AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hiya, people, this is actually st.elmo-love on a different acount because...well...it is! Lol. Anyway, heres the latest, well not really THE latest, but its a repost on a differnt acount so please enjoy and I shall update as soon as possible!
"He quit his job."
"What? Who?" Ida ee + da was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of her mother's voice and spun around.
"Your father." her mother said. Her voice was soft and her eyes were full of hurt and tears. "He quit his job."
"What?" Ida yelled angrily.
"He told me last night when he was drunk. Didn't say why though."
Ida sighed heavily. That was typical of her father. As long as she could remember her father had come in late at night smelling of beer and hard liquor. Even in Ireland he had never been home before 7:00 at night. He had never hit Ida or her mother but he might as well have at least then he would have known Ida was there? Another thing Ida always remembered was how much her father regretted the fact that she wasn't a boy. She was a skinny, bony, long haired girl which made everything worse. He had wanted a boy from the very start and hated her mother for giving birth to a girl. Ida really didn't even know why her father had brought her over from Ireland in the first place. It was beyond her.
Him quitting his job, that was over the limit. That meant Ida or her mother probably wouldn't eat for who knows how long. They probably had a good chance of starving to death if they didn't get some money soon. She looked down at her drawing and then back up at her mother, worry in her eyes.
"I need you to get a job, Ida. Jennifer across the hall says that the threading factory is taking new workers. If you get your application in soon you should be able to get a job. We need this money, Ida." Ida fought back the sneer that wanted to appear on her face. The mere thought of working in one of those "sweat shops" made her cringe back in disgust. She had heard about them from the many friends that had to work there. They were horrid and not some place you wanted to work at. Ida knew that if they needed the money then she would have to get the job and work there though. That was the least she could do for her mother to help out. She nodded slowly to her mother and closed her drawing book, putting her pencil on her dresser and slipping on her shawl.
"It's just strait down the street and then take a right. You can't miss it." her mother told her as she smiled reassuringly, a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"If you get back and you know your father's already home then just come up the fire escape." her mother told and hugged her shortly before pushing her out the door and slamming it behind her. Ida shuddered as she thought about what it would be like to work in one of the factories. She just couldn't believe she was actually going to do it. No more school, at least. But Ida had a feeling that once she started her job she would wish more than anything that she was back in school learning how to read.
She moved quickly through the halls of her building, being sure to step over all the people that slept on the stairs. There were so many immigrants in New York now a days that there wasn't enough houses to keep them all in. She smiled as she passed a random sad looking old man. Her just snarled back at her. She sighed heavily as she finally got outside in to the cool air of spring. She was actually relieved to feel it as he crawled up her neck and ruffled the hair that had fallen out of her bun. She watched as slowly the vender's started to pack up one by one and the people started to disappear until all that was left was rowdy homeless boys and girls and even newsies. Ida had always been impressed by newsies. They seemed to have themselves so well under control especially after the strike they had had a while back. She had set her mind on them losing but just at the last minute they pulled their resources and brought it right to Joe's front door. She had actually found it quite funny.
As she moved through the streets she nodded to a few girls here or there, some dressed like boys and others wearing worn and torn skirts and blouses. She wondered why on Earth girls would actually want to dress like boys. She just didn't see the reason in it.
A few blocks later Ida finally turned left and found the factory. It was big! The windows were a brown color and looked like they were hardly ever opened. There were so many floors and Ida wondered what was on each one as she entered the door.
"Can I help you?" a big looking security guard asked as he stepped in front of her.
"Hi." Ida said hesitantly. "I'm looking for the place where I can get an application." she told him as she looked around. She looked back at the security guard to see him point towards a desk towards the corner of the building. She held in a sigh as she walked over and looked down a paper with a lot of complicated questions on it. She groaned inwardly, thinking about how long it would take to fill it out. She picked up a pencil from a little tin cup in the middle of the counter. She dropped in to a near by chair and started filling it out slowly, making sure everything she put down was right.
By the time she had actually gotten done it was dark outside and very cold. She pulled her shawl closer to her as she walked down the streets, wondering if she was going to end up with the job or not. By the time she finally got home she knew her father was already home, which was her cue to go to the back of the building and make her way up the fire escape. She made her way quickly up and pulled up the window that let to her bedroom. She slowly and quietly climbed in before stripping off her clothes and putting on a night gown.
"Please let me get this job." she muttered to herself as she laid her head on her cold pillow.
"Ida, get up!" her mom yelled before her door burst opened. Ida rubbed her eyes tiredly and sat up slowly, her back aching a bit.
"You have to get ready for work!" her mom said excitedly as she started throwing clothes at Ida.
"What? I don't know if I got the job yet." she told her mom, her voice groggy. She reached out and caught a skirt just as it flew towards her head.
"They called this morning." her mother explained, pitching a blouse at her.
"I didn't hear the phone ring."
"That's because you were snoring dear."
"I WAS NOT!" Ida shouted at her mother and threw her pillow.
"Shhh!" her mother motioned harshly. Ida sighed, knowing immediately what her mother meant. Her father had a hang over and he was either in bed, trying to go to bed, or bending over the toilet. Ida nodded and got up off of her bed, stumbling a bit as her sleepy limbs worked to regain their strength.
"Hurry and get dressed. Here's your brush." her mother said, handing Ida her brush from the bathroom. She must have grabbed it before he got sick, Ida thought to herself as she turned around and started to get dressed. She pulled her boots on after her stockings and quickly ran the brush through her hair before pulling it up into a bun at the top of her head.
"You look good for your first day." her mother told her as she smoothed down Ida's hair and smiled. "Now, here's your bread." her mother told her, handing her a brown bag with bread in it. "Hide it well and make sure no one else sees it. You can eat it when they give you a lunch break." Ida nodded to her mother and threw on her jacket.
"Take the fire escape." her mother reminded her. Ida nodded and turned to her window opening it and closing it behind her. She made her way quickly down the fire escape, hiding her bread in her pocket at the same time. She joined the bustling morning crowd on the street and made her way quickly to the factory. She wasn't sure what time she had to be there but she knew it probably had to be soon. When she finally reached the factory she paused outside the doors, taking a deep breathe. She wasn't ready for this but she tried to convince herself that she was. She finally wretched the door open and walked inside, joining the bustle of girls that were heading towards the stairs. She followed them, trying not to bump in to anyone even though it was impossible. There had to have been 100s of girls cramped in to that stair case at one time.
"Sorry." Ida murmured as she bumped in to a girl who turned around and glared at her.
"Don't mind her." a girl said from beside her, a warm smile on her face. Ida took her in, all 5 feet and 9 inches of her Ida guessed. She was fairly pretty with deep red hair. Her head was heart shaped and her eyes were round and dark brown.
"I'm Hedi." she said as she stuck out her hand.
"Ida." Ida answered as she shook Hedi's hand.
"You're new aren't you?" Hedi asked with a small smile, a hint of pity in her eyes. Ida shook her head, wondering if it was really that noticeable.
"I'll have to show you the ropes then. This place can be really dangerous sometimes." Hedi said as she continued to walk up the steps. "You can work on my floor. We do sewing. I'll teach you how to use the machines. Its easy as long as you don't get your fingers caught." Ida gave her a weird look that clearly told Hedi that she was now scared. Hedi just chuckled and patted her on the back.
"You bring lunch?" Hedi asked. Ida nodded to her.
"On lunch break we can eat and then I can start teaching you how to pick pocket."
"What?" Ida managed to say. Pick pocket? Who said she wanted to learn?
"Its a little something I picked up on. It helps you out a lot let me tell you. This place doesn't pay that well so once in a while you might need a little pick-me-up." Hedi explained as Ida nodded slowly. It made sense at least.
"This is it." Hedi said as they reached the 5th floor and made their way out of the loud group of girls. Hedi lead her to a space lined with lockers.
"You can put any of your stuff in here. Coats, things like. Most of the time the girls have enough sense not to steal anything, but sometimes they get desperate. Just remember not to judge. We all get desperate at one point or another." Hedi reminded her. All Ida could do was nod as she watched all the girls talking and putting things in lockers and laughing.
"Come on." Hedi said as she grabbed Ida's hand and lead her through all the girls. Ida watched in awe as they passed. The girls came in all different shapes, sizes, and ages. Some were as young as 10 it looked like. She wondered why their parents would let them work in a place like this and then she found herself wondering if they even had any parents at all.
"Judy." Hedi's voice broke Ida out of her thoughts and Ida snapped her head around to look at this so called Judy. She looked to around in her 50s and her long hair was graying and pulled up in a bun at the top of her head. She was wearing a simple black skirt and white blouse. "This is Ida. She's new. I was wondering if you would let me show her the ropes?" Hedi asked, her lips pouted and her voice sweet and fake. She watched as Judy rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Keep her safe." Judy told Hedi before walking off. Hedi squealed and jumped up and down right before a loud bell was heard ringing.
"That's the morning bell." Hedi explained to her as she dragged her along. "When it rings it means you have to be at your station and working. There's also a lunch bell and the end of the day bell. You probably know what those are for." they stopped in front of a big machine that looked like a big sewing machine. This is where I work, and this will be where you work." she pointed to an empty machine 3 machines down from her.
"Let's get to work." Hedi said with an evil smirk.
About 5 hours later at around 1:00 Hedi and Ida sat out on a bench in front of the factory. Hedi was going over the steps of what Ida needed to know to perform your basic pick pocket.
"Ok, now watch me do it and then you can try." Hedi said as she got up and smirked at Ida before walking in to the crowd. Ida watched her closely as she passed a nice looking middle aged man and ran into him, slipping her hand in to his pocket as she did so.
"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "Please excuse my clumsiness." the man just shook her off and shook his head disgustedly before walking off. Hedi came prancing back a few minutes later, 30 cents in her hand.
"Your turn." Hedi said as she pushed Ida in to the crowd. Ida bit her lip as she searched for a target nervously. Finally she spotted a newsboy and went for him. She figured he would be an easy first target. She approached him slowly and when he got close enough she tripped and fell in to him, slipping her hand in to his pocket as softly as she could. She pulled out what little coins she could and pulled away.
"I'm so sorry." she said, a blush even forming on her cheeks. She started walking away but was stopped by the feel of someone's hand on her wrist.
"I ain't that stupid." the boy snarled as he pulled Ida to him. Ida took him in for the first time as she pressed against his chest. He had deep brown eyes and curly brown hair that was hidden by a brown cap. He had a pinkish colored long underwear shirt with brown pants and brown suspenders.
"Give me me money." he demanded, his brown eyes portraying his anger.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ida said, trying to act appealed. She could see Hedi out of the corner of her eye, wearing a worried look.
"Yes youse do. Give me me money." he said again, tightening his grip on her arm.
"Let go of me this instinct." she demanded right back.
"Ida!" she could hear Hedi's voice and turned to see her running towards them.
"The bells about to ring again we have to get back to work." Hedi told her. Ida realized after a few seconds that this was some kind of attempt to get her free of her target.
"Please, sir, if you will kindly let me go I have to make my daily wages." she said, trying to pull away.
"Not till youse give me me money!" he said again, shaking her this time. Ida growled at him, her lips pursing together in anger.
"Here's your stupid money." she said as she held it out to him. She watched as he smirked down at her and put it back in to her pocket. Before Ida knew it she was being swept along by Hedi towards the factory.
"Hey, Ida!" Hedi called before she could go in. "Check it out!" she squealed as he held out her hand. "When we started to leave I swiped it right back off 'im." Hedi exclaimed and they both giggled.