Recap: Hope is living in a dreary basement. She is in charge of taking care of the little girl. The supposed second cousin is not kind; she tells Hope that she will be starting a job the next day as she has to earn her keep.
The next morning, I woke to bright sunlight filtering in through a cracked window. I blinked and looked around the empty, dreary room. It only took a few seconds for me to remember where I was, and then it was like my heart plunged. How I missed my beautiful pink bedroom with the thick pink rug and the delicate rose designs on the wallpaper. My canopy bed had been imported from France. I’d had a full shelf of Madame Alexander dolls from around the world.
I dressed and headed upstairs.
Bonnie was sitting on a booster seat by the table.
“I was just going to come down to get you. Bonnie’s been waiting for her breakfast.”
“Good morning,” I mumbled, and then Mrs. Bowers handed me a bowl. Make her oatmeal. The package is over there.” I’d never made oatmeal or really anything in the kitchen. How was I going to do this?
“I’m hungry,” Bonnie said and scrunched her little nose up. She was not a pretty little girl. She had scraggly brown hair and her arms and legs were toothpick thin. I realized as I came close to her that her hair was dirty and unbrushed.
“She needs a bath,” I said.
“You are welcome to do it,” Mrs. Bowers said as she strolled out of the room.
She called over her shoulder, “I need you to watch her this morning, and then, when I get back, Diana will take you to the Five and Dime.”
This was all told to me as a command, so there was nothing I could say. Bonnie watched me as I read the package of oatmeal and then searched for a measuring cup and pot. “Where does your mother keep them?” I asked.
“She’s not my mother,” Bonnie said.
“Of course she is,” I said.
“No, she’s not.” Bonnie started crying.
“Okay,” I soothed. “Where are the pots?”
She pointed to a cabinet. I poured water into the pot and then I measured oatmeal into a measuring cup that I found in one of the cabinets. I tried turning on the burner. Nothing happened. “Turn it that way,” said Bonnie as she pointed. I followed her directions and the flame went on. Somehow, I managed to cook the oatmeal and then I poured it into the bowl on the table.
“I want honey,” she said. She pointed to a honey pot.
I scooped honey in and then Bonnie began eating her cereal. “You take some,” she said.
I helped myself. I couldn’t believe I’d actually made this myself. I did feel proud.
After breakfast, I told her, “I’m going to make you a nice splashy bath.”
Bonnie didn’t protest. She showed me where the bathroom was, and we filled the tub. Do you have a rubber duckie or a boat for the tub?”
Bonnie shook her head.
“Okay, come, the water is nice and warm.”
She splashed around. I realized it was the first time I’d seen her smile.
I washed her hair.
“She’s not my mother,” she said.
I wasn’t sure what to say so I didn’t say anything.
“She’s my father’s new wife.” Bonnie made a face.
I let her splash around for a long time and then as the water cooled, I helped her out of the bath.
I brushed her hair and, instead of scraggly, it looked shiny and pretty with lovely auburn highlights.
After I helped her dress in a little pink dress with matching socks, Bonnie led me to her playroom. It was stacked full of dolls and wooden blocks and there was even a little China tea set on a small children’s table. We had a pretend tea party together. She showed me her favorite blue teddy bear. It wasn’t so bad watching her. She entertained herself nicely. I wondered if what she had said was true. Her mother didn’t act very motherly towards her. Could she really be a stepmother? I couldn’t remember if my parents had even told me my mother’s second cousin’s name. Maybe she really wasn’t the cousin after all?
I explored the den and found some interesting reading material. There was a novel by Dickens and one by Ernest Hemmingway titled The Old Man and the Sea. I started reading. A mantle clock ticked off the time. It gonged on the hour.
At noon, the door flew open and Diana marched in.
“Okay, I’m taking Bonnie to the babysitter, and you have to come to the store.”
I helped Bonnie put on her sneakers and then Diana stuffed her into a stroller. “I’m not a baby. I can walk,” she protested.
Diana ignored her. “We’re late and you have to sit in the stroller.” She forced her into the stroller and then pushed it quickly down the block. I followed her, gazing around at the tall oaks and evergreens that lined the street.
“Hurry up. We can’t be late,” she said.
I wasn’t sure why she was telling me to hurry. I was following right behind her.
We stopped in front of a small, neat, little house with a white picket fence and a profusion of black-eyed Susans.
Diana lifted Bonnie like she was a package instead of a little girl and hurried her into the house.
“Bye,” I called to her.
Bonnie didn’t respond.
Diana came back out and continued walking towards the store. I saw there was no point in trying to talk to her. She obviously was angry that she had to take me to the store. When we reached Main Street, she turned to me.
“Memorize the way, because I’m not taking you to the store again. You’ll have to go on your own.”
I didn’t reply. Directions was always a strong point with me. I could find a place if I’d been there once. Father used to rely on me to be the navigator for Steve whenever we went on family trips.
She motioned me towards a Five and Dime store with a huge black and white sign in front that said Five and Dime Cokes, cigarettes, household utensils, toys, and gifts.
I noticed that there was a phone booth and a gumball machine right next to the store.
“You go to the register and Kathy will explain what you have to do.” She turned towards the door and headed back outside.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of the newly released historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishers, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishers, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022).
