John Casey - Compass Rose

The first news of trouble Mary had was from Rose. Mary hadn’t made peace with Elsie yet, but Rose still came to Mary’s apartment to get some more help with her songs. The second time Rose came, she said, “I’m not sure I want to sing at Sawtooth.”

“Why on earth not?”

“Uncle Jack is doing something, and Mom is furious. She tried to explain it to me, but I don’t get it. Uncle Jack wants to buy Dad and May’s house. I thought Dad and May should just say no, but Mom says there’s a way he can make them. It’s some tricky legal thing. Anyway, she wants me to quit the show. She said that when you find out what Uncle Jack is up to, you won’t want to work for him, either.”

“Ah, well. That’s always a question. But you — I’d hate to see you miss this chance — you’ll learn a lot singing with trained singers. JB says that rehearsals are going well and that they’re crazy about you. You’re not nervous about it, are you?”

“No. I mean, I was, but it’s fine now.”

“Your mother gets furious at Jack all the time. Why don’t we wait a bit and see what Dick and May have to say? This could just be Jack’s hot air.”

That afternoon Jack showed up in the Sawtooth kitchen, all smiles.

“Mary, Mary, Mary — it always cheers me up to get a whiff of whatever you’re cooking. Could you come up to my office for a minute? I’d like to discuss what we’re going to serve the dinner-theater crowd. Do we have enough waitresses? Oh, and things in general. Take your time. I’ll be up there the rest of the afternoon.”

When she went in he was pacing back and forth in front of the seaside window. He gestured toward a chair for her but kept on pacing, his hands clasped behind his back, his chin to his chest. He said, “All those years ago, when I bought your restaurant, I gave you a fair price.”

“More than fair.”

“And I’m paying you a fair wage.”

“Yes.”

“And you absolutely deserve it. You’re one of the pillars of Sawtooth. And I hope that over the years we’ve had a friendly relationship.”

“You’ve stepped on my toes now and then, but we get along.”

“Well, good, because I’d like some help. I know you and Elsie are close, and you and Rose.” He stopped pacing and faced her. “Elsie has just told me Rose isn’t going to sing in our show.”

“Elsie told you,” Mary said. “But what has Rose said?”

“Elsie wouldn’t let me talk to her. I tried to explain to Elsie that I’m doing this in large part for Rose’s benefit.”

“You may have suggested Rose, but the director auditioned her.”

“Of course, of course. Rose is splendid. I didn’t mean to imply anything to the contrary. And I certainly don’t want you to get touchy. Everyone’s become so damned touchy, I can’t say a word without someone taking it wrong. If people could just keep from mixing up things … The show is one thing.” Jack chopped at the side of his desktop with his left hand. “And the rest of it is another thing.” He chopped the other side.

“And just what is the rest of it?”

“I’m surprised Elsie hasn’t told you. She’s boiling over in public. We’ve quarreled about one thing or another over the years — she even tried to keep me from buying Sawtooth, some nonsense about natural habitat. She never did understand the facts of life.”

“I think Elsie knows the facts of life.”

“All Elsie knows is flora and fauna. Back then Sawtooth was bound to be sold, and in any hands but mine it would have become an eyesore. I’ve preserved its natural beauty, and I’ve made a limited number of members happy. Elsie forgets that they need a natural habitat, too. But that’s not the issue now. Now she’s saying that I’m after the Pierce property in some vindictive way. There is nothing personal involved. I’ll admit I spoke a little prematurely about those damned survival suits, but I was acting out of a father’s reflex. All that talk hit a nerve, and I jumped. I’m happy to let Captain Teixeira have the last word about survival suits. I’d be happy to shake Dick Pierce’s hand. No ill will, despite his clever remarks. But that’s not the issue, either. Not relevant. I’ve had my eye on that land for years, part of a master plan. It would be a godsend for the Pierces if everyone would just calm down. I could help Dick Pierce out of financial difficulties on a businesslike basis. Dick could buy another boat, buy a nice little house. There’s a fixer-upper in Snug Harbor I happen to own that I’d sell him below market. If Elsie would keep her nose out of it, the Pierces would see reason, but Elsie is acting as if she’s some sort of authority on what happens around here. Authority is something you earn. You earn it by taking positive steps that build something of value, something that benefits the community. You don’t become an authority by being a maverick complainer. The fact is that Sawtooth is an economic engine, it’s a public benefit, and that fact is recognized by the people who actually run things, people with whom I have a long-standing relationship. The Sawtooth master plan is bound to go forward no matter how much noise people make. What it boils down to is ‘The dogs bark, but the caravan passes.’ ”

Mary said, “Well, then, I don’t see how you need any help from me at all.” Over the years she’d seen Jack as laughably pompous, bumptious, and occasionally offensive but occasionally robust and even attractive in his billows of enthusiasm for everyone — everyone at Sawtooth — to have a splendid time. Now she saw him becoming denser and heavier.

But then, as if guided by some counselor lodged inside him, he beamed at her pleasantly. “You’re quite right. All that’s a matter for another day. The more immediate issue — and for this I do need your help — is Rose. I don’t believe I told you how grateful I am for all you’ve done for Rose. What would Rose and Elsie have done without you? I’ve done a thing or two myself, behind the scenes, as it were, but I think now is a good time for you and me to put our heads together. Next year Rose will be thinking about college. In my day a solid B average at a good school and a note from the headmaster and you were in. I’m not saying that was fair. I’m sure a lot of perfectly good people got left out. But then it got to be testing, testing, testing, and the good colleges got filled with a lot of overachieving test takers. Everyone got bored. What the admissions people are looking for now is an application that says, ‘I’ve been to the moon.’ I’ve raised money for Brown, I’ve given money to Brown, and I couldn’t get my own son in. I could write a letter for Rose and it wouldn’t weigh more than a feather. Well, perhaps a little more. But this show is Rose’s trip to the moon. Among other things, I have good reason to believe that it’ll be reviewed not just by the Providence Journal but the Boston Globe , the Hartford Courant , and possibly some sort of notice in the New York Times . I’ve had some press kits printed up, and we’ve sent them out everywhere, from Boston to New York.”

“I understand,” Mary said. “I’d love to see Rose in the part, but—”

“She’d be cutting off her nose to spite her face.”

“But your master plan is—”

“Apples and oranges.”

“You can say ‘apples and oranges,’ but you’re asking Rose to go against her own family.”

“If Elsie would stop yelling at me, I could say to her what I’ve said to you. I’m Rose’s uncle; I’m doing this for our family.”

“I was thinking of Dick and May.”

Jack leaned back in his chair, waved a hand, and let it fall in a way that made Mary wonder if he filed Rose and Dick in his mind as separately as apples and oranges. “There is no particular reason you should know this,” she said. “But as much as Rose grew up in Elsie’s house, she grew up in Dick and May’s house, too. I brought Rose over there when she was just learning to crawl. She’s close to May and Dick, and her two brothers.”