Young Love in Old Chicago

by April Marcom

  Chapter Five

  “Breakfast,” Emmaline’s mother called through the door the next morning. Emmaline and I both dragged ourselves out of bed and stumbled down the stairs. Half the night had been spent awake whispering to each other.

  “You two look awful,” Emmaline’s father said when he looked over the top of his newspaper at us as we walked into the dining room. He was already sitting at the table, eating a piece of toast.

  “Just tired,” Emmaline told him as she slumped into her chair.

  “That’s how sleepovers go,” her mother said. “Bacon?” She held out a long platter covered with bacon and eggs, then another with toast. I nearly nodded off a couple of times as I ate.

  “So how about the dresses after breakfast, girls?” Mrs. Porter asked.

  “We’ve still got to go shopping for something to put in our hair. Is it all right if we do that right after we show you the dresses?”

  “Of course. And you can show me later. I want to wait and see the complete ensemble.”

  We ate in silence for a couple of minutes before I remembered that we needed to ask Emmaline’s mother about her gloves. “Don’t forget, you still need to get gloves,” I reminded Emmaline, hoping she would remember too. I didn’t feel right about asking her mother directly to borrow them.

  “Oh yeah, Mother, can Alexandra borrow your purple silk gloves? They would go perfectly with her dress.”

  “Of course. I’ll fetch them as soon as we’re finished eating,” her mother said.

  Emmaline ate her last bite of toast and took a drink before she looked over at me and said, “Why don’t you just leave your dress here so we can get ready for the dance together and then leave from my house?”

  “All right.”

  After breakfast, Emmaline’s mother went to find her gloves, which were the exact same color as my dress, and I called my parents to let them know we were going shopping again.

  Half an hour later of washing up, fixing our hair, and getting dressed, Emmaline and I were headed downtown. It was cold outside again, so we walked as quickly and as close together as we could. “Let’s just go to The Chip. They have the best hats and bows,” Emmaline said.

  “Too bad it’s so far away,” I said. It was worth it, though. They always had everything you could imagine to decorate your hair with. As soon as we turned onto the street where The Chip was located, I saw the steady stream of women and girls pouring in and out.

  “It’s so busy today. We should have skipped a couple of stores yesterday and come here,” Emmaline said as we walked in. Bright lights lit everything up and made colors and rhinestones shine beautifully.

  “The purples and blues are right next to each other. Let’s look at those first and then go on to black,” I suggested.

  Slowly we worked our way through the crowd to the racks of purple and blue that just had to be in the middle of everything. “Try this on,” Emmaline said, handing me a purple hat.

  “I’ll try it on, but I was thinking flowers, not hats.” I put it on my head, slightly to the right, and leaned back to see my reflection in one of the mirrors hanging high up on the rack. It was pretty, but it wouldn’t look right with my dress.

  “What do you think?” Emmaline turned to face me, wearing the very same hat, but in blue.

  “That looks great on you, and it will match your dress really well. I’m not getting mine, though.” I set the purple hat back on the rack and grabbed several hair clips with different purple flowers on them. I pulled a strand of my hair back and held each one up against it. “This is the one,” I said as I held a plum colored flower up against my hair.

  “I think you’re right about the hat. That flower is perfect,” Emmaline said.

  We took turns holding numerous hats, scarves, headbands, pins, and bows up against her hair in the mirrors. We were both leaning toward different hats for her when we started putting everything back up. “Back to black then,” she said when we were finished.

  “Oh no, not you two,” a revolting voice said from behind us. We turned around to face Marcy. Her pale pink dress was way too big for her and looked like something a six year old would wear.

  “Let’s go,” Emmaline said, taking my arm and pulling me away from her.

  “You’re wasting your time shopping here. Nothing’s going to help Alexandra.”

  My cheeks burned as I felt people turning to stare at us.

  Emmaline stopped and turned around to glare fiercely at Marcy. “Just ignore her,” I said softly.

  “No. This is ridiculous,” Emmaline said angrily. “You always pick on Alexandra when you’re the one with frizzy hair, enormous bug eyes, and the face of a fat pig. You’re the ugliest girl in school, Marcy. What’s wrong with you?” Now I knew everyone was staring.

  And Marcy looked like she might kill Emmaline. I took a step back as she walked right up to her. But Emmaline didn’t move. Marcy reached back and pushed her hard. I grabbed Emmaline’s arm to keep her from falling over.

  Anger flushed away my fear. “Don’t do that to her!” I shouted at Marcy. She just laughed as she turned around and began walking away.

  Emmaline ran after her and kicked one of her legs from behind, causing her to fall to the side, right into the rack Emmaline and I had just been looking at. There was a loud crash as it began to tip over and hundreds of hairpins and clips fell to the floor. Several people scrambled out of the way and a woman screamed as it all came down on her.

  Emmaline grabbed my arm again and pulled me several racks over, where we crouched down behind a dark sea of black hats. We watched Mrs. Clay, the store owner, come running out of the back of the store.

  “Marcy Miller,” she shrieked. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?!”

  Marcy began scrambling to get up. “It wasn’t me. It was her,” she said, pointing to where we had just been. Her jaw dropped and she looked around frantically.

  “Who?”

  “Emmaline, she and Alexandra were just here. She pushed me into it.”

  Emmaline burst into a fit of quiet giggles. It was hard to keep from joining in.

  “Stop lying and clean up this mess!” Mrs. Clay snapped.

  “But, I didn’t—”

  “Now!” Mrs. Clay walked past Marcy toward the back of the store, leaving her all alone to stand the heavy rack up and put everything back on it. The woman underneath it crawled out and walked out of the store seemingly unharmed.

  Emmaline and I stayed behind the hats as we watched Marcy pick everything up as fast as she could before she left the store, both of us fighting the urge to laugh at her the entire time.

  “That was amazing, Emmaline,” I said as I stood up straight and hugged her. “I’ll count that as my birthday gift from you. I doubt anyone else will get me anything better.”

  Emmaline started laughing. “All right, you’re welcome.”

  I looked at the hats on the rack in front of us for the first time. A black one with a shiny, dark blue veil gathered and sown on the top caught my eye. “In fact, let my buy you a hat. I’ve never gotten to see Marcy squirm like that,” I said as I put it on her head.

  She looked in the mirror and tilted her head. “You know what, this hat is perfect, but I’ll get it. I had just as much fun watching Marcy as you did.”

  “Would you mind if we stopped by Swatches so I can say hi to Mason?” I asked after we’d each made our purchases.

  “Why don’t you go ahead? I think Mason would rather spend time alone with you, don’t you think?”

  “But we told your mother we would show her the dresses after we were done shopping.”

  “I’ve still got to get gloves, so I’ll go do that and you can meet me back at my house when you’re finished. Then we can show her the dresses.”

  “All right.” I felt a little guilty walking away from her to see Mason, but I was also looking forward to being able to ask him about the notes. The mystery would finally be solved.

  When I reached the repair
shop, the garage door was closed. So I walked into the office uncertainly, wondering what I would say if I had to ask Benny if I could see Mason again and hoping that I wouldn’t be getting on his nerves. The bell above the door rang as I walked into the empty office. I waited nervously for a couple of minutes before Mason came walking through the side door. “Hey, Alexandra,” he said as his face lit up the same way it had the day before.

  “Hello, Mason. Emmaline and I were out shopping again, so I thought I would stop by.”

  He came to stand so close to me, it began to drive me crazy not to be able to reach out for him, but he was covered in grime as usual.

  “Where’s Emmaline?” he asked.

  “She went to buy a pair of gloves to wear to the dance. I’m going to meet her back at her house.”

  “Good, maybe I can take an early lunch break and we can go get something to eat. Are you hungry?”

  “A little.”

  “Give me just a minute.” He disappeared through the side door. I heard Benny’s voice and then water running.

  “So how cold is it out there? I haven’t been outside in a few hours, but it was freezing at sunrise,” Mason said as he walked back into the room and pulled his coat off of the hook on the wall. His hands were washed clean.

  “It’s still pretty cold.”

  He walked over to me and wrapped both arms around me, surprising me a little. It felt too good to worry about the mess. I leaned against him and took in a deep breath. “Don’t worry. The coat’s clean,” he said as he let me go.

  He kept his arm around me as we walked to The Morning Deli and talked a little about his father.

  “I missed out on breakfast this morning,” Mason said as we took a seat with our food. “I usually get brownies here at lunchtime since they’ve always been my favorite, but it’s a little early for that.”

  “There’s something I want to ask you,” I said, before taking a bite of my banana nut muffin.

  Mason looked up and swallowed down a half chewed mouthful of his mountain of pancakes. “You can ask me anything.” He reached over to hold my hand.

  “I’m not sure what the note you gave me two nights ago meant, don’t wander.”

  “I thought it was pretty clear. Don’t wander from me. I figured I wouldn’t see you for days and I didn’t want your heart to wander.”

  Aww. I felt a little breathless. “That, that makes sense…That won’t happen, though.” This brought a gorgeous smile to his already gorgeous face. He scooted his chair closer to mine and let go of my hand so he could put his behind my neck and pull me closer to kiss my cheek before he went back to eating his pancakes. I took a small bite of my muffin.

  Three small children ran behind my chair and to the door. “Hold on, children,” a woman called out as she hurried after them.

  “What about the one that said tomorrow?”

  Mason wiped his mouth. “I guess I should be a little more clear from now on…I just hoped you’d come by to see me today.”

  “How do you do that, writing a note and putting it in my pocket without me ever knowing?”

  He leaned toward me and said, “Magic.”

  “What?” I said with a laugh.

  “Magic. My old best friend loved to practice magic tricks. He taught me a few.”

  “Will you show me, then?”

  “Maybe someday. Wouldn’t it be more fun not knowing for now?”

  I saw someone tall approaching our table from my side. “Oh, hello, Hayden. What are you doing here?” I asked when I saw his face.

  “The Vimage Line is across the street. I was helping my father with something.”

  “His father’s the owner of The Vimage Line,” I told Mason.

  “Would you like to have a seat?” Mason asked Hayden through tight lips.

  “No, thank you. I just wondered if I might have a word with Alexandra,” Hayden answered.

  “Okay. I’ll just be a minute,” I said to Mason as I stood up.

  Hayden went to stand beside the door to the deli before he turned back to me. “How long is this going to go on?” he asked in obvious irritation.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This thing with you and Mason. I saw him kissing you through the window from all the way across the street.”

  “He wasn’t kissing me.”

  “How long, Alexandra?” Hayden wasn’t acting like himself at all, and I didn’t understand what he was so upset about.

  “I don’t know. As long as he wants it to, I guess.”

  “Is there a problem?” Mason asked from behind me. I hadn’t even heard him approach.

  Hayden gave him a hard look. “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he said to me before he walked outside and crossed the street.

  “I’m sorry, Mason. I don’t know what that was about,” I said.

  He put his hand on my back and led me back to our table. “What did he say?” Mason asked once we both sat down.

  “He just wanted to know how long this thing between you and me would go on. That’s all he said.”

  Mason looked at me thoughtfully and nodded his head. “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him…as long as you wanted it to.”

  “What about tomorrow night? What was he talking about?”

  “My family goes over to his house for dinner every Sunday night. It’s a tradition we’ve had for as long as I can remember.” I looked down at the table. “He said he could see us from across the street.”

  “Good.”

  I looked over at Mason, wondering why he thought this was good. It bothered me to think Hayden was just across the street, possibly watching me with Mason at that very moment. Mason scooted his chair even closer to mine so that there was no way possible it could get any closer.

  The jealousy tactic, I thought with a smile. Usually I would have thought it was kind of cruel, but Hayden was being ridiculous. Mason ate his pancakes quickly and then kept his arm around me as we talked a little bit longer.

  After that, I walked him back to Swatches and into the office. “Thanks for coming by,” he said once we were inside. He reached out to hold me for a long time.

  “Thanks for the muffin.”

  “Will I see you tomorrow? The shop won’t be open, but we’ll be here getting work done.” He hung up his coat on the wall beside one other one.

  “I hope so. I’ll be at church in the morning. But there should be time for me to come by before we go to Hayden’s.”

  “Bye, Alexandra.” He gave me a kiss on the cheek before he disappeared through the side door.

  Reaching into my pocket, I felt nothing. I checked every pocket I had twice as I walked down the street—but they were all empty. Had he forgotten? Or worse—was he beginning to lose interest? It was bound to happen eventually. Disappointment consumed me as I walked to Emmaline’s house. Once I got there I tried to put on a happy face.

  Emmaline answered the door in her dress when I knocked. She had on a new pair of dark blue gloves and the hat she‘d gotten at The Chip that morning. “You look terrific,” I said. “But what about your shoes?”

  She pulled me in and shut the door. “I was waiting for you. The heels pinch a bit.” We ran upstairs and I began to feel a little better as I got dressed.

  Emmaline’s parents waited in the living room for us. “You look amazing, girls,” Mrs. Porter said as we walked down the stairs.

  “You can hardly call them girls, dear. Just look at them. They’ve become young ladies,” Mr. Porter said.

  “Yes, perfect little ladies.” Emmaline’s mother used her apron to dab at her eyes.

  “Don’t cry, Mother,” Emmaline said.

  “I can’t help it. You’re both so beautiful…a, and you’re so grown up now, Emmaline…Oh, my little girl.” Emmaline’s mother came to give her a tearful hug, making me feel a little out of place.

  “Maybe we should get out of these,” Emmaline said, pulling herself away from her mother.

  �
�No, no, I’m sorry girls. You don’t have to change.”

  “Actually, I’m a little tired. I think I’ll go home and take a nap,” I said with a yawn, still feeling the lack of sleep from the night before.

  “All right, thank you for letting me see the dress, Alexandra,” Mrs. Porter said. I nodded before I went upstairs, followed closely by Emmaline.

  As soon as I left her house, the awful feelings of rejection began to set in again. I had been thinking of baking some brownies for Mason since he said they were his favorite, but now I wasn’t sure if I should.

  My mother came to meet me at the door when she heard me come in. “It feels like I haven’t seen you in days,” she said as she hugged me. “Would you like to come help me in the kitchen?”

  “I’m kind of tired. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go take a nap.”

  “Late night?”

  “Yeah.”

  She nodded and went back to the kitchen.

  Once I was upstairs, I sat on my bed and went over everything in my head that had happened and everything that was said while I was with Mason that morning. What did I do wrong?

  Glancing at my closet, I saw the coat he’d given me hanging loosely on a hanger. I went to take it off and then slipped my arms into it. It smelled like his place. I felt closer to him somehow. Then I hugged myself in it as I lay down and fell asleep.