Magnolia Blooms & Sakura Petals
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman

-6-
The Greenville Bazaar

The Greenville Bazaar was a massive charity shop that was located at the very start of main street. According to local tradition, main street started at the base of the massive concrete levee and ended on concrete steps of the courthouse. Anyway, as soon as I entered the building I felt a sense of wonder come over me. I felt a sudden sense of joy come over me.

Nobody had welcomed me, which was not rudeness but a blessing. I always felt judged when a clerk at one of the mall stores walked up to me and said “Welcome” to whatever store I happened to enter. And by being judged I meant it was like he or she was sizing me up. Like she was secretly judging if I belonged there or not.

Like I said before I'd ventured here to start the very painful progress of piecing together a totally new wardrobe from scratch. The last thing I needed was to be judged by some part-time clerk. The owner seemed engrossed in his reading of a moth eaten paperback book that he had not even noticed that I'd walked in. Which was good because I could browse the shop in peace.

And so I started to roam. The sales floor was like massive jungle with racks of clothing, old card tables that were filled with books. The lighting was poor. A dozen of old, overworked ceiling fans swirling around in a counter clockwise notion seemed to only stir the hot air and the air reeked of of the scent of moth balls and lemon scented furniture polish. But I was free, free to pick through the racks of dresses, skirts, shorts, and free to roam through the maze-like display of tables that held everything from used paperbacks to old war medals.

For a quarter of an hour I roamed, until I decided to climb the old wooden stairs that took me to the second floor. And then the feeling that came over me, I can only say was this, it was like I'd been struck by a speeding truck and killed without a moment of pain and my soul had ascended into heaven. Only this version of heaven was a whole floor of the most fashionable skirts, tops, and dresses any teenage girl could phantom. All were marked to move.

Quivering and shaking from head to toe I moved among the racks, a skirt that would cost thirty dollars off the racks in the mall was here only ten dollars. A top that would have gone for twenty dollars at the mall, five dollars. A pair of boots that would have cost a hundred and twenty dollars, twenty dollars. A faux leather purse with an adorable brass buckle which would have gone for twenty five dollars on any cart at the mall here was only fifteen dollars.

“My God..” I said, taking a deep breath. All of a sudden I hoped that my sister would keep giving me chores. She could work me to the bone like Cinderella's wicked three step-sisters and step-mother did her as long as she kept paying me like she was.

Without thinking I picked out a red and black checkered pleated mini skirt, the price tag read “Ten Dollars” I'd seen the same skirt on the racks of our mall's “Hot Topic” for twenty dollars. I felt like I was stealing it. I then added a cute pink and white “Hello Kitty” hoodie. Another steal I felt at just fifteen dollars.
Another pleated skirt, this one pink and layered.. another ten dollars, a simple white top for five dollars. And finally a pair of knee high faux leather boots for thirty dollars. At this point I felt heart-breaking. I knew I only had one hundred dollars to my name and the running total in my head was around seventy dollars. Which would only leave me with around thirty dollars.. and I still wanted to get something to eat while I was down here.. And for that I would need a least twenty dollars that would leave me only ten dollars for the return fare.

“Damn.” I muttered under my breath. “I should have brought more.” I muttered under my breath. I knew I could have spent another seventy something dollars here. Everything was priced the move and I was only on the second floor. There was still one floor above me.

Bemoaning my terrible luck and my own lack of foresight I looked down and then noticed something. Laying down at my foot was a one hundred bill. I blinked and blinked again and then opened the purse and noticed tucked into the side zipper was a small wad of folded bills. Looking around I slowly started to count the wad, slowly with trembling fingers. But not before looking around. This felt too good to be true.

The first bill I came to was a dog eared one dollar bill, followed by a few more one dollar bills, then I came to a few creased ten dollar bills and then a few twenties. One or two and finally another one hundred dollar bill. It was like a small, tiny miracle had fallen out of the pocket of God. Or maybe a careless person had donated the purse without checking the insides. Being something of a devoted Roman Catholic I decided this was indeed a small, tiny miracle of God instead of the oversight of a careless person. Maybe the Virgin Mary had looked down and decided her newest daughter needed a few more things and sent the money.

“Thank you.” I said looking up. I quickly made a promise to donate some of the money.. at least twenty dollars of it to the parish poor-house. And donate some of my boys' clothing to the parish run poor-house too.

My heart started to race. The seventy dollars I'd already spent was still on the table, so was the thirty dollars left over for lunch and the fare home. Then the one hundred dollars that had appeared from thin air brought my total of spendable cash to a hundred thirty.. plus the other one hundred and forty dollars within the purse came to two hundred and thirty dollars I could spend. That number made me dizzy. I felt the room starting to spin around me.

“Okay.” I said, taking a deep breath. “Just a few more things.” I said, taking a deep breath. The next thing I found was a small pink cardigan for fifteen dollars. Which was perfect, because it looked stylish and casual. I added that to the pile of clothing I'd already collected. Up next a pleated white skirt, stylish, short enough to be flirty and to be worn on a group date if I was ever allowed to date and long enough mom would approve if I'd ever came out of the egg to her. Finally a matching white button down blouse another fifteen dollars, and finally white wedge sandals another twenty dollars.

“Okay that's enough!” I said taking a deep breath as I collected my bundle of clothing and marched toward the check out. I still needed a bathing suit but that could wait for a return trip. The first order of business would be making it home with all this, then cleaning out part of my closet. I would need one section of my closet to be for my everyday “Boys Clothes” and one section for the collection I was building for my new life.

End Chapter 6