A Second Chance

By Dawn Natelle

A long delay in getting this one out. I promise the next one won’t be an entire week away: Dawn

TUESDAY, May 24, 2016

Maria was up ahead of Rachael. While she was working at the café, Rachael and Bobby used the sole bathroom in the house first. Now that her shift at the bakery started earlier, Maria went in first while the kids slept, although she often heard Rachael moving around as she dressed for work. Bobby, on the other hand, practically had to be pulled out of bed. Luckily Rachael looked after that task, as well as making him breakfast and getting him on his bus.

As usual Rachael came downstairs just in time to give her mother a kiss and hug before she walked to work. The front door of the bakery would be locked until 9 a.m., but Maria went to the back door and found Geoff baking. He had been working since 11 p.m., and had a great deal baked already, and the smells coming from the ovens said that more was on the way. Geoff looked up at the clock, and grimaced. It was 7:40.

“How is it that you don’t know when 8 a.m. is?” her boss said with a smile. “I’m putting you down for a 7:30 start today.”

“But that isn’t fair, it is only 20 minutes early,” Maria mock protested.

“Yes, but you came in 15 minutes early on Saturday,” Geoff said.

“Do you want some help out here, or should I get ahead in the front,” Maria asked. She had grown to learn a lot about baking in the few weeks she was here. She now knew the difference between the proofer and the ovens (the proofer is where yeast-based goods rise, or prove). She could roll buns or bread and was able to use the deep fryer, used for doughnuts. Some other machines were beyond her ability. The sheeter/molder was beyond her understanding. It rolled the blocks of bread dough into loaves, and later in the day would be used to roll out thin sheets of dough for Danish pastry or the bakery’s delicious croissants, which were now sold in more than a half dozen local cafés and restaurants. As well, she could not match Geoff in weighing dough. Each loaf was weighed, and he could do about one every other second, often getting the weight perfectly when he cut off a loaf from the dough pile, and if not, knowing exactly how big a piece to add or subtract to make the weight balance. Maria had tried weighing once, and it took her up to 15 seconds to make a loaf, often with eight or nine cuts.

“Bread is ready for the proofer. This is the third batch of Love bread, and there is a second batch of white to come as soon as that is out of the oven,” Geoff said, wheeling the molder over. It was set up for making loves, and a lump of weighed and bench-risen dough would be tossed in one end. The bread would be flattened from its bench rise, and then shaped by the molder first into a long flat oval, and then a mesh chain thing at the end would roll the oval into a loaf, ready to toss into the pan. With Maria there, she could place the molded loaves into the pans, which were actually four loaf pans welded together. If Geoff was doing it alone, he would toss four loaves into the molder, and then go to pan the bread. It was more than twice as fast with two people. A double batch of bread was 48 loaves, the capacity of one oven, or the proofer.

Bread at the bakery was triple raised: once in the mixer, once on the bench after weighing, and finally in the proofer. This resulted in the springy fresh dough that made the bakery’s fresh dough so popular.

“Have you thought about hiring some help back here so you don’t have such ridiculous hours,” Maria asked as she worked. Yesterday evening they discussed it and Rachael had a Ron-memory of a bakery where high school students worked for a few hours before school on Thursday and Friday, and then a full day on Saturday.

“That might work. I went over the books last night, while the first bread was rising, and found that we can afford some more hours. Not enough for a full experienced baker, which is what we really need. But a couple boys, is possible.”

“You should do it,” Maria said. “You need to stop working so much.”

Geoff laughed. “When I started this place the problem was no sales. Now I have the sales, and the problem is no staff. I also considered getting another girl to help you out front. Mom really should retire entirely, or at most just work lunch hours. If I had another clerk, you could help me back here a lot. I could even have you come in earlier, like 6 a.m., and then the other girl could finish up the end of the day.”

After the bread was in the proofer, and Maria had rolled some of the bun dough into small balls that Geoff would later shape into Parkerhouse, cloverleaf, or dinner rolls, all of which used the same dough, she went to the front.

There she spent an hour setting up the shop. Many items just needed to be placed on the shelves, but there was a lot to do in prep. She had to slice the bread, of course, and that was a job she would be doing all day, as Geoff baked off more batches.

But there were a lot of tasks in finishing the product. Icing was a major one, because you can’t ice when customers are in to be waited on, so Maria liked to get all the iced products done before 9. She also had to arrange her cash float and get the cash register warmed up. It was an older machine Geoff had bought second hand, and it took about 10 minutes to power up, which was a major pain when there was a power outage during the day.

Soon everything was ready. Mrs. Barron no longer came in until 11, when Maria would take a quick break and make Geoff and herself sandwiches, and then go back and make sure he ate. As the workload increased, Geoff had stopped eating lunch, and Maria made it her mission to see he got fed, even if she had to follow him around with his sandwich and make sure he got a bite as he was moving from task to task.

There was the usual rush at 9. There were often three or four customers lined up to get the freshest selection, and she was busy until after 10. Then, during a short lull, she was amazed to see Carol Stanislaw enter the shop. She had worked with Carol at the café until a few years ago, when Carol went on maternity leave.

“Carol,” Maria said gleefully. “So happy so see you.” Then she noticed the glum look on her old friend’s face. “What is wrong?”

“Well, I got called in at the café after you left,” Carol said. “The place really went downhill after they fired you. I tried to help, but everyone said they missed you, and a lot of them started going other places. Callie made some stupid rules too. Like telling the coffee klatch that used to come in that they could only stay for a half hour. I mean, the place was empty without them, and they just stopped coming. There were about 20 of them, and they each spent a couple bucks each during the off times. That was $80 a day between morning and afternoon, six days a week.”

Maria nodded as her friend continued. “Then they did some really dumb things, like stopping orders from here. Callie bought doughnuts and cookies from the grocery store, and bragged at how much cheaper they were. Well people won’t pay a dollar for a packaged doughnut when you can buy a dozen for that price. And since they didn’t sell, they got stale. I bet after the long weekend they are as hard as a rock. And she will still keep selling them.”

“So this morning I went in for my shift, and Callie told me they were letting me go. There isn’t enough business to keep two waitresses. Because I just started a week ago, I don’t get any severance or benefits. I put the baby in daycare for this, and she loves it. Now I’m going to have to take her out again. My salary barely covered the costs, since tips at the café dried up with the crappy food and crappy service.”

“Wait right here,” Maria said. “If anyone comes in, tell them I’ll be back in a second.”

When Maria returned, there were two customers waiting, and Maria asked her friend to wait. Once Maria caught up, she called Carol to come behind the counter. “Your uniform matches mine, so welcome to your new job as junior clerk for the Bread Baron Bakery. You start today, if you want. Minimum wage, and no tips to speak of, but a great boss and a fun working environment. Are you in?”

“Are you serious?” Carol asked, a shocked look on her face.

“Yes. I talked to the boss in the back, and recommended you as a hard worker,” Maria said. “That was enough for him. He was looking for someone anyhow. Now this cash register is a bit finicky. Never, ever turn it off until the day is over …”

* * *

When Rachael got to school, the morning was devoted to working on the project. Mikki had brought in the portable Mac, and for two periods the four girls worked on stitching the scenes they had shot yesterday together. Then they were in what was the history class, and were able to show Mr. Churchill what they had so far. He was flabbergasted, to say the least. Then when they described their plans for the rest of the film, he agreed that they should work until they finished, even if it took all summer. He would mark them with an A for the project in the current state.

“We still hope to finish it by the deadline,” Rachael said. “But it is nice to know that we can continue to polish it up after. I want to show it to the Legion members, and others might want to watch it too.”

Talk at lunch continued to be primarily about the project, and it seemed that the other students, with the exception of one group, were progressing nicely, although none seemed to be as far along as the girls. Neal showed them some of the drawings that he was working on for his group’s animated look at cheese-making in Ingersoll. He was drawing the key frames, and the other boys, including Robert, were doing the in-between cells on the computer. Rachael was amazed at how well Robert could draw. He confided to her that he hadn’t known he had the talent, but in working with Neal, he was getting better and better. He couldn’t draw freehand from just an idea, but he was getting quite good at copying Neal’s work, and making the minor changes that was needed to animate the scene.

Their animation was only going to total five minutes of their film in two spots, but this meant over 5000 cells needed to be drawn. Luckily Robert and Neal both had computers at home to work on. The other boys only could work in class. Neal took about 15 minutes to draw a keyframe, and he could do an in-between in five minutes. Robert took 10 minutes to do an inbetween, while the other boys were closer to 15 minutes. Apparently they had already finished the first 1000 cels, and were working well on the second.

Afternoon was French and Science, so boring for Rachael. At the end of the day, she had to check in at the bakery on the way home to see what the plan was for the night. As the girls walked to the bakery, Marc enthusiastically said they were putting the ice in at the nearby arena, in preparation for the hockey school in July. It would be in on June 24, the week before school let out and public skating was available.

“Can we go skating, Rachael?” Bobby said with his puppy dog eyes.

“I don’t think so, Tiger,” she said. “Skates are very expensive, and I don’t think they rent them out. It is like a hundred dollars a pair, or more.”

“Okay,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. Rachael fell in love with the little boy all over again. No grumbles, no complaints: he just accepted that skating was something only rich kids could do.

“Wait a second,” Mikki said. “Kyle has lots of old skates at home. I bet that one of them would fit Bobby. He could borrow them, and perhaps Kyle will sell him a pair cheap if he likes it. I’ll ask him about it. But what about you, Rachael? One of Kyle’s pairs would probably fit you, but I can’t see you wanting to wear boy’s hockey skates.”

“They are hockey skates?” Bobby started to get excited. He knew that the hockey camp was out of the question, but the fact that he might be able to try out hockey skates thrilled him.

“Yes, but you won’t be playing hockey in them,” Rachael explained. “Boys usually wear hockey skates for just skating, and most girls wear figure skates, which are white, with a little pick at the toe for doing twirls and such. But some girls play hockey, and I’d borrow an old pair of Kyle’s if they fit.”

“Cool. I will check with him,” Mikki said as they arrived at the bakery. The others continued home, while Rachael and Bobby pulled in to the bakeshop. Rachael was surprised to see another woman working the counter. Had something happened?

“My mother told us to meet her here,” Rachael told the clerk. Just then Maria popped in from the back. “Hi Mom.”

“Hi kids,” Maria said. “You have met Carol? She is another refugee from Joe’s café and will be working here from now. Bobby, will you go back and ask Geoff if you can sit in your fort on the flour sacks? Rachael, will you mind watching the shop with Carol? There shouldn’t be many customers at this time: we have sold out of a lot of stuff already. Cookies, pies, a few pastries are all that are left. Bread sold out an hour ago, and your Love bread was gone an hour before that. Geoff and I are going out so I can write my beginner’s permit.”

Soon after they were gone Rachael and Carol were alone in the front of the shop. “How do you like it here,” Rachael asked.

“It is wonderful. And a lifesaver. I got fired on the spot this morning when I went in for work, just after getting daycare set up for my new baby. I came in here just to tell Maria about it, because I worked with her before my mat. leave. And they hired me on the spot. Geoff is so nice, compared to Joe. Always smiling. They make a lovely couple.”

“You see it too?” Rachael said. “Everybody in the world can see that they are perfect for each other, except for themselves. I don’t know what it is going to take for Geoff to smarten up and ask her out?”

“You mean they aren’t dating?” Carol said in amazement. “They act like a married couple.”

“Nope. Although Geoff is always looking for ways to see her, but not as official dates. Tonight he is taking us to the mall to look at bicycle helmets for Bobby. And he gives her driving lessons. But no real, honest dates yet. Not that I haven’t been pushing as much as a kid can. Geoff would be a real dad to Bobby and me. Bobby especially needs a man in his life.”

They chatted for a while, and Rachael popped back to check on Bobby occasionally. He was living his imagination out on the piles of flour. Once it was a fort, but another time it was an airplane over the battlefield, and another time it was the deck of a battleship. She even thought she could tell once when it was a space ship. But every time she had popped back to check on him, she was the enemy, and would be shot by her brother defending his fort/plane/ship. She smiled at his imagination.

Maria and Geoff arrived back about a half hour before closing time, and Maria excitedly showed off her new learner’s driving permit. Rachael suggested that she and Bobby head home to start supper, but Maria said that Geoff had volunteered to take them to the mall, in a trade off for another supper at Maria’s. So Rachael helped with close-up, and they were off to the mall soon after 6.

“Carol, do you need an advance or anything?” Geoff asked, as the new clerk was about to leave. “Maria says you are working out really well, and we need the help. We know that it can mean special expenses when you start a new job. So I’m willing to give an advance of up to $100, if you need it.”

Carol stood stock still, looking stunned. “No, thank you. I can’t believe you offered though. I mean I haven’t even worked enough hours for $100. This is the best place I’ve ever worked. You are so kind, and generous, and it is so nice giving people such wonderful goods. I’m not a single mom like Maria, so money isn’t so tight with us, but … thanks for asking. What time tomorrow?”

“Nine will be fine, since I want to keep you until 6 again the rest of this week,” Maria said. “Eventually I want to have you able to close the store. As you probably noticed, afternoons are slower, and I want to be to start work earlier to help Geoff out,”

After Carol left the other four were in the bakery van, which had a bench front seat to allow Geoff to deliver cakes and such. Rachael sat in the middle, while Bobby sat on Maria’s lap.

“This is illegal,” Maria said as Geoff drove to the mall, showing off the knowledge from her driver’s test.

“Well, we could put Bobby into one of the sacks in the back,” Geoff joked.

“Yes,” the boy shouted. “I want to ride in the sacks.”

“You will stay where you are,” Maria said. “Although on the way home, you might have to wear your new helmet.”

They stopped in the local mall, which had fewer than 100 stores, unlike bigger malls in London or Kitchener. There was a nice Italian family restaurant just off from the food court and Geoff led the group in.

“Such a nice familia,” the proprietor said as he seated them, and Geoff reddened at again being mistaken as the father of the kids. He didn’t correct the man, though.

The meal was wonderful. Rachael had manicotti, while Geoff and Maria both had the lasagna. Bobby stuck to his old stand-by, spaghetti, and said it was good, but Rachael’s was better. Rachael tried a bite of it, and found the sauce a bit spicier than hers. Like most youngsters, he tended to prefer what he was used to. Her bite of Maria’s lasagna was an eye-opener though. It was exquisite, and she decided on the spot to learn how to make lasagna. She wondered if Mrs. Dasilva had any tricks she could share.

As they exited the restaurant, Rachael saw JJ Jackson in the mall, and called out to him and waved. After introducing him to Geoff, the young farmer asked Maria if he could borrow Rachael for the evening. He admitted to needing a woman’s help in choosing a ring for a certain someone. Maria immediately agreed, and he promised to have Rachael home before 10.

Rachael and JJ then went into one of the jewelry stores in the mall, and started looking at the rings.

“You will be wanting a diamond then,” Rachael said, assuming that the ring was for Ruby.

“Yes, but is can’t be a diamond,” JJ said. “She’d throw it in my face. She has this thing about diamonds. Blood diamonds, she calls them: on account of the near slavery that the diamond companies keep their workers in over in Africa.”

“Are you sure?” Rachael said. She had never heard of a woman not dreaming of a diamond from her man. She would have to search blood-diamond the next time she got to a computer.

“Definitely. She likes emeralds and sapphires, or rubies, of course. I really want to stay away from rubies though. I got her one as a friendship ring years ago and I want this to be something special.”

“Can I help you?” a well-dressed woman in a gray suit asked.

“Yes, we are looking for an engagement ring,” JJ said.

“Oh, congratulations,” the woman said, clearly thinking that Rachael would be the bride.

“Oh it isn’t for me,” Rachael clarified. “I’m just 13. I’m dating his younger brother, so he asked me for advice.”

“Oh, I see,” she turned to JJ. “Good idea, seeking a woman’s touch. Now what is your monthly income?”

“My what?” JJ asked.

“Your monthly income,” the woman said with a smile. “It is expected that a groom will pay the equivalent of three months income on a diamond.”

“I am a farmer,” JJ said proudly. “We don’t have incomes. What is three times zero? And besides, I don’t want a diamond. We were thinking sapphire or emerald.”

“No diamond?” the woman sneered. “You do love this woman, don’t you? A diamond is the best way to express your love.”

JJ was just about at his limit with this saleswoman’s condescending attitude. “Come on Rachael, I don’t think this store will have anything we like.”

Out in the mall JJ cooled down. “When she suggested I don’t love Ruby because I won’t buy her an expensive diamond I almost lost it,” JJ said. “Do we try another shop here in the mall?”

“I doubt we’ll do any better,” Rachael said. “These women are all on commission, no doubt, and will do anything to push you into an expensive purchase. I wonder if the little jewelry store downtown would be any better. Probably the salesman there is the owner.”

“Good idea,” JJ said. “We’ll have to let Steve and Peter know. They are in the arcade, I think, and will probably stay there until we get back.”

“Oooh, I wanted to talk to them anyway,” Rachael said.

In the arcade the twins were happy to keep playing while JJ took Rachael downtown.

“I have a favor to ask,” Rachael said. “My mom’s boss is looking for a high school student to come in for a couple hours in the morning, before school, to help with the baking. I wondered if you guys knew of anyone who might be interested.”

“I’d do it,” Steve laughed. “But dad would kill me. But all those free baked goodies …”

“And I’d get all your chores,” Peter said. “No way.”

“I know you guys can’t do it,” Rachael said. “But do you know of anyone who would like to make a few bucks?”

“Doug Northland,” Peter said.

“Yeah, Dougie would do it,” Steve agreed. “Most kids give up their paper routes when they get into high school, but Doug still does a morning route, and a couple weekly ones. And he cuts grass in the summer, and shovels snow in winter.”

“By hand. With a shovel,” Peter said with a shudder. Rachael had seen the big tractor attachment at the farm, and realized that was how the twins cleared snow at the farm.

Rachael got some contact information, and then left the twins to their games as she and JJ headed downtown. Ingersoll is small, so it was less than a five-minute drive from the mall to downtown, and they were able to park right in front of Perlon’s, a jewelry store that had been there for the past 100 years.

As they got to the door they saw the sign reading “Closed” and were about to leave when an elderly man came to the door, clearly going home.

“Sir, can you help us with a ring,” JJ asked.

The man looked startled, until he saw Rachael. Jewel thieves seldom have 13-year-old girls in their gang.

“I’m sorry son,” he apologized. “I’ve locked everything up, and the alarm will go off if we go into the store. Can you come back another day?”

“If we have to. Or if I have to. Rachael won’t be able to come during the day.”

“Perhaps if we buy you a coffee we can pick your brain a bit,” Rachael said. “You make custom jewelry, don’t you?” On the drive downtown she had come up with an idea.

“The best in southern Ontario,” the man said. “I guess I can handle a coffee. There is a nice little café just down the street a bit.”

After they had ordered, Rachael started by pointing out that she was not the bride, so that confusion didn’t recur. And then JJ pointed out Ruby’s dislike for diamonds.

“Well, we could do a Canadian diamond. Polar bear diamonds are especially popular, and we do have a few of them unmounted in the store. These are mined in the North West Territories, and there is a polar bear logo engraved into the diamond itself. You can’t get them anymore, due to some trademark issue, but we have a half dozen of various sizes in stock.”

“No, she is pretty set against diamonds,” JJ said.

“I have an idea,” Rachael said. “JJ here runs a dairy farm, and Ruby, his girlfriend, is in a beef farming family. What about making a ring out of a horn or hoof of a cow?”

“What a great idea.” JJ enthused. “It would be special to us, not to everyone who wants to see a big diamond on her finger.”

“Well, there would be a few problems with a bone ring,” the Jeweller said. “For one thing, rings need to grow. As your beloved ages, her finger size may change. With a metal ring it is easy for me, or another jeweler, to extend the ring. Bone can’t be stretched. And bone isn’t made for ‘forever’ jewelry. You might want to have a granddaughter use grandma’s ring, but bone will only last about 40 years. That is more than enough time for some marriages, but if you expect yours to last longer, bone is not going to cut it. Plus to have sufficient strength, a bone ring would have to be quite thick. Not at all feminine.”

“This marriage will last for a long time,” JJ said with a dreamy look on his face. “I love the idea of having grandchildren with her.”

“But maybe we can make the idea work,” Mr. Perlon said. He started sketching on a napkin with his pen. We could make a shield of bone, and put some acceptable stones on it. The problem of resizing would be gone, since the shield will be on a gold or silver ring base. And if the bone ever did deteriorate, which would be less likely with only an inlay, and not a complete ring, it would be a repair, not a replacement.”

Rachael borrowed the pen and made her own sketch. Instead of a shield, she just drew a rectangle with two circles at either end. Then she drew an infinity symbol around the two gems.

“So this won’t be one bone, but two: one from a dairy cow, and another from a beef cow. They are joined together, the way your marriage will join together the two families. Then the stones: one a sapphire, because you have amazing blue eyes, JJ.”

“I do?” he asked.

“You do. Your brother has the same, and trust me, I’ve looked into them a lot. And Ruby has the most amazing green eyes. So the stones represent the two of you. And finally, the infinity symbol means forever, which is how long this marriage will last.”

“I should hire you to design rings,” the jeweler said. “That is a wonderful, meaningful design. It would work well in either gold or silver.”

“Probably silver,” JJ said. “I am guessing it won’t cost three months salary.”

“Heavens no,” Mr. Perlon laughed. “I’m guessing you were at the mall. You wouldn’t believe how many people I get who have been there, and then are surprised at how nice a diamond they can get here for a reasonable price. It is the love in the relationship that is important, not the size of a chunk of carbon.”

JJ made an appointment to come in and discuss the matter in more detail with the jeweler tomorrow, and then drove Rachael home well before 9 p.m., allowing JJ time to get to the mall and pick up his brothers before it closed.

Rachael got in to find Bobby wearing his new helmet as he darted around the house, pretending he was on a motorcycle. It was a very nice helmet, with a Batman logo on either side, and another on the top.

“That is pretty smooth, Tiger,” Rachael said.

“Geoff bought it for me. Momma was going to buy me a cheaper one, but he picked this one out, and it was just so beautiful,” Bobby chattered. “I was going to say no, because I knew it had to cost too much, and then Geoff said he would buy it for me as an early birthday present. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“It sure is Tiger, but it is past your bedtime, so go and take your bath. Maybe tomorrow Gary will have finished your bike.”

“He will. He said he will,” Bobby said, varooming up the stairs to the bathroom.

Rachael made a phone call, telling Doug Northland about the possible job with the bakery, and then went upstairs to read to her brother. He came out of the bathroom, wearing a dripping helmet.

“Bobby, you didn’t wear your helmet in the bath, did you?” she cried.

“Yes. The man in the store said it was waterproof. It is.”

“That’s for when it rains. Not the bathtub. No more helmet in the bathtub.”

They settled down to read, and when Bobby fell asleep, Rachael went to her room.

Dear Lord

Thank you for another wonderful day. Our film is coming along nicely, and the boys’ cartoon will mean we don’t embarrass the rest of the class. Geoff and momma are getting closer and closer. He didn’t want to disappoint Bobby with a cheap no-brand helmet. That is definite Dad material. And JJ and Ruby are going to get married, it seems. I wish I could be there when he gives her that ring, and explains it to her.

Bless everyone, and let me know if I am doing well.

Amen

As she lay back, she got that familiar tingle that either meant ‘message received’ or ‘good job.’ She still wasn’t sure which.