Brambles on the Vine

I looked around at those gathered around the kitchen table and wondered where we were all headed. Thorton; Sonny and me; Mimi and Joshua; Violet and Vinny and Rosin~ who just found out she had a grandchild out-of-wedlock.

Would any of us have the life we all so desperately wanted and needed?

Would I ever be able to leave Thorton? I knew he would get rid of me, if he could, but I held the key to his success and I guess, also mine.

My love affair with Sonny was as passionate and clandestine as some of the people out of the pages of history. It survived his long prison term; the thousands of miles between

us and the differences in our backgrounds.

When I first met Sonny I was a downtrodden, timid sparrow of a person. But one look into those smoldering, mysterious dark eyes turned my whole life around.

My marriage to Thorton Gilbert was a sham. My parents thought they were acting in my best interests when they arranged, this supposedly holy matrimonial union, with a promising young preacher.

Everything on the surface was rosy. They took the spit and polish of Thorton and never thought to look beneath the surface, for the dirt and grime that moved his life, and made mine a living hell.

It was the tragedy of Preston Gilbert, Thorton's twin brother that brought his lovely child, Violet, into our household and lives.

Violet gave me the courage to come out of my shell and demand the right to become the person I wanted and needed to be.

It was Sonny who finally brought me the love and passion I dreamed about.

Fate of course played a big role and shaped my life so, that I, as a victim, became in a sense, the aggressor .

Here we were, all of us, wondering which way to turn, when again, fate stepped in and charted the course of our lives.

Chapter One

The audition hall was located in Midtown Manhattan in a four story, former tenement building.

Vinny knew the area well. It was on the fringes of his old neighborhood, Hell's Kitchen, an area dotted with dance studios, rehearsal halls, theatrical unions and agents offices. It was the center of New York's entertainment business.

There were a lot of aspiring actors, singers and dancers waiting to audition. The hall was electrically charged and bursting with talent.

Vinny went to the receptionist and gave her his name. As soon as she heard it, she smiled, I've been told to let you in as soon as you got here. I'll tell Mr. G you are here."

The milling crowd looked suspiciously at Vinny and wondered why he was being given preferential treatment.

He had told Violet that getting cast in a Broadway show was a hundred-to-one chance, because the best talent from around the country was sent to New York by their teachers and coaches.

Violet kissed him tenderly, "I know you'll get the part. I can feel it in my bones."

"I probably will," He frowned, "But is it because I'm good enough or because of my contacts." The frown on his face widened. "I like to think I'm good enough, on my own, to be on Broadway."

Now he was facing the one person, known as Mr. G to make or break him.

"I want you to repeat that bit you did in Hawaii about your first day at Camp Dix," Mr . G smiled.

Vinny's heart was pounding. Performing for lonely soldiers was a lot different than auditioning in front of this sophisticated man who was putting together a Broadway musical.

The vision ofViolet and Cheri passed before his eyes and realization set in that this was the first day of his new life.

He smiled and went into his routine. He started with his arrival at the Fort Dix Army

Center in New Jersey, where he was greeted by Corporals who spoke with deep Southern drawls, a language that was totally foreign to him.