Chapter 55
As the two youngest Kanker sisters shared a laugh regarding Lee's unfortunate accident, Edith had made her way back to the seamstress shop, entering the modest sized room through it's solitary steel door. The room was 25 foot square; the lowest six feet of all four white walls was recessed inward, providing hanging space for what seemed like hundreds of dresses and suit jackets. Peppered around the room were several wooden tables, on which in-progress custom dresses sat next to the tools used to create them.
Edith closed the steel door behind her and made her way toward the table furthest from the door. Lee had spent the second half of her work night at this particular table for the last two weeks, meticulously crafting a copy of the dress contained within the stores lobby under Edith's tutelage. The red-headed fifteen-year-old had progressed quite well for having little experience, and was around an hour away from placing the finishing touches on her masterpiece. As Edith walked towards Lee's work station, Lee remained sitting on the stool adjacent to the table, slowly feeding a portion of the gowns shoulder strap through the industrial sized sewing machine, while remaining completely focused on her work.
Edith took a position behind Lee, leaning slightly upward to gain a view of her work from over her shoulders. A few moments passed, after which an exuberant smile appeared on her face as she began to speak.
"My oh my look at my little apprentice go," said Edith, "You had doubts you'd ever be able to pass basting, and now you're sewing like a professional!"
Lee removed her hands from the emerald green fabric, switched the sewing machine off, and turned around to face her mentor.
"Eh, just doing my job," said Lee as she pushed one of her red locks behind her ear.
"So it is true," said Edith, "You're sisters told me that you're quite the talented one when it comes to learning new things. This project most definitely shows it."
"I guess," said Lee, "It's more like a need than a talent."
"Interesting," said Edith in a witty manner as she pulled up a stool of her own. She proceeded hand Lee a cup of tea she had procured from the food court, keeping one for herself as she she took a seat, "What do you mean by a need?"
Lee took a sip of her tea, and placed the cup down onto the table. She crossed her right leg over her left, folded her arms, and trained her eyes towards the far wall.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." said Lee, "But in a nutshell, from the time I was a toddler I held a lot of responsibilities. My mother was suffering from depression as long as I could remember, and it took a major toll on my family. There was a huge misunderstanding that caused her and my father to separate when I was five, and as if losing the love of her life wasn't enough, my Grandpop, who she was very close to, had a fatal heart attack around a year later. I can remember hearing her crying every night. I'd peak through the keyhole, and see her staring at his picture, telling him she loved him over and over."
Edith watched with concern as Led turned toward her and initiated eye contact.
"My mother's depression took a toll on our welfare," said Lee, "When my Poppy died, so did the bed time stories, the help dressing for school, making breakfast and school lunch, and many other things. I saw how much my sisters missed my Poppy as well, and how sad they were that my mom wasn't herself anymore, and even though I cried my eyes out in private every night out of sadness, I knew I had to be strong for them."
Lee took a sip of her tea.
"My Poppy always read to me," said Lee, "As far back as I could remember, I would just follow along with the words and somehow I just absorbed it. Reading came second nature to me, I can't even remember a time in my life when I couldn't read. I used my advanced reading skills to teach my sisters how to read themselves, and study cookbooks for breakfast recipes. As problems arose, I was forced to solve them. Things like sewing a torn pair of pajamas, washing bed sheets, or cleaning stains off of the carpet came up all of the time, and gave me an opportunity to learn a new skill. When we had the money to eat things besides boiled hotdogs, I let my imagination run wild, and tried cooking all sorts of new things for us to eat. I also discovered a whole bunch of little tricks for removing stains from all kinds of fabrics. And most of all, I found out how challenging it was to be a mother, as that is the essence of why I did what I did. My sisters needed someone, and I knew that someone had to be me."
There was a slight pause as Lee stared into Edith's eyes. Reclusive and distrusting of others by nature, it was rare that Lee decided to open up to anyone regarding her personal struggles, especially someone she had only known for two weeks. However, as she gazed into Edith's eyes, she for whatever reason sensed a feeling of comfort and understanding; it was if the elderly woman emanated the sensation of benevolence, impartiality, and lack of judgement. With that thought in mind, Lee decided to continue expressing her thoughts.
"Still, even though I was really young," said Lee, "I always had a feeling my mom was depressed before my dad left and my Poppy died. She had a look in her eyes that made me feel funny, and it always seemed to happen around the time of Marie's birthday. It went away after my mom moved us to Peach Creek, but ever since I started high school I've noticed it again. I think it's the fact that she's back in Peach Creek, and with the holidays coming up she's remembering a lot of the times spent here with my Poppy."
"Wow," said Edith, "That's most certainly a lot for a little girl to handle. Such selflessness and care for others is something I haven't seen in a quite awhile, and it is unfortunate that we aren't given the chance to witness it as much as we should. Little sweethearts such as yourself deserve to be rewarded for the good you do for others."
Lee giggled in a sarcastic manner, after which she took another sip of her tea.
"Me, a sweetheart?" asked Lee, "I can't pretend to act like I was always the best of people. Let's just say that I had some bad experiences over the years that drove me to become very angry at the world for a few years. I would have completely lost it if my mom hadn't moved us back to Peach Creek, and if it wasn't for him..."
Lee blushed slightly as she completed her sentence. While more emotionally open than usual, she was still attempting to keep her proverbial guard up; accordingly, she quickly attempted to hide her pink cheeks.
"Boyfriend?" asked Edith with a smile.
Lee nodded up and down while displaying a sly grin.
"His name is Eddy," said Lee, "We met around a year and a half ago. My sisters and I used to pick on him and all of his friends all of the time. He was always coming up with ways to try to scam the other kids out of quarters to pay for those big stupid sugar balls he loves do much, but he never thought things through and they always failed. I'm not saying any names, but someone you know might have had a lot to do with them failing."
Lee and Edith shared a slight giggle.
"But anyway," said Lee, "Aside from forcing him to pretend to marry me two summers ago, I never really had a real desire to be his girlfriend until earlier this year. I mean, I always thought he was cute, but after few long talks about our lives I realized how great of a person he was, and that he too was acting the way he was out of anger due to being picked on as a child."
Lee paused.
"My sisters date his friends now too," said Lee, "While we're not as much into the mushy stuff, we're just as air tight as those two knuckle-heads and their men are. He's the greatest, he'll do anything for me. I had him give me twenty dollars to go to this winter ball, and kind of forced him to dance ballet with me for the school talent show. It's a beautiful thing!"
"Well now, I didn't take you for the domineering bossy type!" said Edith, "Forcing him to give up twenty dollars and dance ballet huh? You're a little monster packaged in an Angels wrapping"
Edith cackled at the conclusion of her joke, and playfully reached her right out out to deliver a slap to Lee's knee. Lee remained sitting with her legs crossed, maintaining a neutral facial expression
"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it, he can take it!" said Lee, "Besides, he knows it's cause I lo...care about him and want to spend time with him. It's not like he ever comes up with any ideas for us to have fun, so I have to do all of the leg work."
Edith chuckled.
"So brash, bold and independent," said Edith, "You remind me so much of myself when I was a teenager many years ago. Believe it or not, this white hair was once as red as yours, and this flabby butt was once able to fit in a reasonable waste size!"
The two women shared a laugh.
"So Annalee," said Edith, "You have stated that being gifted at learning new skills as based upon a need. May I ask, what is your need for wanting this dress and winning this winter ball?"
Lee took a sip of her tea, placed it back on the table, and assumed a scowling expression. As she continued to speak, her voice deepened slightly, and her city accent became much more prominent than usual, typical of times when she was exhibiting frustration.
"That's easy," said Lee, "It's to finally put this prissy, no-good, loudmouthed, egotistical bitch I've been dealing with ever since I was in Kindergarten in her place! She thinks she's all that, but she's really nobody. I mean, she joined the cheer team, bought all of the girls with promises of expensive handbags...oh by the way, she's rich too!...and rose to power like some sort of European dictator. And can you believe she has the guts to challenge me to the winter talent show and the winter ball? Thankfully I had Eddy, cause if it wasn't for him impressing the football team, I don't know if we would have won. And if it wasn't for Eddy having twenty dollars for me to get a ticket to the ball, I wouldn't be able to embarrass her in front of everyone. I mean, the girls been wearing the same coat since kindergarten, she actually paid to have it..."
"Whoah, whoah, whoah," said Edith interrupting Lee's rambling complaint string, "Sounds like you and this girl have quite a crazy past. She must have really hurt you for you to have this much anger bottled up inside!"
Lee folded her arms, and trained her eyes towards the far wall.
"You don't even know," said Lee.
Edith smiled as she rose up off of her stool, and made her way over towards Lee's position.
"Regardless," said Edith, as she placed her hand on Lee's shoulder, "There's three things I never want you to forget as you continue your path through life. First, never stop being as selfless as you were during your time spent raising your sisters. Two always be yourself, no matter what challenges you may be faced with in life. And three, open up your heart, and everything will be alright."
Edith removed her hand from Lee's shoulder and made her way over towards the sewing table, leaving the red-headed girl to ponder the elderly woman's words for a few seconds. Upon reaching the table, Edith reached down and took hold of two silver straps acting as the shoulder supports for Lee's emerald green ball gown. She lifted the gown into the air to examine it, as a smile appeared on her face.
"My word, your stitches are excellent!" said Edith, "You did a great job helping out in the seamstress shop Annalee, and especially on recreating that dress."
"Thanks," said Lee, "It's nothing really, just a little hard work, elbow grease, and determination."
"Heard that!" said Edith as she picked up the styrofoam cup holding her tea from the table. With a quick shake, she realized that the carton was empty, and acquired an idea.
"Well looks like we're running on empty," said Edith, "How's about we run out to the food court and grab another round before we start on the next suit jacket?"
"Let's do it!" said Lee as she smiled and placed her hand on Edith's shoulder.
The two women made their way towards the solitary steel door, acting as an employees only entrance to the malls pedestrian walkway. Lee opened the door, allowing Edith to pass through, after which she herself exited, closing the door behind her with an audible click.
