Page 29 of The High Tide Club
The biggest mirror they had at home at Oyster Bluff was the one on the bureau in Daddy’s room. She’d snuck in there, before leaving for the party, and tilted the mirror just the right way so she could admire how the shoes looked.
Everybody said she was small for her age. She had light skin and good hair, which her auntie said came from her mama’s people, who were from away and part Indian. Her brothers called her Skinnystick, and her daddy was always saying she needed “some meat on her bones,” because she was not built like the rest of the Shaddixes. Just this year, her bosoms had started to come in, and Auntie gave her a brassiere, which she’d bought from the Sears Roebuck store in Jacksonville, and which was Varina’s most treasured possession, if you didn’t count her white leatherette Bible.
Looking in the mirror at herself, Varina thought she looked real fine. She had no stockings, but she’d used some lotion Ruth had given her on her legs, and they looked smooth and silky, like the models in the fashion magazines.
She wrapped up the new shoes in a flour sack and carried them on the walk to Shellhaven. After she got to the house, she used the flour sack to wipe her feet off, then put the shoes on and reported to work.
Mrs. Dorris, the white boss lady, took one look at Varina and pitched a fit.
“Girl, what do you think you are doing sashaying in here in that fancy dressand silly shoes? You ain’t getting paid to look pretty, and you sure can’t work like that.”
Varina’s face fell. “I can wear an apron so it won’t get all messed up.”
“No, ma’am,” Mrs. Dorris said. She rummaged around in the broom closet until she found one of her own faded cotton housedresses hanging from a nail and tossed it to Varina. “Go put this on, and be quick about it.” A moment later, she managed a rare smile. “But first, go find Miss Josephine and her friends so they can see how nice you look. And then you get your tail back in here and start washing those dishes.”
Varina had run up the back stairway and managed to catch Josephine just as she and Ruth were walking out of Josephine’s bedroom heading toward the guest bedroom where Millie was staying for the week of the engagement party.
“Look here, Jo,” Ruth had said, when she caught sight of Varina. “It’s a fairy princess!”
“Oh, Varina!” Josephine had exclaimed. “Turn around. Let me see!”
The soles of the shoes were slippery, so Varina did a slow pirouette, her arms poked stiffly out from her sides.
“You look so pretty,” Ruth said, touching the sleeve of the silk dress. “Jo, this color is perfect for her. And what a cute figure you have too.” She caught Varina’s hand in hers. “Come on, let’s show Millie how beautiful you look for her party.”
Varina glanced at the grandfather clock in the hallway. “I have to get back downstairs. Mrs. Dorris needs me.”
“If Dorris fusses, you just tell her I needed you upstairs for a few minutes,” Josephine said.
Josephine rapped lightly on Millie’s door. “Come on out, bride-to-be,” she called gaily. “We have a surprise for you.”
Millie opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Her blond hair was tied up in soft rag curlers, and she still wore a bathrobe. There were dark circles under her eyes, but when she caught sight of Varina, her face lit up with a smile.
“Who is this gorgeous creature?” Millie asked.
“It’s me,” Varina said, suddenly shy.
“And I’m furious at her, because she is much prettier than all three of us put together,” Josephine teased. “No boy at this party will want to dance with us after they see Varina.”
Varina blushed furiously. “Y’all know I can’t really come to the party. Mrs. Dorris only let me come upstairs to see y’all for a minute. She says I got to get back and change out of this dress and shoes so I can work.”
“Well, I think I’m just going to sneak you downstairs and into the ballroom for a few minutes so that Papa and Gardiner can see how nice you look,” Josephine said.
“Oh no,” Varina said quickly.
“Varina’s right, Jo,” Ruth said. “We don’t want to get her in trouble.”
Millie gave the girl a quick hug. “Go on back downstairs, then, Cinderella. Before your coach turns into a pumpkin.”
“Huh?” Varina gave her a puzzled look.
“Don’t tell me you never read the fairy tale about Cinderella and her wicked stepsisters,” Ruth said. “With the pumpkin that turned into a coach?”
“And the rats that turned into coachmen, or were they footmen?” Millie asked.
Varina looked from one of the girls to the other. “Are y’all my wicked stepsisters?”
The girls all laughed.
