American Dreams by John Jakes Page B

thirty.
    The same height as his father, he'd resembled Joe Senior until beer and overeating ballooned his stomach and dissipation put gray rings around his-blue eyes.
    . lisa and Fritzi came in. lisa sat at the far end of the table. Fritzi kissed Page 45

    her father's forehead, murmured, 'Papa,' and took her place opposite Joe Junior on the side. The two serving girls set platters on the long table, a family heirloom of dark walnut with fat carved legs. lisa kept it covered with a lace tablecloth of intricate design.
    Joe said to Fritzi, 'Did you and your mother see Paul's pictures this afternoon?'
    'We did.'
    'How was the theater?'
    'Dark, but clean. Mr. Laemmle's recommendation was all right.'
    'You know he named his own theater the White Front, hoping it would suggest cleanliness and respectability, and attract a better crowd. A vain hope, in my opinion. Thank you, Bess.' Joe nodded to the girl who set his stein of Crown lager by his right hand.
    lisa said, 'Pastor Wulf claims picture theaters are spawning grounds for vice, but we saw nothing immoral. Just some loud boys wasting their afternoon.'
    'Paul's films are really remarkable,' Fritzi said. 'They show places and events that people would never see otherwise. We watched the president operate the controls of a great big steam shovel.'
    Joe helped himself to a large slab of lisa's dry pot roast and passed the platter. Careless, Joe Junior almost dropped it. Joe shot him a look, then said, 'Theodore's energy and curiosity are boundless.'
    'It's a shame Paul's work is exhibited only in five-cent theaters,' Fritzi said. 'The other pictures, the ones that try to tell stories, are trash.'
    'We agree on that,' her father said with an amiable nod. Joe Junior looked bored, sitting head down, devouring mashed potatoes. He continued,
    'I saw a few story pictures a year ago. What a mistake. They offer nothing but low comedians chasing girls in scanty outfits or running around smashing down picket fences and trampling flower beds. Total disregard for property.'
    Joe Junior snickered. 'Property. Of course.'
    'We all know what you and your friend Debs think of the idea of property,'
    his father shot back. 'I need no commentary from--'
    The General and His Children
    37
    Loud knocking at the front door interrupted. lisa looked toward the Page 46

    foyer aS Leopold rushed to answer. The front door opened; Joe heard the wind, lisa said, 'Who on earth can be calling at this hour?'
    Leopold rushed in. 'Sir - madam -- it's your son.'
    'Carl? Mein GottS lisa leaped up, ran past Leopold exclaiming, 'Where did he come from?'
    'Pittsburgh, Mama,' Carl's voice boomed. 'Pittsburgh and South Bend, on the boxcar Pullmans.'
    Elated but baffled, Joe followed his wife into the foyer. Snow was melting on Carl's hair and the shoulders of his patched overcoat. A long red scarf wrapped round and round his neck trailed to the floor. Carl hadn't shaved in several days. His boots dripped water on the marble.
    Carl rushed to hug his mother, swinging her off her feet and whirling her. lisa's flying heels nearly knocked over a tall Chinese jar. When Carl's clumsiness combined with his boisterous energy, there often was damage.
    Tonight no one cared.
    Carl released his mother and shook his father's hand. 'Greetings, Papa.
    Hello, Joey. Fritzi, let me hug you.' She received a three hundred-sixty degree whirl like lisa's. She was breathless when he put her down.
    'No one expected you, Carl,' she said.
    'I'm on my way to Detroit.'
    'Detroit?' Joe Crown said in a baffled way.
    'To look for a job. I've been studying fast cars lately. I want to find out how they're built. I want to drive one.'
    Joe said, 'You looking for employment? In an auto factory?' He was almost afraid that asking would hex the whole thing. Carl grinned, threw an arm over his father's shoulder, and leaned down to him.
    'Yes, Papa, your wayward boy has found something he wants to do. It happened back East -- Baltimore. Tell you all about it