The Secret Story, Essay Example

The name of the short story is called the Secret. The story is about the protagonist Steve who gets asked by his grandmother to watch her antique store while she travels to an antiques auction in Vermont. The plot is based on tolerance of potential spouses and soul mates although they may not be have the ideal profession, ethnicity, religion or nationality. The characters are: My grandmother, Ruth who owns the antique shop with the secret room, Vinnie who helps grandmother in the antiques shop and accompanies her to Vermont, John, my grandmother’s long lost love, Anthony, the antiques dealer, Vanessa the young girl selling chocolate bars for her school, Maria, Steve’s fiancée, Steve’s mother and father. Steve’s mother disapproves of Steve accepting Maria to be his fiancée due to the aspect of her ethnicity, nationality and religious perspective.

The Secret

My grandmother owns an antique shop. She decided to go visit some friends in Vermont and she asked me to tend to her shop for a few days. It had been a cold and dark night when my grandmother called me on the phone. She told me that she was going to visit some friend s in Vermont and if I would be able to look after her store. It was an antiques store and she had the habit of giving me odd jobs to do every now and then.

I got into a taxicab and proceeded to my grandmother’s antique shop. It was on the outskirts of town. Her specialty had been buying stuff that people kept in their homes before they would sell. Many of the people would sell her everything in their homes as they were preparing to move out of the area.

As the taxi was bringing me to my grandmother’s shop it was raining. The rain had been falling hard and was making a drumming sound on the roof of the taxicab. I looked eagerly through the windshield and the windshield wipers on the taxicab were moving from side to side like a metronome. I really wasn’t all that happy having to tend to my grandmother’s antique shop.

I had to admit when I reached the entrance of the shop, I felt a certain anxiety that the rain has been falling and I was going to stay in the shop by myself. My grandmother had given me the keys in order to let myself in. Just when I started to become worried, the taxicab stopped in front of the antiques shop. In the front lobby of the store was my grandmother with Vinnie. They had been waiting in the front part of the antique shop.  My grandmother came out and gave me a big hug, a hug which allowed me to comfort all of my anxieties. My grandmother had been accompanied by Vinnie, who was an older man who would help my grandmother in the shop.

My grandmother is seventy seven years old. Vinnie took a look at me and gave me a firm handshake. He boomed: “You look and sound like a man”.  I looked at him as if I wanted to respond, but I didn’t.  Vinnie had been instructed to take my things to the guest house which my grandmother kept behind the antiques store. My grandmother gave me instructions on what to do and the manner by which to open the rolling gates which protected the store.

She told me that I would have to yank the rolling gates right in the central part to bring it down properly, otherwise the gates might go off track. I explained to her that I had closed the gates a number of times after doing odd jobs for her and that it would be no problem. I asked my grandmother would Vinnie be taking the trip with her to Vermont. She said: “yes”. I felt relieved that my grandmother would trust me with the responsibility of taking care of all of the antiques in the store. Occasionally a customer came by. My grandmother kept the shop for the antiques dealers. They would come by every week and see what they could pick up as a bargain.

Vinnie was an older man who used to play a piano in a jazz club.  Nowadays, he worked as my grandmother’s assistant. She would help him and give him money so that he could go to the local liquor store at the end of the day and play the lottery. My grandmother also cooked for Vinnie.  Vinnie and my grandmother seemed to have a pretty good arrangement. I guess that is why Vinnie could not let my grandmother drive to Vermont by herself.

Vermont isn’t far; it’s about two hundred miles northwest of Westchester.  Even though my grandmother had driven to Vermont many times before, I guess that it was prudent for Vinnie to come along. After all, my grandmother was seventy seven years old and anything could happen on the drive to Vermont. Even a flat tire could be a problem. I felt secure that Vinnie had been going along for the ride. Just as I had been losing myself in my thoughts, my grandmother said: “dinner’s ready” in a loud voice. How could I refuse her offer of dinner?

The dinner that my grandmother prepared was wonderful. It was corned beef, macaroni with cheese and a sweet potato pie for dessert. We all ate and looked at each other, pondering what the next two days would have in store for us. After dinner, my grandmother showed me to the guest room. It was spacious and it had a private bathroom. After dinner, I decided to take a bath. The bathroom had one of those old copper tubs which had been used in the late nineteenth century. I had to appreciate the comforts of my grandmother’s home and as I entered into the bathtub, I wondered what curiosities might be in store during the next few days.

After I had finished bathing, my grandmother told me that she would be leaving. There was an antiques auction that she wanted to attend in Vermont the next morning and she did not want to be late. She gave me a hug and whispered in my ear: “be a good boy”. Vinnie looked at me and said; “Take care of yourself”. I helped them with loading their luggage into the Volvo station wagon. It was old but reliable. As they drove off, I said to myself that I could finally fall into a deep sleep and prepare for the next day.

The next day at nine a.m. sharp, I opened the antiques store. The rolling gates made a loud noise as I opened the store, a noise which announced that the antiques store was open for business. I felt comfortable in the shop. She had never left me in the antiques shop by myself. In the back my grandmother had an office. The office was spacious; it also had a book collection. I only wanted to find out a little bit about my grandmothers past and what made her choose this line of work. I know that it is not right to go prying into her personal affairs but how could I resist? I looked through the books and could find nothing that interested me. I found an old stamp collection and some pictures. I pulled one of the books and there was a secret room. It obviously was her private hiding spot.

I entered into the secret room and there was a safe. The safe was ajar. I looked at it curiously and decided to find out more. The safe contained my grandmother’s memoirs. It was sort of like a diary. I decided to read as I had time to spare and I knew that my grandmother would be away for a few days. The secret room was musty, but it had a large comfortable chair. I saw pictures of my grandmother next to an airplane. I never thought that she was interested in flying planes. As I looked into the secret room I began to fall into a deep sleep.

As the sleep overtook me, it seemed as if time stood still. I woke and looked at my watch. The watch said five minutes to ten. As I had found the secret room, I found letters, lots of letters. The letters were addressed to Ruth, which is my grandmother’s name. There was also a picture of a tall man; he was dressed in a tuxedo of sorts with white gloves. My curiosity began to peak. I began to read the letters which were sent from John to my grandmother. The letters were old and fragile. Some of them had been dated 1955. I looked at the letters and wondered what would I find? In the letters which my grandmother had hidden in the secret room were the details of a lost love. The man who she had been in love with was a butler. My great grandmother and great grandfather did not condone the romantic relationship that my grandmother had with John.  I began to daydream over the possibilities. Just as I was starting to look at a New York Post clipping dated September 23, 1955, the buzzer made a sound.

I ran out of the secret room into the office and closed the door. A man walked in. I said to the gentleman, “may I help you”. He said: “my name is Anthony; I’m a dealer from A& D antiquities. Is Ruth in “? I told Anthony that Ruth wasn’t in. He perused as if he wanted to see what the store had with regards to items which might be of interest. He looked at an attorney’s desk and asked the price. I informed him that I was Ruth’s grandson, Steve and I was minding the store for a couple of days. Anthony looked at me and said. “You’re a good kid”. He knew I was anxious to get back into the office and peered as if he wondered if I had a girlfriend in the office. After he took a glance Anthony said: “all right Stevie”.

“Please tell Ruth that I stopped by and that I’ll be back around in a few days”.  I looked at him with a sigh of relief and said: “will do”. Have a nice day”. He looked at me and repeated: “you too”. I waited for Anthony to clear the door and remained in position just in case he would come back. I stayed still for about a moment. After the moment passed, I went back to my grandmother’s office pulled the book from the shelf and presto, the secret room opened again.

I sat in the old comfortable chair as if I wanted to brace myself for what might be revealed to me. What had been stated on the New York Post newspaper clipping from September 23, 1955 was: “Man takes lovers leap from Niagara Falls and commits suicide”. I sat for a moment and exhaled a breath. I thought to myself could it be that grandma had a lover and because her mother and father did not condone the relationship as a result of this man being a butler that he jumped from Niagara Falls and committed suicide?” This idea really started to get to me. I looked at John’s picture and dozed into a slumber.

As I was sleeping, I saw a vision. In the vision there was John. John had a tuxedo on and white gloves. He appeared as he did in the picture which had been almost sixty years old. In the dream, John told me:” I really loved your grandmother. They wouldn’t let me marry her because I wasn’t an attorney. After she write me and told me that she couldn’t see me anymore, I decided that life wasn’t worth living without her. So I leaped from Niagara Falls”.

As John had been telling me about his reasoning, the bell in the front of the store rang again. I woke up almost automatically and ran to the front of the store. It was a girl: She looked at me and asked: “Would you like to buy some of my chocolate bars? It is for a fundraiser that we are having at my school. The chocolates are only a dollar“. I replied: what’s your name little girl?” She eagerly responded: “My name is Vanessa”. I said to Vanessa: “I’ll make a deal with you”. You can sell your chocolate bars in front of the store and when someone comes in you yell: “customer”. Is that OK, Vanessa”?  Vanessa replied:” you’ve got a deal mister “. I asked her: “Please don’t call me mister, my name is Steve”. Vanessa replied: “OK, Steve”.

Now that Vanessa had been watching the front of the store, I could go back to the office and find out more about John. I was curious. John’s suicide had by no means been grandma’s fault.  I went to the book shelf and pulled the book. The secret room opened. I sat down and continued to read the letters. I read some of the letters which had been written by my grandmother to John. She had been really in love with him and they wanted to elope. Now I understood why my grandmother’s mother and father protested about John marrying my grandmother.  My grandmother had been raised in the Anglican Church and it was unacceptable not to have a church wedding with all of the regalia associated with the Anglican Church.  I thought about everything and closed the secret room, leaving everything exactly as I had found it.

Afterward, I received a call from my fiancée Maria. Maria was from Guatemala and her parents died when she was young. Maria had come to the United States illegally. That did not matter to me, she was a nice girl and we were in love.  I reflected on the conversation that I had with my mother a few days prior to finding my grandmother’s secret room. My mother would not accept Maria in the house, stating that the Immigration Customs Enforcement agents could come and break down the door while she was visiting.

I remember that I told my mother, “Give me a break, this is not Arizona, this is Westchester, New York. No one really cares about that kind of stuff here”. My mother replied: “Stevie, that’s not the way that we raised you. Why don’t you find someone who goes to the Anglican Church and is legally in the country?’ I said: “Ma, Maria loves me and we would like to have a family together. Besides she works as a maid in the town controller’s house, no one ever made a big deal about her immigration status”. My mother told me to find another girl to marry.  I did not answer and went outside to think a bit.

In the Westchester town where I live, all of the workers are from either Mexico or Central America. They come to pick blueberries in the autumn.  Many of them are so well behaved in comparison to the stereotypes that are shown on the media; we all look the other way with regards to their immigration status. After all, I thought: “this is the state where we have the Statue of Liberty, isn’t it”?

As I had been reflecting, Vanessa yelled “customer”. I came out of the office and saw my father. I said: “Hi dad. How are you”? My dad said: I’m O.K. I told my dad about the disagreement which I had with my mother over Maria. My dad said: “don’t worry about it, your mother wants you to marry a schoolteacher or a nurse”. I said to my father: “Thanks, dad. I really appreciate your understanding”. My dad told me that he had been proud of me. As my dad was leaving the antiques store, I told him: “I love you, dad”. He said: “I love you too, son”. Vanessa overheard the whole conversation and she asked me: “may I leave, Steve? I am done with all of my chocolate bars. They have been sold in front of the store“. I said to Vanessa: “thank you” and gave her a five buck tip. Vanessa told me: “I really appreciate the way that you treated me today”. I told Vanessa: “No problem.  Have a nice day”.

I looked at the clock and it was already six o’clock. I thought: “its closing time”. Just as I had been ready to close, my grandmother returned from Vermont with Vinnie. She asked:” would help to unload the Volvo station wagon”? I went to the Volvo and saw a piece which is called a credenza with some porcelain pieces which are made in Italy called Capodimonte in addition to some other porcelain figurines which were called Hummel. I thought to myself: “I hope that I left everything as I found it in the secret room”.

I gently unloaded the credenza and the Capidimonte porcelain from the Volvo station wagon. My grandmother looked at me and said: “you are such a good boy. Here is fifty dollars. Go out with your girlfriend and have a good time”. I told my grandmother: “I really did not need the money and I wanted to save some money as I wanted to get married”.

My grandmother asked: “Who’s the lucky girl “?  I told my grandmother that her name was Maria, she was from Guatemala and that my mother did not approve of having her over at the house for dinner. My grandmother looked at me and said: “you can invite Maria over to have dinner here. I would love to meet her”.  I looked at my grandmother and asked: “Why would you agree to have Maria over for dinner and why does my mother disagree with having Maria over for dinner at our place”? My grandmother responded: “That’s a secret”.