Authors: Cheryl Richards
“Wha…” Brandi said turning over.
“Get your one night stand, the fuck out of this
apartment. NOW!”
“Jeez, Sun, take it easy.”
“NOW,” I repeated.
“Okay, fine,” she said getting up. “Take a chill
pill,” she mumbled under her breath.
Fifteen minutes later Felipe was gone, Brandi was
back in bed and I was in the bathroom gargling. I sprayed down the shower with
disinfectant, washed my hands, and went back to bed. If I got any sleep before
my alarm sounded, it would be a miracle.
Good old hump day. Two more days to go until the
weekend. I punched the down button on the elevator and waited a few seconds.
Three out of seven days the elevator was out of order. It was a good thing few
people needed to haul items out of the basement. I needed to file some
insurance papers in a closed file. Tempting as it was to just toss them; I did
the right thing and moved five heavy boxes to discover the appropriate box.
Upon opening the lid, a giant spider jumped at me and I screamed. It scurried
away and I took a moment to regain my composure. I flipped through the poorly
alphabetized contents and found the correct resident. I pulled the file,
stuffed the papers in, returned it to the box, and replaced the lid. I lifted
and restacked the five boxes back on top of the one I used, leaving my hands
gritty with dust. I wiped them on a loose sheet of paper laying on an old end
table.
The elevator doors opened and the maintenance
man, Gus Mueller appeared. Gus smirked and held the door open for me.
Outwardly, Gus seemed like a
dimwitted, somewhat scary hood, while in reality, he was smart, caring, and
free with advice. In his early-twenties, he wore his shoulder-length, mousey
brown hair in a shag, weighed in at around one hundred and twenty pounds,
sported one jumping and one crouching tiger tattoo on each forearm, and he had
one brown eye and one blue glass eye.
He and I chatted every now and
then about a variety of subjects; he loved conspiracy theories. In his opinion,
the government created Social Security to control class warfare of the aging
population. He also felt nursing homes were created as lab facilities to test
new procedures and drugs on the aged. That amused me. Plus, he said old folks
should be allowed to die in their own homes, and thought most of the families
dumping their parents here weren’t worth the toilet paper he used to wipe his
ass. I agreed. He certainly had a colorful way of phrasing things.
“Hiding in the basement again,” Gus teased.
“Someday The Hawk is going to catch you.”
I stepped into the elevator. He didn’t get out. I
turned toward the doors with my back to him. “That would be a great idea, if there
weren’t so many spiders down here,” I said.
He slapped my back. “Got it!”
I shuddered. “There wasn’t a spider on me, was
there?”
“Biggest I’ve ever seen,” Gus said with awe.
“Get out! Quick, are there any more on me?”
He chuckled. “I was just messing with you.”
The elevator lifted up one
floor. “All out.”
I shot him a dirty look and he grinned ear to
ear. “Enjoy your elevator ride.” The doors closed in front of him.
Just to my left I noticed
Carol Hanson walking down the hall. I jogged to catch up with her.
“Hey Carol, wait, can I ask you something?” Jeez,
just a short jog and I was out of breath. I’d have to reconsider my dislike for
exercising if I wanted to live to be fifty.
“Sure,” she said, “if you don’t mind talking and
walking. The Hawk requested my presence.”
“In that case I’ll ask quickly. Is there any
reason why Mr. Schroeder’s daughter should insist he drink orange juice when he
doesn’t want it? I mean, is it for diabetes or something?
“No, he’s not diabetic. I don’t recall any
doctor’s orders prescribing it, but I’ll look when I get back if you want.”
“Yes, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay, but it can’t hurt him.” She turned into
Phyllis’s office and I returned to mine.
Fine, that’s settled. Now what. Oh yeah, work.
On my way back to my office, I
passed the activity director who informed me she needed five dollars from every
resident on the list of paper she handed to me, for the residents’ luncheon
outing. I told her I’d check to see if they had the necessary funds, and would
have the money waiting for her at the front desk before lunchtime.
It took me a few minutes to
check all the accounts. Only one resident was short the funds needed to attend.
All of his checks for the month were posted and it was too early in the month
to float the withdrawal. According to his recent transactions, he purchased a
new hearing aid that wiped out his funds. Poor man. Feeling generous, I coughed
up the five bucks myself. Good thing I like TV dinners. Perhaps God would
recognize this simple act of kindness and bestow a little good luck my way…like
Brandi moving out.
Chapter
16
At 12:15, Donna came up to the front desk to ask if I
wanted to join her for lunch. She was going out for a sub and she had a coupon
for buy one, get one free.
“Hold on a sec,” I said. “I
have to check if I have enough money?”
“That’s okay, I’ll treat you,”
Donna said. She made more than me but I didn’t want her to pay for my meal.
I left the front desk and went
into my office. I opened my desk drawer and pulled out my handbag. Time to
clean out the inside of this thing, I thought, fighting my way through tissues
and makeup to find my wallet. Opening it, I discovered what I expected; I gave
all of my money, with the exception of fifty cents, to the activity director.
Phooey. Wrong day to be generous. I really didn’t want to eat my leftovers.
“Hey, Donna,” I said when I
returned. “Let me pay for it with my credit card. I don’t have any cash on me.”
“Well, okay, but I’ll give you
the money for my half.”
“Not necessary. I”ll meet you
in fifteen minutes, if Shantel returns on time.”
Guess I would be saving my
pathetic leftover lunch for tomorrow. That is if a nurse or aide didn’t steal
it. They did that in this place, stole stuff right out of the employee break
room. I’d keep the lunches in my desk but occasionally they need to be
refrigerated.
Fifteen minutes later Donna
was waiting at the front desk, and I was waiting impatiently for Shantel,
tapping my foot on the floor, and glancing at my watch.
The phone rang, and I picked
up with my usual warm-hearted greeting. “Good afternoon, Ageless Grace Nursing
Home. How may I assist you?” I looked to Donna and rolled my eyes.
“Is Shantel there?” said a
husky male voice.
“I’m sorry, she’s out to
lunch,” I said, pulling out the message pad. “Would you like to leave a
message, or call back?” Call back, I said under my breath.
“Um…yeah, sure, dat be fine.
Jez say Leroy be back in town.” He hung up and I placed my hand over my heart.
“Who was that?! All of the
color drained from your face.” Donna’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“Leroy’s back,” I said in a
whisper.
“Ohhhh,” Donna said.
We both knew Shantel had no
desire to see Leroy, ever again. This was not a message I wanted to give her.
As if on cue, Shantel walked through the front door.
“Brrrrr. Colder than a gang
banger’s steely-eyed gaze out there.”
“Cold as all that,” Donna
added with a smile.
I decided the message could
wait a while. “Donna and I are heading to the Sub Shop. Be back in an hour.”
“Let your car warm up first,”
she advised, pulling off her coat.
Shantel was right. With the
wind blowing at a steady fifteen knots, I could have sworn I was in Russia. My
love for winter ended with the first snow.
Donna beeped her car open and
we both jumped in. She let her car run for less than a minute and pulled out of
the lot. The Sub Shop was located in a nearby strip mall, not more than three
minutes away. On a warm summer day, we would have walked there. Today, we were
too cold to talk.
Inside the shop, we looked at
her coupon to see what we could purchase. I decided on tuna on Italian, she got
roast beef on oats n’ honey. Using her coupon and my credit card, I paid for
the meals. Donna took the bag with our subs. I took the cups to the soda
dispenser.
“Diet Pepsi okay?” I asked,
knowing the answer.
“With a splash of root beer.”
I did as instructed and
carried the cups to the table farthest from the window where she was already
sitting, sorting out the subs.
Neither of us removed our
coats.
“So,” she said, “what do you
think Leroy wants?” She opened her sub and removed most of the lettuce.
“Why do you ask for lettuce if
you don’t like it?” I said.
“I like it, just not piles of
it.” She finished and put the top back on her sub. “So what about Leroy?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, could be Leroy needs a place to stay.”
“You think he wants to see his kids?” She licked ranch dressing off her
thumb.
“According to Shantel, he’s
never asked about them in all the years he was incarcerated. And, he’s never
paid her a dime of support. I don’t expect that to change unless he finds a job
and they garnish his wages.”
I drank some Diet Pepsi and
took a large bite out of my sub. Not bad. Could use a bit more mayo. A hunk of
lettuce fell out my sub onto the sub wrapper spread out on the table.
“See!” Donna exclaimed. “Too
much lettuce!”
“Just a messy eater.”
Donna played with her straw
and then after giving it some thought, looked up at me, and asked, “So, have
you scored with Lloyd Harper yet?”
I choked on my drink and
started coughing. Getting control, I hoarsely answered, “Donna! Jeez, I just
met the guy. Besides, our date isn’t until Friday.”
“Just thought I’d ask in case
you were holding out on me.”
“Would I do that?” I said.
Yep, in a heartbeat. Friend or no friend, sometimes a girl liked to keep some
things to herself.
“All right. If it goes well on
Friday, you guys could double date some night with Chuck and me.” She sipped
some soda. “Chuck likes to go bowling, but I totally suck at it.” She paused
and said, “Do you think it’s creepy he has his own bowling shoes?”
“Not if he enjoys bowling a
lot,” I said, though truthfully I thought older guys on bowling leagues were
kind of weird. I remember my mom showed me this game she played when she was
younger, a dating game, and the loser guy was a dorky looking man wearing a
brown Mr. Rogers type button down sweater, bowling shoes, with a bowling bag at
his feet. I can’t seem to get that image out of my mind.
“Yeah, I suppose.” She stared
me straight in the face and I laughed. “You snot. You do think it’s nerdy.
Right?”
I sighed. “Maybe just a little
creepy. He doesn’t wear brown polyester slacks with white crew socks does he?”
“Not that I’ve seen. I’ll
check his closet and I swear if I find them I’m dumping him on the spot!” She
stuffed our garbage into the plastic bag the subs came in.
“No you can’t. You have to marry him so I win
the pool at work.”
“Well, okay. On the nights he goes out bowling,
I’ll cheat on him.”
“Works for me,” I stood up. “We better leave, or
we’ll be late.”
We tossed our garbage and left, hoping for a
speedy end to the day.
Five minutes before Shantel left for the day, I told
her about Leroy’s call and she nearly fainted into her chair. I grabbed a
folder from the desk and fanned her.
She gave me a look of irritation and grabbed my
hand. I put the folder down.
“Oh dear Lord,” she said.
“What am I gonna do about that man?”
“Can’t you just tell him you’ve moved on and he
should too?”
“Mmm mm, girl, you don’t know jack,” Shantel
said, her fingers rubbing her temples.
“Do you think he wants to see his kids?” I asked
and her eyes bulged out.
“Say what? He better not try to touch my babies.
No good piece of—”
“Go home and relax,” I interrupted. “You’re just
getting worked up, probably over nothing.”
“Hope you’re right, Sunny.” She made the sign of
the cross. “Lord have mercy. If I call off tomorrow, you’ll know why.”
She stood to leave and I left, reciting my own
prayer. If she called off tomorrow, I would have to watch the phones all day
long and that was too much to bear.