BooksBarbecue
Back Elements of Style Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. Permissions Acknowledgments
  44. Also by Wendy Wasserstein
  45. Copyright Page

“Darling, do you mind if I smoke?” Charlie asked when they were through. “Because if the world is blowing up tonight, I figure what the hell.” He took a cigarette out of his pants pocket and lit it.

“No, fine with me.” She snuggled into him.

“Want one?”

“No,” she answered.

“Such a good girl.” He stroked her hair. “I know I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now but here with you.”

After Charlie fell asleep, Frankie remained awake looking at his face and listening to the ambulances. He had lovely hair, still curly, and gray at the temples.

When the phone rang at 4 a.m. Frankie was still awake. She immediately assumed it was some news about her father.

“Yes, this is Dr. Weissman,” she answered.

“Hello, Dr. Weissman, this is the answering service.”

Frankie sat up. “What’s happened?”

“Pippa Rose asked me to call you. Your patient Jennifer Rose was at Starbucks tonight after a rehearsal for The Nutcracker. Apparently, her foot was blown off in the explosion.”

“Where is she?”

“St. Luke’s-Roosevelt. Mrs. Rose said she’d phone in the morning.”

Frankie got out of bed and went to find Pippa Rose’s phone number. When Frankie’s mother died, she had dismissed the possibility of a loving God. But she always believed in the healing property of art. On the day after 9/11, Pippa Rose took Frankie to watch Jennifer’s ballet barre class. There was something about those young ballerinas in their black leotards and pink tights concentrating on making their pliés deeper and their extensions longer that made Frankie have faith that the best of civilization will always survive.

Frankie sat at her desk while Charlie slept. Involuntarily she began to mutter, “Yisgadal v’yiskadash.” She stopped the ancient kaddish mid-sentence, gathered herself, and dialed St. Luke’s Hospital.

CHAPTER THIRTY

·CHAPTER THIRTY·

Barry

As soon as Barry heard about the Starbucks incident he knew it was time to leave New York. He had no intention of taking a let’s-wait-and-see attitude. Barry knew that anyone halfway important would get in their planes and get the hell out.

Barry was still living at The Lowell, though he kept a suite at the Mercer in SoHo as well. The downtown place was a good spot for taking young directors to dinner or an occasional threesome with aspiring NYU drama students. The uptown place was more about family.

Barry’s oldest daughter, Venice, was close friends with that young ballerina whose foot was blown off in the blast. He wanted to be with his kids to help them get through this, but Clarice took them away to Palm Beach. Barry didn’t want his children staying in New York either, but he resented Clarice for not taking him into consideration. Technically the kids were hers this week, but given the emergency circumstances he made a note to bring this up in court.