It's Just Lola (16 page)

That afternoon Gabriela came to their room with a length of bright blue satin.  Lola sat and talked with Gabriela about what she had in mind, and then took the paper the material had been wrapped in and drew a couple of sketches.  Lola convinced Gabriela that she should always wear V-neck styles, and Gabriela convinced Lola that buttons down the back would not be practical since she couldn
’
t button them herself.  
Enriqueta cut the dress
and worked
for
hours on it while
Lola
devoted her time to uniforms.
When Lola left on
Monday morning
to continue her search, t
he dress was ready for a fitting.   

Gabriela came for a final fitting
,
and
s
he
brought a friend
, Pepita,
with her. 
Pepita
asked
if they would make her
a dress
, too
. 
The next day s
he brought material and again Lola made sketches until they found a suitable style. 
The girls worked long and hard to finish the uniforms
in a week
and
still
fit in time to work on the dress
.

The next Sunday when
Uncle
arrived, h
e wa
s
livid with anger
.  Wordlessly he inspected their work and counted out their money.

“I’ll get the new uniforms—and I have another little ‘gift’ for you,” he said as he took
the
uniforms to his wagon.  To Lola’s surprise, when he came back with an armload of uniform bundles
,
he was followed by Concha struggling to carry another bundle.  She looked dirty and bedraggled and was, if possible, even thinner than she had been when they first saw her.  When she saw Enriqueta she dropped the bundle and threw herself at Enriqueta’s feet, grabbing her around the ankles.

“
P
lease let me stay with you.  I
’
ll do anything
.
  I
’
ll do your laundry
,
sew for you
,
cook for you
,
clean your house, scrub floors—anything
.
”

“Stop your sniveling,” growled Uncle, giving the girl an ungentle nudge with his foot.  He looked at Enriqueta again.

“She
’
s done nothing but whine since you left.  She’s useless.  She tried to run away and I should
’
ve let her, but like a fool I went after her.  She
’
s no good to me, and I’m not feeding her anymore.  You can keep her or kick her out—I wash my hands of the baggage.
 
Like I said
, anyone can sew on a button
.”  He stomped out the door without a backward glance.

“Did you say cook?” asked Enriqueta, reaching down to help Concha off the floor.

“Yes.  Mama taught me when she was sick.  She told me what to do and I learned.  I did everything for a long time because Mama had to sew whenever she could to make money for food.  Uncle saw she was sick, but he
’
d only pay if she sewed.”

“Did you know he was going to dump you here?”  Concha nodded.
 
“Did you bring your things?” 

“I don’t have any things to bring.”  Tears filled her eyes and began to roll down her face.  “I asked for my white dress with the lace but…”  Concha began to sob.  “Auntie said she sold it because I didn’t deserve anything that fine.”

“Sold it?”  Lola practically squeaked.  “It was
my
petticoat!”

“She said I wasn’t working enough to
feed me, so she used the money
for my food.”

“
Y
ou got cheated,” said
Lola. 

Enriqueta scooped up both babies, leaving Lola and Concha to struggle with the heavy bundles of uniforms.
“La Señora
’
s not going to
like this,
”
she said as she started up the stairs.

L
ater that morning, with Concha scrubbed and looking as respectable as
they
could make her, they went to La Señora’s office to plead their case. 
As predicted,
La Señora was not pleased.

“This isn
’
t an orphanage; it
’
s a
place of
business.  If I let every girl with a sob story stay here, there would soon be no room in the house for working girls.  There are men who pay well for little girls, but I don
’
t run that kind of establishment.”

“Oh, no, Señora
,
”
said
Enriqueta.  “We have no intention of asking for charity, and certainly Concha has no wish to work as a…as an entertainer.  I have the money for next week’s rent with me, and we understand if you need to charge a little more for Concha’s daily meal.”

La Señora agreed to let them stay one more week for half again the rent they had paid the previous week. 
Lola
was not happy with the
price
, but
they
had no choice. 
Monday she would spend even more time
looking for another place to live; meanwhile they had a dress to finish.

When Pepita came for a fitting that afternoon, she
was so excited she ran to show the dress to La Señora, even before it was finished.  Within minutes La Señora,
Pepita,
Gabriela, Rosita and two more women Lola did not know by name were trying to crowd into the small room, all talking at once.  Blanca started crying and Estela’s lower lip began to quiver.  La Señora clapped her hands and cleared the room.  Everyone got quiet, except Blanca, who had no respect whatsoever f
or the authority of La Señora. 
Rosita g
ave
Lola a wink as she
left
.

Lola
smiled as she watched
La Señora
pore
over the sketches on the wrapping paper
.  Soon they were
discussing yardage, lace, and prices. 
Now they had something La Señora wanted.
  Before La Señora left
they
had an agreement.  They could stay, and would get the use of a small room in the attic where the cook and the cleaning woman slept.  Concha could sleep there, and they could keep the bundles of uniforms there as well.  In return the girls would make dresses for the women at half the usual price.

The next day when Lola stopped to buy groceries, Luis was
trying to calm
a heated discussion
between
a woman and
the
clerk
who worked mornings. 
Lola soon understood that the woman was a customer who claimed that the clerk
not only
overcharged her
, but h
ad given her the wrong change as well.  Luis gave some money to the customer, and she left.  Lola started toward the counter with her purchases
, but
another round of shouting started.  It ended with Luis telling the clerk he was fired.  He reached into the cash drawer again and counted out some money as final payment to the clerk. 

When the clerk left, Luis looked up and saw Lola.  “Did you see
that
?”  Lola nodded.  “Then you know I need a
new
clerk
to keep the shop in the mornings while I buy
new stock and take care of personal business.  If you want the job, it’s yours.”
 

“I promise
you won’t regret it
.”
  Lola’s heart thumped with excitement.

Lola started a new routine.  She worked in the morning
s
, came home for lunch and to feed Estella
, and looked for a place to live in the afternoons. 
As the days passed,
Lola
became
painfully aware that she need
ed
new shoes, and she was no closer to finding a new place to live than she had been the day they moved. 

~ ~ ~

One morning
Lola entered the shop
and
immediately
knew something was wrong. 

“Lola,
you need to keep the shop open
until dark.  I have a personal family matter to take care of today.  Of course, I
’
l
l pay for the extra time.
”

“That
’
s not possible because…”  What could she say?  She had to tell him about Estela.  She couldn
’
t stay away from her baby all day.  The baby needed milk
, but i
f
Luis
couldn’t count on her when he needed her, he
’
d fire her for sure.

“Well?  I’m waiting.  You can’t stay because…what?”

No matter what the consequences she had to get back to Estela.  “I have to go home and feed my baby.”

“You have a baby?” 

Lola nodded.  “Yellow fever widowed me before Estela was born.”

“Is your home far?” he asked.  Lola shook her head.  “
Then hurry home
and bring the baby.  I have no time to find another solution.
  Hurry!
”  She ran down the street as fast as her feet would carry her.

Enriqueta and Concha were startled as Lola burst into the room.  She told Concha to pack what she would need for the baby during the day, and she hurriedly explained what had occurred as she wrapped Estela for the outside. 

Luis began talking as soon as she reached the door.  “
Javier, t
he barber across the street
,
will lock the door tonight
.  W
e
’
ve
been friends
for years.  If you have any trouble, just holler, and he
’
ll come and help you.  He
’
s a good man
.
”  He smiled at Estela who peeked back from within her blanket. 
“I
’ll come to
open up for you
tomorrow
, but b
ring the baby just in case
,
”
he said
, and then he was gone.

Lola found an empty produce crate and made a place for Estela to sleep.  The morning went much like all other mornings in the shop.  Lola was pleased that she was able to take care of the shop and
still
had time to play
with
Estela.  That was the
main reason
she hated working so hard—she had so little time to enjoy being a mother.

Around
noon,
business slowed to a standstill. 
Lola
was beginning to
regret missing the midday meal in the house,
when a man came into the shop with a steaming bowl of stew and a hunk of bread.  He put them down on the counter, and gave Lola a smile that showed
sparkling white
teeth.  His face was darker than most Cholos
,
and he lacked the high cheekbones that Lola was accustomed to seeing.  His hair was the same raven black, but waves were escaping the shiny pomade. 

“Hello, Javier sent this over.  His wife
usually cooks for him and for Luis.
Today
it
’
s
you
rs
.” 
H
is Spanish was strangely accented, but he sounded educated.

Lola was touched by their thoughtful generosity.  “Please thank them for me—and thank you, too, for bringing it
.
”

“It was my pleasure, Señora.”  Lola felt her
self blush
.  She
’
d never been called Señora before.  The man looked at Estela and smiled again.

“What a beautiful baby
.  I
s it a boy or a girl?”

“
A
girl
.  H
er name is Estela.”

The man wiggled his fingers and laughed as Estela tried to grab them.  “Hello, Estela, my name is Mehmet.”  He made nonsense noises and laughed again as Estela gurgled at him.  After a few minutes he nodded to Lola and took his leave. 

There were no customers during siesta time.  Lola fed and changed Estela, who went right to sleep once her tummy was full.  Lola straightened and dusted, but soon felt bored.  She picked up some wrapping paper and began to sketch dresses, find
ing
different ways of designing a fashionable dress without buttons in the back.  She smiled as she drew, thinking that this was the first time she had done something to amuse herself since she left home.