River Queen

Chapter 4

Jumping up from the table Giselle swore under her breath. She quickly walked outside and down the street in the direction of Kitty’s mansion. After walking for what seemed like several miles she could see it just a block away. You can do this, you can do this. She kept thinking to herself as she walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. This time when the door opened it wasn’t the maid before but a different woman who greeted her. “Bonjour(hello), I’m Giselle. I start a waitress job tonight…” she nervously explained. The woman smiled at her “Hola(hello), I’m Daniela. I’m not busy so Madame asked me to show you around.” She motioned for Giselle to follow her. Giselle looked her over as she followed behind through the hallway. Daniela looks slightly older than Giselle with long black hair and tan skin. They are the same height but with Daniela having a lot curvier frame than Giselle. She had on a black lace corset dress, her heels thudded against the wooden floor as she walked. Giselle suddenly very aware of the simple dress and shoes she was wearing. Daniela took her through the bar and kitchen, introducing her to some of the over workers. “Where’s Miss Kitty?” Giselle asked as they walked through the bar. Daniela raised an eyebrow, “Oh Madame? She’s always around…..this is Leon,” she pointed to the large man behind the bar that Giselle had seen before. “He is Madame’s brother,” she whispered to Giselle. She nodded in understanding. “If any of the men bother you let him know,” they continued on, “have you worked before?” she asked.

“Yes I’ve waitressed before…”

“Where?”

“On one of the steamboats.”

Daniela gave her an interesting look, “Your wages here will be different. Here you make a small flat rate and the rest is based on commission and tips.”

“What do you mean by commission?” Giselle questioned.

“The more men who buy drinks from you the more you earn. If any men take a particular interest in you then they may give you extra money to keep and that’s your tips. Do you have any other questions?”

“What are the rooms upstairs?” She was confident in what the answer was but wanted to hear it for herself.

Daniela gave a small laugh, “Those are some of the girl’s rooms. You don’t need to worry about that.”  The woman could see men starting to filing in and walk up to the bar. “This is where I leave you, good luck on your first day.” Daniela smiled and left Giselle standing with Leon behind the bar. The other waitresses started coming out of the kitchen and mingling with the guests.  Giselle instantly knew this job was going to take some getting used to when she saw how the other women were dressed. Many dressed similar to Daniela a few even had slits cut into their skirts up to their waists. You knew what you were getting into….she told herself. She now felt very plain compared to the others.

Leon gave her a gruff ‘hello’ and threw a towel onto her shoulder. “Merci (thank you), but what is this for?” she asked. “Spills.” He didn’t even glance at her when answering. Giselle wanted to protest and say that she is in fact a skilled waitress and doesn’t need this towel but thought better of it. The last thing she needed was to argue with the owner’s brother. She tried to put on a brave face and timidly walked out from behind the bar to try and mingle with the guests.  The room was filling quickly. A band started to play in the corner, some men sat and played card games while others just talked. She could feel the eyes on her as she walked through the crowd. She kept going up to groups of men and the same thing happening. She would be very polite, smile and ask if they needed a drink. Everyone wanted to know her name but kept saying no to the drinks. Giselle would then walk away and notice one of the other waitresses come up and call them all by name. They would then buy only from her.

This may be more difficult than I thought. She stood by the bar and watched the room. The other girls were ignoring the tables playing cards. This is my chance! Giselle practically ran to the tables to introduce herself. The first table was full of old men. She was close enough in ear shot to see one of them lean over to the table and mutter, “J’aimerais voir ce qu’il y a sous cette robe.” (I would like to see what’s under that dress). They laughed as she approached and in her best sing song voice she asked, “Bonjour messieurs!(Hello gentleman) Can I get you a drink?” The one who spoke became red in the face and nodded. Weather he was trying to make up for what he said or he actually wanted a drink Giselle didn’t care, she was just excited to finally have something to do. Others at the table ordered drinks also and when she turned to back to walk to the bar the table erupted with laughter. This interaction caught the attention of a table of younger men close by.  Giselle had four large steins of beer in her hands and as she walked past the table of younger men one of them reached out and slapped her backside. She yelped and jumped, dropping all the steins and beer to the floor. The room was so loud to begin with that only some turned to look and see what had happened. The ones who did burst out laughing.

She wasn’t sure which she wanted to do more, crawl into a hole or turn around and slap him across the face. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do either, instead she never looked up and threw the towel from her shoulder onto the floor.  Her face felt hot as she picked up the towel and the steins and walked back to the bar. Her eyes were on the floor when she almost ran into Leon who flung a dry towel over her shoulder and handed her four new steins of beer. She took a different path back to the table of old men. They were able to stifle their laughter by the time she had reached them. “Merci (thank you).” They said while handing her some coins that she shoved into the pocket of her dress.

There were other tables she attended to first before eventually going up to the group of younger men. The one that had slapped her took particular interest in watching her every time she passed by the table. He and the rest of the table couldn’t be much older than Giselle. He was blond and better dressed than the rest of the table. Even the way he smiled made him seem arrogant. “Finally!” he gestured as she walked up, “I was wondering when you would come around.” The others laughed as his eyes roamed all over Giselle. She put on a fake smile, “Bonjour messieur (hello sir)………”

“Will…” he interjected. “You can call me Will. And what can we call you?” That arrogant smile never left this face. “Giselle….” She gritted her teeth while keeping the fake smile, “can I interest you in a drink?” He leaned in close to her but spoke loud enough for the table to hear, “You can interest me in a lot of things…but yes I will have a drink.” He winked at her and his friends began to laugh. As she turned to walk away he grabbed her arm, “Giselle……I’ll get a round for the table.” Her face felt hot again as she nodded and jerked her arm away from him. She returned with several steins in hand. Once she reached the table she tripped but managed to save all of the beer except one. This one of course spilled onto Will’s lap. His friends started to laugh while Giselle tried to stifle a giggle. Serves him right, she thought. “Oh! I’m so sorry…”she said with slight sarcasm in her voice. But as she reached up to hand him the towel from her shoulder he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down to sit on his beer soaked lap. His lips were right next to her ear. “Don’t be sorry,” his hot breath on her neck, she could smell the alcohol on him, “I like it wet….” Giselle’s eyes widened and her face flushed as she jumped up away from him. He just smiled at her as his friends laughed and drank their beers.

She was about to walk away when he caught her arm again. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked. He placed some coins into her hand. “Merci (thank you)..” she said quickly shoving the coins into her pocket. She made notice while walking back to the bar that the other women didn’t seem phased by the looks men were giving them or the things they said to them. The women actually seemed to revel in it.  The saloon was winding down when two men entered and choose a table further away from everyone. They were both very well dressed, one seemed rather annoyed while the other very calm. Giselle was distracted with other tables and did not notice that the annoyed looking man had waved away every waitress that had come up to their table. Not knowing this when she did see that they didn’t have drinks she scurried over thinking she was beating others to the table. The annoyed looking man was olive skinned with dark hair and dark eyes while the other had brown hair, bright blue eyes and freckles. The annoyed man had his back to Giselle as she approached and the calmer one smiled at her. “Bonjour messieurs(hello gentleman) can I…..” she started to ask when she was cut off by the annoyed man. He scoffed, “Why did we come here Sean? I was under the impression we would be left alone…” he side eyed Giselle who was trying to keep a polite smile. The man Giselle now realized was called Sean gave a slight laugh and gestured toward Giselle, “Calm down Anthony. She’s just doing her job, trying to make money…” His eyes looked her up and down, but not in the creepy way that some of the other men had. He did it quickly trying to hide it, except that she had noticed and when their eyes met he cleared his throat, “I’m sorry what is your name?” “Giselle messieur(sir)….can I get you a drink?” she asked. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Giselle….I’m Sean and yes I would love a bottle of whiskey. Anthony…..do you want a drink?” Sean turned to Anthony who had seen this whole exchange and rolled his eyes at him. He huffed, “just bring the bottle and two glasses.”  She left the table with a genuine smile on her face. She went behind the bar and grabbed two glasses, “Leon I had a bottle of whiskey for a table.” He slid the bottle down the bar to her. As she walked back to their table she could see Sean had a newspaper out and was reading an article to Anthony. It was the Chicago Daily Tribune. “Did you see our man Lincoln was nominated to run for the republicans?” Sean asked Anthony laying the paper on the table between them. “Yes, I heard but haven’t read the article yet. Shouldn’t we be discussing this new business venue we came here for?” Although Anthony had met Sean many years ago while living in New Orleans the did not consider this city home and was particularly thrilled when Sean had asked him to come. “In a minute you have to hear what he said in his acceptance speech in Springfield. He says, ‘A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free .I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of s*****y will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South’” Sean sounded excited as he read. Anthony leaned forward in his seat while Sean had read and stared down at the paper. “That is an extraordinary speech. I pray he delivers on what he says,” Anthony was sincere. 

Giselle had returned with their glasses and placed one before each of them. The paper still lay between them and she skimmed the article while she opened the bottle and poured their glasses. Sean watched her, “Do you follow politics?” She grabbed the glass and took a long drink. “Oh no…….I can’t say that I ever have. Are you two from Chicago?” she asked trying to make polite conversation. “No,” Anthony grabbed his glass, “we are still in Illinois but much further south.” He took a drink of his whiskey. Giselle placed the bottle on the table. “So you’re here on business then?”  Sean nodded and folded up the newspaper. Before he could say anything Anthony commented, “Yes, business which we need to discuss,” he looked to Sean and then back to Giselle, “So……if you don’t mind…..” Giselle took the hint that they needed privacy and excused herself. Sean leaned back in his chair and watched her leave. “You didn’t have to be rude you know,” he told Anthony. Anthony pointed at Sean, “just because you think she’s pretty to look at doesn’t mean I want to entertain her. She did her job, that’s all I need.”

After making a few more rounds around the room Leon’s loud voice sounded over the bar. “LAST CALL! YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES!” Most of the men chugged the last of their drinks and started the leave the bar. The women where clearing the tables and getting their last tips as they left. Giselle had just finished clearing the old men’s table and collecting their tips when Will walked up behind her. She stiffened as he put his arm around her waist and pulled her back into him. “Giselle..” he whispered in her ear. His hot breath reeked of the alcohol he had been drinking. She turned away from him and broke his grip, “Yes messieur(sir) what can I help you with?” He looked down at her and closed the gap between them. Her eyes were now staring at his chin. He clucked his tongue at her, “I said you could call me Will remember?” Trying to hide her annoyance Giselle smiled and tried to sound overly sweet, “Yes Will, what can I help you with?” He grabbed her hand, “don’t forget your tip,” he closed her hand and kissed it, “I’ll be seeing you around.” He turned and walked away. “Quel fluage(what a creep)....” she thought she said low under her breath. She wiped the table down and suddenly heard laughing behind her. Sean was there holding the two glasses and whiskey bottle. He had seen the interaction and heard her. He was almost shaking from trying not to laugh too loud. “I’m sorry…..” he handed her the glasses and bottle, “ I just wanted to pay you. It was a pleasure to meet you.” Anthony gave Giselle a small nod and motioned for Sean to hurry up. He placed the money in her hand and quickly left. She took all the empty glasses into the kitchen to be washed. When she came back out she saw Daniela coming down the stairs toward her. “Hola! How was the first night?”

“Not horrible……….but also not exactly what I expected……..”

“Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll do great tomorrow.” Daniela reassured her, “Have a good night.” They parted ways as Giselle walked towards the front door. She opened the door and stepped out into the dark early morning. I hadn’t thought about walking home in the dark! She became worried as she walked down the stairs and started looking around to make sure she wasn’t being followed. “Giselle!” she heard someone yell and she turned to see Fredrick with a small carriage. “Oh Fredrick!” she couldn’t hide the relief in her voice. He held out his hand to help her up to the front seat next to him. “I was worried about you walking home from here alone and in the dark..” he snapped the reins and the horse turned towards home. “I hadn’t thought about it until now. I left the house earlier in such a hurry.” She admitted. “How did you do?” he asked. She pulled the money out of her pocket and began to count. She paused realizing that Sean had paid her double what everyone else had. “It’s much, only 9 dollars and some change..” she felt slightly defeated. Fredrick grunted, “don’t worry, it’s only your first night. The first of many steps.” She nodded in agreement and they rode in silence. As the house came into view Fredrick stopped the carriage, “It’s best if I let you off here so Ida doesn’t know I’m helping you.”  Giselle stepped down, “Thank you Fredrick, be careful.” He drove the carriage around to the back of the house as Giselle went up to the front door and knocked. Emma answered with a small smile and looking very tired. “She told me she wanted to see you when you got home,” Emma lead the way and Giselle followed her to Ida’s room. Emma knocked three times and Ida answered, “Come in!” When the girls entered Ida was laying in her bed, she threw the blankets back and came to stand in front of Giselle. “Took you long enough!” she complained. “Empty your pockets, how much did you bring?”

“I have 9 dollars and some change……..” Giselle took all the coins in her hand and opened them to Ida who had a look of disgust on her face. “That’s it?” she asked. She counted to make sure Giselle wasn’t lying and took five dollars from her. “Leave, both of you.” She waved her hands and slammed the door behind them when they stepped into the hallway.  “I need somewhere to hide this money or she may come take the rest,” Giselle worriedly told Emma. “Give it to me, I have an old jewelry box under my bed. She won’t think to look there.” Emma took what was left of Giselle’s money and put it in her pockets.

The hiss of the train and its loud whistle could be heard pulling into the station that same early morning. Sean and Anthony stood side by side in silence on the platform. Both deep in thought and feeling drowsy from the whiskey. They watched what few passengers there were exit the train. With the conductor close behind the last person he yelled onto the platform, “ALL ABOARD!” Neither man had a suitcase, so they easily squeezed past the conductor and onto the train. This trip to New Orleans had been both surprising and rushed. It wasn’t hard for them to find an empty train car at this time of night and quickly slumped into their seats. “Tickets please!” the conductor called when he entered the empty car. They each produced either tickets, the conductor nodded in thanks while punching them. He hummed as he walked out. “What are you thinking about?” Sean asked Anthony who had his head leaned back and his eyes closed. “I’m thinking about why we had to come down here in such a hurry….”

“You don’t think it’s a good business deal?” Sean cut him off.

“I didn’t say that. It’s a great deal. I just don’t see why Mrs. Sellers was set on us rushing down here. We couldn’t even sign papers today….” He sounded exhausted and agitated.

“I think she wanted to see if we were serious and if we had a better offer than the others. We will be back to sign the papers soon enough, but I don’t think that’s why you’re so agitated right now….” Sean c****d his eyebrow at Anthony waiting for a response.

Anthony opened his eyes and smirked at Sean. He leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees. “You know damn well why I’m agitated……and it’s not about having to spend more time in New Orleans.”

Sean also leaned forward now and in a deep voice said, “Oh I know why you’re agitated and that can be fixed when we get off this train.” He winked.