Kily and Branda walked the same route they had every morning and arrived at the money wagon with youthful enthusiasm. The girls signed for their bags and laughed as they made their way to their booths. Kily’s booth was on the side of the park that faced the street. All day long she had a view of the huge shopping center and its tiers and tiers of parking garages. Kily watched the tops of cars move along the tiers each day as shoppers wound their way up and then back down. Portland is an amazing city she thought to herself. There were always people doing something. On her first break, Kily found a quiet spot behind one of the rides and pulled the accumulation of money out of her pocket. "So much money" she thought. Kily wondered how much it would cost to rent a place of her own and thought she would have to find a way to ask someone without revealing her true plans. She picked at the hole that had developed in the knee of her pants and stuffed the money back into her pocket. "I wonder what a new pair of pants would cost?" she thought to herself. Branda had told her she was going to buy some new clothes today with her money and Kily wished she could do the same. "Well, why can’t I ?", she spoke out loud. "Because you want to rent your own place," she admonished. Kily argued with herself for a short time and then she knew, she would walk across the street to the center. Kily got up brushing the dust from her worn pants and made her way across the street.

Once inside the shopping center, Kily had a hard time deciding what she would do first. She stopped at the first shop and went inside. The shop was full of chocolates! Kily bought a bag of chocolate covered peanuts and happily munched on them as she went in and out of each of the stores. That day Kily bought herself some new pants, a new blouse, and a pair of moccasins. She paid for the items, then slipped into the women’s restroom, tore the tags off, and put the new clothes on! She felt truly wonderful. She had bought these clothes with money she had earned herself! She stared at her reflection for a few minutes more and hurried back to the park. She arrived just in time to retrieve her money bags and make it back to her booth before her break was over. She worked in her booth the rest of the day feeling as if she had transformed into someone pretty and she felt as if not only were her clothes new, but she had become a new person as well.

That night when Kily and Branda got home, the lights were still on, and they could hear people talking in the kitchen. Curiously, Branda and Kily entered the kitchen to see who it was. Branda let out a scream and jumped on the back of her brother! The two of them wrestled around, laughing and teasing each other, and Jacob came to an abrupt halt when he saw Kily standing there. "Well, well," he exclaimed, "and look at you!" Branda smiled widely, "Doesn’t she look great!" Jacob surveyed Kily with admiration. "You look beautiful, Kily," he told her. Branda yawned and said she was going to bed and Jacob held a chair out for Kily to take a seat. "I’ve missed you," he told Kily. "I have stayed away because I have been trying to give you your space, but I really have missed you". Kily smiled at him and thought how much she had missed the way they used to talk and laugh in the park before she had come to Portland. The two sat for a long time at the table talking. Kily explained that she and Branda had been working at the park, and told him all the wonderful things she had seen and experienced. Jacob smiled at her and laughed at some of the things she told him. "Well I see that my bed has been taken over by my sister," he told her. "I guess I’ll go make up the fold out couch". Jacob looked at her for a few minutes as if waiting for her to say something, and Kily simply told him she was tired as well. Jacob let out a sigh and Kily went up stairs. "He is really so nice," Kily thought, "I wish he hadn’t told those lies to his family". Kily sighed, lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

The summer days passed and the girls worked hard at the park. Each night Kily and Branda walked home laughing and giggling about different things that had happened during the day. Sometimes, Jacob would be at the house when they arrived and he and Kily would sit talking. Several times he tried to get Kily to give him money and once he became very angry when she would not. He slammed his fist on the table and yelled that she was being selfish, then reminded her that she was supposed to be his wife. Kily became angry as well and they argued until Kily finally gave him twenty dollars to make him leave her alone. When she had gotten up the next morning Jacob was gone and Kily felt relieved that she did not have to face him when Branda was awake to hear the words he spoke to her.

copyright 2006