Chapter 3: Seven of Eight

Or, THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS.

I walked out to the Chevy and looked. They had seven people in here? Where did they sit? I fear for Discover Card ... they're never going to be able to collect.

'My God! You bought out a warehouse!' I thought at Wendy.

Just then the pile wiggled; a short redheaded, Asian female wearing a Sak's shirt struggled out of the pile and took a deep breath.

"I thought I'd never get out of there!" She gave me a look, "David?"

I nodded.

She reached down and grabbed my package, frowned and shouted, "Wendy! You lied!"

"Who are you?" I asked.

Wendy came staggering out of the garage. "That's Wu Lei Ou Chi, she used to work at Sak's. Now she lives with us. You are part of her benefits."

Wendy:

As soon as "The Magnificent Seven" left the house in a cloud of burning rubber and unburnt exhaust, I said, "We have his card and we're not afraid to use it, where shall we go?"

We went to Arbaugh's, then Macy's across the street, over to the little known but very exclusive Bikini Factory ... where the children found things we guaranteed would catch the eye of any straight male.

Let's face it, girls don't need lessons on how to look sexy ... look at any four year old, watch her stand, sit or gaze at her dad. She doesn't even know sexy ... but she is.

She keeps that look but ignores it until she's 12. Suddenly her shoulders are back, her hips are cocked forwards, the boys notice and she smiles or laughs an enchanting little laugh and the "look at me" battle is won.

But it's 1978, bras are making a come back, and a little slutty is a good look. At Sak's, we garnered the attention of a tiny magenta-haired Chinese Hispanic sales associate about 19 years old. She wore her Sak's shirt with pride and definitely knew her products.

There were so many of us that the older sales associates were absolutely certain we weren't buying and ignored us. Not 'Seven', as her shirt proclaimed her name to be, she moved right in and started taking measurements and judging color contrasts. The girls were all identical in size and pretty much the same in looks.

"Quads?" Seven inquired. "Getting ready for high school?"

"This one's mine," said I. "Her name is Wendolyn, she's 12."

Wendolyn was properly polite. Actually, she was very pleased ... high school starts at 16.

"These two are L e i g h and Lynn." Rachael said, "they're 12.

The twins curtsied in unison. To be mistaken for 16 impressed them.

"Ignore them, they are always doing crazy twin things."

"This little doll is mine. Gwendolyn is 12. Gwendolyn, say Hello to..." Kim looked at the name blazoned on the shirt, "Seven. What an unusual name."

"Hi, Wu Lei Ou Chi." Gwendolyn said. "Well, I Can count to seven in Chinese."

Seven beamed at Gwendolyn.

"They all look so much alike ... I hope I didn't insult you for assuming..." blushed Seven.

"No problem. We get that a lot. Our husband hears it all the time." I asked, "How did you get blessed with such an interesting name?"

"I'm the seventh, and last, daughter in a family of eight children. My name isn't actually Seven, it's Wu Lei Ou Chi." Blank looks from everybody but Gwen. "Right ... call me Seven."

"Eight is a boy?" asked Rachael.

"Ah, yes. How did you know?"

"Your parents quit with the boy. Catholic?"

"Catholic by birth, Buddhist by choice."

"Your heritage is spelled out in your beautiful face. Chinese ... Hispanic ... Irish?" I complimented Seven.

Seven was amazed ... Wendy got it right. "How can I help you?"

"The girls are going to the airport tomorrow. They're looking to impress a bunch of Marine pilots." Kim said, "Isn't that cute?"

"Aren't they a little young?"

"If it was something serious we wouldn't go near the place but this is their first flying lesson and their first try at real men," commented Rachael. "It's going to be so much fun."

"Their father met me when I was 11. We've been together ever since." I was bragging now.

Seven was looking confused.

"Tell you what ... let's go buy stuff and we'll tell you all about it."

As the selections piled higher and higher and the gossip got deeper and deeper, the 'more experienced' sales associates realized that they had ignored a gold mine in commissions. When Seven was taking yet another pile of clothes over to the growing 'heap, ' one of the associates tried to take over.