I’ll Drive You Home…

It’s going to be another long night at the factory. Today two ladies called in sick & the other two could not stay and work overtime.

My mother is a bit upset because she needs to finish this order! We have over 300 garments that need to be completed this weekend and some more that are still on the cutting table and have not even been counted yet!

Marga is feeling sick today. She was throwing up and today is not a good pregnant day for her. Daniel is out making deliveries and I’ve been at this machine since 3:00, when I got out of school. Marga starts complaining “mom, I’m not feeling well & I think I’m gonna go home.” Sure enough Marga goes to the bathroom & throws up again.

“Go home and lay down, hopefully that would help.” my mother tells her.

Marga heads out the door & a few minutes later comes back in. “What happened?” mom asks.

“I can’t even fit behind the steering wheel to drive myself home!” Marga replies.

“Well there is nobody here to drive you home!” Mom suggests “Can you stay & lay down on the sofa?”

“No mom, I am really sick & need to go home.” Marga replies.

Photo © 2010 Susie of Arabia

Photo © 2010 Susie of Arabia

Well, I’m sitting here listening to the whole conversation. In my 14 year old head everything is possible & I come up with this bright idea!

“I’ll drive you home!”

See I can’t stand being in the factory & sewing all evening is not what I want for myself tonight. So I will do whatever it takes to get out of here!

“But you don’t even have a license” Marga replies.

“so what! I’ve watch Danny drive the bug. I’m sure I can do it! It’s only three blocks anyway & you can’t very well walk home in your condition.”

See this was a good argument & I think I got both Mom & Marga convinced. Marga did not have a comeback. So off we go! I put it into gear & let go of the clutch. Bam! the car jerks as it stalls. Again I turn it on and Marga instructs me to let go of the clutch slowly. I drove down the street at 10MPH – the car hopping and tires chirping, but I’m heading out.

I don’t think I even made it up into third gear, but we were on our way.

I can see our street from here, so how much trouble can I get into in three short blocks. Sure enough, I turn onto Dawson St & head down towards our house in the middle of the street. I took the turn a little too quick & by this point I’m up to 20MPH.

“slow down, the driveway is coming up…” Marga tells me. We reach the middle of the block. I slow down & start to turn into our driveway. I step on the break and…

And nothing!!! – the car isn’t stopping!!!

“Stop the car!” Marga yells

“I’m trying & nothing is happening! What do I do!!!”

Again Marga yells “Stop the caaaaar!” We are heading right towards the chain link fence & I can see what is next…

My life flashed before my eyes! I don’t want to think about it, but I get the image of the bug parked on top of mom’s garden, the car with it’s ass sticking out of the front wall of the house.

I don’t think mom is gonna like this mess! I closed my eyes, braced for impact and prayed for the best.

Suddenly, I hear the car screech to a halt! In an instant, Marga reaches for the emergency break & yanked it – 1″ from the edge of the fence!!!

PHEW! that was close. We look at each other with this face of amazement. Marga face is pale white & she starts doing her Lamaze breathing technique & me shitting in my pants in total disbelief.

We laughed so hard that my gut was hurting till the next day.

We never spoke of this to mom or anybody, but once in a while mom yells at Danny for the “wild skid marks on the driveway.” She smacks him in the head while he counters with “Mom, I didn’t do that!”

Anyway the secret is out now! and I’m sure glad I learned that, when stopping apply pressure to the clutch as well…

Otherwise you will hit the fence!

VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rate this post!
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

1 Comment

psolis, April 4th 2010 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Family, Uncategorized

Catholic Girls Start Much Too Late

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.

BlindStitch Machine
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.

I lied to my mom. Telling her that I did not have homework to do so that she can let me go with Daniel. 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.

I go back to listening as Billy Joel continue…
You Catholic girls start much too late…

But sooner or later it comes down to fate.

I might as well be the one…”

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
thats what i said
i tell ya
only the good die young…”

“What is taking so long. It’s freezing in here!” I think to myself. 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.

VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rate this post!
Rating: 4.3/5 (3 votes cast)

4 Comments

psolis, November 14th 2008 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Family

Ships Passing in the Night

Ladies at the factory, sewing My whole world consists of three city block – which exists, like an island in a sea of chaos. My friends are all from the block, from our own territory. Once in a while we would encounter an island-hopping stranger from a different neighborhood. This was always a search for friends or foes. We would size each other up, walk circles and then just sail away, like ships passing in the dark of night, back to our own neighborhood.

This was the extent of our encounters. We dare not venture off outside of our territory. Once in a while, I would take a risk and venture to another part of town. Maybe it was to see what I was missing or just being adventurous, but it was usually for a valid reason. I would go to the novelty shop or to the public library. I would test the waters and if my parents find out, they would be very upset.

My parents are very strict. Dinner is served at six and we have to be at the table no matter what. Sunset on Fridays is the same – at the house, in the living room before the sun kisses the horizon. Are they strict because of the SDA religion; strict because they are just protecting us from the savagery of the gang-ridden streets; or because of their fears? Whatever the reason, they just do not want us to be outside.

Mother kept us busy. Inventing tasks, games & constantly giving us chores to do. Anything to keep us busy. It was specially tough during the summer months when there was no way to prevent us from hitting the streets. My mother was always worried about our safety – so much so that whenever school lets out she worried even more.

So now for winter break, she got my 13-year old brother a job in Manhattan. He loves to take things apart and then puts them back together again. He would boast that he would make the machines more efficient and that the parts leftover were… Um, just redundant. He was proud that he has eliminated excess. He got very proficient at solving problems, that he would work in the basement, fixing all my mother’s sewing machines.

What better way to keep him busy and give him a trade, while keeping him out of trouble. My mother asked for a favor from her boss down at the factory. He agreed to allow my brother to go to work with my mother. Today, two sewing machines broke down and the repair guy was not around. My brother jumps in, tinkers on the machines and actually fixed it – no spare parts!

My brother did such a good job fixing the machines, that the boss actually told my mother that he has a job on his days off from school. And he promised that for the summers a position would be open for him.

VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rate this post!
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

No Comments

psolis, December 20th 2005 | Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized