River Queen

Chapter 3

The next morning after breakfast Giselle was allowed to bathe for the first time in days. The hot water felt amazing. Least amazing was trying to work the knots out of her hair which had become very tangled. She braided her hair and  dressed in a blue linen dress that Ida had thrown into her room that morning. There was a knock at the door. Emma came in, “I was told to come see if you were ready.”    “Do we have any idea what this job might be?” Giselle crossed the room and came to stand in front of her. “I overheard her telling someone that it should be such an easy job that anyone can do it………I think she was insinuating that she thinks you are stupid but could easily do this job.” Emma stared at the floor. Giselle tried not to lose her cool. If she was going to get away from here she had to play her cards right. “It’s alright Emma,” she put her hand on her shoulder, “I’ve lived and worked on a boat my whole life. How hard could this job possibly be?”

Giselle followed Emma down the stairs where Ida was waiting at the door. “Finally,” she huffed. She walked outside to a waiting open air carriage. “How far away is this job?” Giselle asked climbing up into the carriage. Ida motioned to the driver and the carriage jolted to a start. “It’s not far…….I just don’t feel like walking,” Ida answered her sounding annoyed. Giselle chose not to look at her aunt the entire ride to the ‘job’. Instead she watched all of the shops opening and the streets filling up. She said it’s not far, but I think we are clear across town now! Giselle thought to herself. They stopped just blocks from the train station. From the outside the place looked like a large mansion. It was two stories with a large porch in front. When looking at it from the side you could see that it was much longer than a normal house. The mansion was painted a dark red color with yellow accents. Giselle followed Ida up the stairs. Ida knocked and then an older maid opened the door. “We’re here to see Kitty LaBelle,” Ida said.

 Giselle watched the maid eye the two of them shrewdly. “Yes, she’s expecting you. Follow me,” she walked into the mansion and they followed. The entryway was large with a big wooden staircase that went up to the second floor. To the right was a large sitting room with tables and chairs. They followed her down a narrow hallway that opened up into a large saloon. The bar was on the far side with a door to the kitchen off to the left. There was another staircase to the left of the door they walked through that again lead to the second floor. There was a big man standing behind the bar cleaning and a woman cleaning tables in the saloon. They didn’t look to be much older than Ida. The woman had blonde hair hanging loose around her face and bright red lipstick. “Ma’am they are here to see you,” the maid pointed behind her to Ida and Giselle. The women who Giselle now realized was Kitty LaBelle waved the maid away and come over to them. She held her hand out to Ida, “You’re Ida I presume?” Both Kitty and Ida had a look of distaste about each other. “Yes,” Ida shook her hand, “I called about my niece.” She grabbed Giselle’s arm and pulled her in front to face Kitty. “Hello,” she gave Giselle a small smile and walked around eyeing her. Giselle was completely unsure of what to do. Once Kitty stopped in front of her again, she held out her hand, “Bonjour(hello), my name is Giselle.” She was trying to appear confident; she had no idea what this job was but she needed the money, and she was willing to do just about anything to get it. Kitty’s smile grew bigger, “Oh une belle français fille(Oh a nice French girl).” She shook Giselle’s hand.

Kitty’s smile vanished as she turned to Ida, “Unfortunately I do not have any maid positions open, however I do have a waitress job available.” Ida hesitated unsure if this job would pay more, the more Giselle made, the more she could take. Before Ida could answer Giselle piped up, “I’ll take it!” Both women looked at her surprised by her enthusiasm. Giselle was very excited, she had waitressed on the boat and could easily do this job.  Kitty turned to her, “Great! You will start tomorrow night. Come early.” She lead them back out to the front door. On the way out Giselle could see a small table by the door she hadn’t noticed before, it had small blue books on it. Before she could reach for one she was pushed out the door by Ida. “Au revoir(goodybye), see you tomorrow!” Kitty closed the door behind them. Giselle couldn’t help but be excited about the job and earning her own money. Ida on the other hand was only slightly pleased about Giselle’s job. She had no idea how much Giselle would make, the more money the better, for Ida anyway. The carriage jolted again as they took the ride back to Ida’s house. After returning back to the house they ate lunch together in silence. Giselle had assumed that getting this job would have made Ida happy, but then again nothing other than Estel had ever seemed to make her happy. Ida finished and got up from the chair, “I will be back tonight.” She headed towards the door. “Where are you going?” Giselle asked. “It doesn’t concern you….yet,” Ida showed no emotion and slammed the door behind her.

Giselle grabbed their empty plates and took them into the kitchen. “Bonjour!” she called opening the door. “Miss! You don’t have to do that!” Fredrick scolded and took the plates form her. “It’s not a problem Fredrick.” Giselle put her hands on her hips, “I’m not helpless you know, and Ida just left. She didn’t say where she was going.”

Fredrick turned to her, “I’m sorry I know that you aren’t helpless it’s just our job.” Then Emma walked in to eat her lunch. “Miss! How did the job go? What is it?” she grabbed Giselle’s hand and pulled her to sit next to her. “You can all call me Giselle, you don’t have to call me miss if Ida isn’t around.” Emma nodded her head in understanding. “She took me to this mansion across town, it was close to the train station. It had a saloon in the back and we met a lady there named Kitty LaBelle.” Giselle explained. Emma’s eyes grew wide, “You have no idea where you were do you?”  “Well, no. I’d never been there before. Anyway, Kitty and Ida definitely don’t like each other from what I was seeing. She offered a waitress job instead of a maid and I said I would take it before Ida could answer.”  Emma sighed, “why did you do that?” Giselle felt a little annoyed by Emma’s questions. “Because! I have waitressed for years on the boat I know exactly what I’m doing, and you know that I need the money. I wasn’t going to let that job slip by me.”

“Yes….and what did Kitty and Ida say?” Emma asked while eating her lunch. “Well, Ida didn’t say anything actually.” This still confused Giselle, “but Kitty seemed very happy about it.”  “Did Kitty do or say anything else?” Emma prodded. Giselle was now started to get even more annoyed, “She just told me I would start tomorrow night and to come early, then she let us out the door. She seemed happy that I am French. She did walk around me when I introduced myself.” Emma continued, “What did this mansion look like?”  “Why are you asking me all these questions? Does it really matter who this woman is or where the job is?” Emma stopped eating and stared at Giselle, “yes depending on your views it can matter who she is and where the job is.”  “What do you mean by that?” Giselle asked.

“Kitty’s LaBelle’s mansion is across town by the train station. It is attached to a saloon, the mansion is red in color with yellow accents. Does this sound right?” Emma laid out the facts. “Yes that is right, but what does it matter?” Giselle was becoming worried now by Emma’s tone. “Because Kitty LaBelle’s mansion is called ‘The Sunrise Bordello and Saloon’. In other words it’s a brothel with a saloon attached. Some women wouldn’t want to work in a place like that. Kitty looked you over because you’re young, pretty and French which might attract customers.”

“Oh….” Giselle now realized what Emma was trying to say all along. She had never been anywhere near a brothel and had no idea what to expect now that she’d be working at one. “Did I just agree to be a p********e?!” Giselle almost yelled.  “No! No, a waitress is different but they will be there also. Do you think you can handle that?” Emma tried reassuring her. Giselle rung her hands in her lap, “I have to. What other choice is there? I have to make this work.”  Emma smiled at her, “I’m sure it be easy for you. You’ll just have to adjust to the people you are going to be around.” Giselle nodded, she said goodbye to them and went up to her room. She thought back to anytime she’d heard women gossip on the boat about brothels in their towns. Not surprisingly none of the women had nice things to say. All she heard was about how disgusting the buildings and the prostitutes were. How immoral they must be knowing that some of those men are married. Some of this must strictly be gossip though, Giselle thought to herself. Because Kitty’s mansion was beautiful and clean. She decided she just wouldn’t talk to the other women and just do her job. How could someone just have s*x with a random stranger? Didn’t they feel dirty or remorseful? Giselle knew she shouldn’t judge others but she had so many questions.

She needed to keep her mind off of things and went to find Emma. She only found Fredrick in the kitchen. “Fredrick can I help you with anything? I need something to do to occupy my mind.” He reluctantly agreed to let her help clean the kitchen and prepare for dinner. They sent word out to everyone in the house to keep an eye out for Ida. This way Giselle could run back to her room when she came back. While Giselle chopped vegetables for dinner she asked, “Fredrick can I ask you a question? It’s a bit taboo, you don’t have to answer it.”  He never stopped working but did give her a confused look. “Alright, what is it?” Unsure of how to say it nicely she just blurted out, “Why would a man, especially a married man, go to a brothel?” She blushed from asking him this question and would not meet his gaze. She had thought about asking this to Emma but if the question was about men she felt that she’d get a better answer from a man. Fredrick continued to work he was doing his best to not make her feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask him. “Had your parents talked to you about………relations between married couples?” he asked.  “No…they unfortunately never got the chance.” She sighed. Her mother and Alvita had spoken to the girls about their own bodies but never about what happens to men’s bodies or s*x. “I’m very sorry about your parents….” Fredrick was trying to find the right words.  “You don’t have to answer…….” Giselle said again.

He was now glad they weren’t facing each other, that would make this conversation more difficult. “I want to start by saying that what happens between men and women is natural and nothing to be ashamed of, it’s something everyone does. But, some people….. are not happy in their marriages…… for a variety of different reasons…and….that is why they would choose to go to a brothel…..to have…….certain…needs met.” He realized he had been holding this breath and exhaled. She worked in silence, contemplating his words. She would like to have asked more but would wait until a another time. “Thank you…” she told  him while throwing the vegetables in a pot. She could see he was red in the face and didn’t want to meet her gaze.

She went looking for Emma and found her cleaning the bedrooms. “Can I help? I need something to do.”  “You’re all done helping Fredrick?” Emma asked and handed her a broom. “Well…..yes…..I think I may have embarrassed him….”  Emma laughed, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him embarrassed, what happened?” “I asked him a question……” she hesitated. Emma stopped and gave her a look. “I asked him why married men would go to a brothel…….” She concentrated on the broom and wouldn’t look up at Emma. Emma started laughing even harder, “I wish I could of seen his face! Why did you ask that?” Her eyes were about to water from laughing so hard. Giselle’s face turned red, “I wanted to know!” she protested. “And I thought it made more since to ask a man about men.”  Emma calmed down and wiped her eyes, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of and you’re right it makes since to ask a man questions about men.” Giselle then made a small laugh, “his face did turn red, but he did answer me.” Emma motioned for her to go on. “He said that some people are unhappy in their marriages and go there to have ‘certain’ needs met.” Giselle swept the dirt into a pan and tossed it into a waste bin. “He definitely isn’t wrong. I’ve met some of those women and I would go insane if I had to be married to them!” They moved to another room. “Why do you say that?” Giselle asked.  Emma scoffed, “because some of them are sooo needy and whiney. Worse than children! Others think nothing is ever good enough for them. Some never seem to stop talking! I’d go insane.” Giselle pointed out, “I don’t think that’s what Fredrick meant about men’s ‘certain’ needs.”  Emma narrowed her eyes at her, “I know fully what he meant Giselle. I’m sure most of those women only sleep with their husbands so they can have children, and some don’t at all! That’s what he means by ‘needs’.”  Emma went back to cleaning, Giselle swept. “How much do you know about…….it?” Giselle asked. “Do you mean s*x? You can say the word Giselle, and I’d wager I now a lot more than you.”

“You’ve had………sex?!” Giselle had never said the word out loud before to anyone other than Zurie. “Yes Giselle but don’t yell!! The whole neighborhood doesn’t need to know that!”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I didn’t think you were married.”

“I’m not.” Emma snapped at her. Giselle stopped sweeping and looked at her confused.

“Then…..how?”

Emma sighed and sounded slightly annoyed, “It’s not illegal to have s*x before marriage. It’s just socially taboo according to the upper class. They are all a bunch of hypocrites because nearly all of them have had s*x before their marriages and some continue to do so outside their marriages.”  

“We were never told about that,” she explained to Emma, “I only know a little because I accidently caught a couple having s*x while on the boat.” She remembered going in to clean the couple’s room and when she opened the door she had gasped and closed it quickly. Before she closed the door however she could see the two of them naked, the man was on top of his wife. He had one of her legs up in the air and her arms were wrapped around his back. She had run to tell Zurie what she’d seen, her face was red from embarrassment and Zurie had laughed. “Serves them right for getting caught, the doors have locks!” Zurie laughed. Giselle had seen the couple later at dinner and avoided their eyes.  Emma looked at her with sympathy, “I’m sorry about what has happened to your family. You’ve already now realized that life isn’t all about true love, rainbows and sunshine. Life isn’t fair or prim and proper like others would have us believe.” Before Giselle could say anything else she heard someone yell from downstairs that Ida was back. She threw the broom into Emma’s hands and ran towards her bedroom.

Giselle stayed in her room until she was called down to dinner. Ida was already seated at the table, once Giselle sat down their food was brought out. After several bites she worked up the courage to ask her, “So, Aunt Ida, where did you go this afternoon?” She waited in silence and began to wonder if Ida was going to answer her. “As you know I’ve said I would try and find you a husband.” Giselle held her breath. Ida continued, “I went to see Eugenia Mercer today. She has a brother who is widowed and she is writing to him to see if he would be interested. His name is Obadiah Mercer and he owns a large tobacco plantation in North Carolina.” Giselle tried not to panic. She didn’t want to meet anyone especially someone who she guaranteed owned slaves. She hoped that it would be some time before she might have to meet this man. She finished her dinner in silence and waited for Ida to leave the table. Once she had went upstairs Giselle put her head in her heads. Emma came in behind her and put an arm around her. “Are you alright?” she asked.  “Did you hear what she said?” Emma came around and sat next to her, “Yes I heard.”  Giselle raised up and looked at Emma. “This job has to work.”

Giselle didn’t go down for breakfast the next morning. She was too nervous about her new job to eat. Emma came in and convinced her to at least try and eat at lunch time. Giselle washed and dressed before coming downstairs. Ida was already at the table and barely made notice of Giselle walking into the room. She reluctantly nibbled at her food. “Don’t forget to leave early today…..” Ida’s voice breaking the silence almost made Giselle jump. “…..and don’t expect to use my carriage either…” Ida stood from the table and walked out.