The inside of the dressmaker's shop was sweltering hot, despite the crisp early-autumn air outside. Eight or so women crowded the back rooms, sewing dresses, making lace, performing other odd jobs, while three or four were in the front dealing with customers. Penny and Elise sat with the owner in the office in the back, listening to her talk mostly to herself rather than them.
"Don't see why I told Tibby I'd take on two extra workers... got quite a few already..." Mary Elizabeth Green was a husky woman, with a voice to match, her ample frame a little more than formidable. But she had the kindest blue eyes you'd ever see. Those eyes looked over Elise, trying to feign disdain, but leaned more toward sympathy. "I got a girl same age as the two o' you. Was knocked-up with her, same situation as you, no man to stick around an' speak for me." She smiled a little, shaking her head. "'Course, with you bein' in such a fam'ly way, can't have you up front just yet. You got any special talents?"
Elise blushed a little, embarrassed to have to finally speak. "Erm... my mam, she taught me to make lace. I'm not so bad at it."
"Actually, she's really quite good," Penny chimed in, putting on her most winning smile. "She helped her sister make her wedding dress." And when she realized what she'd just said, her smile faltered.
"Well, I could use another lace maker. The girls I got ain't so great at it, maybe you could teach 'em a thing or two. Maybe boost my business a little." Those blue eyes grazed over Penny now. "You, you're awful pretty. You any good with people?"
"I suppose so..."
"Yes or no."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Well then, I could put you up front, and you can deal with the customers. That accent o' yours'll make 'em smile. We can put Gladys in the back to work on designin' things like she's always harpin' about." She turned to her books, clicking her tongue against her teeth as she pondered. "I can't pay you real big wages right off, but it'll be enough to keep a roof over your heads and food in your bellies. That's all I can offer for now, but you work hard enough and long enough, I'll see about raises."
"We'll take whatever you can give, ma'am." Penny smiled winningly again. "We're used to living modestly."
"What every employer wants to hear." The dressmaker leaned back in her chair with a smirk. "And please, cut it out with the 'ma'am' stuff. Makes me feel like a old lady. Call me Mary Elizabeth, or Mama Green if ya feel like it. That's what most my girls call me."
"Will do."
Elise found her new job to be easy enough. Given, she hadn't made lace in quite some time, but it wasn't all that hard for her to pick up again. The other girls assigned to it weren't anywhere near her level of expertise, but they weren't terrible, and with a little help and a lot of patience, they could be making high-quality lace in no time flat.
Penny's job was a little more difficult than she'd expected, at least on that first day. A woman came in midday, talking rapidly and loudly in German while waving a torn smock in her face. It was assumed she was complaining, but sometimes it's hard to tell with German.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid I can't understand you... No, ma'am, I... what? I don't speak German!" Penny tried to explain with hand motions as she talked, but she only seemed to succeed in further infuriating the woman. Her attempt at kindness and understanding was answered by a slew of what were presumably curses spat into her face, and was about to crawl under the counter and cry when a pretty young girl named Helga came to her rescue. Helga talked soothingly to the woman in German, then turned to Penny with a sweet smile.
"She says the material is cheap, and itripped the first time she put it on. She says either to fix it or to take it back and give her back her money."
Penny walked back to the office, and fretfully explained the predicament to Mary Elizabeth.
"Tell 'er we'll repair it at half-price, but that's the only deal she's gonna get. It's her fault she ordered the damn thing too small." Mary Elizabeth grumbled, looking through her records again. She glanced up at Penny, still standing in the doorway. "Somethin' else you need? I'm kinda busy here, girly."
"Uh..." Penny shifted uncomfortably. "Who should I have do the repair?"
The husky woman set her jaw, those motherly blue eyes rimmed with irritation. "Girl, you work for a dressmaker. You work here on account of you can sew. Repair it yourself. Now I got my own problems here, so get back to work."
She returned to the front of the shop, told Helga what Mary Elizabeth had said. The woman grumbled at length when Helga explained it to her, then tossed the smock onto the counter. "She says," Helga translated, "that you'd better do a decent job, she's no fool, and she knows shoddy work when she sees it. She says it'd better not rip again. She'll be back tomorrow to pick it up." Helga showed the woman out of the shop, looking over her shoulder sympathetically at Penny.
Penny slumped into a chair and, sulking, began to repair the tear in the smock.
The work hours were much longer than they were at Tibby's, and the girls had been working so hard, they'd forgotten completely about lunch. Their stomachs growled in protest as they headed out the front door.
"You ladies hungry?" A voice called to them as they turned to head for the lodging house. Spinning around, they saw two wonderfully familiar faces.
"Starving," they replied in unison, grinning as they were led in the opposite direction.
The restaurant they'd chosen was much cooler than the dressmaker's shop, and had a much more appealing atmosphere, filled with Brooklyn newsies and slightly intoxicated businessmen rather than tons of fabric and crazy women who didn't speak English.
"We figgered you'd be hungry after such a long day on the job," Skittery said, smiling in that easy, laid-back way that always made Penny melt a little... secretly. "Jeeze, you two look beat."
"Well, between not sleeping much last night, and getting up before bloody dawn, and working nearly twelve hours, yes, I'd say we're a wee bit on the tired side," Penny smirked, taking a bite of the cole slaw set in front of her.
Beside them, Crutchy and Elise were engaged in a secretive and apparently very amusing conversation over their plates. It made Penny smile, but apparently didn't please someone else in the restaurant. Catch sauntered up to the table, a malicious look set on her plain face.
"Ya know, Ireland, Jack Kelly don't like his girls to be keepin' company with other fellas," she said coldly. "'Specially not other newsies."
"Well, you'd know all about that, wouldn't ya, Catch?" Crutchy leaned back in his chair, his usual cheerful expression replaced with one that clearly said he was ready to fight. "'Sides, Elise here's allowed some friends. Now, we're a li'l busy here, but I'll tell Racetrack ya said hello, okay?" He smirked when embarrassed color burned across Catch's face. She turned and began to storm off, and Crutchy accidentally slid his crutch in front of her ankle. As she went down, she cried out.
"Son of a bitch!" Catch picked herself up, now bright red and thoroughly pissed off. "You--"
"Whoops," Crutchy said, pulling his crutch up. "You'd better watch your step, there, Catch."
The restaurant erupted in laughter, leaving the two Manhattan newsies and their friends to sit and smile at one another over their meals, which now tasted even better.
It had turned out to be a very good day.
A/N: Jeeze! Record-breaking chapter for pennylayne! My goodness! I didn't think I had it in me! Today's favorite literary tool is the exclamation point! Okay, well, enough of that. I figured we needed a chapter here without unhappy crap andangst and whatnot, so I decided their first day on the job would be pretty good... well, except for that irate German woman. But I rather liked her. Anyhow... it seemed that I was neglecting what this story was really about, so I had to bring it back around. Oh, I love Crutchy. His antics make me so happy. Um, well... oh! Exciting news! I have officially decided a gender and name for Elise's baby... that will be coming along soon, my lovelies, but you get no hints. Sorry. Now, if you would please R&R, I will love you forever, and if anyone! ANYONE! has a lady-newsie they'd like to loan me, I will personally serenade you with your choice of a Newsies number. In text, of course, but still with all the right inflection. Jeeze, this author's note is going to end up being longer than the chapter itself! That's not okay! So click that pretty purple button there, and leave me some love! Enjoy! -Layne