The Escort

Chapter 2

"Mommy, I'm tired of standing in line. Can we leave?"

"No, Molly, sweetie. We've been in line for hours now. We can't leave it now, when we're so close to the front." We're about ten people back. "Once you're in there, you'll be happy you stayed here. I promise you that."

"Okay, Mommy." She bends down to play with Roxy.

The Russell family and I have been in New York City for about a week now. It hasn't been too unbearable. The morning after we arrived, we scoured the city for work. Arthur found a construction job that should last a while and Jane got a job as a seamstress. Their pays aren't anything to brag about, but money is money and we've been paid much worse. The children and I couldn't find anything yet though. No one was interested in anything we had to offer, which isn't much. Typically, kids are used for jobs that require small hands or someone to squeeze into small places. But those were already taken. So that night we waited in our first bread line for a couple hours and ate some tough looking substance. And I pretty much felt like a failure.

The following day, Jane and Arthur had to get to their new jobs, and they insisted they take the children with them.

"No, I'll take them with me so we can find some work too," I told them.

"But Annabelle, I could never ask that."

"You don't have to. I'm telling you I'll do it. I want to go to the better part of the city to see if there are easier jobs. We didn't go there yesterday."

"Are you sure? I don't want them to be a burden."

"We wouldn't be a burden, Mommy! We like Annie! We'll be perfect little angels," said Molly.

"Yeah, Mom. We will be fine," agreed Jimmy. He holds up his right hand, and elbows his brother, who does the same. "Promise."

Jane looks from each of her kids then to me then back to them, and finally at me again. "Okay, okay," she groans. She kisses each of their foreheads, and hugs me. I'm a little stunned when she pulls away. "Bless you, Annabelle Adler."

"It's not a problem. Just go before you're late." She squeezes my arm and leaves along with Arthur. We all wave good bye as they depart.

In the end, we came along some good luck and found a job delivering dry cleaner clothes as long as we cleaned up our own clothes. The jobs were really mine and Jimmy's because we are the teenagers, but they allowed the others to tag along as long as they don’t cause mischief. I barely got away with Roxy being with us.

After a very small lunch, we went to a recreational center that had a public washroom and scrubbed away the layers of dirt from our clothes. Then for good measure, I had us all wash our bodies for several minutes each. We were raw and red when we finished, but visibly cleaner. I realized my skin wasn't the light beige it once was. It was darker, closer to my mother's than my father's. We were provided towels and we waited for our clothes to dry.

That evening when we all reconvened, Jane was beyond words. She could hardly speak the rest of the night. She'd just look at me and look like she wanted to say something, but nothing ever came out.

That's until the next morning.

Before she left, I had never heard so many thank yous and blessings from anyone in my entire lifetime. Every few seconds, she'd say it again, and I'd be humble and modest about it because it's not all that big a deal, but she'd persist with it. It finally ended when she and Arthur had to leave for their jobs.

We walked up to the dry cleaner we'd be working for and started what would become a daily routine. We sign in, check our list of deliveries, put everything in the proper wrappings and hit the road. We have to make the delivery in an hour, or else we'll be deducted a nickel for every half hour we're late. Most of the clothes we're delivering reminds me of the old days. My wealthier days with fine dresses, crisp and clean, nary a speck of dirt tarnishing the fabrics. I do miss the dresses I got to wear.