“We should just sneak in.” Bobby Pollack said.
Mike Harrington’s blue eyes squinted; his thin bright red hair shook from side to side. “No.” He said. “My Mom got us the tickets and they are part of the other tickets to the Vatican exhibit and we have to go.” He looked over at Mickey Stone and corrected himself. “Well I have to go. You should too Bobby.”
Bobby Pollack just giggled. He crossed his eyes. Something he could do real easy as they were very close together.
Mickey remembered that his Mom told him when a person’s eyes were close to their nose like Bobby’s they were real stupid. But then his Mom was always saying people were stupid although with Bobby she seemed to be right.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind going.” Mickey said. He knew that Mike had said that because he was Jewish and he didn’t have to go see this statue. Most of the Jewish kids didn’t even realize he was Jewish as he never showed up at the Temple, his name didn’t particularly sound Jewish and besides he could be seen playing ball with the Catholic kids on the Jewish Holidays. The Catholic kids knew he wasn’t Catholic because he never showed up in Church. Mickey knew from his Dad not to talk about it, which was the best advice. His Mom on the other hand…
“Naah.” Bobby answered. “Let’s climb over the fence by the Parkway like we did that last week and the week before. We can sell the tickets. Why pay? Why be suckers?” Bobby pleaded.
Mike shook his head angrily. “My Mom got these from her boss at work. They’re hard to get. You do what you want Bobby. I’m using the tickets.”
“Me too.” Mickey answered.
With that Bobby just shrugged. Mickey was their unstated leader. He was easily the best athlete among them. He was short thin and wiry with black hair and dark blue eyes. And there wasn’t a sport they played where he wasn’t one of the best at in their whole neighborhood. In all things among them he usually gave the final word.
But Bobby could also see that Mike was angry with him another reason for him to shut up. Mike never said much but you could tell how he felt because his fair skin would turn red and flush with his emotions. Joey was also the worst athlete among them but he would hang in there in any game happy to be the last guy picked just to be with the guys. He was short and stocky with curly almost kinky brown hair. One of the Jewish guys in the neighborhood swore he was Jewish because of his last name but his family went to Queen of Peace and he had gone to their grammar school with Mike Harrington. They were both now in public Junior High School with Mickey as their families couldn’t afford the Catholic High School.
They all knew it was rare for Mike to get angry. He was easy going slightly heavy and slow but still agile enough to play most of their games. He was a good lineman in football and to the surprise of everyone when they started playing street hockey he was an excellent goalie. Only having to move a step or two to his right or left, he blocked shots like no one else could. But when it came to baseball he couldn’t really hit too well and he was way to slow a foot to play anywhere in the field. He would sort of disappear a lot in the spring and summer. Mickey missed him when he did and was happy they had something they could do today.
They were off from school for some kind of a new holiday Brooklyn-Queens day. No one had ever heard of it before but they had the day of because of it and it fell on a Friday. And the school year would end soon. It was a good day to go to the World’s Fair. The place was jammed on the weekends and while there were always crowds they would be less today. They also had gotten lucky with the weather it was cloudy and not too hot. It really didn’t look like rain just slightly cooler than a normal June day.
They walked to the World’s Fair. It was only a mile from their homes. It was in its first year. It had opened in April and yet they had all been there a half a dozen times already. It was the biggest thing that had ever hit their neighborhood. It had been all over the news and everyone in the world knew about it. The roads around their homes had been under construction for years. They had taken to going out and collecting soda bottles from the Construction workers to get the nickel return on each bottle. But that was over now and the world flocked over those roads to New York City’s 1964/65 World’s Fair.
As they walked along they were strangely quiet. Mickey was thinking about how he and Mike’s real first names were both Michael even though no one ever called either of them that. Mickey had been called Mickey since he was a little kid. He loved that name, same as the great Mickey Mantle, his hero. Mickey had never even realized his name was Michael until he showed up for his first day in school. The teacher was taking attendance and called out ‘Michael Stone. Michael Stone.’ Mickey didn’t realize it was his real name till the teacher asked how many children’s last name here is Stone. Mickey was the only one who raised his hand. He remembered going home very angry and asking his Mom if his real name was Michael. His mother had told him that it was the name on his birth certificate. He was named after her grandfather but he could call himself whatever he wanted. He did not like that answer. She had lied to him it seemed since he was born. He could never get any of the teachers at school to call him Mickey. He had given up on it now that he was in the ninth grade. He hated that name. If called it once too often by someone in the neighborhood, he would punch him out. Small as he was he was pretty tough, and not too many people wanted to try him.
Mickey was hoping that when they got done seeing this statue they would go to the IBM exhibit that was a theater that started with a grandstand on the ground and then that whole grandstand would rise up into a theater like it was on an elevator. Then they would show an incredible movie on a bunch of screens. Everyone who saw it said the show was great and they had never seen anything like it before. But the lines were long and he hadn’t gotten into that as yet. Or the General Motors exhibit where you got to sit in a brand new car as they showed you the future. Man would go to the moon, build great cities live on the bottom of the Ocean. He had been to that exhibit four times already.
It would not take them long to cover the mile to the World’s Fair. They walked over familiar streets but as they crested a little hill that was Jewel Avenue they got a full view of the World’s Fair just a quarter mile off in the distance. It looked like someone had just dropped a whole futuristic city in what used to be an empty park. The buildings had odd shapes, some were circular like domes or looked like huge tents some had long archways or looked like bubbles or huge towers like the New York State Pavilion. All were various and different colors not like the huge buildings in the City. One exhibit that was way behind schedule and only half way built was a whole Belgian Village. While this little city was dwarfed by the Manhattan skyline that they could also see from various parts of their neighborhood it was still amazing thing and it seemed to echo its promise of an amazing future for the entire World.
They cut through the long parking lot quickly. Their anticipation of seeing the World’s where there were new holes in the fence. Mike and then Mickey both punched him in the shoulder. Bobby laughed. He didn’t mind being hit. He liked the attention. Besides he felt like he was right and it was obvious. He whispered. “Only the people from out of town and grownups use the tickets.”
They knew that hitting him would only make him laugh now and was a waste of time. So Mike said. “I rank you so low you could play handball off of the curb.”
They all laughed. They all knew that Mike was the best at this.
Bobby tried to answer. “Your mother wears combat boots.”
Mike was unperturbed. “I rank you so low you could walk under an ant wearing stilts and a top hat.”
They all laughed harder now.
Bobby knew to give up as Mike had a million of these and he would use them till they were all helpless with laughter.
The guard took their tickets and gave them a scorching look. They wondered if he recognized them from having been there so often. This was only the second time they had come through the actual gate with a ticket.
“Let’s get something to eat.” Bobby announced as they went down the ramp and into the Fair itself. They could see the moonlike curvature of the Kodak exhibit. Food was everywhere.
“Bobby I told you to eat before we got here. Its Friday you can’t just have hot dog and this other stuff is expensive.”
“Yeah I can have a hot dog.” Bobby answered. “Then I can go to confession tomorrow. I have to anyway my Mom will make me. Then I can go out and eat another hot dog next Friday.”
Mike just shook his head.
Mickey laughed a little. He never could quite understand Catholic religion or Jewish religion either. The both had all these things you couldn’t do. But the Jewish kids hardly ever talked about it. Just that they couldn’t play ball on the holidays and they would stand around in their good clothes looking miserable all day. That and they had to study for their Bar Mitzvah, which they would all complain about because they had to go to school for it in addition to going to regular school. The Catholic guys would talk about their religion more but it was all very mysterious. You went to heaven or hell depending on how you behaved. You could though save your mortal soul. That sounded scary. You had to confess though in order to do that. You also had to confess to a million things it seemed. But if you did you went to heaven. Mickey liked the sound of that. His secret wish was you could play ball in heaven. He was pretty sure Jewish kids went to heaven but how or where or what or why he didn’t know.
“Don’t be a wise ass Bobby. You wanna eat a hot dog go eat a hot dog.” Mike said.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Bobby walked over to one of the hot dog stands. There was a short line.
“Think I’ll have one too.” Mickey said and went with him.
One thing Mickey liked about his life he never had Sunday school like the Catholic kids. Nor did he have to study for a Bar Mitzvah and the Jewish holidays were really holidays for him. All the Catholic kids who went to public school were off and he could play ball all day.
He could do all this because his mother said there was no God. He had never been to a Temple. She said that people who believed in God were stupid. They were like children who believed in fairy tales and superstitions. She said that the Bible was written long ago when the world was really ignorant about almost everything. In modern times though science had figured out most everything and what it hadn’t, it would. There was no reason for people to believe in these superstitions and fairy tales. Mickey didn’t know if he liked that much. He couldn’t really argue or talk to her about things. She was a schoolteacher and had graduated from College. She was the only Mom he knew of that could say that. But even if she had gone to College and he was in the ninth grade it still didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Most everybody went to Church or Temple. Were they all stupid or superstitious? President Kennedy used to go to Church. You could see that on T.V. He was dead now, somehow that didn’t seem real.
He knew never to talk about it unlike his older brother who would tell people there was no God. They in turn would get so mad at him they would want to beat him up. His Dad had told him never to talk about things like that the way his brother did. His Dad never said anything about God or religion. He really didn’t know what his Dad thought. He knew that his Dad had a Bar Mitzvah as a kid. But it was sort of like his Dad had left that up to his mother. Like if he had a math question he would ask his Dad. If he had a question about English or anything else he would ask his Mom because she was a teacher and of course a College graduate.
The hot dog didn’t taste that good and he was sorry he had even gotten it. Bobby munched on his right in front of Mike.
Bobby announced after. “I’m going to hell. If I die before confession tomorrow afternoon.”
“You’re going to Hell even if you do get to confession tomorrow.” Mike answered.
They all laughed.
But Mickey wondered about that. Would you really go to Hell if you ate meat on a Friday? The whole religion thing was really confusing. Peter Taylor had told him that the Jews had killed Jesus and that he was a Jew and he had killed Jesus. It was supposed to make him mad or something. He got the feeling that Peter Taylor wanted to pick a fight with him. It didn’t mean anything to him because he had no idea what he was supposed to feel about being Jewish. Besides this all had happened hundreds of years ago. How could anyone alive today have anything to do with it? The other thing that he found out that really made it all confusing was when Mike told him later on that Jesus was a Jew. He knew Mike did that because he felt bad about what Peter Taylor had said to him. He’d even asked his Mom if Jesus was a Jew. She had said yes and it just proved how stupid all religious people from all religions were. He did not know what to say to her and thinking about it was very confusing and he wouldn’t have today except that they were going to see this statue about Jesus and Mary. That was another thing that set his mother off the idea that a woman could get pregnant without having sex. It was biologically impossible she would say.
There were a lot of fountains at the Fair. It seemed like they were everywhere. And flags, flags were everywhere, flags of every stripe and sets of colors. Mickey was trying to remember what the place had looked like before there was a World’s Fair. It was hard to imagine that nothing was there. All the buildings looked so permanent. Could it have just been empty space? For the last few years there had been construction going on and they had snuck down there a dozen times to see what was happening. They would get chased by the security guards for coming in there but they’re curiosity could not be held in check and they had seen it slowly going up bit by bit. Then they actually got caught one time by a security guard who took their names and phone numbers and threatened to call their parents but he never did. But now it was all finished with fountains flowing and flags billowing in the breeze. It was hard to imagine that it hadn’t always been there.
“Let’s go the DuPont building?” Bobby asked.
“Why?” Mike answered.
“Because it’s right there.” Bobby pointed. “An there’s no line.
They all turned and they could see he was right. There were usually very long lines. Mike and Mickey had to agree with him.
Once in they were sort of sorry that they had bothered. There were a bunch of people singing and dancing in dumb costumes but they strung along a watched the whole show. After the singing and dancing though they saw something that opened their eyes. A guy held a piece of red hot metal in a tong and beautiful blond woman came out with a small square slightly larger than her open palm. It was white, maybe an inch thick and had a strange name. The man placed the red hot metal on top of that small square in her palm and while everyone cringed the beautiful blond continued to smile, and nothing happened. She just held it there like it wasn’t a piece of red hot metal at all. The thin white square somehow stopped all the heat from the red hot metal. Everyone applauded.
That made the trip worth it. They were amazed. Everyone was and talked of nothing else as they left.
That is except for Bobby. “Forget the red hot metal. Did you see her? Now I am definitely going to hell.”
They all laughed.
“Not if you marry her.” Michael answered.
Bobby said. “Pray for me. Pray for me.”
They all laughed again.
They cut through the Pepsi Pavilion which they knew was for kids but they got a free Pepsi.
Bobby then pointed towards the General Electric building and again there were no lines but Mike would have none of it.
“We’ll go there later.” He stated flatly.
They headed for the Vatican City. When they got there Mickey thought it was really different. All the Churches he had ever seen were old stone buildings, some looking like old castles but this looked like something out of the future just like the rest of the Fair. And unlike all the other exhibits they had seen today this one had a line a long line.
“ It’s because of the Pe eata.” Mike said.
The word sounded funny in Mickey’s ears. He knew he meant this statue that was world famous. He knew the guy who made it was Michelangelo because his mother had taken him to every museum in the city and a Broadway show because he was supposed to be exposed to great art and culture. That was another thing that had to do with her being a teacher. Mickey preferred going to Yankee Stadium with his Dad. But then his Mom was his Mom and he went a few times a year to just to make her happy.
The line moved slowly. There was a hum from all the people talking in anticipation of seeing this famous statue. Then there were some people who were just talking like the two guys behind them who were complaining about how much baseball players were getting paid.
“This Maris! What are they paying him seventy thousand dollars? He’s never even hit three hundred.”
Mickey was thinking it was a good thing the guy didn’t mention Mantle. He’d have to explain a few things to him.
The line began to pick up in pace as they neared the entrance. Mickey was hoping there were no statues of Jesus on the Cross. It always gave him the creeps to see a man literally nailed to a cross. He knew it had great meaning to all of his Catholic friends even Bobby but it was scary. There was a huge cross on the outside of the building but it was just a cross.
As they entered there were a few paths to different things but everyone was lined up for the statue. The line moved along and soon they were entering the room with the great statue. They couldn’t see it yet because of all the people on line but the room was bathed in bright white light with dark blue cloths on the wall. And Mickey noticed it was quiet no one made a sound.
You couldn’t just walk up to the statue there were moving walkways that you had to get on. They were like escalators but they were on the flat ground. They all got on Mike first, then Bobby and last Mickey.
The walkway moved slowly and the first thing Mickey saw took his breath away. There were the statues his Mom had dragged him to great works of art they were called but you could see that they were stone. But now he was moving slowly in front of what looked like two real people. He knew it was marble. He had seen enough marble statues but it did not look like stone. The people their bodies, looked real, every little detail. He could see every little muscle in the man’s body and the ruffles and wrinkles of her cloak but it was much more than that. The walkway took them past the statue and it was over.
When they got off Mike announced. “I’m going back again.”
Bobby shrugged. “We’ll wait for you right here.”
Mickey shook his head. “I’m going with you.”
There were three walkways at different heights and they had been in the middle one. This time they got on the lower one so they could get closer. As the walkway guided them by Mickey eyes just became glued to the people in the marble. Every inch of the man was real, his hands, his fingers, his lips, the little cloth he wore. His legs seemed to dangle and looked like they would move. His face even though it had a slight beard seemed to be the face of a child whose body was slumped in his mother’s arms. Her face was serene but full of anguish. She’d lost her son.
This wasn’t some strange story about some people centuries ago. This was a real woman with a real dead son and all the sorrow that anyone could easily understand was somehow unbelievably right there in the marble. He could feel it. And the people in the stone Mary and Jesus were there, almost like they were alive. Alive in the stone and he knew it was hundreds of years old.
He felt like crying.
He glanced at Mike’s face as the walkway came to an end and he could see his skin flushed red and his eyes, they were red too.
Mickey went back again alone this time and then again. He could not figure out how someone, or something, had done this to a stone?
They were both waiting for him after his fourth trip. They didn’t ask him anything. He wouldn’t have known what to say.
As they walked out of the building they were right behind an elderly couple. The man was speaking in a hushed voice but they were close enough to hear him.
He said. “The day it was unveiled no one believed that Michelangelo had really sculpted La Pieta. They wouldn’t believe it. He was too young they said. That night he went back and carved his name across the lapel in her cloak.”
The man nodded to the woman. He held the door open for her and then them.
Mickey memorized how the man pronounced it Laa Pe a ta.
It was warm outside and they wandered around for a while. They did get into the IBM exhibit. Thrilled as they were carried up in the huge grandstand and amazed at the show a constant array of pictures and film that was supposed to show how your brain took in information.
They went to the General Electric exhibit and it was fun as they showed a couple in a home and they showed you how all the appliances in your home had changed by showing a different set up of that home every twenty years. Of course there was the future where no one would have to do anything but push buttons and all the cleaning and cooking was done for you.
They traveled about the World’s Fair by jumping on the Trolleys that scurried about everywhere. They never paid as they would jump on while the Trolleys were moving and jump off every time the man who took your money came near them. Sometimes they landed running and sometimes they fell. Either way they would break into gales of laughter, especially Bobby.
As the afternoon came to a close they knew that they had to get home before dinner. They covered the mile home quickly and quietly. Mickey could not shake loose the site of La Pieta as now he knew its real name and just how to pronounce it from the old man, nor the feeling it left lingering in him, nor the question that kept ringing in his head.
It was strange for Bobby to be so quiet so Mike asked. “What’s up Bobby?”
Bobby frowned a little. “That hot dog I ate.” He shook his head. “I can still taste it.”
They all laughed.
When he got home his Mom asked him what he had seen that day. He did not bother telling her about the IBM, or the red hot metal on the square in the lady’s palm. He certainly wasn’t going to tell her about jumping on and off the little Trolleys she’d have a fit.
He said. “Mike had tickets and we saw La Pieta.” The name now came rolling off his tongue.
She said. “Oh that’s good. It is supposed to be one of the great works of art like the statues I took you to see in the Museum of Art.”
How to tell her no? That it was nothing like them nothing like them at all. Nothing like anything he had ever seen. He did not know what to say to her. She wouldn’t believe it anyway. He did decide to ask her that question, as it wouldn’t leave him alone.
“Did a man make that?”
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