It's Just Lola (11 page)

“Do you think our sister
Juana
would like to have another child?” asked Enriqueta the next morning as she folded the uniform she had just finished. 

“Of course she would.  She
’
s been married for years and only has two children.  You know she keeps trying.  I wonder why God
does
n’t let Juana have a baby, and he lets us have babies we didn’t want.”

“You mustn’t question the will of God,” said Enriqueta.  Lola frowned.  Maria or Ernestina might have said that, but not Enriqueta.

“Why did you ask about Juana?”

“Because I want her to have my baby.  It will be of good bloodline and she wants a baby.”  Lola didn’t know what to say.  “Lola, look at us.  We
’
re poor and miserable.  We live and sleep and work and piss in this room
.
  I hate being poor
.
  I don’t want my baby to be poor.”  She stopped talking as her foot worked the pedal, and her hands guided the material through the machine.
  
“If Juana has the baby I
’
ll be able to join a convent.  I want to be a nun.”

Lola stared at her sister.
“Enriqueta
,
t
hink what you
’
re saying
.
  Nuns
can
’t
get married and have their own home.  They work all the time and pray when they
’
re not working.”

“I don’t ever want a man to touch me again as long as I live.” 

“You say you don’t want to be poor, yet you want to be a nun.  Nuns can’t have any money at all.  We
’
re earning some money, and saving it so we can get our own place.”

“Money?  We don’t get half what those stupid women get who put collars on crooked and forget to tie knots at the ends of their threads so the seams come out if you pull on them
.
  We
’
ll never get out of here
.
” 

Lola put aside her work and got clumsily to her feet
to
put her arms around her sister.  “
A
s soon as we have our babies
,
I
’
ll
get
a job so we can find a place to live.  I promise.
 
Why don’t you take a nap like yesterday?”

“I don’t want a nap.  I’m going to take care of my business.”  Enriqueta began
stomp
ing toward the door, muttering as she went.
“We thought we
’
d have hot and cold running water in the city
.
  HA!  We have a smelly old outhouse.”  Lola went back to her sewing. 

“
N
o
, a
bsolutely not
.
  I refuse!”  Enriqueta’s
screech
startled Lola and she hurried to see what was wrong. 

Lola froze in the doorway.  In the middle of the room was the skinniest, dirtiest little girl Lola had ever seen, clinging to Uncle’s leg like a cat
balancing on a branch
.  Her
matted
hair was
plastered
to her
head
with what appeared to be mud.  Her single garment was ragged and stopped well above her knees.
It was the same mud color as her hair. Enriqueta
was
star
ing
at the child with disgust. 

“I w
o
n
’
t have that…that
thing
in the same room with us.  I
’
m sure it has bugs
.
”

“Enriqueta
,
” said Lola, “
t
hat
thing
is a child.  It
’
s not her fault she
’
s dirty, and that’
s easily cured.
  We just need to
bathe
her.
  I’ll get most of it off outside so if she does have bugs they won’t get into the house.”

“Well I’m not touching it,” declared Enriqueta as she pushed past Lola
and continued to the outhouse
.

Lola tried to coax the girl to go outside with her, but the girl clung stubbornly to Uncle’s leg.  After a few minutes he picked her up and followed Lola outside. 

“Perhaps we should put her in the horse trough to get the worst of it off,” suggested Lola.  The girl was soon screaming and kicking in the cold water, clothes and all. 

“Uncle, you hold her while I scrub.  I don’t believe she’s ever had a bath before.”  By the time Lola was satisfied, all three of them were soaked.  Lola kept talking to her, but the girl never uttered an intelligible word. 
They brought her into the house
to finish the job with soap and warm water. 

“I
’
m going to take off your clothes to bathe you properly,” said Lola, “I suggest you cooperate so Uncle can go before I undress you.” 

The girl looked down at the nearly transparent wet dress that clung to her body.  She blushed beneath her dusky complexion and nodded.  Her teeth began to chatter with cold, and Lola quickly got her into the galvanized tub of warm water.  The girl was cleaned, wrapped in a warm blanket, and to
ld to sit near the stove. 
Auntie handed
her
a bowl of stew left from last night’s supper, and she began slurping it
out of the bowl
. 

Lola sat
down
heavily, foolishly holding a spoon in her hand.
 
“Just let me sit a minute, Auntie,
and I’ll wash the girl’s dress, and we can take the bath water out and dump it.”

“No need to wash the rag.”  Enriqueta emerged from their room holding a small pair of bloomers and a simple dress—both white and edged in lace. 

“How did you
—
?” began Auntie but she was interrupted by Lola.

“Where
’
d you get the material?”

“From your petticoat,” answered Enriqueta loftily.  She turned to the girl whose eyes were so big they overbalanced the small face.

“Don’t just sit there.  Try it on so I can do a fitting.” 

The girl got up slowly.  “For me?” she asked in amazement as she reached out to touch the dress.

“Of course it’s for you.  Do you see anyone else here that could get into it?”

“Now tell me your name.  I can’t keep calling you ‘it’.”

“Concha
.
”

“Concha? 
That’s short for
Concepció
n
.
”

“
No. 
My mother told me I was as beautiful as the inside of a conch shell, and she
named
me Concha.”

“Where
’
s your mother now?”

“She died of the coughing sickness.  She used to sew uniforms for your uncle.”

“And your father?”

“I don
’
t know.  My mother said he
went
to sea before I was born, and she never saw him again.” Enriqueta dress
ed
the girl as they talk
ed
.  The dress fit reasonably well, and Enriqueta nodded her satisfaction.

“Beautiful Lady, this is the most wonderful dress in the world
.
  I have never in my life seen anything so perfect
.
  Is it really mine to keep?”

“Yes, it
’
s yours to keep.  Now let’s go in here and sew on
some
buttons.”  The two
disappeared
into the other room with the girl looking at Enriqueta worshipfully. 

“Yes, it
’
s yours to keep,”
mimicked
Lola.  “There
’
s no way to make it back into a petticoat.  And of course you
’
ve never seen anything so perfect—that’s Belgian lace on the edges.”  She turned to the older woman, who was still staring at the closed door.
 
“Can you beat that?  Uncle picks her up off the streets and saves her from a short miserable life; I bathe her until my back is breaking and my clothes are as wet as hers; you feed her and welcome her to your home.  Who does she finally talk to?  Who does she think is a goddess?  Enriqueta who treated her like the dirt beneath her shoes
.
  And it was
my
petticoat—the likes of which I’
ll never have again
.
”

Auntie went to her own room, and came back with one of her old dresses.  She told Lola they must make another set of drawers and dress for the girl because it wasn
’
t suitable for her to dress so fancy.  They did as they were told, and Concha put on the clothes made from the old dress and let Auntie take the others away to keep them safe.

Later that night Lola woke up to the sound of Enriqueta calling her.

“Lola
, p
lease wake up.  I
’ve been having cramps for hours, and it keeps getting worse.  It
hurt
s
so bad.  I’m afraid.”

Lola pulled her pallet over so she could lie down and hold her sister’s hand.  “Should I call Auntie?  She
’ll
know what to do.”

“No.  It
’s still
night and she
’
ll
get
angry.  It comes and goes. 
Maybe it was something I ate.”
 

“We always eat the same thing and I
’
m fine.  It must be the baby.”
 
Then the pain came again and Lola nearly cried aloud as her sister squeezed her hand. 

Tears streamed down Enriqueta’s face.
“
I
t
’
s God’s punishment. 
H
e
’
s going to strike me dead
.
  It hurts so much I must be dying
.
”

“No.  Don’t say such things
.
  I
’
m going to wake Auntie.  She
’
ll know what to do.”  Lola felt her way to the door and called softly.  The older woman answered immediately and lit a lamp.

“I’ve been expecting this.  I’m coming.”  She
shook
her husband
.

“Get up.  Enriqueta
’
s having her baby.  Go get Señora Gomez.”

“She can wait until morning.  The first is always long in coming.”

“No.  Get up
now
!”
said Lola as she
went into the kitchen and lit another lamp.
 

As Auntie
hurried to Enriqueta
, Lola
grabbed
her
elbow and whispered urgently, “You’d better make sure my sister has a doctor if she needs one.  If anything happens to her,
I swear
I’ll find a way to make you sorry.”
  Lola wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw fear in Auntie’s eyes
, at least she hoped so
.
 

Uncle came into the kitchen, scratching and grumbling about coffee.  Lola
went back to
dress and
sit by Enriqueta as Auntie came out and started making coffee.
 

“Are you feeling better?  Is the pain going away?”

“It’s gone now, but Auntie says it
won’t stop
until the baby comes.” 
Lola was full
of self-doubt
.  Was her veiled threat to Auntie enough?  She was reasonably confident that Uncle was right
and
a doctor wasn
’
t needed for a birthing.  She
’
d never
heard
of a doctor being called
for a birthing
, but what if she was wrong?

Lola looked up as the door opened.  Uncle came in and
picked up one of the sewing machines.  Where was he taking it?  More importantly, why was he still here?

“Bring what you need for you and the girl to work in the living room today.  Señora Gomez won’t want you in her way.”  As reluctant as Lola was to move from Enriqueta’s side, she obeyed. 
She was still arranging
the work space
when a cry of pain from Enriqueta
brought
her running back to their room.
  A frightened Concha was sitting
in the corner staring at Enriqueta, who was clutching her bedclothes and struggling for breath.