Chapter 21: Don’t Stop Smiling

Ginger began modeling at seven.

Don’t suppose, lest you jump to conclusions, that it was anything as sordid as a child beauty pageant. Truly, this was the world of fashion, from which not even toddlers are exempt from marketing. The labels were not, at first, designer caliber, nor need they be. These were the years in which a personality was molded and forms perfected for the runway. And Ginger was a natural.

They all spotted it, the professionals, and sought not to let it escape them. Coaching would be required, they informed her parents, and encouraged them to continue bringing her. They did.

“Do you think this is healthy?” her father had asked once, as they drove home the many hours from the city.

“What’s wrong with it?” her mother snapped. “Men like you spend every free minute drooling over exactly this.”

“Which is why I don’t want it for her.”

“Where have you been? What do you think people care about in this world? One thing, you know damned well yourself.”

“Mom?” Ginger said from the back seat.

“Don’t you worry about a thing. Just keep smiling like the men asked.”

“I don’t want to smile right now,” she said.

“You don’t have to, sweetie,” her father answered. Then his eyes darted towards her mother. “Sandra.” His voice was filled with alarm.

“Of course not. Not right now.”

In that exact moment, hundreds of miles away, young Tom Drake sat on the edge of a lake. He kneaded the wet sand in his hands, packing it together to build the foundation of a sandcastle. With each succeeding pillar, he smiled to himself and dreamed of life’s possibilities.