“Are
you still looking for a room to rent?”
“Yes,
ma’am. Did you find something for me?”
“I’m
not sure. I want you to go talk to Maggie O’Toole. She lives about eight blocks from here. Here
is the address. She’ll be expecting you. She has two dear little girls. Here is a bag of goodies for them. Tell them
that they are from Auntie Marushka.”
I
took the directions and the bag of pastries and bagels from Marie and started
walking the eight blocks. When I arrived at the address, it was a three story
row house that looked the same as all the other houses on that block. I knocked
on the door and it was answered by an attractive young woman, probably not yet
thirty. She had dark brown hair and milky complexion – a perfect image of a
young Irish woman. Her name was Irish; that was her husband’s name. She was
Irish also.
“Are
you the woman Marie said she was sending to talk to me.”
“Yes,
I am interested in renting a room. By the way, Marie sent this bag of pastries
for your girls. She said to tell them that they were from Auntie Marushka.”
“Please
come in.”
I
entered what had once been a large living room with a ceiling at least twelve
feet high. There was a fireplace with beautiful tiles and an ornately carved
mantel. Despite that, the room was presently used as a storage room. We left
the living room and stepped into a sort of foyer. To the right a pair of steep
steps led to the second floor. Under the stairs was a tiny room with just a
toilet in it. To the left a door led into a narrow walk way through a sort of
tunnel out to the street. The walk continued between two small back yards to
the alley.
Straight
ahead through the foyer there were two vacant rooms about twelve by twelve feet
each. There was linoleum in one room, bare wood in the other. Each of the rooms
had a gas heater – the kind with ceramic heat reflectors and a row of gas
flames along the bottom. Beyond the second room there was a porch which had
been crudely enclosed. In it were a laundry tub with a cold water faucet and a
gas cook stove. In the small back yard were clothes lines.
Maggie
led me upstairs. As you came to the top of the stairs a comfortable living room
was straight ahead. A stairway to the third floor was to the right. Walking
away from the living room there was a large bathroom to the left. I could see a
bathtub and a washer and dryer in there. As we continued to walk back, we
stepped down two steps into a large kitchen with a sink, a stove, a
refrigerator, a cabinet and a large table and chairs for meals.
Maggie
invited me to sit down. She had a pot of
tea and a plate of cookies there. She poured a cup of tea for each of us.
“Here
is what I wanted to discuss with you. Marie told me that you are new to
Chicago, that you are looking for a room to rent so that you will have an
address and can then look for a job.
“This
is my situation. My husband left me last fall, just before Thanksgiving. I
haven’t heard from him since. I had to go to work to pay the mortgage, the
utilities, and buy food. It has been a real struggle. All I know how to do is
to be a waitress. It’s hard work, but I have a reputation for being a good
waitress. With tips and salary I have just barely scraped by. All along my
girls were in school. I was able to work things around the couple hours between
the time they came home from school and the time I got home from work.
“Now
it is summer vacation for the girls. I have to do something fast, or I will
either lose my job or lose my girls. If you will be a sort of nanny for my
girls during their summer vacation, I will give you free room and board. Then
when they go back to school, you can start looking for a job. I’ll give you
free rent until you find a job, and then it will be $60/week from then on. That
may not be too attractive a deal, but it is the best I can do. You’ll have to
let me know soon.”
“When
do you want me to start?”
“Today? Tomorrow at the latest.”
“When
can I meet your girls?”
“They
went to a girl friend’s house. They should be home for lunch soon.”
“I’d
like to talk to them before I say ‘Yes’ for sure.”
“Fair
enough. Go into the living room and sit down and rest. I’ll be making our lunch
and they should be coming home soon.”
I
sat down on the couch in the living room, and had almost dozed off. I heard the
heavy front door bang shut, and two pair of feet running across the room
downstairs. As they ran up the stairs, I heard them both talking at once,
trying to get their mother’s attention. When they saw me, they both became
silent.
Maggie
came up from the kitchen.
“Girls,
I want you to meet Dolores O’Reilly. That will be Mrs. O’Reilly for you at all
times. Dolores, this is Karen. She is eleven years old. This is Kaitlynn. She
is eight years old. Karen, Kaitlynn, Mrs. O’Reilly is considering being your
nanny for the summer. She wants to talk to to you.”
“I
was once in your situation. I never knew my father. All my life I just had a
mother. She had to work hard to support the two of us. If I agree to be your
nanny, I want you to know that it won’t be as nice as it is being with your
mother. She knows your friends’ parents. If you ask to go to someone’s house,
she knows if it is safe, if they are people she can trust. I don’t know anyone
around here. When you go out, I will have to go with you. If you want to have
friends to visit you, no more than two visitors in the house at a time.
“You
will have to listen to me and obey me. I won’t always be right. I’ve never been
a mother. If you don’t obey me, I will have to tell your mother that I just
can’t do it. I know that you would rather have your mother with you all the
time, but that can’t be. Can you accept me as a substitute for the summer?”
“Yes,
ma’am, Mrs. O’Reilly,” they chorused.
They
all went into the kitchen. There were tuna fish sandwiches – a whole sandwich
for the adults, wth a cup of tea, a half sandwich for the two girls, with milk.
“You
may wonder why I only gave you a half sandwich, girls. Your Auntie Marushka
sent a bag of pastries for you. I know that you want to save room in your
tummies for one of those pastries.”
The
girls squealed with joy.
“If
you are willing to accept my offer, Dolores, I have to leave for work in the
morning at 5:30AM. If you could go back to the motel now, and bring your things
over here tonight, you can sleep on the couch in the living room until we can
get a bed and a dresser and a chair into one of those rooms downstairs.”
I
was dizzy from the swiftness that my life was changing. It was a job for the
summer. I could establish residence, open a bank account, get an identification
card until I could get a license. I could learn a lot more about Chicago, and
be better prepared for job hunting in the fall.
Could
I manage two active girls? I had never
had children of my own and I hadn’t been around children. This would certainly be
a learning experience for me.
I
asked Maggie for directions to the el. I took the train back to the Hostel, and
told the clerk that I was checking out early. He went back and spoke to the
manager.
“You
paid for seven nights, but you only stayed four nights. This is past the
check-out time for today. However, I think we can overlook that. Strip all the
dirty linen off your bed and the blanket. Put them all in a pile on the floor. Put
all the towels and wash cloths that you used on the floor in the bathroom. Come
back here in about an hour and I will have a check waiting for you at the desk
for the three nights.”
I
collected my suitcase from the baggage storage, and went to the dormitory to
strip the bed and pack my belonging into the suitcase. I threw the towel and washcloth on the
bathroom floor. I realized that I must buy my own towels, wash cloths, and soap
before going back to Maggie O’Toole’s house.
I
gathered up the newspaper, all the listings I had printed, and threw them away.
I kept the maps and directions to various places. In an hour I was standing at
the front desk with my suitcase packed. The clerk smiled and handed me a check
for $99. I tucked it into my handbag, and walked outside. I went to the variety
store and bought a pair of slippers, a bathrobe, a couple towels, a couple wash
cloths, a bar of soap, and some shampoo.
When
I arrived back at Maggie O’Toole’s, one of the girls came down to open the
front door for me. I put my suitcase and bags in the middle room, then went
upstairs. Maggie was making supper. She was making macaroni and cheese, and
warming a can of sweet peas. The girls were in the living room watching
television. I went into the kitchen.
“Is
there anything that I can do to help?”
“I
have it under control. This evening at 9:00PM the girls will know to turn off
the television. I will read the Bible to them, then we will each pray. You can
stay in there with us, or leave the room, whichever you want. Then the girls
have the bathroom until 9:30. Then I will go in and get cleaned up and ready
for bed. I try to be in bed by 10:00. I have to get up at 5:00AM and be out of
the house by 5:30.
“When
the girls get up, you make sure they are dressed, and have combed their hair
before breakfast. There is oatmeal or dried cereal for their breakfast. Make
sure they brush their teeth after each meal. After that, you are on your own. I’ll
probably be home by 4:00 PM. Give me your cell phone number, and if I have to
work later, I’ll call you. Be sure to keep it turned on, and carry it with you
in case I have to get in touch with you. I’ll give you my cell phone number. Don’t
call me unless it is an emergency. Don’t forget to charge your cell phone.”
After
supper, Maggie sat on the couch watching television with Karen on one side of
her, and Kaitlynn on the other side. I sat in a chair. At 9:00PM, Kaitlynn
stood up, and turned off the television. Karen went over to a stand, took the
Bible off the shelf on the bottom, and carried it to her mother. Maggie read
one of the parables of Jesus. She asked the girls what they thought the parable
meant. After a brief discussion, Maggie prayed. She asked for God’s help in
raising the girls, and asked His blessing on them. She asked for help at her
work. She thanked God for sending Dolores, and asked Him to bless her. Then
they all said the Lord’s Prayer.
While
the girls and then Maggie were in the bathroom, I went downstairs. I took one
of the towels and laid it on the floor. Then I put clean underwear, stockings,
shoes, and dress from the suitcase onto the towel ready for tomorrow. I
undressed, put the dirty clothes on another towel. I pulled on my night gown,
put on my new slippers and bathrobe. I carried the towel with the dirty clothes
upstairs. Maggie had turned the volume on the television low so that I could watch it
As
Maggie came out of the bathroom, she said to me,
“Don’t
forget to charge your cell phone ,and leave your cell phone number on the
kitchen table. I’ll leave my number there for you.”
“Okay.
And please write down the address of your house.”
I
looked in my pocketbook for the cell phone, the charger, and the paper on which
I had written my cell phone number. I copied the number and put it on the
kitchen table. Then I plugged the charger into a socket in the living room and
connected my cell phone to the charger.
I
took a long, soaking bath. Then I washed all the clothes I had worn that day in
the bathtub before I drained the water. Downstairs there was a rod, probably
sawn from an old broomstick, in the doorway between the two rooms. It was intended
for a curtain but I used it to hang my wet clothes to dry. Then I went back
upstairs, lay down on the couch, pulled a blanket over me, and went to sleep.
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