Sew in Love

by Debby Lee

“Yes, and on two occasions I’ve driven to the address you gave me, and no one answered the door.”

  “I don’t understand. I told her you’d contact her and help her get another job.”

  “Her landlord claims she and her grandfather haven’t taken their belongings from the tenement. Says they neglected to pay rent for the week.”

  Millie opened her mouth to say something, but Abe reassured her. “Don’t worry. Their rent has been paid.”

  “Thank you, but where could she have gone?”

  “No one in her neighborhood will talk to me, but I promise you, I will continue to search for her.” Abe scratched his head. “It’s a good sign their belongings are there. I’ve gone only in the daytime. Tomorrow, I’ll go in the evening.”

  “And then contact me.”

  “Yes.” He turned to Rose. “Do you agree your sister could use some uplifting news?”

  Rose’s eyes widened. “At my urging, Abe arranged for me to work at the newly unionized garment factory over on 114th Street. You no longer need to carry the full burden of our expenses.”

  Millie shook her head. “Is this news meant to be a prank?”

  “I assure you, it’s not,” Rose retorted. “I intend to help our family. I have the same obligation as you to earn money. I discussed it with Father and Babi, and both support my decision.”

  Millie twisted toward Abe, fire in her eyes. “How could you do this? You know I don’t want Rose in the factories.”

  “I thought you’d be pleased to have someone share the burden. Can’t you see Rose is simply trying to help?”

  “You have no business interfering with our family decisions. And Rose will certainly not quit school to work in a filthy factory.” Millie pointed to the door. “Leave. You are no longer welcome around my family.”

  The nerve of Abe to interfere in her family affairs. How could she have made the same mistake again? Trusting that God cared enough about her to send a man who could make her happy.

  And to think Babi and Father had championed Rose’s decision. Millie simply couldn’t abide Rose working in a factory. She’d get a second job if it would keep her sister in school.

  One of the women at work had mentioned St. Paul’s was hiring part-time laundresses. Millie would apply tomorrow and show her family she could take care of all of them, without anyone’s help.

  It had been three days since Millie secured an evening laundress job and that many days since she’d seen the twins, or her father, awake. And while fatigue claimed her, sleep eluded her.

  Something was amiss in their household. Rose, Babi, and Millie normally had a pleasant conversation over morning tea, but Rose refused to acknowledge Millie, and Babi kept her distance.

  Millie mumbled her goodbyes and shuffled out the door for work. Halfway to the bus stop, she realized she’d forgotten bus fare. If she hurried, she could go back home, grab the money, and still catch the bus.

  As she rounded the corner to the tenement, Rose dashed across the street and disappeared into a bus headed the opposite direction from her school. Millie ran into the tenement. “Babi, where is Rose going?”

  Babi bit her lip. “To work.”

  “Work? Didn’t I make it clear my second job will provide us with ample funds?”

  “She wants to help.”

  Millie rubbed her arms. “She can’t.”

  “You’re exhausted, Millie.” Babi touched her shoulder. “You have no time to spend with the twins. Celia asks for you every day. Let Rose help.”

  Millie ground her teeth and insisted Babi tell her the location of Rose’s workplace. She clutched a fistful of coins, stormed out the door, and tramped to the bus stop. She’d miss a day of work at Berg’s Emporium, but she had to stop her sister today.

  By the time she entered Rose’s workplace, her head ached, and the bright lights burned her eyes. A man in a stylish suit coat greeted her and asked if she sought employment.

  “No, sir. I’d like to speak to my sister, if I may.” She gave the name and followed the man to the front of the room where Rose stitched a lapel onto a jacket and chatted with the girl next to her.

  “Rose, you have a visitor,” the man said.

  Rose turned her head. She jumped up, eyes wide. “Is someone hurt?”

  “No,” Millie told her. “I’ve come to take you back to school.”

  Rose put her hands on her hips, elbows out. “I don’t need your permission to quit school, nor do I need your permission to work. Father supports my decision.” She lowered her voice, her jawline firm. “Please leave.”

  “I won’t leave without you,” Millie snapped. “Mother intended for you to complete high school, and that’s what you’ll do.”

  Rose stood eye to eye with her. “Leave,” she spat. “Haven’t you humiliated me enough?”

  Millie glared at her sister. When had she become so impertinent? If Rose wanted to act the stubborn child, she’d treat her like a stubborn child.

  Millie grabbed her elbow.

  “Don’t make a scene.” Rose wriggled free.

  Millie reached for her sister’s arm again, but the man who’d met her at the door stepped between them. “Leave the premises or I’ll call the authorities.”

  “Not without my sister. Rose?”

  Rose plopped down and resumed sewing.

  “We are not done with this conversation,” Millie told her.

  The meddlesome man asked, “Do I need to escort you out?”

  Millie tipped her chin up and marched out of the building. She’d find another way to convince Rose she did not belong in a factory.

  Abe trudged through each day. What had he done wrong? After a week of prayer, he drew the same conclusion—his greatest desire was to help Millie and her family. It was never his intention to upset her. When Rose requested his assistance in securing a job, she assured him Millie would approve of her working provided the factory was safe and clean.

  And as much as he ached to see Millie, he’d give her more time as her grandmother had suggested at church last Sunday.

  If he could locate her friend, perhaps Millie would give him an audience. But for now, if he couldn’t remedy his own blunders, he’d remedy what he could of his father’s, beginning with the Addarios.

  Last week, after Mr. Crane announced the union’s emergency funds were depleted, Abe had used his own funds to fill a box with supplies for the Addarios. He’d asked Sam to make the delivery, with the hope they’d accept the help they needed.

  This week, he’d deliver the provisions himself. Nothing he could do would bring back their loved ones, but he could ensure the couple had the financial support they needed until they could rally.

  At the end of his workday, Abe drove to the Addario tenement. He wiped his brow, straightened his spine, looked heavenward, and prayed the couple would accept his offering.

  A subdued Mr. Addario answered the door and invited him to enter.

  Encouraged, Abe passed him the box.

  Mr. Addario cleared his throat. “We thank you.”

  Abe nodded to Mrs. Addario then gave her the rent receipt and a voucher to help defray the cost of medication.

  “Bless you.” Mrs. Addario blinked back tears. “How can we ever repay you?”

  “Repayment is not necessary. After my father’s unforgivable behavior, what little I offer is of no consequence.”

  “That fellow, Sam, vouched for you.” Mr. Addario looked Abe square in the eyes. “Me and the missus prayed on it. I owe you an apology.”

  Abe tried to spare the man some dignity. “You needn’t say more.” He turned and surveyed the tiny room. “What else can I do to help?”

  “We are already stronger,” Mrs. Addario said. “Your support has been a godsend, but now that we’re able, we want to do for ourselves. Save the assistance for those in worse circumstances.”

  “Got myself a union job.” Mr. Addario stood tall and held his head high. “Thanks to Sam’s recommendation, I start work on Monday as a longsh
oreman. I’ll earn enough so’s the missus can take her time recovering.”

  Abe nodded. “Congratulations.”

  “When I’m able to return to work,” Mrs. Addario asked, her expression hopeful, “will you help me find a position?”

  “By all means.” Abe offered his business card.

  “You must resemble your mother’s side of the family,” she said, “because you’re not at all like your father.”

  With those words, a heavy burden lifted from his shoulders. Now if he could only find a way to lighten Millie’s load.

  First thing the next morning, Mr. Crane rushed through the door to Sam and Abe’s office. “Gentlemen,” he said, “the district attorney’s office set the eleventh of May for witnesses to testify against Berg and Grant. That’s just a week away. Will you be ready?”

  “I have twelve confirmed informants from Grant’s Garment Makers,” Sam said.

  “Abe?” Mr. Crane asked.

  Will Millie still testify? If I can’t find Yuri, I may be without any witnesses.

  “Yes, sir. I’m still trying to locate one of the witnesses, but we’ll be ready.” He hoped that was true. His reputation depended on it.

  “I assured the district attorney we’d make it worth his time,” Mr. Crane said. “How many?”

  “One, maybe two.” Abe frowned.

  “I gave my word we’d produce a minimum of five witnesses for each boss.” Mr. Crane lifted his brow.

  “I won’t disappoint you, sir.” Abe said the words but doubted every syllable.

  Chapter 7

  Millie arrived home from her laundress job long after the rest of the household had retired for the night. Moonbeams streamed through the kitchen window and provided enough light to brew a cup of peppermint tea. A high-pitched whistling sound, apparently carried from the street through the open window, niggled at her. Too exhausted to walk to the bedroom, she cradled her head in her arms on the kitchen table and fell asleep.

  She was at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Rose sat beside her, sewing lace onto a white shirtwaist. A burly man stood over them smoking a cigar. Crimson ash fell at Rose’s feet. Flames shot up the length of her body. She screamed. Millie grabbed for her. Rose fell to the floor in a fiery mass while Abe beckoned from the elevator.

  Startled, she sat upright. Her body quaked, and tears stung her cheeks. When would she be able to sleep soundly again? The recurring dream accentuated her fear that harm would come to Rose in the factory and increased her dread that Yuri had already been harmed. Add to that her torment over Abe’s blatant disregard of her wishes, and it was a wonder she slept at all. Jumbled thoughts competed for her attention, and she wrestled with the notion that the more she tried to protect her family, the more she alienated them.

  Fully awake now, she recognized the whistling sound as wheezing, and it came not from the outside but from Father’s bedroom. Alarmed, she knocked on the door. “Father?”

  “Mildred, bring a lantern. Paul’s ill.”

  She entered the room. Panic creased Father’s brow. “He can’t breathe. He’s aflame yet shakes as if freezing. He needs a doctor.”

  “I’ll take him to the infirmary, straightaway.”

  Millie directed Babi and Rose as soon as they entered the room. “Rose, go to the phone booth and call a taxicab. Babi, fetch another lantern. We need to check his color.”

  The extra illumination from the second lantern confirmed Paul’s lips and the beds of his nails were blue. Gut wrenching, Millie bundled him in a blanket and lifted him to her chest.

  Father pulled himself to a sitting position, terror in his eyes. He motioned to Babi. “Florence, help me dress. I need to go with them.”

  Rose reported the taxi would arrive in ten minutes. She helped Babi dress Father and lift him into his wheelchair.

  The taxi met them at the curb. The driver jumped from his seat. “Can’t take the invalid. No place for the wheelchair, but you others can get in.”

  Father’s shoulders drooped. “Go, Mildred. Take Paul.”

  Millie’s chin trembled.

  “Go,” Babi said. “I’ll find a way to bring your father.”

  Millie held her limp brother in her arms as the taxi sped them to Bellevue Hospital.

  Please, God, don’t let him die.

  On their arrival at the hospital, a nurse asked Paul’s name and symptoms, snatched him from Millie’s arms, and promised someone would report to her shortly.

  The waiting room offered no solace. There were a few other people about who spoke in hushed tones, tapped their fingers on the tables, or paced the floor. With nothing to occupy her time, Millie could only wait and think and worry.

  She stared at the lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling, half of which were illuminated, and her mind drifted to her father. How difficult it must have been for him to be called an invalid and be turned away by the taxi driver.

  Millie wished Babi or Rose were here with her. She couldn’t bear this burden by herself, could she?

  What had happened to the close relationship she once had with Rose? She had to mend the rift between them even if it meant embracing Rose’s decision to work in a factory. Truth be known, Millie was relieved to share monetary responsibility for the family.

  A doctor strode across the vast room. “Miss Pulnik?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your brother has pneumonia and his fever persists. We are giving him oxygen, but he is very weak.”

  She stood. “May I see him?”

  “Not until visiting hours at two o’clock in the afternoon, then for ten minutes.”

  Could she ask the question sitting in the back of her throat? “Will he recover?”

  The doctor opened his mouth, paused, and then said, “It is too soon to tell, but if there are other family members, you should encourage them to come.”

  Millie slumped to the couch, her gut tight for the unthinkable.

  “We should know more in the next twenty-four hours. If his condition worsens, someone will come get you to say your goodbyes.”

  She stopped breathing. Goodbyes?

  “I will apprise you of his condition when I do evening rounds.” He turned on his heel and disappeared down the long corridor.

  Millie gulped for air. She had no way to contact her family short of going back home, and she could not leave Paul.

  It was after ten o’clock in the morning when Millie’s family arrived.

  Father looked like he had aged ten years. “Where’s my son?”

  “Resting,” Millie assured him. “No one can see him until two o’clock and then for only ten minutes.”

  He checked his pocket watch. “Where’s the doctor?”

  “He will be here this evening to examine Paul and tell us his findings. He spoke with me earlier.”

  “Well?”

  I need to tell him all of it. “He has pneumonia. They’re giving him oxygen. The doctor recommended the family gather here …” Her voice wavered. “… in the event—”

  Father slammed his fists against his legs then rolled himself to the far side of the room, where he faced the wall. Great heaving sobs overtook him.

  Babi sat beside Millie and wrapped her in her arms, tears flowing freely down her wrinkled cheeks. Celia buried her head in Millie’s lap and joined the sorrow.

  Misery consumed Millie’s family. Did she have the reserves to be strong for them? She did it after Mother died, and she’d do it again.

  She redirected Babi’s attention. “Why isn’t Rose with you?”

  Babi dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose on her cotton handkerchief. “She chose to go to work. Said your place was with Paul, and since you couldn’t earn your wages today, she’d go earn hers.”

  “Her behavior is quite mature for a girl her age, don’t you think?”

  “I do. I’m pleased you recognize that.”

  Celia sat up. “We rode in Mr. Skala’s bread truck.”

  Millie cocked her head. “What?”

  Ba
bi held her chin in the air. “I didn’t know what else to do. I called Abe to see if he could transport your father here. He was able to borrow the truck after his friend finished morning deliveries.”

  Millie bit her lip, then allowed tears to flow.

  Dear, sweet Abe. Always at the ready to assist them.

  Father wheeled himself back and forth across the hospital waiting room, stopping only to check the time on his pocket watch. The longer the wait to see Paul, the more his sorrow turned to anger.

  “He’s not had enough to eat, I tell you. He’s a growing boy and needs more than broth and biscuits. He needs meat.”

  Millie hung her head and chose not to respond.

  At two o’clock, a receptionist came to the waiting area and announced visiting hours. Babi offered to stay with Celia while Father and Millie went to see Paul.

  “Let me push you, Father,” Millie said, grasping hold of the wheelchair from behind. “You must be weary.”

  He nodded. “Go quickly, then.”

  Paul’s eyes were closed, his breathing labored, and his body shuddered as if he were packed in ice. Father grasped Paul’s arm and begged him to fight.

  Millie folded her arms across her chest to quell the shaking. Was she to blame for Paul’s condition? Had she been too preoccupied with her own troubles to care for him properly?

  As the sun set, Rose arrived with a basket of food on her arm. “How is he?”

  Millie rubbed the back of her neck. “We’re waiting for the doctor’s evening report.”

  “May I see him?”

  “Visiting hours are at seven. They allow two visitors. Babi has not seen him since she arrived.”

  “I see. And Father. Of course.” Rose managed a little smile and held up the basket. “I bought food with part of my wages.”

  “Thank you. Celia asked for something to eat hours ago.”

  Rose gave Celia a piece of cheese and a thick slice of bread. She encouraged everyone to eat a little something. “We need to stay strong for Paul’s sake.”

  Millie stood back as Rose took care of the family, and marveled at how grown-up her younger sister acted.