Frankie steered clear of his brother as much as possible. There was talk that Joey was going to move to West Philly into a house with his Black Panther friends. It couldn't be too soon for Frankie.
The morning after the party at Eva's, Frankie went to his part-time job at the Shoprite supermarket on the outskirts of the project. Loading boxes and bagging groceries put money in Frankie’s pocket and opened his eyes to a place where both blacks and whites came together, if only to purchase some bread and milk. George was also up early and walked to Boathouse Row, a string of colorfully painted frat houses on the Schuylkill River where the rowing teams from the local collages stored their rowing gear. George’s job was to keep the boathouses clean, do minor repairs on the boats, and make sure the buoys were in the right place on the river for the races. He was learning the laws of sailing and the rules of the water-- something project kids usually didn’t do.
But, on both their minds that Saturday morning as they worked at their respected jobs, was the thought of meeting up with Eva later that evening.
Frankie and George stood outside the Alden Theatre on Midvale Avenue. A light rain was falling as they watched people file into the movie. They were about to give up and leave, knowing all along that Eva wasn't going to show when she turned the corner, braking abruptly in front of them. "Get in," she said. They both stood dead still marveling at the late model, baby blue Cadillac with white seats, then closed their mouths and hurriedly climbed in.
"We didn't think you were going to show Eva," Frankie said, still admiring the car.
"This is some car, Eva," George said.
"My father bought it for me. I think he was trying to bribe me to go to collage."
"Some bribe," George said.
Eva drove the car away from the theatre towards the East River Drive.
"We have a house in the country not far from here. It belonged to my mother before she met my father. It's always empty. I think it would be fun if the three of us go and hang out. What do you say?"
George studied Eva's face in the driver's mirror. He took a few drags from a cigarette and said, "Lead the way."
Frankie and George looked at each other once in awhile to see what the other was thinking. This was something totally different for both of them, this beautiful, wild girl who wanted to hang with them.
In less than fifteen minutes they had reached the city limits and were riding through rich, rolling hills and country roads that weaved beside flowing brooks. Even though it was only twenty-five miles from where they lived, neither George nor Frankie had been up this way before. It might as well be on the other side of the world as far as they were concerned.
Eva turned up a dark country road, and stopped in front of beautiful, old, rustic stone house, with a wide wrap-around porch and stately windows.
"Man!" Is all George could say as he jumped out of the car.
"What do you have to do to be rich in this country?" Frankie asked, walking towards the house.
"Well, it doesn't take a lot of brains, I can tell you that." Eva replied, fumbling with the key to the front door. She finally opened it and entered the house with Frankie and George following.
"Oh, man, there got to be a law against this kind of wealth.” George shouted, walking around the main living room.
"This is just too much, Eva. Why would you ever want to leave all of this?”
She opened a window then turned towards Frankie who had asked the question.
"There is something else out there for me that has nothing to do with my father’s money, or his constant demands."
"Let me tell you something, Eva, I wish I had some rich guy’s demands on me. In our neighborhood we never know what’s going to come down. Last week, some dumb-ass kid got high on glue. Got his hands on a gun and shot up his family because he thought they were telling dudes from outer space to take him away. Killed his grandmother, and wounded his kid brother. Now this gluehead, he needed some demands on him."
Eva sat down on a large, plush couch.
"Well, when you two come to San Francisco with me, you won't have to worry about your neighborhood. It’s all about love out there.”
George smiled. He wasn’t convinced that love was the answer to all his neighborhood’s problems. He walked over to where Eva was sitting and planted a warm kiss on her cheek. She took George and Frankie’s hands and said,
"Come on, I'll show you two the rest of the house."
She led them down a long hallway into a bedroom. When Eva switched on the light, posters of rock stars stares back at them from the walls. There were music records piled in every corner, and on the floor, the fanciest stereo they had ever seen.
"What's all this?" Frankie asked, walking around the room.
"It's my hide away. It's my place to get away and groove."
"So why go to San Francisco?" George said.
"Because that’s where everything good and pure is happening.”
Frankie walked around the large bedroom. There were two large windows overlooking a lush rolling field. A fireplace and a large four-poster bed filled one side of the room.
"Who’s this?" Frankie asked, picking up a photograph from an old oak dresser.
Eva took the photo from him, transfixed as she looked at the woman's face in the picture.
"It's my mother when she was in college. She was studying to be an actress at Bennington. Then she met my father."
George walked up behind the two of them and looked at the photo.
"She's beautiful, you look just like her."
"People say that. I believe her soul traveled to me when she died." George and Frankie shot glances at each other.
"Come-on, there is so much to see in this house. Let me show you the basement."
They followed her down an old wooden staircase to the basement, into a large room with stone walls and a huge hearth. A large mahogany bookshelf ran the entire wall. In the center of the room was the biggest pool table Frankie and George had ever seen and in the corner was a fully stocked bar.
"Help yourself. My father keeps the bar for his friends, but he never comes here since my mother died.”
George stepped behind the bar and found two beers in the refrigerator. He opened one then slid it down the bar towards Frankie. Frankie caught it just in time as it went by, then shook his head at George. George opened the other for himself, took a healthy swig, then asked Eva what she would like.
"Nothing. Come-on, follow me, I want to show you something."
Eva walked over to the large bookshelf and moved a row of dusty books to one side, then pushed a panel that was hidden behind them. A section of the bookshelf swung open like a door and led into a dark tunnel.
"What the hell is in there," George asked, sticking his head into the tunnel.
"It's part of the underground railroad from the Civil War. Slaves would come up from the south trying to get to a safe haven. The original owners of this house were Quakers. They would hide the slaves here for a while then move them further north.”
"Hear that, Frankie, your ancestors probably came through here? Unfortunately, they made a wrong turn at the projects."
"Very funny, George, very funny."
"Come-on, let's go in," Eva said, leading the way.
Eva crept through the tunnel with Frankie and George following her.