A Sicilian Farewell by MaryAnn Diorio

Author:MaryAnn Diorio
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TopNotch Press
Published: 2018-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Luca followed Will and Giulio into the large workshop. Except for Will’s personal office, the workshop occupied the entire fourth floor of the tenement house. There was one main room where workers did the cutting, the basting, and the sewing, each in a different section of the room. To the right of the main room was a supply room where the fabric was stored. On the opposite end was the pressing room where finished garments were pressed and hung for delivery to area department stores.

The room buzzed with the rhythmic whir of sewing machines, the loud rumble of rolling carts transporting large skeins of fabric across the worn wooden floors, and the light banter of friendly chatter and daily shop talk. Dirty light bulbs, attached to long, rusted chains, hung from the high ceilings over every workstation. Along the walls, open casement windows let in the brisk October air laden with the smell of diesel fuel from the nearby elevated train that stopped every half hour to deposit its passengers en route to and from Manhattan. The diesel smell mingled with the pungent fumes of the kerosene stove that sat in the far corner.

Luca coughed. Would he ever grow accustomed to city air?

From four floors below rose the shouts of vendors plying their wares amid the shouts of unruly little children playing in the streets.

Luca drew in a deep breath to help loosen the tight knot in his stomach. This was a far cry from his shop in Pisano. How would he fare here? Would he fare as well?

Would he fare at all?

Doubt niggled Luca’s soul. A doubt riddled with a sense of dread that he would one day regret taking this job.

Luca stopped short as Will halted at a long table where three workers sat in wooden chairs and skillfully operated their sewing machines. The fourth chair was empty.

Will pointed to the empty chair and then turned to Luca. “This is your workstation.”

All eyes turned toward Luca. One was a kind eye. One was a twinkling eye.

One was a seductive eye.

Luca tensed at the sight of a woman at his workstation. Here he would not be able to observe his old personal rule of not working with any woman other than his wife. But here, at least, he was not alone.

Will’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “You will report for duty here at exactly 7:00 am every morning, on time, and you will work here until exactly 7:00 pm every evening. You will sign in upon arriving and sign out upon departing. A bell will go off to alert you to the time. You will be allowed thirty minutes for lunch and two ten-minute breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. No violations of the rules will be permitted. If there is a violation, you will be punished severely, even, if necessary, to the point of losing your job. Each day you will have a quota of garments to sew, based on the demand. You will fulfill that quota each and every day.

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