he crowed. “You ’ re my best seamstresses, and I want you each to have one of these new wonderful machines. They came all the way from North America . ”
She and Enriqueta were his best seamstresses? Uncle had many girls and women sewing for him . When he made his rounds, h e left in the morning with a wagon full of uniforms ready to sew and returned in the afternoon with piles of sewn uniforms. Then Uncle and his wife went through them piece by piece, marking problems and ripping seams that were not right. She and Enriqueta would then fix the mistakes.
Uncle kept talking. “With these machines you two can make twice as many uniforms—maybe three or four times as many . ” His eyes were shining a s he turned to them expectantly.
“How wonderful , ” Lola said . That was obviously the answer he wanted. “We ’ re pleased with your confidence in our abilities.”
Auntie muttered something under her breath and went back to the kitchen to prepare the evening meal.
Enriqueta frowned. “But we still have to do the finishing; you know, buttons and things, and we still need to baste the sleeves and collars or they ’ ll come out crooked. Now we take turns doing hand work and using the machine.”
Uncle was nearly hugging himself in excitement. “That’s the beauty of the whole idea . Anyone, anyone, anyone , who can hold a needle, can sew on buttons . All the women who work for me have children sew on the buttons. I ’ m bringing in a girl to sew the buttons and do whatever you tell her , so you ’ ll have time to sew with the machine . ” He was practically dancing around the room. “I ’ll find another woman to sew with the old machine . ”
“ In our room ?” asked Lola.
“ T he girl ’ s small and won’t take much room.”
“You promised we ’ d have our own room,” said Enriqueta.
“It ’s only temporary,” said Uncle. “I’m going to build a place in the back for the other women to work.”
“Oh, Lola,” said Enriqueta when they were back in their room . “I just hate being poor. I ’ m sick of living cooped up in this room, and I ’ m sick of army uniforms, and I ’ m sick of working every moment for almost nothing, and I ’ m sick of having a backache and not being able to get up by myself.” She started crying. “And now two strangers will share this smelly old room with us . I’m not sure I can stand it . ”
Lola put her arms around her sister and tried to comfort her. “Just lie down and rest.” She helped her sister to her pallet and covered her. “One less uniform in this world won’t make any difference at all.”
Lola woke up later that night to relieve herself. She hated using the pot, but she had no choice at night . She swore that the baby growing inside her had usurped all the available room. Even though she wasn ’ t nearly as large as Enriqueta, she hadn ’ t been able to sleep through the night for ages. She began to get up from her pallet and heard angry voices in the next room.
“ Y ou spen t that money on those stupid machines? It wasn’t yours to spend. What ’ re we going to do when we need the money?”
“ Hush. You’ll wake up the girls, and t hey ’ re not stupid machines. We ’ ll make a lot more money now. Once I get several machines operating we ’ ll get more contracts, and make even more money.”
“That money was for a doctor . You violated a trust.” D octor? That sounded serious. The voices got lower and Lola tiptoed to the door , curiosity winning over her reluctance to eavesdrop.
“Women have been popping out babies for thousands of years without doctors. ” Lola put her hand over her mouth to keep from making a sound. The doctors were for them —for the birthing . She had to hear more. She slowly turned the handle and opened the door a couple of inches, putting her ear to the crack.
“But what if they do need
She and Enriqueta were his best seamstresses? Uncle had many girls and women sewing for him . When he made his rounds, h e left in the morning with a wagon full of uniforms ready to sew and returned in the afternoon with piles of sewn uniforms. Then Uncle and his wife went through them piece by piece, marking problems and ripping seams that were not right. She and Enriqueta would then fix the mistakes.
Uncle kept talking. “With these machines you two can make twice as many uniforms—maybe three or four times as many . ” His eyes were shining a s he turned to them expectantly.
“How wonderful , ” Lola said . That was obviously the answer he wanted. “We ’ re pleased with your confidence in our abilities.”
Auntie muttered something under her breath and went back to the kitchen to prepare the evening meal.
Enriqueta frowned. “But we still have to do the finishing; you know, buttons and things, and we still need to baste the sleeves and collars or they ’ ll come out crooked. Now we take turns doing hand work and using the machine.”
Uncle was nearly hugging himself in excitement. “That’s the beauty of the whole idea . Anyone, anyone, anyone , who can hold a needle, can sew on buttons . All the women who work for me have children sew on the buttons. I ’ m bringing in a girl to sew the buttons and do whatever you tell her , so you ’ ll have time to sew with the machine . ” He was practically dancing around the room. “I ’ll find another woman to sew with the old machine . ”
“ In our room ?” asked Lola.
“ T he girl ’ s small and won’t take much room.”
“You promised we ’ d have our own room,” said Enriqueta.
“It ’s only temporary,” said Uncle. “I’m going to build a place in the back for the other women to work.”
“Oh, Lola,” said Enriqueta when they were back in their room . “I just hate being poor. I ’ m sick of living cooped up in this room, and I ’ m sick of army uniforms, and I ’ m sick of working every moment for almost nothing, and I ’ m sick of having a backache and not being able to get up by myself.” She started crying. “And now two strangers will share this smelly old room with us . I’m not sure I can stand it . ”
Lola put her arms around her sister and tried to comfort her. “Just lie down and rest.” She helped her sister to her pallet and covered her. “One less uniform in this world won’t make any difference at all.”
Lola woke up later that night to relieve herself. She hated using the pot, but she had no choice at night . She swore that the baby growing inside her had usurped all the available room. Even though she wasn ’ t nearly as large as Enriqueta, she hadn ’ t been able to sleep through the night for ages. She began to get up from her pallet and heard angry voices in the next room.
“ Y ou spen t that money on those stupid machines? It wasn’t yours to spend. What ’ re we going to do when we need the money?”
“ Hush. You’ll wake up the girls, and t hey ’ re not stupid machines. We ’ ll make a lot more money now. Once I get several machines operating we ’ ll get more contracts, and make even more money.”
“That money was for a doctor . You violated a trust.” D octor? That sounded serious. The voices got lower and Lola tiptoed to the door , curiosity winning over her reluctance to eavesdrop.
“Women have been popping out babies for thousands of years without doctors. ” Lola put her hand over her mouth to keep from making a sound. The doctors were for them —for the birthing . She had to hear more. She slowly turned the handle and opened the door a couple of inches, putting her ear to the crack.
“But what if they do need
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