Sarah wired from Africa where she and their parents were working for the Peace Corp, Kennedy's brainchild, today. It was the first telegram in over a year – their usual method of communication was through avoidance. Elizabeth wishes Sarah hadn't wasted money on the telegram, all it brought was heartache.
Miss Webber, Kelly's Boarding House, East Village, Manhattan, NY
Father and Mother well stop
Wishing you would join us stop
Worried about you stop
Stop wasting your skills on painting stop
Family missing you please join Peace Corp train as nurse stop
Love Sarah and Family
She crumbles the telegram in her hand and throws it into the fire. Nervously, she reaches for the cigarette pack on the side table, takes one out and lights it.
"Smoking again I see, I thought you went quits," Emily, her roommate says, while she plopped onto the couch beside her.
"Sorry, I bagged one of your cigarettes."
"No worries, just hand me one and the lighter. Now spill," Emily encourages while flipping through a magazine and puffing away at her cigarette.
"The family sent a telegram, they want me to do something useful for the world. The usual. It's another attempt to get me to join the Peace Corp and finish my nursing training."
"Bummer. Family is such a drag. At least my old man just expects me to visit the grandparents once a month, dressed like Doris Day, and then they're happy to keep me in scratch." She tosses the magazine onto the floor. "Is Jean Shrimpton going to be on every Vogue cover this year? I'm thinking that I should dye my hair red like hers. Now that's a real dilemma, to go pitch black or red. What do you think?"
"I think you should stay your natural brown – at least your hair is straight. I have to iron mine every morning," Elizabeth replies laughing at the face Emily was making.
"Good, dull drums over. Zander wants to take me to a fab new club tonight, come with us."
"I promised Maxie I'd listen to her new boy's poetry. He's doing a reading at her club."
Emily bounces on the couch, sighs dramatically and replies, "That boy is such a chop. You're going to miss a bitchin good time."
"Knowing you two, I am. But I like smoke filled dives permeating with existentialists angst. When Maxie's bartender, Coleman, gets going about life, death, and poetry, its absolutely mint. That man's brain feeds my artistic soul," Elizabeth responds.
"He's not to shabby to look at either," chimes in Emily. "I'm going to get my nails and hair done for tonight, at least join me for that."
"I wish. I promised Ruby I'd work in the diner this afternoon. She's running out of wall-space, I can't keep paying her in paintings."
Elizabeth heads out of the room, grabbing her multi-colored shawl on the way out. "Gotta go. Hey, stay safe tonight," she adds with concern for her mad-cap friend.
"I always do. More fool you Lizzie, for working and paying rent in paintings. One day Ruby's going to be a millionaires when she sells all her original Webbers."
Elizabeth laughs at this but sobers upon leaving the brownstone and walking the block to Kelly's Diner. Emily may live the bohemian lifestyle but she has none of Elizabeth's worries about making rent or pinching pennies for more paint supplies.
Her Quartermaine grandparents own a large corporation headquartered in upper-state New York. Her family has been well heeled since the Mayflower. Elizabeth's family are all hard-working medical professionals. Growing up she's never been in want, but she knows what it is to worry about when the next meal will come. Her first couple weeks in New York where not a fairy tale.
Which is why she likes to keep Ruby happy. Ruby runs both Kelly's Boarding House and Kelly's Diner. The boarding house was started by Ruby's mother during the twenties for young ladies trying to make it on Broadway or in Vaudeville. Today it's still for "young ladies of quality" but has expanded to include artists, poets, and in the case of Emily, "young ladies of leisure". Rent is cheap if you share a room and everyone has to help with the chores. It's better than living under a bridge, which Elizabeth did when she first came to Manhattan.
Ruby bought the diner about ten year's ago. She wanted "her girls" to all have a job if they needed it. The diner has worked out well. The girls work in the diner for tips, Ruby doesn't need to pay all her wait staff, and the girls get to have a roof over their heads and are guaranteed two meals a day.
Ruby has strict house rules about men being allowed upstairs but she doesn't judge or kick the girls out if they don't come home every night. They need to check in though. Ruby is very strict about that. She rents a house phone and the girls must call it by 11:00 to let her know if they will be home or not. Elizabeth likes this quality about Ruby the best. She always knows where her girls are and if someone doesn't check in every twenty-four hours her nephew is called to track them down.
"Nothing happens to my girls not on my watch," Ruby said as an introduction thirteen months ago, when Elizabeth sat down at Ruby's Diner for her first meal in three days. Ruby insisted that the meal was hers for the cost of a story, Elizabeth's story. The became good friends that day and Elizabeth never regretted giving up nursing school after that.
Notes: Night clubs went out of fashion in the 1960s, most bands performed in small bars. For the purpose of my story I'm using the word "club". It isn't until the 1970s that night clubs regain popularity.
Jean Shrimpton was famous for being on the cover of Vogue in the 60's she also caused a scandel in 1965 in Melbourne, Australia by wearing a "miniskirt".
Telephones were rented in the 1960s.
Long distance calling was not cheap or easy so most people sent telegrams. Telegrams were based on Morse code and customers paid by word. More information about sending telegrams.