Nicole Carraway | The Great Gatsby

The Valley of Ashes

The next morning Nicole woke to a telephone call from Chicago. A friend of a friend of one of the journalists had seen her art in the paper, and he had taken a job in Queens. He had been asking about Nicky to see if she'd work up painting. With delight she bounced around in her kitchen, happy to start her first real job. It was a job between New York and West Egg.

*****

The Valley of Ashes was a grotesque place.

It was Wednesday when she ventured out, taking the train to the desolate valley. Nicky quickly understood the purpose behind her job.

They, The Journal, wanted a painting to depict the cruel, unfiltered lives in the valley of dirt. It broke her heart. She jumped off the train with uncertainty, clutching her bag to her side.

Walking across the dirt road Nicole treaded lightly, watching as kids jumped across the railroad tracks. The workers toiled away in the dirt and grime, and the mental photograph would be forever engraved in her head. Nicky didn't want to paint their troubles.

"Oh Nicky, what have you gotten yourself into?" She asked herself, stopping as she noticed an older gentleman struggling with two crates in his arms. The colored gentleman went unnoticed by others walking by, and it looked as though the crates could topple over at a moment's notice. Her thoughts went back to the night before and how Tom had talked so highly of the book The Rise of the Colored Empire. Nicole groaned. She changed her direction like the wind.

"Can I offer you a hand?" She asked lightly, but she was clutching her hands together tight. The man stopped for a moment and turned her way, but quickly ducked his head down.

"No ma'am." He was embarrassed.

"Please." She implored, making him look back up to her. His eyes were dark but muddled, foggy in the light. "I mean you no harm."

"It's not appropriate, miss." He replied without missing a beat.

Nicole had forgotten her place.

Without another peep she pushed up her sleeves and took a step towards him, taking the top crate from his grasp. No wonder why the boxes were so taking to carry; they were filled with automobile parts. He pleaded with her to give him the box back, but her mind was made up, and she held her head high.

"These are far too heavy to carry alone. Please let me help you. Where are we going with these boxes?" She insisted.

There was a run down gas station, Wilson's.

As they walked through the street Nicky noticed the stares they were receiving. They looked at her like she was the main attraction at Coney Island. She didn't bother to pay them any mind.

*****

Wilson's was a messy place; dirt covered everything.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss." The man's eyes went wide as he came up to introduce himself, and he grabbed for the rag in his back pocket to wipe off his hands. Realizing the rag was too dirty to clean them off he huffed out an embarrassed laugh, wiping them on his pants.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone but Lenny." he gargled out.

He was absolutely tongue tied looking at Nicole, and she couldn't help but smile back at him. What was a woman like her doing here?

"I'm going to take a wild guess," she started. "Are you Wilson?"

One cheeky grin later he nodded.