The Road Not Taken
Chapter 15
June 23, 1973
New York City. It was truly one of the great metropolises on the planet. On the flight from Indiana, Katie had sat next to the window, her nose pressed closely to the inner Plexiglas of the plane's window, attempting to see everything she could as the plane cruised over farmland. She grinned broadly at her view of the city as they landed. Sam had sat in the aisle seat, utilizing the calming techniques he'd developed on the team plane. His mother took the center seat and spent a good part of the flight looking over at her son, knowing Sam hated to fly. She was happy when they finally landed at LaGuardia Airport and Sam had been able to get back on the ground. They had arrived about mid-morning as Sam needed to check in at Carnegie Hall by three p.m. and he had some things to take care of. Donna would be arriving in the early evening and Sam was planning to take a taxi back to the airport to meet her. From what the travel agent had told him, it really wouldn't help to rent a car. There was virtually no place to park outside of hotel parking and the cost of that was outrageous. Besides, it was only a quarter mile from the hotel to the Hall, definitely walking distance for Sam.
They were staying at an older hotel, The Taft in midtown Manhattan. It had been built in 1937 and at one time had been a pretty swanky spot. It was still a nice hotel, but at this point, its best feature was its affordability. Sam had acquired a large suite for the ladies and had taken a separate but adjoining room for himself. The building had a hollow center with windows looking out to this center space. It allowed more light to enter the rooms.
The Bellboy had brought their luggage up. Sam indicated what luggage should go into the suite and which into the adjoining room. Katie entered the suite first. "All this space is for us? Gee, it even has a living room!"
Sam smiled, following his mother into the room. "I wouldn't exactly call it that, Katie. More of a sitting area but I figured this would give us all more of a home type feeling."
The Bellboy was efficient and Sam turned to tip him. Sam was amused at his sister's wide eyed wonder at the hotel suite. However, he also understood this was the first time she'd really been away from the farming community where she'd been born. Sam remembered the flooding that had taken place that day and how worried his father had been about getting to the hospital in Terre Haute. Both Tom and he had been born at the farmhouse, but by 1957, a midwife was not the usual birthing choice. He had only been four years old at the time and Tom was ten. They'd been left with the Smithson's while his father had taken his mother to the hospital. Tom had kept Sam busy helping him with his math homework, although looking back he was probably just working at keeping Sam calm since it was the first time he'd really been away from either one of his parents. They had both been happy to get the phone call later than evening that they had a baby sister.
During her tour of the room, Katie had noted the three other doors. Quickly checking them out, she found two bedrooms and a bath. "Hey Sam, there's only two bedrooms here. Where's Donna gonna sleep?"
Thelma Beckett looked at her daughter. "Katie, you and I will be sharing a room. Donna will have the other one."
Katie's face fell. "I thought I'd get my own room."
Thelma gave Katie a stern look. "You should be happy that Sam wanted you to be here and got us this room, young lady."
Katie looked sheepish. "I know, Mom. Sorry, Sam."
"That's okay, Sis. I really wanted all of you to be here. I just wish Dad could have come too." He turned to leave the room. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get my things put away. Let me know when you guys are ready and we can go eat lunch."
His Mother and Katie nodded, indicating they would be similarly unpacking. They would be in New York for four days and three nights. The concert would take place on the third evening, giving Sam an opportunity to practice and even a little time to play tourist in the Big Apple.
Katie went over to the pass through door that led to Sam's room. She unlocked her side of it but found another locked door without a handle. She knocked. "Hey, Sam. Open up." The door opened.
"Yeah?"
"You might as well leave that open. That way you can get to the sitting area too."
"Well, I'll leave it unlocked but I'd like to keep the door closed, Katie. I do need my privacy."
"Okay." She walked into his room. "It's a little small, isn't it?"
"I don't need much space. It will be fine." He continued putting his clothes away in the drawers of the dresser and hanging up other clothes in the closet. "Have you got everything put away?"
"Uh, Mom's doing it."
Sam looked at his sister with a frown. "Katie, you should help her."
"Okay, okay." She turned around and walked back through the pass through doors. Sam walked over and closed the one on his side but left it unlocked.
Five minutes later, he walked into the suite and sat down on the sofa, waiting for his mother and Katie to finish. They completed their unpacking quickly and they decided to go find some lunch. Leaving the elevator, Sam went to the concierge's desk to inquire about a good place to eat and the closest place to rent a tuxedo. Obtaining the pertinent information, he guided his mother and sister to the restaurant.
The Chinese restaurant that had been suggested turned out to be a really nice but affordable restaurant. Well, affordable by New York standards. They all agreed the food was fantastic through so they felt the price was fair. After their lunch, they tracked down the tuxedo shop. Sam explained what he needed and quickly was fitted for a white tie tuxedo with a simple black jacket which would be appropriate for a concert pianist to wear. The shop asked him to come back in the day of the concert for a final fitting to which he readily agreed.
They headed off down the street towards Carnegie Hall. Having lived on the farm, walking was not a problem. They figured this would be a good way to get a feel for the city as well.
As they crossed the street, Katie looked into the eyes of one of the men crossing from the other side of the street. Following her Indiana manners, she smiled and said hello. The man looked at her as if she was crazy and cussed a blue streak at her. Sam, being slightly in front turned to say something to the man but he was already heading off down the street in the fast paced walk that city dwellers used.
He looked over at his mother, a shocked expression on her face. "Uh, Katie? Maybe you shouldn't say anything to anyone." He'd been to Chicago and knew that making eye contact was not exactly considered to be city friendly.
Katie nodded. "Okay, Sam. But that guy didn't have to be so rude."
"I know, but that's they way some city folk are."
They continued walking and soon reached their destination. From the outside, Carnegie Hall wasn't really that impressive architecturally. Indeed, it was rather ugly. However, it was still a thrill to see it if only for its history. Walking into the interior, they found there were several halls to use for the various artistic activities that took place there. All of the halls were relatively large but still would allow one to experience the intimacy of a performance.
After all of the specifics and practice schedules had been worked out, Sam checked his watch. Donna's flight would be arriving in a little over an hour. He'd been told to allow plenty of time to get back to the airport since traffic could often come to a standstill. He called a taxi and had them drop his mother and Katie at the hotel. He then asked the driver to take him back to the airport. They arrived with only ten minutes to spare.
Sam walked to the gate and waited as the plane pulled up. He watched as the passengers got off, eventually seeing Donna. He smiled and walked up to her. "Hi, sweetheart. I've missed you."
She put her arms around him and they kissed. "I've missed you too. I'm glad we'll be here together."
He picked up her overnight case. "I take it you have more luggage?"
She smiled at him. "Yeah…well, it's hard to get 4 days worth of clothes into an overnight bag, silly."
He gave her his infamous lop-sided grin. "Yeah, I know. Let's go get it and then head out to the hotel."
They headed down to the luggage carousel, watching until Donna suitcases arrived on the belt. Sam picked those up and Donna took the overnight bag back. They went out and hailed a taxi, arriving back to the hotel about six in the evening.
Sam's mother and sister greeted Donna warmly. They gave her some time to get cleaned up after her journey and then headed out for dinner. Sam had decided to take the group to The Tavern on the Green for dinner. He'd made reservations over two months previously. It had recently been purchased and was undergoing some changes but it was still a very nice meal.
They arrived back in the room by eleven. Sam assured that all the ladies were safe back in the suite and then went to his own room. They were all tired from their travels and we glad to be able to get to sleep knowing that the next morning would mean another busy day.