Audrey Hepburn's Pearls: Part I

Chapter 25.2: 1967, Georgina

Chapter 25.2: 1967, Georgina

"Hey, Carl! How are you doing?" I hugged Carl as I entered his front door.

"Its going good, Georgina," he grinned. "Oh hey, is that champagne? Thank you!" He took the bottle of champagne from my hands and inspected it. 

The air was knocked out of me as a little puffball rocketed from the house and smacked into me. "Hey- Hey, Cha Cha," I giggled, hugging him back. 

"Hola," he said sweetly into my body.

They allowed me into the house and Carl took my brown coat. I held up a suit bag and and Carl nodded. "Bathroom's down the hall on the left," he informed me, pointing the way. As I made my way to the bathroom, Carl continued speaking.

"You'll never believe what the kid and I did this morning," he went on.

"What did you do?" I asked, turning around to listen momentarily.

"Well, we went to the parade because the kid had never seen the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the flesh before. But this kid! The nerve of this one! Cha Cha, you tell her!"

Cha Cha's face lit up eagerly. "I wore this!" Cha Cha chirped, looking positively proud as peaches. He gestured to the church dress he was wearing, which looked to be one of Carl's daughter's old ones from the 50's. 

My eyes went wide. "What?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, the kid insisted that he'd be fine. 'No cop gonna get a kid,' he said. Turns out we were fine, but lord. I was nervous the whole time! But I gotta tell you, it was a rush! I gave the kid some hoop earrings, my wife's old ones, because he's so brave, you know? Plus I thought it would be a nice 'welcome home' present," Carl beamed, proud as peaches just like Cha Cha.

"They look good?" Cha Cha asked, cupping his hand behind his earlobe to show off a delicate gold hoop earring. 

I burst into laughter. Oh, Cha Cha. I knew he'd be a firecracker, having the boldness to run away from home and try to join our club and all. The more I learned about him the more I loved him and was glad he was in our lives. "God, come here and hug me again," I laughed, walking to him and gathering him into a tight hug once more. His tightly curled black hair which were in pigtail puffs today swept the sides of my face in the embrace. "You be careful, though, Cha Cha," I told him seriously.

"I will, Miss," he assured.

I decided as I walked to the bathroom that today as we said Thanks around the table I'd include a thank you to god for bringing Cha Cha into our lives. Cha Cha was quickly becoming the much needed humor we needed, a break from all of this seriousness in our lives. That was definitely something to be thankful for.

Once in the bathroom, I unzipped my suit bag to reveal a gorgeous aqua blue, mermaid-style dress which had been laid on my new bed this afternoon waiting for me. I held it up in my hands, seeing it against the bright light of the bathroom. The satin-y fabric shimmered at me and made me smile wide. I hung the suit bag up on the shower curtain rod of the bathtub and took out my corset and under things from the bag. Slipping these on quickly, my brain traveled to the events of my own morning. 

It had been very cold this morning but not bone-breakingly so. I was waiting at my window with a mug of coffee in my hands. Not only were the movers supposed to come, but Paulie, too. Paulie would be helping me direct the movers, among other things. The clock on the wall of my living room said it was 7:30am. By 8am, the movers were due to be here. Paulie was late as usual.