It's Just Lola (15 page)

“Stop!  Stop that right now
,
”
a woman said in a sharp voice that assumed obedience.  The man
brushed Lola off like an annoying insect and moved
toward the voice.

“Are you all right?” Rosita
’s
hair
was
tousled and her dress awry
as she helped Lola
to
her feet. 
Lola nodded and Rosita followed her into the room.
  Enriqueta was
standing in front of the wicker chest,
shaking with fear and staring
at the door
.

“Is he gone?”
Enriqueta
asked
.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” said the woman who had commanded the man to stop.  “I got him downstairs, but he tore my best dress in the process.”  Lola looked
up
at
the
largest woman she
’
d ever seen.
 
She felt a brief sympathy for Gulliver, the hero of one of her father’s books.

“Lola, Enriqueta, this is your rescuer, Gabby Grande
.
  Her name is really Gabriela.
”
Rosita made
the
introductions.  “Oh
mierda
!
 
I left a friend in my room
.
”  She rushed out to rejoin the “friend” she had abandoned when the ruckus started.

“Thank you so much, Gabriela,” said Lola.  “You have no idea how frightened we were.”

“That’s all right,” said Gabriela absently.  She was examining a tear in the bodice of her bright red dress.  “He grabbed me and the material just came off in his hand. 
I’m afraid this
can
’t
be fixed
.
”

Lola look
ed
at the damage.
 
“
I
t can’t be sewn up, but I can fix it.  Do you have a bit of lace?  It won’t take any time at all.”

“Lace?”
 

“Yes, like from a petticoat or something?  I can use plain material
,
but lace would be nice
r
.  If you don’t have any I can buy some tomorrow.”

“Ha!”  La Señora appeared in the doorway.  “So much for being invisible in the evening
.
  I told you that the main condition of your
temporary
stay here was that you not disturb the working girls.  I expect you to leave in the morning.”

Lola felt the blood drain from her face. 
“But Señora,
we were quiet until that man started breaking down our door.  Look at
it
.”
She pointed to the door.  “Now it won’t even close.”

“The jerk was blind drunk
,”
said Gabriela.  “H
e
thought
Magdalena was seeing someone else on his night.  He said he always had Friday nights with Magdalena because
it was payday
. 
Even I
would
’
ve screamed if
a big drunk
broke down
my
locked door.”

La Señora finally allowed that
t
he fault lay with the girl on reception duty for letting the man in when he was so drunk.  “I run a respectable house here, and I will
not
tolerate violence.”

“
Thank you
, Señora, we appreciate that,” said
Lola
. 

“We owe you a lot, Gabriela,” said
Enriqueta when La Señora left
.  “I promise
we
’ll fix the dress tomorrow.”

“Thanks, but that won’t help me tonight.”

“I’m sorry.  If I had material I could fix it tonight but…” Lola shrugged.

Gabriela flopped down on the bed with a dejected look on her face.  “
I’ve been away for a few days and my rent is due tomorrow.
”

“Hey,” said Lola, “is that a black petticoat you’re wearing?”

“Yeah, but the dress is red, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Gabriela rolled her eyes.  “And this black petticoat is not one I can give up.”

“Can you give up this much of it?” asked Lola holding her hands about ten inches apart. 

“I suppose so,” Gabriela said doubtfully.

“
If you give me that much of the petticoat, I’ll fix your dress
.
 
What have you got to lose?  This dress is no good as it is, and I promise if you
aren’t
happy with the
results
, we’ll pay for a new one.
”

“She’s right, you know,” said Enriqueta, who was quietly nursing Blanca and patting Estela on the back.  “Lola
’
s really good with dresses.”

Finally Gabriela took off her dress and petticoat.  Lola cut a deep V in the dress, removing the torn area.  She cut a section of the petticoat to make a black v-shaped insert when Estela began to whimper.  Lola picked her up and Enriqueta took Lola’s place fitting the insert.  Working together they quickly finished the alterations.  Gabriela put on the dress.

“The black V-shape makes you look quite slim,” said Lola
, exaggerating a little
.
 
“And the slit in the front of the dress that lets the black petticoat show helps, too
.”

Gabriela ran to the end of the hall and looked in the mirror.  She ran back and hugged the girls so tight Lola thought her back would crack.

“It’s beautiful
—
y
ou made it better than before
.
  I have so much trouble with clothes.  Everything I put on makes me look like a whale, but this is great
.
  You have talent
.
”

“We’re glad you like it.  It’s the least we could do for what you did for us tonight.”

Gabriela looked shyly at the girls.  “Could you make a new dress for me if I bring you material?”

“Sure,”
said
Lola. 
She felt her heart jump with excitement
and
saw the same excitement in Enriqueta’s eyes.  Uniforms were work, but dresses were fun and exciting—each dress was different.

Even though they moved the chest to keep the door closed, their recent experience made
the girls
too nervous to sleep. 
Instead, they
took turns sewing. 

The next morning Lola was tired but doggedly continued her search for work and a
room to rent
.
  After walking for hours she was looking forward to a good meal and an afternoon of sitting down and resting her feet as she sewed.  She stopped to buy some food for the next morning.  They were the only ones in the house who got up early enough for breakfast.

Luis’s small grocery was one of the first places Lola had asked for work. 
Now she
looked forward to stopping in e
ach day
because it meant she was almost through walking for the day, and Luis
always had a ready smile and a few encouraging words.

Lola put her purchases
and coins
on the counter.
 
Not e
ven a smile from Luis could lift her spirits today. 
She
was
bone-weary,
and upset because
another prospective landlord had
called her names and
chased her away when she mentioned the babies.

“That’s too much
,
”
said
Luis
,
slid
ing
some coins back over the counter.

“
You
forgot the bread.”
Lola
didn’t even have the energy to
smile.

“How do you know?”  Luis frowned and looked at the scrap of paper in his hand.   

“Trust me, Luis.  Add it up again.”  Lola upended an empty vegetable crate and sank down on it, grateful to get the weight off her aching feet. 

Luis frowned and looked at the scrap of paper where he had written the prices. 
“You’re
right.  You’re
pretty good
with numbers.”

“
I’m
very
good with numbers,
for all the good it does.
  It hasn’t helped me get a job or find a place to live.”

“I’m sorry
to hear that
, Lola.  I’ll ask around
.”

“Thanks.”

As usual, Estela was hungry by the time Lola got back to the house.  Concha was trying to comfort her with a piece of ripe banana wrapped in a rag, but today Estela was not interested.  Lola took the fussy baby and sank wearily on the bed. 
When the dinner gong sounded, she told the others to go ahead. 
As soon as the door closed behind them, Lola gave way to the tears she had been fighting all day.  It was more than she could bear. 

“Lola, what’s wrong?”  Enriqueta was standing in the doorway holding Blanca.

“Why aren’t you downstairs eating?”

“Because Blanca disgraced herself at the table and needs to be changed.  Now tell me why you’re crying.”

“Because we’ll never find anyone to rent us a room.”  Putting it in words caused a new flood of tears.  When she could speak again, Lola recounted the experience of the morning.  “He called me a...  He called me names.”

“Then we’ll just have to be widows
.”  Enriqueta paused.  “I know, w
e married brothers and they were burned to death saving
their mother
when our house burned down.”

“That sounds unlikely.”

“They drowned in a flood.”

“Even worse.”

“Well, what do
you
suggest?”

“How about yellow fever?”

“Perfect
. 
From now on,
start with ‘I’m a recent widow
,
’ and no one will call you awful names. 
Now
wash your face and come down to eat.
”

~ ~ ~

Sunday morning they woke up early and put the finishing touches on the last of the pile of uniforms.  The house was eerily quiet. 
They took the
stacks of uniforms
and the babies
down the stairs
to the parlor
and sat to wait for Uncle. 

After a while they were startled to see a man creep down the stairs with his shoes in his hands.  He paused at the door to put them on, and left without even glancing in their direction.  The two girls looked at each other.  Enriqueta put her hands over her eyes and then over her ears and finally over her mouth—acting out the see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-speak-no-evil pose of the three monkeys of the small statue their father had once given them.  Lola put her own hands over her mouth as they tried to smother their giggles.
 
The laughter died in their throats as the front door opened again and Uncle came in with a
sour look on his face.

“Well?” he
said
, as though he had asked a question.

“Good morning, Uncle,” said Enriqueta, ignoring his glowering stare.  “We have the uniforms here for you.”

“So you
’
re still sewing?  I thought you
’d
found another profession,” he
said
. 

Enriqueta narrowed her eyes and got white around the lips.  “I
’
ll pretend I didn
’
t understand that remark.  May God forgive you for your unkind and slanderous thoughts.  I suggest you keep a civil tongue in your mouth in the future.  Now you may inspect and count these uniforms and take them to your wagon.”

Lola looked at her sister in admiration.  Enriqueta looked every inch the lady of a grand plantation.  Imperious, haughty, self-confident—a host of adjectives jostled for position in Lola’s mind. 

“Do you have more uniforms you wish us to sew for you?”

To Lola’s surprise, Uncle bobbed his head just like the workers in the distillery used to do when she spoke to them.  He quickly counted their uniforms and took an armload out to the wagon.  Lola would have offered to help, but a glance at Enriqueta’s face told her that would be a mistake.  She sat on the settee
with
the sleeping babies, leaving Enriqueta to finish what she started.