When I got home from school I went straight to mom’s factory. Mom is preparing an order that needs to be delivered today. Marga was feeling sick, so I had to sit at the blindstitch machine and finish off some hems.
Patty was turning the belts inside out & as soon as I finish off these hems, the dresses go to Nancy. She trims off the excess threads that may be hanging and cleans the garment. From there Nancy will pass them off to dad for a steam ironing. Then Daniel will place them on a hanger & bag them.
We need to finish the last fifteen dresses and the order will be ready to go. The order is finalized by around 3:30 and Daniel needs to drive into the city – into Chinatown to deliver the order.
“No mom, I don’t have any homework! Can I go with Danny?” I lied to my mom so she can let me go.
We loaded up the bug and off we go. The car is so overloaded with garments that my seat on the passenger side is pushed so close to the front that my knees are hitting the dashboard.
We drive north on the New Jersey Turnpike. Get off on the Holland Tunnel Exit No 14 and cross into the City right before 5:45pm – right before they closed the receiving dock. This order was a test of 50 garments to see if mom would get the full order of 1000 garments. If we were to miss the deadline, she would not have gotten a chance at it, so luckily we made it in time. He goes upstairs to make the delivery, while I sit in the car keeping an eye on it.
Now we can drive back into New Jersey without a worry. Getting back in the car, we drive uptown and towards the Lincoln Tunnel.
“Daniel! where are we going?” I question.
“We have one more stop before we can go home.” Daniel tells me. “We need to drop off a sewing order to Sra. Garcia in West New York.”
I lay back – now that I have some leg room – and decide to take a nap. When I wake up, I hear Daniel playing some brand new songs from Billy Joel’s latest album, The Stranger. Sitting in traffic, we are enjoying the whole album
As we pull up to Sra. Garcia’s house, the song “Only the Good Die Young” comes on and I just realized why we drove north for an extra 1/2hr. This is where Maria lives!
There she is walking home in her Catholic School uniform. Daniel is so excited.
“Come out Virginia, don’t let me wait…”
“Pass me that bundle from the back seat!” Daniel asks me.
He puts the bundle on his lap and brushes his hair. I reach for the door handle & he stops me.
“No, I need you to wait here & keep an eye on the car.”
OK I guess I can use this time to actually get my homework done.
As Daniel goes into the house, I turn on the overhead light & the radio.
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I go back to listening as Billy Joel continue…
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I completed my homework & am still waiting. I’ve listened to the whole tape and its now repeating again.
Ice is forming on the windows, from the cold outside. Daniel is still not back and I’m starting to get pissed.
“They say there’s a heaven for those who will wait
Some say it’s better but I say it ain’t
I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
the sinners are much more fun…you know that only the good die young
that’s what i said
i tell ya
only the good die young…“
“What is taking so long. It’s freezing in here!” I yell out loud in frustration…
I coverup with some of the fabrics and doze off for a bit. Then I am awaken by Daniel banging on the glass! I freak out not realizing it’s him banging. He walks in with a smile on his face. It looks like he might have gotten a kiss from Maria – but he’s not talking.
“She’s a nice girl!” I can’t kiss & tell.” He replies as he pulls out into the street.
Its now 9pm and away we go! We are heading home having accomplished more then we had originally planned.
MY mom showed up with a container of ‘Mentol Chino‘ & a stack of newspapers. She rubs the mentol chino on his chest and on his back. She lays it on thick so that the newspaper will be able to stick to it.
My mother walks back in, this time with a thick wool blanket that we brought over from Ecuador. This blanket is made of Llama wool and is made by the local Indians. I have many memories of how it kept me warm during those cold winter nights in the Bronx. We used to have nights when the heat would not work & this blanket was the only thing that kept us from freezing our ass of. The whole family would sit under this blanket to stay warm & watch TV.