Dear Malka,
Isabel de la Fuente asked me to bring two or three designs for new dresses, but I got inspired and prepared four designs. Since I no longer had to sew multiple copies of the dresses, I had time to play around. I made a version of the wraparound dress with ruffles at the hem. For the dress with the buttons down the front, I made them with different collars and with different sizes of pockets in the front.
I folded the dresses neatly and Papa put them in his satchel. When we arrived in Havana, we confidently walked to El Encanto and didn’t hesitate to enter. Papa and I weren’t afraid of the elevator anymore! We went straight up to the fourth floor and found Isabel de la Fuente in the salon de señoritas.
“Buenos días,” she said. “You have come at the perfect moment. We just put a few of the dresses we made from your designs on display.”
She led us to a rack where the dresses hung from cushioned hangers. Then she pulled down a few dresses for me to see. There was the label she had promised: “Designs by Esther. Exclusively for El Encanto.”
I looked at the dresses and couldn’t believe how gorgeous they were! The fabrics were more luxurious than anything I ever could have imagined, some in fine cotton and some in silk. And the prices they were charging for the dresses! How could something I’d made with my own hands be worth so much money? I thought of Mama and how pleased she’d be. Then I felt sad. Only rich girls could afford the dresses I’d designed. But I consoled myself with the thought that the more money my dresses sold for, the quicker you would all come to Cuba.
“Did you bring new designs?” Isabel de la Fuente asked.
I nodded and she took us into an office filled with boxes of merchandise. There, I pulled out the sample dresses I had made.
She looked at them eagerly. “¡Divino! ¡Bellísimo!” she said as she examined each dress.
I had left the wraparound dresses for last. I pulled one out and showed her how easy it was to put on and tie around the waist.
“I love this style, like the white dress you wore last time.”
I was so proud she remembered my white dress.
“This dress style is original and very flattering. It will be a wonderful addition to the collection.” She smiled. “Next time you come, we will have these new designs on the rack.”
She gave Papa a thick envelope with some money, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Remember, we have to be careful. No one can ever know that a refugee girl designed these dresses. We would be in terrible trouble.”
Papa responded, “No one knows.”
“Very good,” she replied. “There are secrets that we keep to do good in the world. And this is one of those secrets.”
We said goodbye and headed to Rifka Rubenstein’s to put our money in her safe box. It was a lot more money than the last time, and as usual, Papa left all of it behind except for the small amount we needed to survive from day to day. I gave Rifka Rubenstein ten of the thirty dresses I had made for her to sell in the store, and she was very pleased I was still loyal to her.
Then we hurried back to Agramonte. I went to sleep dreaming about my dresses, in silk and fine cotton, hanging on cushioned hangers, all of them with the label “Designs by Esther. Exclusively for El Encanto.”
With all my love,
ESTHER