Indecent

No. 1

July 30th 1955
Lowell, MA
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"Wait!" Her heels clinked against the pavement after the taxi cab. She didn't expect the man to stop for a woman of her stature but it didn't hurt to try.

The rain was coming down in sheets, blinding her and soaking her clothing. Her mother was going to wreck havoc when she soiled her floors. "Shoot." She muttered looking at her papers that were now damaged from the weather.

"Please sir!" She tried one last time but to no avail. The car kept on going. Norene sighed her defeat before tucking her resumes and folders into her coat to the best of her ability and began her two mile walk home.

On a nice day she wouldn't have minded walking home. In fact she loved to walk... however it was dreary and she was extremely uncomfortable in the clothing that was now sticking to her body.

27 years on this earth and Norene Ava Michaels felt she had no direction anymore. She loved to cook, she truly believes she was born to cook. Everywhere she worked her praises were sung. The customers could not help but adore her food.

She always wanted to have her own restaurant, come up with her own menu, work in her own fancy kitchen. She had a strong savings account that immediately went down the drain when her mother got sick.

Being the oldest of 4, it was Norene's responsibility to help her father out with the living expenses and medical expenses. Her family was not poor but also not rich. They lived with all they needed to survive and a little more. But the bills started to add up. Her parents felt immense guilt for Norene's dream being halted. In fact they tried to manage on their own for sometime but Nori would never sit there and watch her family suffer.

She had to leave her jobs and become a care taker for her mother as she healed. It was a long drawn out process but she doesn't regret.

The only difficult situation Norene was in now was finding a job again. America was in rough shape for employment and Norene was feeling the effects. Her old spots were now filled or closed down, no one was hiring, and the white restaurants would keel over before they hired her.

Norene was typically a positive determined individual but she felt her faith dwindling. She had to constantly remind herself that God would not leave her during her time of need and she just needed to keep trusting him.

It was just so difficult sometimes. She felt her tears begin to well up in her eyes but she sniffled them back in. She had to be strong. She was going to find a job. She was going to find her purpose.

"Hey Jezebel! Won't ya lift your skirt for me hun!"

Norene jumped as the car full of rambunctious white college boys drove by her. She cursed under her breath and kept it moving. She didn't have time to waste on whites harassing her.

She just sighed praying for safety for the duration of her walk. The last thing she needed was to cross or encounter the wrong man who couldn't control himself. Her schoolmate Netty had that awful experience and Norene had no desire to face it.

"You're gonna get home." She whispered to herself feeling her feet squish and slide from the water invading them as she clicked along her way to her house. She gazed at the city, the buildings, the run down homes and the nice homes. Massachusetts had potential to be a beautiful state but it was just shy of it.

But she supposed she was projecting her experience living in a Mill City. Not the best to look at.

Norene sighed feeling her tiredness kick in but was instantly irritated by an invasive pebble that made its way in her shoe and begun to dig into her skin. "Seriously?" She hissed stopping at the nearest telephone booth to balance herself.