ARROW - 72. Chapter 72

I dropped off the kids at the Orphanage and proceeded to the gallery.

“Tommy, I have to go to Yale this afternoon. You can come with me or you can stay with Grandmother. Your choice.”

“I’ll stay with Grandmother.”

I stopped at the office of the professor to say hello. I went to the library and asked about anything they might have concerning endangered animals. She didn’t have anything specifically. “I suggest you check with an environmental agency, I’m sure they would have some information on endangered species.”

I thanked her and went to the general education departments asking about a teacher to teach Italian to private students.

They had two teachers that spoke Spanish but none who spoke Italian. I spoke to each of them, one was married with a family and had no time to take on private students. The other teacher said she didn’t have time but she had a senior who probably would be willing to tutor. I asked if she would pass my name on to her and I can be contacted at the gallery.

Returning to the gallery I told Mom about the student may called. “If she does arrange a meeting for me. I want Colin and Tommy to learn to speak Spanish. Anna has done a good job teaching them basic Italian.”

“Dad, I’m going to learn to speak Spanish?”

“Yes, then you will be able to speak to our Spanish friend.” I was thinking of when Carlo visited.

That evening while Colin was eating, I told him about contacting an environmental group for a list of endangered animals. He start to laugh. “You just finished a poster for one. I’ll ask them for you.”

I started to laugh, “I did do that. I forgot.” Then I told him about taking language lessons.

“With us traveling in Europe and now we have friends in Spain and Italy, I think you need to learn those languages. So, I’ll be interviewing a student from Yale to tutor you and Tommy in Spanish.”

Colin smiled but Tommy got excited. I would bet that Tommy picks up the language faster than Colin.

Colin went to the club, Tommy went to finish his homework. I was the maid that night.

When Tommy finished his homework, we still have some time before his bedtime. “Do you want to go and see Jimmy or go and sit on the roof until bedtime.”

“How about both? I can take my drink with me to the roof.” I didn’t realize at the time, but we established an evening routine.

Walking into the club, Tommy waved to Jimmy. Walking to the bar, I had to acknowledge the members I knew. I thought about that, I have been a member of this club for almost three years, and I only knew a few of the members. I need to spend more time in the club. By the time I reached the bar, Tommy was sipping his drink.

“Dad, taste this.”

I did, Jimmy used pineapple juice in his drink. “This tastes good. Do you like it?”

“Yes, I like this also.” It was a spear of pineapple.

Colin was sitting at a table, I waved, he raised his glass of wine. Tommy picked up this drink and followed me to the roof.

I’m not sure if Tommy likes the roof for what it is. Maybe the fact that when we sit there, he snuggles up to me. Sitting there drinking and eating his pineapple spear, I had my arm around him holding him to my side. It was a quiet time for us.

He handed me his glass, snuggled even more into my arm and side. I looked at him, he was content. I felt his love and I hoped he could feel mine.

He was falling asleep but I didn’t want to leave. I picked him up and sat him on my lap. Now I had both arms around him as he slept. That was how Colin found us.

“He’s asleep.”

I nodded, “You need to do this sometime. He spends a lot of time with me, he needs to spend time with you.”

“It’s hard to find the time. With work and the club, I don’t have a lot of free time.”

“I’ll take care of the club a couple of days. You can take him to see Jimmy and then bring him here with his drink. Jimmy put a pineapple stick in his drink. He liked that.”

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the club is closed we can both sit here with him.”

“We had fun at the zoo. I wonder if he would like to go fishing. We could do that on a week-end morning.”

“That would be nice. I can get back to my painting. The security of the gallery is resolved and I think Mom was glad.”

He carried a sleeping young man to our apartment and to his bed. I stood behind Colin as he dressed Tommy in his pjs and tucked him in bed. I heard a quiet, “Thanks, Pop.”

I watched the look on Colin’s face. He was conveying the face of a proud father.

We waited a few minutes to make sure he was in a deep sleep, then we went to the club. Now I had my glass of wine.

While sitting there, I told Colin I have arranged for him and Tommy to learn Spanish. I thought to myself if that goes well, we’ll try French. As I was thinking this, Anna came up and spoke to me in Italian. “I never have an opportunity to speak Italian. Sometimes I feel I picked the wrong language to study.”

“Where did you study Italian? Did your high school teach it?”

“No, they taught Latin and French.”

“So you speak French as well?” I said that in French

She laughed, “Not very well, but I can defend myself.”

Colin looked as we spoke, he could distinguish Italian and French even not knowing what was being said.

Later that evening, “I feel like I have missed something.”

“What do you mean.”

“When I was a kid, I had a friend and we developed a code to speak to each other so that our parents didn’t know what we said. The code was a mixture of numbers and sounds. We thought we were pretty smart, we had our own language. But compared to a real language like Italian or French, we were short sighted.”

“Good, once you and Tommy learn Italian, we will speak Italian while you learn Spanish. A year from now, you’ll be able to speak Spanish and be well on your way in French. Carlo will be surprised when you speak to him in Spanish.”

The look on Colin’s face was of a man facing sure death.

We closed the club, Colin took the receipts to his office. We checked on Tommy and headed to bed.