Cora Cartmell: The first year

Chapter 3~ A Broken Doll

It was now about a week later. Cora was still mourning over the move of her grandmother, but she tried not to let it take over her life.
She played with Josephine and William, as usual, and drew pictures with Jack, but still missed Nan with all her heart.

That morning, Cora was eating her breakfast, while Josephine and William were sleeping, when Jack announced he had gotten a new job in a factory down the street.
Rose agreed to it, and he hugged Rose and left.

After breakfast Cora went to play with her dolly on her bed.

After Rose had finished feeding William, she smiled over at Cora.
"I saw a sign for another audition today. We can have Mrs.Larkins watch the babies while I take you down to audition." Rose said.
Cora nodded her head. "What is the movie about?" She asked.
"I'm not exactly sure." Rose replied. "I just saw on the sign that they need a little girl to play a pretty big part."
Cora squealed. She was excited.

Once they had arrived there, Cora left Rose to got have her audition.
It was easy, all she had to do was run across the camera while holding a doll, which was her own dolly, Ella.

Afterwards, Rose and Cora decided to walk to Central Park.
Rose sat on one of the benches there, while Cora ran around one of the trees, pretending to chase her dolly.

Someone tapped on her shoulder, and Cora swung her head around.
"Who are you?" Cora asked.
"I'm Lila." The little girl said. "Is that your doll?"
"Yes." Cora replied. "Her name is Ella."
"Can I play with her?" Lila asked.
Cora held the doll closer. She didn't want anyone playing with her doll. She glanced over at Rose to see what she would think, but Rose wasn't paying attention. She was talking to another women, with a toddler pulling at her arm.
Suddenly, someone grabbed Cora's doll. "Hahah!" Lila called, grabbing the dolly.
"Hey! That's mine!" Cora said.
"I get to play with it." Lila yelled back, stepping back a few steps.
"No you don't!" Cora said.
"Says who!" Lila called. "I'm older then you! I'm Eight!" She yelled.
"So am I!" Cora yelled. "And the doll is mine!"
"No! I'm taking her home with me, and she'll sleep in my bed!" Lila called, and began running away.
"No!" Cora called. She ran after Lila, her arms flying, trying to grab her doll back.
As they rushed past Rose, the women sitting next to her reached out and smacked Lila, on the arm, causing her to drop the doll.
Cora wiped a tear, and picked Ella up. She had streaks on dirt on her face, and a little piece of her face was cracked.
Lila flared back and tried to grab the doll back.
The women grabbed Lila's arm and pulled her back. She stood up and smacked Lila on the face. Lila howled and grabbed her cheek.
"That is not your doll!" The women cried at Lila.
She grabbed the other little boy by the suspenders, and smiled at Rose.
"I'm terribley sorry about my daughter." The women said.
She glared at Lila. "Lila doesn't have any manners!"
Rose laughed, and pulled Cora closer to her.
"It's no trouble at all." She said. "I'll see you Monday." Rose said.
The women nodded, and pulled her children in the direction back to her apartment. Cora saw her smacking Lila on behind as they walked.

Cora laughed, and shifted onto Rose's lap.
She glanced at her cracked doll and felt a tear well down her face. Her perfect doll that her mama had given her was ruined.
"What's the matter?" Rose asked.
"She's ruined." Cora whined.
Rose brushed some dirt off the doll's face.
She took out her hankerchief and spit on the edge a bit. Then she wiped it around the Doll's face until all the dirt was off.
Cora smiled and hugged Rose.
They got up off the bench.
"Let's go see Uncle Jack at work." Rose said.
"Alright." Cora said. She glanced at her doll again, and noticed part of the doll's cheek was cracked.
Cora stopped walking.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked.
"There's still a crack on her face! She's ruined! I want to smack Lila myself!" Cora said.
Rose looked at the doll and laughed.
"I think Uncle Jack should be able to fix it. Let's go ask him." Rose said.
Cora nodded and began running towards the factory.

She climbed up the giant stairs, and Rose opened the door.
What Cora saw hurt her heart. There was Jack, standing in the corner of the room, his shirt soaked with sweat, cutting cloth. It was so stuffy in the factory, Cora could barley breathe. She had only been there 5 minutes, and couldn't imigine being there for nine hours a day, six days a week, like Jack.
He noticed Rose and Cora standing in the doorway, wiped his hands on his pants, and hurried over to Rose and Cora. He kissed Rose and then ruffled Cora's hair.
"This is a pleasant surprise." He said, picking Cora up.
Cora looked down sadly at her dolly.
"What's wrong?" He asked. Then he noticed Cora's dolly.
"Oh my." He said. He looked at the scratch, but then smiled. He wiped some dirt off of Cora's chin, and she looked up and giggled.
"Don't worry, my best girl. I'll get her all fixed. I just need to borrow some paste from my boss." Jack said. He walked closer to a closed door, and knocked on it.
"Come in." The voice on the other side said. Jack opened the door, and Cora felt a burst of cold air hit her. It felt so good. The man had an electric fan on his desk, blowing directly at his face.
"What is it?" The man asked, in sort of a rude way.
"My daughter's doll is cracked, and I wanted to borrow your glue paste. I'll return it tomorrow." Jack said.
The man looked at Cora with narrow eyes, and Cora tried to smile at him.
"No." He said flatly. "It will cost you a penny from your check."
Jack's mouth hung open. "To borrow some paste? That's how much it costs for a small container in the shops."
"Your right, that is a bit strange." Jack's boss said. "I'll take out two cents from your pay check, and you may not borrow my paste."
Jack stood there for a few minutes and then stormed out of the room.
He took Rose's hand, and pulled her down the stairs.
"Jack, what's the matter?" Rose asked.

"To the shops to buy some paste, no mater how much it costs!"

Once it was Cora's time to go to sleep, Her doll was fixed and back to perfection.