The Cotton Mill

Chapter 3-2

“If you girls are good in the grocery store, mind me, and don’t beg for anything, when we finish, we’ll have lunch at the snack bar.”

The girls smiled broadly, and turning to each other both said, “We promise.”

They had always dreamed of eating here.

Leah then took the girls’ hands, one on each side of her, and walked around the corner toward the grocery store at the end of the block. Just as they started past the Belk’s store, Leah felt Josie’s hand pull back as the girl jerked away. She had stopped to look into the display windows. There hung a beautiful red wool full-length girl’s coats.

“I guess it’s too late to tell Santa I’ve changed my mind,” Josie said, looking up at her mother.

Leah looked at the coats in the window. She then glanced down at the girls’ patched two-year old coats. Each was at least a year too small. She looked at the price tags on the coats. The $16 figure had been marked through, and below the word Christmas special was a new price, written in red of $11.

“Yes honey,” the mother said in a low pained voice. “I think it’s too late.”

Once they entered the store the girls turned loose of Leah’s hand and raced to choose the buggy, although each cart looked the same. Their mother thought this would be ok; maybe their luck would be better than hers. She always picked the buggy that either one of the wheels had gone on strike and refused to turn, or one in which one wheel would always want to be zigging while the other three were zagging.

A new grocery store, named Krogers, had recently opened at the edge of town. Leah loved the cute little icon that Piggly-Wiggly used, and wondered what kind of logo Krogers would have. People had told Leah the prices were better at the new store, but she knew where everything was in Piggly-Wiggly, they cashed both payroll checks without argument, and they also gave S & H Green Stamps. Leah felt in another three months, she’d have enough books of stamps to buy a new bedspread and curtains for the girls’ bedroom.

Momma Campbell began her routine, starting in the produce section. She stopped and after evaluating price with quality, selected a 5-lb bag of oranges, 10-pound bag of potatoes, and a bag of assorted nuts. She looked at the nut crackers priced at 95 cents, but decided that the hammer and pliers would work fine. She continued with some apples and bananas for the girls to eat during the Christmas break. She then continued to the baking section. The girls really began getting excited as she took various baking items off the shelf.

“What’s that for?” Lisa asked as Leah took down the Hershey’s Cocoa.

“That’s for the homemade fudge,” she answered.

“What are you going to do with that,” Josie asked.

“It’s to make caramel apples and popcorn with,” Leah answered, determined to remain patient.

Going down the vegetable aisle, she added cans of corn and green beans. She made a mental note that this year she was going to ask Mr. Wall if they could have a section of the back field plowed and plant a garden. There’s nothing like fresh vegetables all summer, then being able to open jars of your own vegetables all winter.

The buggy was half filled by the time they got to the meat and dairy. She picked up a dozen eggs then, remembering all the baking, picked up a second dozen. She didn’t need to worry about the milk. Mr. Pearman delivered a gallon jar of fresh milk every Saturday. She knew there was still about a quart left that morning, so that would be enough, even with the additional baking. She then looked at the meat freezer. She took a pack of bologna, luncheon meat, and cheese for her and Colin’s lunches the next week.

Her thoughts then turned to Christmas Dinner. She wanted this year to be better than any previous ones. The chickens looked good but, for a third of the cost, she could get one from the Harrison’s next door. They didn’t need a ham because they still had a ham, a shoulder, and canned tenderloin from butchering the hog the month before.

She then looked at the turkeys. She remembered the delicious turkeys her mother used to fix for Thanksgiving. Even though it hadn’t been killed today, these were fresh and she was sure it would taste delicious. She felt guilty that she had never fixed a Thanksgiving dinner for the girls. She decided that it would be perfect to have a turkey for this Christmas, but then begin fixing a turkey every Thanksgiving for the whole family. She liked this idea and could see in the future the day that they would have a huge table, and seated around it would be children, sons-in-law, and maybe even a daughter-in-law (as she rubbed her growing belly), and lots of grandchildren!

“That’s the biggest chicken I’ve ever seen,” Lisa said as she watched her mom drop the big bird into the buggy.

As they turned down the next isle, Lisa immediately saw the stacked shelves of candies. She quickly ran up to bags of gum-drops and shouted, “Momma, Momma, please will you…”

Josie quickly ran to Lisa, and placed her hand over her younger sister’s mouth and whispered, “No! Don’t ask for anything, or momma won’t take us to eat at the snack counter.”

Lisa dropped her head and returned, pouting, to the buggy. Momma Campbell teasingly walked by the gum drops, as if she did not see them and then smiling, backed up and took a bag from the shelf. She added to it a bag of hard candy and a box of peppermint sticks. Then, while the girls weren’t looking, she quickly hid two boxes of special Life-Savers into the cart. Each box was festively decorated with Christmas wreaths and trees that opened up like a book. Each side had a row of five rolls of the round candy.

Leah looked at the dinner rolls, thinking how good they’d be with the turkey, and then saw the price. No, I can cook biscuits, they’ll taste fine.

Just as they were ready to check out, the girls stopped and without saying anything, looked longingly at the sodas. The girls usually got a bottle of pop every two weeks, on the parent’s payday. They had never seen so many different types. Their mother looked at their longing eyes. She reached down, picked up a 6-pack carton of RC Cola. The girls smiled. She then picked up a mixed carton of Orange Crush and Cheerwine. The smile erupted into gleeful, handclapping laughter.

At the checkout, while the girls were distracted, Leah quickly slipped the two boxes of Life-Savers from beneath the pile and handed them to the clerk, and whispered, “Please put these in a bag separate.” The clerk smiled knowingly and stealthily did so.

“Do you want to unload the buggy?” Leah asked, as she turned to the girls.

They quickly ran to the front and began placing the items on the counter, amazed at the clerk as she quickly and deftly checked the price with one hand and punched the numbers into the machine with the other. The girls loved hearing the ching as each item was rung up.

“That will be $23.45 please,” the clerk reported.

Leah reached into her pocket and pulled the stack of bills that Mr. Wall had given her the night before. Ten five-dollar bills. Five dollars, the cost of a half-gallon of crystal clear, but 80% alcohol moonshine. She remembered how crisp the bills were that she receives from cashing their payroll at Piggly-Wiggly. Each was so new and clean. Each of these bills though had its own character. Some had creases where they had been folded and placed neatly into a wallet. Others were wrinkled where they had hurriedly been buried into a shirt or pants’ pocket. Most were soiled by hands that had worked on cars, or by hands that had worked the tobacco fields twelve hours a day, or by the sweat of the cotton mill workers.

She handed five of the bills to the clerk. The clerk counted out, “$23.50, $23.75, $24.00, and one makes $25.”

As Leah took the change, she noticed a jar on the counter. On it was a hand-written sign that read; Donations for the Grimm family. House burnt yesterday. Four children. All presents gone.

Leah placed the nickel and two quarters in the jar. She opened her purse, starting to put the dollar bill in, but then added the dollar bill to the jar also.

By this time the bags had been packed. The young teenage boy, with a stained white shirt and thin tie four inches longer than his belt-line, looked up shyly.

“I’d be happy to take these to the car for you Miz Campbell,” he said.

“That’s ok, we’ll take them.” Leah said, wondering how he knew her name.

“Well, thank you, and have a Merry Christmas.”

As Josie walked by, pushing the grocery-loaded buggy, the young boy smiled bigger than ever and said with an especially “sugar-plum sweet” voice, “Merry Christmas, Josie.”

Leah looked back in time to see Josie, blushing, but smiling a huge smile, stopping the cart long enough to whisper, “Merry Christmas, Leon.” She then quickly rushed off with the buggy before her mom could comment.

After pushing the buggy the to the car, Momma Campbell unlocked the trunk. She moved the tire, jack, and various items to the side. Since the girls were usually not along and there were fewer bags, they were usually placed into the back seat. She carefully braced the upright bags with the two cartons of pop. Closing the trunk, Leah teasingly started around to the driver’s side of the car.

“Ok girls, hop in and let’s head home.”

Josie started to whimper. Lisa, more daring, shouted pleadingly, “But mom, we were good, we didn’t ask for anything.” Josie then angrily looked at her younger sister, fearing her mom had heard her younger sister start to ask for the gumdrops.

“Oh, was I about to forget something?” the mother asked innocently.

“Yes,” the girls answered in unison.

“Ok, let’s go get a booth, then” Leah said, as they entered the drugstore, not wanting to risk the girls spinning off of one of the stools. “Find us a good one.”

The girls rushed to the first open booth. Within a minute a young boy approached the table, wearing a white apron and a white cloth cap covering his red hair.

“May I take your order please?”

“Well girls, what do you want?”

Lisa answered first. “I want a hotdog, and… french fries. And can I have a chocolate milk shake, please momma, can I have a chocolate milk shake?”

“Yeah, you can. Do you want the same Josie?”

“No ma’am. I want a hamburger, with mater and lettuce, and mayonnaise, french fries, and a strawberry shake.”

“Ok, and what would you like ma’am?” the young boy asked.

Leah looked at the menu, and did a quick calculation.

Hamburger. $0.45

Hotdog $0.25

2 fries $0.50

2 shakes $0.90

That’s … $2.00

She remembered the car needed gas, so that was another dollar.

She smiled at the young man and answered. “Oh, I’m not hungry; just bring me a glass of water please.”

“Yes ma’am, thank you ma’am,” he said as he stuck the pencil back behind his ear.

As he walked away, Leah looked at him and said in a low voice, “You know, he’s cute, but not as cute as that Leon over at Piggly Wiggly.”

Lisa began chanting, “Josie and Leon settin’ in a tree, K, I, S––.”

Josie hit her young sister. “Shut up or I’ll tell momma about what you said to Randy Jackson on the school yard last week.” Lisa quickly lowered her head and got quiet.

“Hmm, well, I’m sure Santa heard what she said,” the mother replied, then added, “Oh, I forgot something I need to get at Piggly-Wiggly. I’ll be right back; you can go ahead and start to eat when he brings it.”

Ten minutes later the young boy returned with the hotdog, hamburger, french fries, ice water and milkshakes. Lisa pushed the strawberry shake over to her sister, and grabbed the chocolate, almost spilling part of it.

A few minutes later, the girls looked out in time to see their mother walk to the back of the car and unlock the trunk. Instead of the brown paper bags with the funny looking pig on them, she carried two bags, with handles, that had a Christmas scene. On each bag was a huge B that even Lisa recognized from her alphabet. There was more writing, but the B was the only writing big enough to read. Momma Campbell put the bags into the trunk and closed it. She came back into the drugstore and sat down in the booth.