'm just going to eat lots of protein and fresh vegetables and try to get some exercise every day. And sleep, which won't be a problem, because all I want to do is sleep."

"That sounds good, honey," Ella said, being nicer than my sister.