Part Three: Chapter Six
March 29, 1986
"What has you so distracted today Sara? Eat!" Em snapped at breakfast.
Sara sighed and took a small bite of stale cereal. The cornflakes were hard in her mouth, causing her to take a quick gulp of orange juice after every bite.
"What's in that crazy mind of yours Sara?" Leroy asked sternly, glaring at her past his thick bushy eyebrows.
"Nothing," Sara muttered, chewing another grain of cereal painfully, only ending up taking one more large swig of orange juice. It was a lie, a horrible one that Leroy saw through right away.
"That's a lie. You're lying to us Sara. There's always something going on in your mind."
Sara sighed, slouching in her spot, only to remind herself that she had to sit straight if she wanted breakfast, even if it was stale cereal.
"Tell us what's on your mind Sara Marie Sidle." Em demanded.
Sara hesitated, but then spoke. "I'm thinking about getting a job."
Em's mouth dropped open and Leroy spat a mouthful of coffee over the table.
"What?" Leroy cried incredulously. "Sara, that's nonsense. Women are barely meant to work, let alone girls! I am hereby forbidding you to get a job."
"What could you possibly spend any money on anyway?" Em jeered.
"College, Harvard more specifically." Sara mumbled in a dull, expressionless voice.
Leroy choked on his coffee again and he sputtered, "No, no, no, absolutely not. Your Aunt Em never went to college. Women are meant to work at home where they're needed."
"Why should I work at home if I never plan to get married?" Sara pointed out, raising her eyebrows.
"That's it!" Leroy shouted. "Go to your room! Now!"
Sara grabbed her unfinished breakfast and dumped it down the sink's drain, putting the bowl in the drainer, and walking past the table towards her room. Uncle Leroy and Auntie Em glared at her the whole way.
When she reached her room, she flopped onto the mattress with another heavy sigh. Sara reached around her bed, gripping a bundle of her blankets and pulling them to her. She was going to go to college, whether Em and Frankie wanted her to or not. Nothing would stop her. She sat up on her bed and reached over to her backpack. It was Sunday, one of the reasons she was sent to her room and not to school.
Sara pulled out a thick pamphlet filled with Harvard information, given to her by Ms. Wither. She sighed and paged through it quickly for the millionth time since she received it a two months ago. She was determined to go to college, and not just any college, Harvard. She was going to succeed in her life, unlike her mom, unlike her dad, even unlike people like Derek. She was going to do it. She just needed a way to do so.
She stood up on her mattress and looked out the window above it. There wasn't much of a drop. She could easily jump out into the dried shrubbery below. She opened the window as quietly as she could and then eased herself over the edge, the windows metal frame digging into her fingers as she hung over the other side. Holding her breath, she let go and tumbled down into the shrubs below.
Gasping slightly as several branches dug into her skin leaving scratches on her legs and arms, she rolled out of the bushes and onto the dry grass. Making sure no one inside was bothering to look at what she was doing, she walked down the yard and onto the sidewalk. She didn't plan to be out long, just around an hour. She'd pick up a newspaper from somebody's yard, look at the classifieds for the closest job, and take that.
It didn't take long to find a newspaper still left out on the sidewalk. Sara, squinting beneath the sun's intense rays, bent down and picked the paper from the ground. She flipped it open to the classifieds and skimmed the addresses. There was one job close by her home, and better yet, it was on the route to and from school. Sara smiled to herself and began walking down the street, paper in hand.
"Yeh really want to work 'ere?" asked an old man as he swept scraps of food and some dirty silverware into a plastic bin he was holding.
"Please?" Sara insisted, standing just beyond the doors and next to a spinning, clear, refrigerator with numerous pies inside. "I need the money!"
"Fer what, some sort of new-fangled contraption?"
Sara sighed. "No."
"Then what?" He hobbled over to a sink and dumped the bins contents into it.
"College."
The man stopped short.
"College, eh?" he asked, one of his eyes goggling at Sara, the other squinting itself shut. He was ancient, with stray bits of frizzy white hair on his relatively bald head, and a shrunken mouth among all his many lines and wrinkles. He shook a bony finger at Sara and spoke in his raspy voice, "What yeh be goin' ter college fer anyway, and tinkin' 'bout it at such a young age?"
"I want to be a detective." Sara answered promptly.
"So yer goin' ter make yer start at an ol' restaurant?"
"It's not the place, it's the profit."
"Well don' tink ye'll be getting anytin' mer dan minimum wage, yeh hear?" he muttered. "Yeh can start by cleaning off de rest of dese 'ere tables, and den washin' dose dishes!" He pointed his finger over at the mounting stack of plates and forks in the sink, slight frown on his face.
Sara attempted to hold back a sigh.
"Can we discuss my hours?"
"Yeah, righ', uh…eight in de mornin' ter tree in de afternoon, how's dat sound fer yeh?"
"Bad."
"Picky are yeh?"
"If I'm going into college, I need to go to school!"
"Oh, yeah, das righ'."
"How does three fifteen to six thirty sound? At home we eat dinner at seven o' clock."
"I need ye here 'til seven o' clock. Rush hours before dat and das when we've got de most dishes ter wash. Yer not tryin' to stiff me are yeh?"
"No sir,"
"All right den…" He turned to filling the sink with water and a squirt of soap.
"What about my pay?" Sara questioned.
"What about yer pay?" He goggled his eye at her once again.
"How much am I getting?"
"I already gone and told yeh what yer gettin'! Minimum wage yeh hear? And don' tink yer getting' paid fer today. Yer only 'ere today so I can see how well yeh work."
"I have to be home soon though!"
"I don' care when yeh gotta be home!"
"I'll get in trouble."
"Am I suppose' to care?"
Sara sighed.
"I guess not."
"Good. Den get to work!" He gave Sara a slight prod in the shoulder towards one of the messy tables. She worked quickly and quietly, brushing the dirty plates and silverware into the bin as the old man had done, listening only partly to his words about 'Yer lucky I let yeh in, it's befer openin' time' and 'Make sure yeh don' break anytin'!' When she had completed the task of clearing off the tables she was becoming worried her uncle or aunt would discover she was missing. After all, she had been out for half an hour, almost her supposed curfew.
She worked tirelessly for yet another hour on the dishes; her stomach squirming in slight fear of what would await her should she get home to discover Em and Leroy knew about her temporary disappearance. Suddenly, a quick jingle of bells could be heard from the doorway of the restaurant.
"Arilyn! Took yeh long enough ter get down 'ere!"
Sara, expecting to see an old woman coming in the door to greet the old man, continued scrubbing away at the dishes. She looked up surprised when the voice of someone close to her age sounded through the room.
"Hey there Bud! Sorry I'm late, Mom and Dad wanted me to do a couple of chores. Find anyone to take Lydia's place yet?"
Bud chuckled. Sara tried best she could not to let her mind wander off the dishes, although her ears were listening intently to the conversation in the other section of the restaurant.
"As a matter of fact, I have. Don' know if I'll be keepin' 'er yet dough. Says she's gonna use de money fer college. She's back dere doin' dishes like she's suppose' ter."
Sara continued working on the dishes, scrubbing the grease and meat from a certain stubborn pan of goulash. She was oblivious to the sound of footsteps nearing.
"Hey there!" came a sudden voice from before the sink. Sara started and looked up from the pan she was scouring.
"Uh…Hi!" She smiled slightly then returned to her chore.
"Whatcha doing?" the girl before her asked. She was tall, with curly red hair and blue eyes. She wore dangling earrings and plenty of eye-shadow. Sara had the slightest feeling she had seen her somewhere before, somewhere; probably school, but she couldn't place the importance.
"Um…cleaning?" Sara responded, smile fading.
"Sounds nice. Why?"
Sara raised her eyebrows at her.
"Awesome!" Arilyn exclaimed. "Do that eyebrow thing again!" She was smiling widely and gazing at Sara's forehead, making her feel rather uncomfortable.
"I have to get home, as soon as I'm done with this stupid…pan…" She scoured the pan forcefully with her hand, a sponge, and a scrubbing brush. Arilyn just watched her curiously.
"So…You're new?"
"Yes," Sara muttered, glaring down at the pan that was refusing to get clean.
"Why are you working here?"
"Because I need money and this job is on my way to school."
"Oh. That's nice. What do you need money for?"
"Didn't Bud already tell you?" Sara huffed, temporarily abandoning her assault on the pan.
"I figured you might have lied to him."
Sara did her best not to raise her eyebrows again and returned to her barrage of scrubbing.
"I don't believe in lying." Sara muttered.
"So you really want to go to college?"
"Yes! Now, if you'll excuse me," Sara exclaimed, slight smile running across her face again as the last bit of crusted food fell from the clean pan into the water. She quickly dried the pan and set it atop the other dishes then drained the sink.
"You look like an expert at cleaning dishes. You sure you haven't worked here before?" Arilyn smirked at her. Sara returned it.
"I need to get home now, before I get in trouble."
"Why would you get in trouble for getting a job?" Arilyn asked curiously, grabbing a broom beside her Sara hadn't noticed before, and tagging along.
"Because my uncle doesn't believe in women getting jobs or going to college so I had to sneak out in order to find a way to get money." She pushed the door open, sending the entrance bell jingling. Suddenly Sara realized how she knew Arilyn. She spun around to face the girl.
"You—you're Chandler's ex!"
Arilyn smiled broadly.
"The only girl to ever break up with Prince Charming."
Sara scoffed.
"Charming…right."
"And you are the only girl to ever reject Prince Charming, and the only person to ever hit him."
"And not particularly proud of it." Sara muttered, turning down the street again.
"You should be!" Arilyn called, jogging up to Sara's side.
"And why would that be?"
"Because…oh, how do I put this…You've got several girls admiring you now. That's a start."
Sara laughed.
"Right, admire me. You know the only reason I punched him was that he was insulting me and my family. And I'm not surprised if you were right along with him, chanting that stupid rhyme."
"I wouldn't do that."
Sara chuckled slightly.
"Yeah, right…of course you wouldn't."
Arilyn attempted to raise her eyebrow at Sara.
"Dagnabbit, I don't know how you do that eyebrow thing."
Sara laughed as Arilyn attempted to raise her faint red eyebrow at her.
"It all has to do with genes." Sara muttered as she turned down her street.
"But of course, you'd be the one telling me this because you are the smartest kid in the school."
"It's not my fault. That's genes too."
"What are you planning on going to college for anyway, scientist?"
"Detective," Sara mumbled dully as her house came into view. She was still curious as to why Arilyn was bothering to follow her, with broom in hand at that.
"Are there, like, you know, science detectives out there?"
Sara shrugged.
"Hey, do you think you could give me a boost through my window?" Sara asked as the house came even closer into view. Her window was still open, giving Sara some hope that her disappearance had gone undiscovered.
Arilyn gazed at the window as they came to the yard.
"Sure, why not?"
Sara walked forwards towards the window, reaching up to it. She could get the tips of her fingers around it, but she wouldn't be able to pull herself up.
"Here," Arilyn muttered. She got down on one knee, setting down the broom, and cupped her hands. Sara, slightly shocked, stepped on Arilyn's hands, reaching for the window. She managed to get her waist to it then tumbled over the other side onto her mattress. The door was still closed and Sara let out a heavy sigh of relief. She sat up on her mattress and stuck a thumbs-up out the window at Arilyn.
The girl smiled and returned it, brushing her auburn hair out of her eyes, and tucking it behind her earrings.
"I'll see you at work!" she whispered.
"What?" Sara exclaimed quietly.
"You passed the test. You get along all right with everyone else and don't brush annoying little me off when working, you get the job. Bud says anyone who can stand me can stand rush hour."
"I still have to make up a lie for where I'll be during my work hours." Sara muttered.
"I thought you didn't believe in lying?"
"I don't. But Em and Leroy are exceptions."
Arilyn grinned and picked the broom up from the ground, saluting Sara, who returned it. Then, quite to Sara's amusement, Arilyn went strutting down the street, waving the broom like a baton. She couldn't help but laugh, a loud hearty one that lasted until Arilyn turned the corner towards the restaurant.
A/N: You know what? Scratch what I said before. There will be a MAX of 5 chapters to go. Not just two left. I forgot about Arilyn and Sara's job when I typed that before. Plus there's another sub-plot that I just remembered so that'll take up yet another chapter. Expect at least two more! ;) You lucky ducks!
