In Grade 7 something hit Emileeeeee and hit her quite hard. She wanted to become a fashion designer. She wanted to design clothes, not for the masses, not for the people, but for only one person and one person alone. Well, it really wasn't a person; it was a doll. Yes a doll. Barbie. Barbie, you ask? Really??
YES, that Barbie. She wanted to run away to California and go to Mattel and work there forever. Forever, plain and simple. Mind you, she really did not care for Barbie. She thought her much like a Kitty Kat girl with her Kitty Kat blonde hair. She just liked her clothes. Yes, only her clothes. Her teeny tiny clothes that had a waist of 4 inches. Yes 4 inches. In her dreams that is what Emileeeeee wanted to have. A 4 inch waist. Well no, in reality Barbie would be 7'2". Yes, let me spell that out 7 feet 2 inches..That is some BIG girl. Big Girl indeed. Barbie's real life time measurements are a 40" bust, a 22" waist and 36" hips. Perfect Emileeeeee said, PERFECT. Yes, Just pefect.
That summer Emileeeeee and her sister had been "shipped out" to Washington outside of Seattle to stay with her grandparents as her mother had died and her father needed a summer alone. Yes, he needed the summer alone. In the years to come her father needed so much alone time it was not only for the summer but for most of the year. He was the king of alone time, the king of 'shipping out". The very next day after school ended they were put on a train that would travel over 3000 miles and would take five days. Their father gave the conductor five dollars and told him to keep an eye on Emileeeeee and Robin. Just like that. That was pretty cheap baby sitting for five days. What did it work out to? .22222 cents an hour. Now that was a deal! A huge'shipped out' deal!
So for five long days Emileeeeee and her sister Robin, age 8, rode the rails. They rode in the bathroom sized compartment, they rode the fold-out bed, they rode the diner car, they even rode the pint sized commode in their pint sized room. Sometimes for hours and hours on end. Emileeeeeee was sick and she was tired. Tired of the pint sized compartment, tired of the fold out bed, tired of the diner car and especially tired of the commode in their pint sized room.
When they finally arrived, her grandparents waved, they smiled, and they hugged. They looked like they were really happy to see them. Maybe they were and maybe they were not. Her step-grandmother thought Emileeeeee was too round and the minute she saw her said,
"No more food for you!"
Well maybe not "no more" but the words VERY LITTLE were used. Very little indeed. Emileeeeee did not like the sound of that. Very little = hungry and Emileeeeee did not want to be hungry. No not at all. Step-grandmother Winnie was very tough, too tough indeed. She yelled at them from the minute they got up until the minute they went to bed. And when they went to bed Emileeeee heard her yelling at her grandfather about them. Knowing Grampy, Emileeeeee figured he did not listen to her because he only cared about three things. His boxing, his ant farm, and his plaster of paris chalkware creations he made. He either hid in the basement or hid in the garage. He was good at hiding, very good indeed. One day he told Emileeeeee she had to learn to hide too. So one day after eating her approximately one half cup of Lucky Charms cereal, yes just one half cup, she told her sister they had to learn to hide. And hide they did indeed.
So Emileeeeeee and her sister Robin started to walk. They walked half way across the floating bridge,yes only half way because it was too scary. They walked to the park and, best of all, they walked to Dairy Queen. They liked that walk so much they went every day. Every day and every day without fail they would go to Dairy Queen in downtown Mercer Island. She would get a tall cone with lots of chocolate on it. Not one half cup, no way, no way indeed. A large luscious cold dreamy soft ice cream cone with lots of chocolate dribbles.
One day she and Robin were walking down the street and she saw a sign on a bulletin board that said, "FREE BARBIE AND CLOTHES FOR LONELY LITTLE GIRL."
She repeated it over and over. She was thirteen and a little old for Barbie, people would say, but her sister wasn't. No her sister was just the right age. No one would know Robin was only into cars and trucks. No way they would find out.
So without telling her grandparents, she called the number and proceeded to lay it on thick for the woman on the other line. She layed it on thick indeed.
She told her that their mother had just died and they were sent on a train ride alone for 5 days to Seattle. Yes, ALL ALONE. That their grandmother was not really their grandmother and didn't like The Beatles. In fact, she didnt like much of anything. She liked nothing at all. Anyway, Emileeeeee layed it on so thick the woman told her to come over and pick up Barbie and her wardrobe. And did she forget to mention Barbie had her own case? Her own case? Emileeeeee dropped her Dairy Queen cone. Dropped it indeed. Now that was a waste.
They decided to walk to the woman's home but they had no idea that it was in Eastgate. There was no way they could walk that far. No way no how. What to do? What to do?
After walking a mile down the street, they turned around and walked the mile back. They knew they had no choice. If Emileeeeeee wanted that Barbie and tote she was going to have to ask her grandparents. That was scary. Scary indeed.
So that night Emileeeeee was smiling and ate her half cups of food. She never even complained when Winnie cut them a piece of fresh German Chocolate Cake and the slice was no bigger than a whisper. In fact, a whisper was bigger than that slice of cake. Way bigger.
Emileeeeee did the dishes. She did them quietly and did them fast. All of a sudden she spilled grape juice on her step-grandmothers tea towel.
"Oh no", she shrieked.
They would never be able to get Barbie now. It was dark outside,very very dark, what to do, what to do. So Emileeeeee squeezed the wet now purple cloth into a ball and opened the back door. She looked, she thought and she tossed hard and it fell into the bottom of the prickly raspberry bushes. Lost forever, she thought. Who is going to go in there?
So Winnie, after having a few too many glasses of wine after dinner, agreed they could go pick up Barbie and her belongings. Naturally, she yelled at her and Robin and yelled at her grandfather and yelled all the way in the car. She never stopped yelling the whole darn trip.
The lady that had Barbie was super. She was just so darn nice. She even had the original box that Barbie came in. Emileeeeeee had no idea that day that had she kept that doll and that box to this day, well...Let's just say she wouldn't be writing stories right now.
So when they came home Emileeeeee went to her room. She went to her room fast. She tried everything on Barbie while Robin played with her tow truck. For the rest of the 'shipped out' time, she made dresses for Barbie. Lots of dresses and pants. She sewed them with precision...wait..wait...wait..She glued and taped them as that was to be forever her sewing fate.
Her grandmother nevered bothered her again as she was out of sight and out of mind. The day before they were to go back home Emileeeeee packed her Barbie carefully,she packed it with great care. She was almost out of here, yes almost out of there, until...
Her grandfather was yelling, yelling a lot. He was in the back yard and Emily went into great shock. For there was her grandfather; he was shaking his fists and standing quite tall. And in one hand, yes, one hand in the air, was the dish towel that Emileeeee had tossed out weeks ago in the bushes. He wanted to know who had thrown it there and when they had done it. She kept her eyes closed not wanting to see the purple stained towel.It must be atrocious!
Finally she opened her eyes and peered out the window. The towel was not purple nor not even stained. For the dirt and the rain had made it clean. Cleaner that it could ever be. She looked at Barbie and Barbie looked at her. They smiled.
They were finally leaving. Leaving for good, let's hope. They would ride the train for five days in the bathroom sized compartment,in the fold out bed, in the diner car, and have to use the pint size commode in their pint size room. For hours and hours on end.
"But who cares," Emileeeeeee said. She had Barbie and Barbie had her and one day she WOULD be Barbie. That was not a promise, she would try to be like Barbie until she was dead. Stone cold dead.
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