Chapter 28 end

1 "I won't go, and you don't call me either." Such begging did not seem to come from Aaliyah's mouth.Her son Chandler looked at her suspiciously.Later, he felt a little guilty. (How natural it was for a devoted son of Alia Burnaby to feel guilty.) When he told her there was going to be a memorial service in Dirk Burnaby's memory, she refused to attend.Because, he thought, someone had to tell her, and soon. Poor Alia.She stared at Chandler as if he had said something incomprehensible but terrible.She was pale and groping for a chair.Her eyes were wild, dreamy, and glass-green.

"I won't, Chandler. I won't go." Then he said: "If you love me, don't ask me to go!" In the hectic weeks ahead, with September looming just around the corner, plans for Dirk Burnaby's memorial service are on the agenda, appearing in the Niagara Journal.Alia kept silent about it.She refuses to talk about the future, refuses to talk about the coming autumn. Is the phone at 1703 Baltic Street ringing more often?Alia refuses to answer the phone.Only the piano students she taught kept her on her mind and were her eternal interest.And her piano: she played those pieces all day long, some sad, some passionate, and she had learned them by heart long ago.

you left.abandoned me.I am not your wife.Nor your widow.No one can make me like this.Never! 2 Royall will always remember: On that warm afternoon of November 21, when he parked on the bumpy curb in front of 1703 Baltic Street, he saw Alia and Juliet waiting on the front porch.He felt like a high school student, but he knew that he was much older than a high school student.Royall exclaimed, "For God's sake." Later, he asked Juliet why she didn't inform him.Give him a call.Juliet told him, I don't know, really.I didn't know my mother was coming until the last quarter of an hour.I have no idea.

Instead of the popular black, or even the sombre dark blue or gray, Alia Burnaby wore the white cotton faux blouse that was so popular in the 1950s.Pink rose petals were embroidered on the fabric of the garment.She wears a straw hat with a pink ribbon, white lace gloves, and white branded shoes.Although it's fall according to the calendar, the weather in the Niagara Falls area is warm, sunny, and summer-like.So Aaliyah's eccentric attire didn't feel out of place at all. (Did she buy it at a second-hand market, or did she find it in the bottom of a trunk?) Alia made her pale, freckled, middle-aged woman's face perfectly healthy and attractive; The hair was cropped short and shiny, surprising her children.

Chandler was so surprised that he couldn't care less about being decent, or whether the neighbors could hear him, and shouted, "Mom? Are you coming with us?" In the car, sitting next to Chandler, Alia said nonchalantly but with dignity, "Of course I'm going with you. How weird would it be if I didn't?" 3 She is 57 years old.She had lost him for so long. 57 years old!He died and suddenly disappeared when she was 46 years old.As a woman who believed she was cursed but deserved, Alia resolutely lived a self-contained life, raising her three children in a city that made her angry, sad, and ashamed; She wants people to know that she never wants to look back.

She told Chandler, "I told Joseph, you know, Pankowski, the dog walker. He lost his wife twice and it didn't matter to him. But I'm not a widow. I refuse to admit it. I think only those women who burn themselves to death at their husband's funerals are considered 'widows' to make a difference." She took a deep breath, a sinister grin on her face. "Oh, look at the look on his face!" (Chandler wonders: What the hell is Alia's relationship with Pankowski? He asks Juliet, and she must know, but Juliet insists she doesn't. She wonders if Alia herself knows.)

Chandler was worried that his mother would scold him about the memorial service, and he knew the organizers well; not the memorial itself, but the fact that it was very public.However, unexpectedly, Alia didn't blame him for a word, nor did he say that he had betrayed her trust.Everyone was surprised by the lackluster response to the news.Everyone felt relieved at first, but then worried. "It's not normal for mom." "It's not natural for mom either." "Hmm. Maybe that means—" maybe what?Everyone can't tell. we do not know. Even Chandler, though he always thought he knew all about the activities of the Love Canal Owners Association lawsuit.

Read the astonishing interview with Neil Latimore on the front page of the Buffalo Evening News in July 1978, and you'll see that the up-and-coming young lawyer is now in the national news, the local jury It was discovered that the parties requested to reopen the Love Canal case; and a photo of Dirk Burnaby in 1960 was impressively printed next to Lattimore's photo on the front page. "dad." Chandler blurted out involuntarily.Tears stung his eyes. The Canal of Love case was brought up repeatedly, and although the 1978 case was a continuation of the Dirk Burnaby case, it was more complicated.Compared with the original Cowen Manor Owners Association, the Love Canal Residents Association has a larger number of people, is more organized, and has closer ties with the local Democratic Party and the media.This time there were also more defendants, including Parrish Plastics, which had been a major source of pollution in Niagara Falls, and more lawyers and supporters from both sides were involved.A $200 million award, a 14-week verdict, and a very public jury, all of which would shock Dirk Burnaby.

However, Burnaby's photo only appeared on the front page.Chandler stared at him through tear-smeared eyes. The photo shows a handsome 43-year-old young man with a broad face and a confident smile, with kindness and melancholy in his eyes.You can see that he is a very respected person; you can also guess that he feels very good about himself, just as others will think highly of him.However, he was dressed casually, in a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows.There is no tie, and the hair is wind-blown.Chandler wondered that this man should be a litigator with a reputation for being pugnacious; that this man should have enemies who wanted to kill him.Neil Lattimore spoke highly of him, calling him "incomparably heroic"—"a tragic figure ahead of his time"—"an idealist of justice"—a lawyer of extraordinary intellect and noble spirit, who "Cruelly persecuted and hunted down to death" by an evil alliance formed by chemical companies' money, politics, judicial corruption, and people's early "ecological ignorance".

Chandler anxiously scans the rest of the interview.But there was no further mention of Dirk Burnaby.He let out a long hiss, and Latimore said nothing about Dirk Burnaby's ignorance at trial of the "moral corruption" of his own class and his own failures.Lattimore also made no mention of the possibility of Dirk Burnaby being murdered. 4 Royale.You don't, do you. there is nothing? I know, of course you don't.impossible. Impossible what, Chandler? I didn't ask you.This is not a problem.I am not qualified to ask this question.There is no reason either. Are you asking questions?

NO, I have not. But what is the problem, if you ask? Chandler never uttered this enigmatic conversation.He would never tell Royall.He had read in the papers the shocking news of Justice Stroughton Howell's disappearance in midsummer.Formerly of the Niagara Falls area and more recently of the Albany area, Howell reportedly "disappeared" -- "evaporated" -- between the justices' private parking lot at the Capitol and their home in Avril Park. the lot in between; his car was abandoned on a sidewalk off the New York State Thruway with the keys in the ignition.As of September 21, Justice Howell had been missing for seven weeks. Chandler knows this, without asking Royall: Royall doesn't work for Empire Collection anymore.He is now a liberal arts student at Niagara University, where he works only part-time on campus, and is now a teaching assistant in the geology department.Last summer, he quit his job as a pilot for Devil's Hole to stay on at the school.Determined to become a college student majoring in geology.He no longer carries a gun.There is no need for a gun either.After the brothers' open heart-to-heart talk on Fourth Avenue that night, Royall never brought up any guns, and Chandler never asked again.Chandler is almost thinking, is there a gun?is that true?He had been drinking that night, and his mind was muddled. 5 As Stonecropp often said, they won't live forever. Stonecropp said it with optimism: The officer, the sick old bastard, wasn't going to live forever.But Juliet took this as a warning to her that Alia would not live forever.She was going to try to love Alia as long as she was alive. "Oh Mom. You look so pretty." Alia said nothing.As if I didn't hear it.She bravely said that call.Sitting in the seat next to Royall, Alia finally agreed to take the car to the scenic corner of the city.Juliette sat in the back of the bumpy car, watching the back of her mother's head nervously.She was both mad and in love with her mother.The fall semester of Niagara Falls High School has begun, and she has also begun to take vocal music at the Buffalo Conservatory of Music. Juliet feels a little alienated from her mother, but her love for her is more real; More forgiving.I am not you and never will be you. "It must be because of my Burnaby face. That's why I wasn't asked for ID." At the entrance to the parking lot, Royall gave only his name—"Burnaby"—and he was ushered in and seated in a VIP seat. Across the landscaped park to Victoria Lookout, where the memorial service was held, Royall and Juliet saw for the first time in their lives how nervous and anxious Aria was.More and more strangers came here in groups, and folding chairs were arranged in a circle on the lawn.The lawn has just been mowed for this special day.Clinging tightly to her two children, Alia suddenly pleaded, "Not a photographer, is it? Don't ever have to suffer like that again." Royall reassured her that Chandler had promised not to take pictures.He had an agreement with the organizers not to take pictures without Alia's permission. But Royall was also curious: How could such a promise be made?Was it reasonable for the Burnabys to want some privacy in a public place?It would be a contentious affair, with chatter running high on both sides of the Canal of Love and environmental lawsuits.The new mayor of Niagara Falls (who won the majority of votes for reforms that defeated Republicans and other Democratic candidates) will address the memorial service, along with the executive committee of urban renewal. Member, chairman of the New York Board of Sanitation, and an officer in the Love Canal Owners Association litigation.Lawyer friends of Dirk Burnaby will also speak, one of whom is a World War II veteran. The 89-year-old Latin teacher from St. John's College will remember Dirk at his memorial service, calling him a "peacemaker."Clyde Coburn, an old friend of Dirk's, now a successful lawyer and entrepreneur, will state at his memorial service that he now holds a professorship at Niagara University and has made a name for himself in the field of ecological research. Relying on Dirk Burnaby.Organizers have not been able to reach Nina Oshek, but it turns out someone else from the Love Canal lawsuit will be speaking.Activist Neil Lattimore will chair the meeting.The local media was excited to note that Ralph Nader, the leader of the consumer rights movement, would also be present if the schedule did not conflict, and talk about Dirk Burnaby's "legend" at the memorial service. Nader!He didn't know Dirk Burnaby at all.Royall's heart sank.He hated it, this was going to be a political party instead of his dad's memorial service. Anyway, it's to clear his father's name, and that's the most important thing: isn't it? Royall said, "Mom, put the brim down. That's why you're wearing a silly hat, isn't it?" Juliet protested, "Mum's hat is not silly at all, it's very stylish, pretty, in the style of a Renoir painting." "'A painting by Renoir'! That's a classic. Are we all in the painting, or is it just mother's hat?" Alia gave a dry laugh.Royall's teasing always kept her alive, but not this afternoon. Dirk Burnaby's widow and three children were of course invited to speak at the memorial service.Alia flatly refused, but the three children imagined what they might say or do; Juliet even fancied singing. (But what? Bach, Schubert, Schumann? Or something more American, more modern? She doesn't know what kind of music her father likes: but what does it matter? How much rationale does it have? ?Who will be her outdoor accompaniment? The audience must feel that they should applaud for such a delicate emotion, but is it appropriate to applaud in this occasion?) In the end, they also politely declined. "Look!" Alia pointed at a group of people coldly. "Look at them like vultures." There are several photographers standing on the gazebo, five or six people.And some staff from two local TV stations.Juliet thought they were nothing like vultures, just like everyone else. 6 Chandler drove alone to Scenic Park to reunite with his family.He shouldn't be blamed for the memorial service, but he feels he should take responsibility. The devastated look on Alia's face haunted him for weeks. I can not go.If you love me, don't ask me to go. She was hurt too deeply.Chandler saw it now.After he fell in love with Melinda and treated Danya as his own, Chandler began to slowly understand his mother's grief 16 years ago.She had never hated Dirk Burnaby, she was just sad to lose him. I can't bring up such a loss, I can't face it, I'm numb, but I have to live. Reserved parking space!Singled out as a Burnaby, Chandler smiled, for the first time and no doubt the last.He got Melinda out of the car, and she would sit in the audience with her friends.And he, one of the Burnabys, was the guest of honor at this memorial service.He parked the car with the other VIP cars and put on a special tie: a gift from Melinda.Silver blue color, fine geometric patterns, fine Italian silk tie, Chandler received the gift almost cried with joy. "How do you know, dear: trilobites?"① "'Three'—what?" "My favorite fossil. These shapes." Chandler smiled at Melinda's puzzled expression, trying to tease her. "Honey, I mean I like the tie. Thank you." He hastily slipped the tie on to the light blue shirt he had just washed.What a beautiful tie, he likes it very much.He saw his wrinkled forehead and fish-scale eyes behind dirty glasses in the rearview mirror.Yet Melinda loved him: she forgave him. Maybe on some level, love means forgiveness. Melinda had time to figure him out, he was this mystery.The heart of his Burnaby family.Maybe it was his postcards that convinced her.She laughs at his sloppy cartoon of a nurse drawing blood from the arm of a lying man.Show mercy! Chandler swore he would change.He decided to marry Melinda and adopt Danya within a year, and he decided to quit his job as a junior high school teacher to go to law school.He felt the need to do it, and then his life would change so that he would be worthy of being Dirk Burnaby's son.Today, after the memorial service, when he is with his family, he will tell them. Walking through the park and hearing the music, Chandler was both worried and excited.He never imagined it would come: never, as a boy he had hated people calling Burnaby casually.No more shame, shame!Your name is Burnaby. Yes, that's fine.Aaliyah will be distraught, but the memory will be a good thing and important.Dirk Burnaby finally got his name back in his hometown. mongrel.murderer.Even deprived him of his human dignity. He did think of Stroughton Howell.That decent justice.But he seemed to realize that he would never know the answer. that music!At the memorial service, the brass played Purcell's solemn and lively quintet.The location of the memorial service was chosen in a building in the familiar landscape park, which was specially built for summer outdoor concerts and other major events.Chandler breathed a sigh of relief, the music sounded good.Solemn, not flashy.There is a touch of melancholy in the beautiful music.Chandler has always loved the Victorian grandstand.The steep roof is fretworked with clumps of purple lavender painted in colors that seem to have been picked up from a children's book.Many years ago, young Dirk Burnaby brought his family here for summer concerts.They sat on the lawn under the blanket, and Aaliyah was the only one who got bitten... Wasn't that their home, Burnaby's? Another time, so far away, so far away that Chandler can barely remember, like looking through the upside-down end of a binoculars, that Mom let him push Royalle out in the pram.That time was also in the scenic park.Very close to the falls.Chandler thought of the rain of spray, the meekness of little Royall.And the beautiful mother, her red hair glistening in the sun, lounging on a park bench like a big cat.Listen to mom!go away. Chandler paused dumbfounded.try to think.What? His heart sank a little at the sight of the shiny synthetic American flag jutting out from around the octagonal roof, waving in the breeze.The patriotic feel of the place, the outdoors of the landscaped park.Fireworks over the Grand Canyon on the Fourth of July. "Chandler? Hi." It's Royall.He grabbed Chandler's arms, smiling. A trace of fear flashed across his handsome face.Fear clouded his smile, his kind smile.The two brothers greet each other as if standing on an ice floe in a bizarre public setting.Don't dare look down, dare not see if the ice has begun to crack. "Guess who's coming." Chandler's mind went blank.He couldn't even recall the name of the high-profile consumer rights leader Ralph Nader, whom he had vaguely heard would be at the memorial service. And then Chandler saw: Aaliyah. He was so surprised to see his mother here that he didn't even know what to say.He stammers, "Mom! You look—" (What does Aaliyah look like? Manic, distraught. Crimson lipstick outlines her usual pale little mouth. New hairstyle .Exaggerated very feminine attire, bridesmaid-like outfit.) Chandler hugged his mother, flinching when the brim of her hat met his eyes.It is obvious that mother's body is a little stiff in his embrace. (Yes, Mom is still blaming him. He knows.) He said eagerly, "It's going to be okay, Mom. We'll take care of you." Alia pushed Chandler away, as if even in her numb state she had to scold him. "Then who will take care of you, silly boy?" And Juliet: beautiful Juliet. Chandler was happy to see his sister so pretty.The shy and withdrawn child once fell face-down on a basement step onto a rusty rabbit cage and cut her mouth bleeding profusely as she wept violently.Neighborhood kids stared at the shy, withdrawn child with the scar on his face.Juliet was sixteen, taller in high heels than Chandler had ever seen her before.Her wind-blown hair was held back with bobby pins.She also wears lipstick that suits her.Dreamy eyes stared at him earnestly.She seemed unflappable, not at all nervous.Her dress was a shiny green fabric, so dark it was almost black.Very sleek, sexy and a great contrast to Aaliyah's printed faux men's blouses.Around Juliet's neck was a shiny smoked glass pendant that Chandler hadn't seen before, but he seemed to know it must have been a gift from a male friend. (Chandler has never met Stonecropp face to face, but he knows who Stonecropp is. In fact, Chandler thinks he must have just met Stonecropp at the park, the crew cut man in the The crowd paced sullenly around, restless and unable to sit still. From Royall, Chandler learned that Stonecrop had finally quit his uncle's restaurant and was now working as cook at Mario's.) Chandler squeezed her hand, reassuring her that it wasn't a terrible mistake.The Burnabys of Baltic Street were thus insolently exposed to the public eye. Juliet smiled at Chandler, biting her lower lip shyly. "It's too late now." "Too late--" "Come here so late." The memorial service is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.Now that the time is running out, people are still arriving; mostly strangers, occasionally seeing one or two acquaintances with surprised expressions on their faces.If it rains, the memorial service will be held at a nearby auditorium, but the weather was perfectly clear, except for a layer of dark clouds over Lake Ontario to the north.Chandler realized he'd been clenching his fists, fearing that no one would show up for Dirk Burnaby's memorial service, but, thankfully, there was a good crowd.His scientist's mind was counting 16 rows of folding chairs, each with 25 seats, for a total of 400 seats. 400 seats!Chandler felt another wave of panic, so many seats must not be filled. Neil Latimore was in high spirits, very excited, and the brilliant lawyer went up to shake Chandler's hand, nearly snapping his fingers, hoping to get to know the Burnabys.But Alia, frowning, listened absently to the brass quintet: Is it Eves or Copland now?These slow marches are too much American optimism for Aaliyah's refined tastes.The program has been sent to everyone: Dirk? Burnaby 1917-1962.Young volunteers at the Niagara Pioneer Federation are lobbying to sign the petition.The audience popped up with lots of little glowing yellow badges emblazoned with the "Support Clean Water" campaign.Latimore had a request, and he whispered to Chandler, well, Chandler had no choice but to ask Aaliyah to take some pictures, which couldn't be refused, and had to be graciously accepted.To Chandler's surprise, Alia agreed.But she doesn't talk to the half-dozen journalists milling around, and she doesn't take pictures by herself. "Royal! Juliet! Chandler! Come here." It's one of the few perks of being a mom. You can call your kids like a hen to her chicks in public, and they must obey. Beside the flowery balconies, Alia stood among her handsome sons, her slender arms around them; Juliet, the youngest of the family, stood in front of the tallest royale.Flash lights, TV cameras.The Burnaby family in the Baltic was inexplicably exposed.Aaliyah will avoid seeing these pictures in the media, but one is inevitable: the next day the Niagara News will have a beautiful photo of them all smiling seriously on the front page of the front page, accompanied by the text below illustrate-- Dirk Burnaby's family attended the memorial service in Landscape Park. The proclamation, which will be read over and over again by all the Burnabys, is like a cadenza, full of meaning. 7 Champagne has a strange effect on me. How could this be? An evil effect. It turned out that Aaliyah and her three children, her own children of course, sat in the front row, right in the middle of the audience at Dirk Burnaby's 1917-1962 memorial service.Should she laugh?Laugh out loud?Scream laughing, or laughing and screaming?Or to sit quietly, her heavy hat now off, between Chandler and Juliet, taking both of their hands in her own? The quintet has now reached its final part.As Arya had expected, the slow march by the last movement became very cheerful and very American. The microphone has been adjusted.It's 4:12 in the afternoon.There was a muffled thunder from the lake in the distance.Or maybe the freight train has returned from afar.Do the Burnaby children recall their father's legendary sense of humor, or is it his laughter in the distance?You have to laugh.Justification, justification, redemption, and more. 16 years is too long. Chandler heard Juliet whisper to Aaliyah, "Mom, everything will be alright. We'll take care of you." Chandler waited for Aaliyah to strike back, and Aaliyah didn't say a word, which made him somewhat sad .She always loved them both more than me. Before sitting next to Juliet, Royall scans the crowd for her: the woman in black.The woman he met and made love to in a cemetery on Portage Road.Royall hadn't seen her since that morning, though he had gotten occasional mocking glimpses of women who looked like her.He almost thinks that their meeting, their crazy lovemaking, was all a dream.It was a dream about that cemetery during that time.Yet it was so real that it gave him a sexual urge, to the point of being so painful that he didn't want to recall it.In such public places, he habitually looked for her, although it was only a guess, and almost a year had passed, and he might never find her.He sat there with his legs outstretched and his hands in his trouser pockets.His heart beat faster and he was a little sullen, but for what?He knew it was a joyous occasion.His pale blue eyes looked up, full of doubt, yet he wished he believed.Those strangers on the terrace will tell Dirk Burnaby's "story" this afternoon.He understands that he should be grateful to them.Those were Lattimore (Royal was sure his handshake was heavy, but he was holding it tighter), and Niagara Falls' so-called "reform" mayor, who was tuning the microphone to see if it was on. of?Yes Yes!The damn mic is on. The flag fluttered in gusts of damp wind.The wind brings the breath of the canyon. Soil, water, rocks.These things full of mysterious vitality are lifeless to the eyes that are not good at discovering.When Royall woke up one morning, he realized with excitement that he was about to study these phenomena; he liked them more than humans.law, politics.People's efforts to conquer others are in vain.Of all men, of all these sons of men, how incredible it was that Royal Burnaby should be Dirk Burnaby's son. In those hallucinatory moments, he's not Royall, he's Roy.Roy, Roy who works for the Empire debt collection company.He had the right to bear a gun, but he never fired one—did he?Now that the gun has been safely returned to his boss, Roy no longer exists. Royall smiled lightly and remembered.Of course, he is now a college student and financially better off.He has a future, not just a past.He is not a desperate young man.But sometimes in these moments, these quiet, contemplative moments, he would feel restless and miss the weight of the pistol in his hand.He missed Roy too. It's a fact: In the area of ​​Niagara Falls on September 21, 1978, the air was so hot and humid that it was almost unbreathable; sunlight pierced through rotting fabric like corroded mustard.However, in the scenic park very close to the Niagara Grand Canyon, the air is as fresh and comfortable as it is charged.You want to live: you want to live forever.The brass players faded from view, flicking spittle from their polished instruments, and they performed miracles.On the terrace, the first stranger is speaking, and the lights are reflected in vases filled with ice water.The vapor in the air from the waterfall danced in the light.During the 90-minute memorial service of Dirk Burnaby (1917-1962), the sun occasionally slipped into the debris-like clouds, only to poke its head out again.A rainbow appeared over the Grand Canyon.Thin, faint, it is easy to make people feel that it is an illusion.When I looked again, they were gone.