you,
Princess. A beautiful life. I’ve heard that voice of yours when you
sing in school. Oh, it’ll take you places, wait and see. Meanwhile
Daddy’s going to do everything in his power to protect you so all
those dreams can happen.”
“But who’s going to protect you?” Hazel
insisted. “I’m old enough, I can do it.”
“It’s a parent’s job to protect a child,
Princess. You have enough to worry about.”
Hazel hugged her father. “But I love you,
Daddy. I’m always afraid you won’t come back.”
Hazel’s father held her in a big bear hug
and stroked her hair. “Yes, sweetie I know. But you’ve got Aunt
Luella looking out for you. She’ll teach you all the things you
need to know to become a great and beautiful woman that I can’t.
Your mama would be proud of you, Princess, for being so
strong.”
Hazel’s father released his bear hug, and
then grabbed his hat and trench coat.
“Now I have somewhere I have to be, it’s
very important I don’t be late. Take care of yourself and your
Aunt, Princess.”
Looking back on that fateful day, Hazel
started to wonder if her father knew he’d never be coming back from
his rendezvous. His last words were to take care of Aunt Luella,
not that he’d be seeing her later as he always said before, a
discrepancy which haunted her to this day. The emphasis also proved
unusual in that her father generally did not speak of and felt
distant from Aunt Luella, and saw having to move in with her
rent-free in what used to be his father-in-law’s house as a
necessity of the times. Before the layoffs, the two of them lived
alone and her father just dropped Hazel over to be watched when he
worked the factory night shift; the opinions he expressed of the
Aunt back them didn’t serve to be very flattering.
Hazel realized that a new mystery revealed
itself. She now wanted to be certain whether or not her father left
knowing that he would die that night. Also, perhaps there might be
details about that night Aunt Luella knew but hid to protect her.
Yet an opportunity might never come to solve that.
The next morning, Hazel saw her Aunt Luella
off to work as usual. Not typical of her times, Luella ran the
clothing store once operated by her father before his death. Hazel
deduced that if the line of work wasn’t something such as clothing,
which often could be perceived as women’s work, her Aunt would have
been far less tolerated in a position of management. That said,
many pressured Luella to hire a male manager to work for her.
Luella countered, quite accurately, that she’d worked part-time
alongside her father for years and knew the customers and their
needs better than any outside management ever could. Additionally,
she’d made a bit of a mark as a local designer as well when some of
their domestic clothing resources for the shop turned to military
focused production during the War. Luella’s reputation kept the
shop alive and in turn provided much needed income for Luella to
raise Hazel.
After her Aunt left for the day, Hazel
grabbed a cab and headed back to her manager’s. After the
introspection of the prior night, she now knew she couldn’t finish
the job he’d asked of her. In all fairness, Hazel knew she needed
to return his money, but hadn’t quite figured out how to couch it,
so she’d opted for just putting the money in his mail slot with a
vague note.
However, Hazel never saw that plan
through.
“Hey lady, looks like there’s something
going on at that address you asked for,” the cabbie pointed out as
they approached the home of the manager. Police could be seen
outside, and out on the step an officer spoke to a woman that Hazel
vaguely recognized as Cora Gorton. They’d met a small handful of
times in passing at various social occasions, but never really
talked much before.
“I’ll still get out here,” Hazel said.
“If you say so,” the driver said. “But you
might have trouble getting a ride home.”
Hazel paid the driver,
Princess. A beautiful life. I’ve heard that voice of yours when you
sing in school. Oh, it’ll take you places, wait and see. Meanwhile
Daddy’s going to do everything in his power to protect you so all
those dreams can happen.”
“But who’s going to protect you?” Hazel
insisted. “I’m old enough, I can do it.”
“It’s a parent’s job to protect a child,
Princess. You have enough to worry about.”
Hazel hugged her father. “But I love you,
Daddy. I’m always afraid you won’t come back.”
Hazel’s father held her in a big bear hug
and stroked her hair. “Yes, sweetie I know. But you’ve got Aunt
Luella looking out for you. She’ll teach you all the things you
need to know to become a great and beautiful woman that I can’t.
Your mama would be proud of you, Princess, for being so
strong.”
Hazel’s father released his bear hug, and
then grabbed his hat and trench coat.
“Now I have somewhere I have to be, it’s
very important I don’t be late. Take care of yourself and your
Aunt, Princess.”
Looking back on that fateful day, Hazel
started to wonder if her father knew he’d never be coming back from
his rendezvous. His last words were to take care of Aunt Luella,
not that he’d be seeing her later as he always said before, a
discrepancy which haunted her to this day. The emphasis also proved
unusual in that her father generally did not speak of and felt
distant from Aunt Luella, and saw having to move in with her
rent-free in what used to be his father-in-law’s house as a
necessity of the times. Before the layoffs, the two of them lived
alone and her father just dropped Hazel over to be watched when he
worked the factory night shift; the opinions he expressed of the
Aunt back them didn’t serve to be very flattering.
Hazel realized that a new mystery revealed
itself. She now wanted to be certain whether or not her father left
knowing that he would die that night. Also, perhaps there might be
details about that night Aunt Luella knew but hid to protect her.
Yet an opportunity might never come to solve that.
The next morning, Hazel saw her Aunt Luella
off to work as usual. Not typical of her times, Luella ran the
clothing store once operated by her father before his death. Hazel
deduced that if the line of work wasn’t something such as clothing,
which often could be perceived as women’s work, her Aunt would have
been far less tolerated in a position of management. That said,
many pressured Luella to hire a male manager to work for her.
Luella countered, quite accurately, that she’d worked part-time
alongside her father for years and knew the customers and their
needs better than any outside management ever could. Additionally,
she’d made a bit of a mark as a local designer as well when some of
their domestic clothing resources for the shop turned to military
focused production during the War. Luella’s reputation kept the
shop alive and in turn provided much needed income for Luella to
raise Hazel.
After her Aunt left for the day, Hazel
grabbed a cab and headed back to her manager’s. After the
introspection of the prior night, she now knew she couldn’t finish
the job he’d asked of her. In all fairness, Hazel knew she needed
to return his money, but hadn’t quite figured out how to couch it,
so she’d opted for just putting the money in his mail slot with a
vague note.
However, Hazel never saw that plan
through.
“Hey lady, looks like there’s something
going on at that address you asked for,” the cabbie pointed out as
they approached the home of the manager. Police could be seen
outside, and out on the step an officer spoke to a woman that Hazel
vaguely recognized as Cora Gorton. They’d met a small handful of
times in passing at various social occasions, but never really
talked much before.
“I’ll still get out here,” Hazel said.
“If you say so,” the driver said. “But you
might have trouble getting a ride home.”
Hazel paid the driver,
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