My Hollywood (28 page)
I am sorry for her, but I have too many things to think.
She gives me a small sandwich bag. Without any of us knowing, Mai-ling took China to Echo Park and had her baptized. This is the baptismal certificate she wants me to give to Sue. “She will thank you, yes.” She nods.
“When will I see Sue?” I say. “I am not even working now Williamo.” But I take the certificate in wax paper in my pocket.
“Lita says her employer, she changed. Alice sits on the floor now and tries to play her kids. She is not anymore doctor full-time.” Ruth raises her eyebrows. They think Alice is running around with my weekend employer. Because the day China drown, no one could find either one them. Maybe she will divorce. Ruth says before they divorce here, they start to spend more time with the kids.
That night, I cannot sleep. I look at another mattress through the bed slats. I miss my own place.
So it is over, no more Williamo and Lola. How can that be?
When I wake, there is already a crowd. Filipino bread on the table and boxes American cereal. Ruth has for me a cleaning job Wednesday, Fridays.
The second week August, I go to the park and ask my pupil, “So is there a date for the wedding?”
Because all the time I am thinking. Even when she quits, they may want her to stay two weeks. Three weeks. For transition. And starting now, I am sending savings.
“Not yet, Lola,” she says, “I will talk to Tony.”
September 1, I see my pupil again. Already it is five weeks since I talked to Tony. My savings are down to two hundred and ninety dollars. “I do not want to rush the honeymooners,” I say. “But I need this job.”
She shakes her head, kicking the playground sand with her foot. “Lola, Tony, he says, I have to keep working. He says we will need the money.”
Once, long time ago, I told Ruth we should start an agency and call it Crooks and Nannies. When I could still joke. Now I sit in an agency I took a bus to. They photograph me, take my fingerprint, and Xerox my license and SS card for criminal search. I look like a criminal in the pictures. Front and profile. But the little folder they make says,
Introducing … Lola, a fifty-six-year-old, one-hundred-pound Filipina with a green card who drives and speaks English. She has a big smile (all her own teeth) and a big heart
.
I ask why the teeth, they are important.
The lady smiles. “Dentures scare kids.”
The only nanny I know with false teeth is Ruth. She takes them out just at night, alone, in her bedroom; she floats them in a glass of water.
Now I have three weeks to make an extra thousand. A terror streaks in me; how? I am trying to be the old Lola. But they typed that I have all my own teeth. What if I lose one? I have not yet written home. They think I am still with Williamo. Because I have never once missed a payment. Far Eastern, they will not wait. My savings they are gone. I have only twenty days to earn more than I can earn in twenty days. And no job.
In the slow parts of the day, I touch my pocket, as if I am carrying the small soul of China, made of fog. I think of her in a coma, the climbing child finally still. Maybe when I tap the paper, China feels. I do not believe in heaven, but baptism it is still worth something; like a vaccination or a diploma, you join the club.
What you think about yourself really depends on your circumstances. The moms here, their number one concern is that their children, they will be confident. Nothing we do, nothing another kid does, should nick that confidence. But these kids, they will be confident because the world now, it is their way. Once, that was true in the Philippines. Then there was a day the stock market fell, and my father sat for hours in his study, lifting his glasses off and on. For us, it took years to go from being one kind of family to another. First we were a family that had what it needed—schooling, lessons, eyeglasses—and then, no longer. A bicycle stolen did not mean we could purchase another.
My pupil thinks of herself as a hundred-dollar-a-day nanny. She believes that is something inside her. But I am proof it is not. She gets a hundred dollars a day because now they will pay that. If they chop her, and they will if they want for some reason she may never even know the truth, it will not be so easy again. Most things do not transfer. When Lita finally got her kids here, only the daughter had good marks in school. Lita took the folder, with the transcripts and letters of recommendation, to Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. But those papers were not worth anything here. The daughter had to start all over at community college.
I am interviewing again. I sit, listening to careful questions and two teams tackle each other: the confidence of Lola against the fear. If I cannot pay next month, Issa will suffer. Not Williamo. I should have put my own first. I could have been working two years already, for one hundred and ten a day.
Eleven interviews and still no offer. Ruth finds an opening for Second Nanny in Woodland Hills. I will have to drive freeways every day and be underneath the First Nanny. Danny takes me for the interview, but that night Claire calls to say they called her and asked about my breathing, if I am healthy enough to last. I must have breathed too loud. Ruth heard of other jobs from the priest, but those are low paying. Once, long ago, when I wanted to quit Claire, I told Ruth,
Find for me a good job
.
Really?
she asked then.
Have you ever heard me say that before? I am not Lita
.
Natalie telephoned that evening.
Dominique Garcia says her agency handles nannies in the range of a hundred twenty to two fifty a day!
But by then, Claire and I had made up.
Now I will go to that place. I take two buses. Because already, September is half done. As I leave to walk to the bus stop, Ruth puts an envelope in my pocket.
“What is this?” I can feel already it is thick. Money. “No. I cannot take.” But still I am holding. Because I need to. “I will pay you back.”
“It is not from me. The girls took up a collection.”
A collection for me! I am the one to ask the collection. But now I must accept and say thank you. The collection they took, it is big, bigger than any I pooled, more than the plane fare to send Lettie Elizande home. It will be enough, with what I have, to send for tuition. I put it in my pocket, next to the soul of China. After the agency the Garcia girl recommended, I will go to the bank to wire.
Buckingham Nannies. But the office, it is no palace. The building has a traffic school and Persians taking passport photos; the agency is only one small room. Because the ones who see are out-of-work nannies; the moms just call. Unfair matchmaking.
Two guys sit, desks facing each other, eating egg-and-bagel sandwiches.
I hand them my résumé, including a picture Williamo made in school:
I AM GRATEFUL FOR:
MY LOLA
.
They look at me up and down and start telling me jobs, eighty to one-twenty a day. “We’ll schedule meetings day after tomorrow,” the guy says, fingers on the phone.
“Wait a minute.” I try to joke. “I have a friend who is employer. Dominique Garcia Weinstock. She told me some pay two-thirty.”
Then I hear the clock. The guy resting fingers on the telephone glances at the other. “Well, there are American college girls. But let me tell you, those gals don’t clean, they can’t cook. I wouldn’t get near one myself. They whine. Let’s face it: What’s a with-it college girl doing nannying?” He sighed. “But people worry about the accent. We see kids here who speak Spanish before they speak English.”
Even one year ago, Williamo talked like me. But from the school, he learned professional English. So Filipinas, we are not even the highest. I did not know that.
“One way to make more. Would you be comfortable with twins?”
“I have five children,” I say. “I can take care two.”
They set up an interview for me in Studio City, for one hundred twenty. Danny drives me to the top a hill, with olive trees and small purple blossoms swaying, hot already, before nine in the morning. When I step out of the car there is low noise. Bees maybe. Closer to the house, a fountain runs. The two come out, each carrying one baby. We talk less than ten minutes, they look at each other, and the woman offers me the job, when I have not yet given them the numbers for Helen and Claire.
“Do you not want to check the reference first?”
“No,” the mother says. “You’re hired.”
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
Between Wanda Luwanza and Susie and Justin Gelfond
This is an Agreement between Susie and Justin Gelfond (“the Gelfonds”) and Wanda Luwanza (“Lola”). The Gelfonds have elected to engage Wanda to perform the following duties in exchange for compensation stated in this Agreement. The purpose of this Agreement is to clearly state the agreed-upon services and compensation. This Agreement contains the entire understanding of the parties. It may not be changed orally but only by an agreement in writing signed by both parties. The parties agree as follows.
Wanda agrees to provide the following childcare and services:
Childcare for the Gelfonds’ twins, Franny and Gardiner. This includes but is not limited to every-day care such as age appropriate activities (feeding, bathing, changing diapers, clipping nails, singing, playing, reading, cradling, exercising motor skills, going to the park, supervising their interaction with other children, etc.). We encourage you to speak your language to them and to read to them whenever possible. We hope you, Wanda, will come to treat the twins as you do your own family, who deserve love and affection, challenge and support, humor and discipline. We encourage you to help them grow into fun, thoughtful, responsible, intelligent children.
We will ask you to bring the twins to our places of work for visits of varying duration. Several days a week, you will be expected to care for the twins in and around Susie’s office.
In time, Franny and Gardiner’s care may include driving them and accompanying them to various school-related activities, birthday parties, and doctor’s visits.
When the twins enter school, we will expect you to use the spare time their absence will provide you to volunteer at said school, on committees, lunchtime service, library room helping, etc.
Keeping the house clean and tidy. This includes cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast in the morning and after use throughout the day; keeping Franny and Gardiner’s rooms and the playroom organized, doing their laundry, sterilizing the toys, folding and putting away clothes, picking up after them, putting away anything (such as books or toys) used during their daily activities. Caring for the twins must remain the primary responsibility, but during their naps there should be ample time for such chores. Responsibilities also include grocery shopping, post office visits, film drops, clothing returns, putting away groceries, making beds, organizing cupboards and closets. A housekeeper will be employed once a week for more strenuous cleaning such as floor washing, bathroom scrubbing, etc.
Dinner preparation for the Gelfonds. This will involve setting the dinner table, getting necessary foods and making a salad, marinating or putting food in the oven, etc. We encourage Wanda to cook occasionally, if she likes. She is welcome to use anything in the kitchen for herself—including food and equipment—unless expressly stated otherwise.
Wanda agrees to the following house rules:
Safe supervision of the twins at all times
No visitors unless approved by the Gelfonds
No TV watching unless the twins are asleep. The children are not permitted to watch TV without first speaking to the Gelfonds
No smoking, alcohol, or drugs
No spanking, yelling, hitting, or physical discipline of any kind is to be used with Franny or Gardiner
Transportation: We will provide Wanda with a car, in excellent condition, for the errands and activities listed above. Franny and Gardiner will always be transported in their respective car seats (pink and blue), and never left unattended in the car.
Wanda’s hours of employment shall be Monday through Friday, mostly 6:15 am until 9 pm, although two or three days a week later, allowing the Gelfonds evenings out. Also, most nights we expect the twins to sleep through the night, but if they should wake up, the night feedings and rocking back to sleep will be Wanda’s responsibility, as she will be able to nap while they do, the next day, while the Gelfonds will each be working. There may be occasions when the Gelfonds are both traveling or working and Wanda will need to attend to the twins several nights in a row.
In exchange for her responsibilities, Wanda will be provided with a guesthouse, including a bedroom, galley kitchen, and bath. We will ask her to maintain it as she would her own home, keeping it clean and tidy. We require Wanda to consult with us before making any material changes to the house, such as painting, fixtures, window treatments, flooring, etc. The Gelfonds will pay all utilities. A private phone line will be installed and basic service paid by the Gelfonds, but additional usage, above and beyond the basic services, will be Wanda’s responsibility.
The Gelfonds shall pay Wanda a salary of $600 per week, which shall be paid weekly on Fridays. The Gelfonds will deduct FICA and SDI from her salary. Wanda is responsible for paying her own federal and state tax. On those occasions Wanda works additional days, over and beyond the agreed-upon five days per week, she will be compensated an additional $5 per day, $20 for each full weekend.
When Wanda’s services are not necessary and she is given 1 or 2 days’ advance notice, the Gelfonds may ask for equal hours of service at another time.
Wanda shall receive the following days as paid holidays if the following days fall on a regularly scheduled workday: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
Wanda will be allowed 3 days of paid sick/personal leave every calendar year. One day of this time can be used after every 120 days of employment. If Wanda does not use these days, she will be paid on a prorated basis at the end of twelve months.
Wanda shall receive no less than 7 days of vacation every twelve months of employment. Vacation time will be required to match the Gelfonds’ own scheduled vacation—in the event that Wanda does not join us on our vacation. The Gelfonds will give Wanda four weeks’ notice for vacation scheduling.
Wanda will be responsible for all healthcare-related expenses, including but not limited to prescription charges, copayments, deductibles, hospital charges, etc.
Other benefits include travel opportunities, flight miles, etc.
A job performance evaluation shall be held every six months.
Wanda’s employment under this Agreement may be terminated upon one or more of the following events:
By the Gelfonds for justifiable cause with 24 hours’ notice. In this case, Wanda will not receive any outstanding payment for sick or vacation days. The Gelfonds can justifiably terminate Wanda for the following reasons:
Wanda fails to comply with the rules and standards established by the Gelfonds.
Wanda engages in fraud, dishonesty, or any other act of misconduct in the performance of Wanda’s duties on behalf of the Gelfonds.
By the Gelfonds without cause upon two weeks’ notice or, in lieu of two weeks’ notice, two weeks’ salary.
By Wanda upon six weeks’ notice.
By Wanda’s permanent disability, such that Wanda is unable, due to illness, accident, or other cause, to perform the majority of her usual duties for a period of one month or more despite reasonable accommodation by the Gelfonds.
The terms of this Agreement shall commence on the signing of this Agreement and continue, in full force and effect, until otherwise terminated or revised as herein provided. The first day of work shall be September 13, 1995. The terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement shall govern Wanda’s employment unless changed in writing.
We look forward to you being a part of our family for many years to come.