by Rod Lee
“You don’t realize what all I do in a photo shoot, it’s not just fun and games.” She had told them once.
“It isn’t work either.” Her father had commented.
“It is work dad.” She had told him.
“Flouncing around like a little harpy in skimpy outfits for the guys to see is not work.” He had come back.
Her mom had added, “You know some of these photos make you look like a whore.”
Kitty had been deeply hurt by the words. She had never once slept with a man, so how could she be a whore? Even to this day she was as pure as the day she had been born. But she realized her parents thought of her life differently.
Kitty had tried to explain at that point she was still a virgin. But the looks she had gotten from them had let her know they didn’t believe a single word of it.
“Only whores would flaunt their body as much as you do and hope to get paid.” Her mother had finally said, shutting her up for the rest of the night.
That night had been two years ago and since that time she hadn’t visited them once. She called them occasionally to see how they were doing but besides that she had avoided any contact with them.
Maybe she would be lucky and they would never find out about her injuries. She hoped this would be the case, the last thing she wanted right now were her parents visiting and telling her she had waste all this time. Now that she was hurt she could finally really work, and stop flaunting her body for the world to see. These words she was sure she would hear from them both.
Kitty tried to refocus on the bundle of joy, Veronica, and her visit. The girl had made her smile a lot. She couldn’t wait to see them the next day. It was a visit she was sure would help out her spirits.
Chapter 13
On the way home Veronica asked if they could stop at McDonalds. “Come on daddy all the kids say it is good food!” She pleaded with him.
“Honey, you are not putting that junk into your body. I tell you what, I’ll make you homemade chicken nuggets tonight!”
“Oh, I love those, the ones at McDonald’s are nowhere close to as good as yours!” Veronica smiled.
Chase got home and mixed up the batter and cut the chicken breasts into smaller pieces, preparing it to cook. The unhealthiest part of this meal would be frying the meat in the oil but at least he knew his daughter would be eating real meat.
When Jen had gotten pregnant they had discussed how they would raise their daughter. Neither Jen nor he had ever really enjoyed much fast food. From time to time he might pick up a chicken sandwich from KFC but not too often. Jen on the other hand would never eat anything from any of the fast food places in town.
“I don’t want our daughter eating that crap that they’ve modified genetically. If I can help it we’ll always make sure we buy only organic fruits and vegetables for her too.” Jen had said one time.
Chase had tried to ensure that he stuck to that plan ever since Veronica was born. There were many nights when she was an infant he’d be chopping up food and cooking it making it into mush so that she could eat it.
People had laughed at his precautions but his daughter had yet to be rarely ill. He hoped that as she grew older she would continue this healthy lifestyle. Chase was sure that Jen was in Heaven looking down right now and smiling at him, knowing he was doing the best he could with their daughter.
Chase wondered what Jen would think of how Veronica had been at the hospital today with Kitty. Of course, if her mother was around, the little girl wouldn’t have played cupid for her father. He chuckled thinking of how straight forward she had been today. Rolling his eyes at the number of times his face turned red at her blunt nature.
“Hey daddy, can we take some of these to Kitty tomorrow? I bet she’ll love them, and she is so skinny, it looks like she never eats. Do you think she is so poor she can’t afford to buy food?” Veronica asked, breaking up his thoughts.
“We can take some to her sure. But she is skinny because she is a model, and the companies that hire models like skinny woman for their pictures.” Chase tried to explain.
“Why do they do that?” She asked, her innocent six-year old eyes looking at him for the truth.
“Honestly honey I’m not sure. But it isn’t right, it gives women and girls like you the sense that to be beautiful they have to weight barely anything.” Chase explained.
“Grandma tells me I should be happy in my own skin. I don’t really understand what she means though. I mean whose skin would I be in, why would I be in anyone else’s?”
Chase laughed at the question. “It is a saying. It just means that you should be happy with who you are and how you look. God created you and he made you to be who you are, not someone else. That refers to women who get all these surgeries to fix their noses or other parts of their bodies. You know to look like the models who starve themselves to stay skinny.”
“Hmm, I think Kitty needs to be happy in her own skin.” The girl shook her head, knowing she had come to a conclusion. “Is the food almost done, I’m starving.” Veronica rubbed her belly.
“Just a few more minutes’ munchkin.” He gave her a hug and went back to finish the meal.
Placing the food in front of her, he said, “Be careful it’s still really hot.”
Veronica tried to pick up a piece and take a bite, throwing it back on the plate. “I wish there was a way to cool down food quickly.” She muttered.
“Blow on it for a few minutes it will help.” He picked up one of his pieces, using his fork and showed her what to do.
Veronica copied him and was soon biting into a cooled down nugget. “Did you make enough so we can take Kitty some tomorrow?” She asked.
“That depends on if we eat the whole batch.” He admitted.
“We should save her a few pieces, she really is too skinny.” Veronica stated.
“Okay we will.” He got up and packed up a few of the pieces and put them in the refrigerator. “There they are, just remind me tomorrow, okay?”
“No problem daddy.”
After the meal, Veronica sat with Chase and showed him one of the books on stars that she had brought home today. “Your mother used to read this to you all the time when you were growing inside of her.” Chase commented.
“That’s what grandma told me too. She said it was my mom’s favorite book, and every time she saw her she was carrying it with her. Did you know she wrote a note in it for me?” Veronica asked.
Chase looked at her surprised, “No I didn’t, where is it, let me see.”
Veronica turned the pages until she found the folded-up piece of paper and handed it to him. “Can you read it to me daddy? Grandma read it to me but I really want to hear it again.” She asked him.
His eyes teared up as he recognized the writing he had seen many times in love letter she had wrote to him. “Sure sweetie.”
Veronica (we have already decided your name),
I feel you growing inside of me every day, and know how truly and deeply I care for you. I have a feeling you will grow up to be a very intelligent woman and one who will be successful in whatever she chooses to do. Lately, I haven’t been feeling very well, and I’m worried that I may not be around for you for very long after you are born. But if for some reason I’m not, just remember that I am always watching over you and that I love you will all of my heart and soul. Your father is a great man and I have no doubt that he will love you just as much as I do.
Your mother, Jennifer Daniels
Chase choked up a few times as he read the words and when he was done Veronica gave him a hug, “It’s okay daddy, she’s watching over you too.”
He kissed her and tucked her into bed. “I know sweetheart, I love you.”
“I love you too daddy, see you in the morning.”
Chapter 14
Kitty sat up as Ms. Simmons came in the room. She smiled at the old woman, “Thank you for letting them know I was in the building, you saved my life!” Kitty hugged the old woman as she bent down ov
er the bed.
“My pleasure sweetie. I hope you don’t mind but I called your parents and let them know you were injured in a fire. They said they would fly out soon.” The old lady said.
Kitty sighed, “How did you even get their number? I really wish you wouldn’t have called them, they’ll just come to gloat and rub it in that I won’t be able to model anymore.”
“No, they sounded very upset that you were hurt. Honestly, they also told me you haven’t talked to them in two years.”
“That’s just because I got tired of hearing that I wasn’t working, and I dressed like a whore in all the pictures I took.” Kitty said exasperated.
“Well they’re still your parents, and they won’t be around forever. Perhaps they just don’t agree with the career choice you picked but I still think they should know about your injury.”
“I know Ms. Simmons, you were only doing what you thought was best. But how did you get their number, I never gave it to you, and I’m pretty sure everything was burnt up in the fire.” Kitty asked again.
“Well I remember you telling me some of your childhood stories. I had my grandson look up the phone listings in that area, and he found them for me. He’s such a smart young fellow, maybe you should meet him, you might make a good couple.” Ms. Simmons stated.
Kitty laughed, “You’re the second person in as many days who is trying to set me up.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, the nice fireman who saved me and his young daughter came to visit yesterday. She’s such a little charmer, and she wanted me to know her dad was single.” Kitty explained.
“He was a nice young man. I heard him tell his Captain, even when he was told to not go into the building, that he was going. If it hadn’t been for his determination, you would have been dead. Not that I can’t see his captain’s point of view either, the building did fall down once you were out. If that young man wouldn’t have gone in through the 7th floor window, he would have never made it to you in time.” The old lady muttered.
“I know it was far too close for comfort.” Kitty admitted.
“So how is the burn and the leg?” The old lady pointed towards the bandage on Kitty’s face.
“They are letting it heal, I get the bandage off today and they’ll decide on how many skin grafts to do, and hope that it takes. The doctors think they may be able to make it a bit better but I’ll always have a burn mark there. It looks like modeling won’t be something I can do anymore.” Kitty said sadly.
“You might be able to cover it up with make-up though. Don’t give up on your dreams so easily sweetie. If everyone did that we would all be sitting around crying into our beers!”
Kitty laughed at the comment, “Yeah I know but I also don’t want to get my hopes up too high and be let down either.” Kitty stated.
“What time will they take you bandage off? I can stay around until than if you want me too.”
“I don’t want you to waste your time, I’m sure you have a lot of other things to do. By the way what are they doing about all of us tenants who lost our homes? Are we homeless?” Kitty asked.
“From what I understand the city is putting everyone up in a hotel, for a little bit. But you will have to find another place to live.”
“Have you found one yet?” Kitty asked her.
“My grandson told me I could move into his apartment with him. He says it would be nice to have me cooking his meals, he loves my food! Such a sweet boy, you should really meet him.” Ms. Simmons said again.
“Maybe one day but right now I’m not looking to date anyone. I find it hard to believe anyone would find me beautiful with this scar on my face, and my hair is still such a mess. I’ll have to get it cut short since some of it was burnt off.”
“Kitty you’re still a beautiful woman, it isn’t about the outside but what you have inside. Your heart is made of pure gold, and you shouldn’t focus so much on your looks anyway. You know when you get old they will fade, and all you are left with is your personality.”
“That little girl I met yesterday, Veronica, told me almost the same thing.”
“She seems like a very intelligent little one, she has her head in the right place. You don’t see that a lot with today’s youth either. Most of the time it’s all about who has the best looks and who wears designer clothes.” Ms. Simmons made a ticking noise. “I blame the media and the companies you work for, they are giving these girls an unrealistic idea of what beauty is.”
Kitty thought about her words and couldn’t disagree with her. “Yeah, I know, I often wish the industry would change. I would love to be able to eat a normal meal from time to time and not worry about getting a little fatter. If you gain even a pound and you have fat on your body, you can lose the chance on so many jobs.” Kitty explained.
“This is such a bad thing. You starve yourself to stay thin, and then little woman s see you in the magazines and feel they should be the same size. You know not everyone can stay thin, their metabolism doesn’t work the same way as yours.”
“Trust me I can’t eat much or I will gain weight. You’d be shocked if you knew what my meals consisted of every day. I ate more last night with the hospital meal than I have in the last few months. I’m going to pay for it but I figured I may not need to worry about it anymore. I have a long time before the skin will fully heal and they do the first surgery.”
“You can’t be happy starving yourself. I don’t see how or why you do it. What needs to happen is you models need to band together and make it known that women of all sizes can be beautiful. In fact, showing more than rail thing models would be a better way to promote their goods. It would be nice if that could happen.” Ms. Simmons said.
“Yeah it would be nice but I don’t think most models would be on board with this.”
“Have you ever asked any of them? They might feel the same way as you, starving and wishing they could eat!” Ms. Simmons laughed.
Kitty thought about it, “You may be right, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Though it may not matter for me depending on this.” She said pointing to the bandage on her face.
“But if people like you on the inside could change this for the future, it would help out so many women in their lives.”
“Good point. I’ll think about it more and see if any of them feel the same way.” Kitty agreed.
Ms. Simmons pulled out some yarn from her bag and sat beside Kitty’s bed. “You don’t mind if I crochet a bit, do you?”
“Not at all. I’ve always thought it was such a nice hobby but I never learned it.” Kitty admitted.
The older woman pulled out a couple of extra needles and began to show Kitty how to crochet. Soon she was plugging along, trying to create something, anything. Maybe she could make a small scarf for Veronica?
“How hard would it be to do a scarf?” Kitty asked.
“That isn’t hard at all, you will be able to finish it in a few hours possibly.”
“Great, I want to make one for that little girl I told you about.”
“She made quite an impression on you, didn’t she?” Ms. Simmons smiled warmly.
“Yes, she did, if I ever had a daughter would want her to be exactly like Veronica!” Kitty commented.
Chapter 15
Veronica ran into the school and told everyone, “My daddy saved a woman last night from a burning building. Right before it collapsed, it was very dangerous.”
The other kids crowded around Chase to hear his side of the story, “How dangerous was it?” One of the little boys asked, his eyes showing great interest.
Chase saw a future firefighter in the boy, “It was not as dangerous as Veronica is making it sound.”
“That’s not true daddy, even you told the lady you only had seconds to react. You’re a hero daddy, just deal with it!”
Chase laughed, “Okay maybe it was a bit dangerous but I was only doing my job.”
“Wow that’s so cool, way to go Mr. Daniels.” Several of the kids said.
“Thanks a lot.” He commented.
The teacher walked over to him, touching his arm again like she had the day before. “I’m glad you’re okay Chase.” She said with a flirty little smile.
Chase saw Veronica looking at the teacher, and shook his head at her. But the little woman wouldn’t be stopped, “The woman is very pretty, and I think she likes my daddy. I told him to invite her to my birthday party last night.” Veronica had a slight smirk on her face as the teacher quickly lowered her arm away from him.
“Well, we will see about that.” He commented to Veronica. But he was welcome that the teacher had removed her hand from him.
Truth be told he did find Kitty very pretty too, and interesting. He wouldn’t mind getting to know her better. After his night of sleep, he felt better about talking to her too.
Part of him had felt guilty for having any kind of feelings for Kitty. He thought that he shouldn’t move on but also knew that Jen wouldn’t want him to be alone his whole life.
After the dream, he was sure that Jen wouldn’t want him to stay alone. It had been part of a memory from one of the many times they sat below the stars looking at them.
“Chase, you know if something ever happens to me I don’t want you to pine for me, I want you to find love again.” She had said.
That night he had been upset at her for saying it, claiming that she would be with him until the day he died. But it had been like she had known he would be left alone.
How could she have known? But even the letter that he had read to Veronica had seemed to be prophetic in nature. He was upset that Jen had never told him of the way she had felt while pregnant. Maybe he could have saved her if he had known she was experiencing the aches and pains.
But every time he had asked her if she was okay, she had smiled and told him, “I’m more than wonderful.”
How could he have known she was suffering? Chase felt the guilt well up for a minute in the dream. “Chase sweetheart, sometimes God will throw us a curve ball. We never know what the future holds. Just please don’t be alone, find a good woman who will love our child just as much as I would, and be happy.” She had said in the dream. He couldn’t remember if she had actually said those words during the real event or not. He had been too upset about thinking of his life without her.
