children’s lives, for your
family’s lives.”
Caroline pursed her lips
together then bit down on her bottom lip. “Is this some sort of
joke, Ethel?” Caroline’s brow furrowed.
“ What… No! This is not a
joke!”
“ Why wouldn’t you contact
the police? The military? Julius surely had someone he could
contact about this nonsense?” questioned Caroline aggressively. Her
dull eyes began to regain a faint brown glimmer.
“ Julius told me the strange
man would be eyeing our moves and that not only is that group of
people – The Flagship, I believe he called it – supporting this
decision but important members of the U.S. government, the Soviet
government as well! Julius’s only option was to spy, but it didn’t
matter in the end. We were trapped, and now we’re
cooked.”
Ethel cried hysterically.
Caroline decided to not console her friend, the former-actress that
was mildly talented but could not come to grips with her mere
average talent. “Why did Wendell have to befriend Julius those
years ago? Why did this group have to select Julius? Who is this
group that is ruining lives?” Caroline’s thoughts were shooting
around her skull and sprouting more gray hairs on her
head.
“ What else did Julius tell
you? Was there anything else, Ethel?”
“ He mentioned a few names
before he left for the war,” said Ethel through a waterfall of
tears. Caroline’s vomit remnants from the washcloth had been
smeared on Ethel’s face in various places. “Names that I needed to
avoid at all costs! He also mentioned that your family and my
brother, David, were the only ones to trust.”
Caroline gulped loudly.
“What were the names? Wendell told me of a few names before he left
for the war too – names of people that I should keep myself and the
boys away from at all costs. I thought he had gambling debts or was
being heckled by wannabe mobsters again and wanted us to stay safe.
He never told me what the names meant and what these people had to
do with him, he refused to tell me.” The faint glimmer of brown had
died in her eyes for good. Her eyes never returned to their
wonderful brown.
“ Their names were,”
sniffled Ethel, “Aster Granzella, Sylvester Heston, Florence Larke,
and Isaac Po. That Po is, I assume, the same Po Julius relayed
information to...” Ethel struggled to pronounce the names but
Caroline knew the names. She knew the names for over four years.
The strange names had not affected her for the past four years but
began to dig into her heart.
Caroline closed her eyes
tightly. “Get your kids to safety and contact that friend of yours
now. I need to get my boys to safety before anyone comes for us. I
was told to immediately get the boys out of New York if any other
person uttered those names.”
Ethel stood up, wiped her
face clean with her sleeve and said, “I’m right on it, Caroline. I
will see you in a few hours.”
The two hugged each other
with little emotion, save the tears running down their cheeks. They
knew that their lives were over, but still had work to do to save
the lives of a few others that they loved.
---
“ That’s the last night I
saw my mother,” said the man. He licked his lips and finished off
the brown liquid in his wooden cup. “That’s the last I saw of Ethel
Rosenberg as well, in person at least. I relive that night of
eavesdropping every night and in every dream. I just can’t shake
that conversation from my mind. It reverberates through me at all
times.”
“ What happened to the
Rosenbergs? Grandpa Wendell? Grandma Caroline?” the son asked with
tears welling in his eyes. His perfect teeth were nearly piercing
through his bottom lip causing a rough bruising.
“ The Rosenbergs were
electrocuted years after Julius returned from the war,” said the
man grimly. His kind eyes became dull like his mothers did that
life changing day. “They were given a trial, but they were dead the
minute Julius began spying for the Soviets – the military
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