Story Edie (Complete)

Sammy55

Sammy55

Veteran Member
I agree, Sportsman! I learn something from every chapter Kathy posts, no matter the story, no matter how many times I've read it. I just wish I was younger and could do more of the things she writes about. (sigh)

Thanks, Kathy! Very much enjoying all of the stories you have posted!
 
E

ejagno

Veteran Member
Thank you again for more amazing Edie adventures. The problem with her warehouse deals and "going grey" here is that the big bulk membership stores keep very close tabs on every single item purchased for a 3 year period. Looking forward to watching her not only learning to "Adult" but be an outstanding homemaker and mother to her daughter.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 28​


Mr. Godfrey and some man I’d never met were yelling at each other.

“I’m telling you I did not drop that tree! Don’t accuse me of …”

“I’ll accuse you of what you’re guilty of! You did this last time we were up here and now I can’t even get out to fill my truck with fuel and get out of this shithole town!”

The other man, after having a few more choice things to say that I was glad Teena wasn’t old enough to understand, finally jumped in his truck and took off back the way he’d come spinning mud back and coating Mr. Godfrey and not doing my Tahoe much good either.

I got out and said, “Hi Mr. Godfrey. You okay? Mind if I cut this enough so I can pass?”

“I didn’t drop this tree!” he yelled at me.

Sometimes all you can do is ignore someone’s attitude. “Uh … yes Sir. I know. I heard you tell that man. But it’s from the corner of your drive sooo … I’m just asking permission to cut enough so I can get by. I’ll even haul off the mess I make.”

He sniffed and wiggled his nose. Made him look like an over-sized, cranky rat. “Well, it is my tree.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Hmm. If you cut it into lengths I suppose I can allow you to take some of it off.”

“Thank you Mr. Godfrey. I appreciate it.”

I wanted to roll my eyes but what are you going to do with some people? Besides, I could see that the tree had heeled up at the root ball … or what was left of it … and hadn’t been “dropped” like the other guy accused.

The tree wasn’t particularly large, about eight inches thick, but it was tall; over fifteen feet until the bottom limbs and then the branches at the top added another eight to ten feet to that. It had gotten top heavy, died, and then the muddy ground didn’t give much for the shrunken root ball to hang on to, so it toppled over in the wind that had kicked up. My chainsaw with its new chain went right through the trunk without a problem. The road was muddy so that was more of a pain than cutting had been, especially when I had to pick up the wood and load it into the back of the trailer. In addition to the trunk, I cut the branches that were as big as my wrist into lengths and put them in the trailer as well.

“Mr. Godfrey? Do you want me to leave the rest of the trunk here for you to pick up for your fireplace?”

“Fireplace?! I am not a fool! I don’t have one of those death traps! Between fires and carbon monoxide poisoning those things should be outlawed. They’re archaic and horrible for the environment. I use a furnace like God meant men to.”

“Er … then would you like me to haul off the rest of this wood and get it out of your road?”

“I’m not paying you,” he said giving me a cold look.

“No Sir. It’s … er … just neighborly.”

I had caught him off guard. “Oh. Well, that’s true. I pick up the trash along this road so I suppose I should get something out of it.”

“Er … yes Sir.”

“But leave that brush over in the ditch for the animals. The damn utility company trimmed all the small branches out of the lines and who knows what they did to the habitats for the small mammals and birds. But no one listens to me.”

I just looked at him waiting to see if he was going to say anything else. It was like watching a MadTV skit.

“Very well, I suppose I’ll let you … this time. But you’d better not forget to leave the brush for the animals.”

“No Sir I won’t. Where do you think the best place would be for the brush?”

He made a bit of production of showing me where he wanted it and how he wanted it, but the cold had him taking off for his house with another warning to do it correctly or I’d hear about it.

I had just finished dragging the last of the brush into the pile Mr. Godrey wanted me to make when two trucks came at me from either direction. The same one from further up the road and Winn’s truck coming up from the direction of town.

“Trouble?” Winn asked after rolling his window down. I didn’t even get a chance to answer before the other guy jumped out of his truck and started cussing me for helping Mr. Godfrey because he had called the cops and I destroyed the evidence. I let them both know I’d had enough and wasn’t going to listen when I started up my chain saw with one crank and went over to get the last of the trunk cut into lengths I could carry.

The man came at me and I turned with the chainsaw still going. “You know,” I yelled. “Even the dumbest crayon in the box knows not to rush someone that has a chainsaw in their hands.”

The guy backed up and then backed up a lot faster when Winn grabbed him by the scruff and pulled. I ignored them both and finished what I was doing. The other man and his truck sped off down the road and Winn just shook his head.

“Sorry about that,” he told me. “Friend of the family. He was thinking of buying the cabin but turns out he’s got money problems and my stepdad doesn’t want to hold a note for him. I guess he couldn’t talk Dad around like he thought and got butthurt. He’s leaving and …”

“And going to be sorry if he does. The traffic on the highway is getting bad.”

“You come from town?”

“Overton,” I told him without further explanation.

“I’ll get the wood. Just drop …”

“I can do it,” I told him.

He sighed. “Did I do something to piss you off?”

“’Scuse me?”

“Or maybe that rumor I heard about Munroe’s lawyer is true.” When I didn’t bite he added, “It goes something to the effect that …”

“I don’t know about a lawyer being involved. But if that is what Faye Dunn is saying this time that’s the second guy that she’s thrown under the bus for having a letter sent threatening to take Teena away from me.”

“What?! And what’s Faye got to do with this?”

I shrugged though it was hard to see under the coat I was wearing. Teena was asleep in her car seat with her mufflers on her ears so I didn’t need to wear the big coat but my old one was hanging on me because I’d lost more weight. “Doesn’t matter. I took care of it with the County Health Department. And have a letter to prove it. I need to get going.”

“Hey now. You can’t say something like that and not tell me the rest of the story.”

“Why not?”

“Huh?”

“Why not?”

“Well … okay, you have a point but …” He made a face. “Celeste told everyone to shut up and leave it alone, that the facts were probably different from what the rumor was. That mean she knows?”

“That means that what happened isn’t anyone else’s business. That I took care of what someone tried to do and have proof that the lies that were told were just that, lies. Beyond that what your family gets up to is none of my business anymore than … just forget it. It’s over and done with.”

“Done or Dunn?”

I made a face. “Really?”

“Okay, so that wasn’t my best line. About Faye …”

“Do I need to stick my fingers in my ears and go la-la-la for you to get the message? I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Whew. Faye must have really stepped in it. I’d heard that she and Emma Jean had some big blow up of a fight.”

“I know I’m going to regret this but who is Emma Jean?”

“Cindy’s half-sister from her Mom’s first marriage. She isn’t a Dunn.”

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t touching that one. Trying to figure out how people were related in this area is like trying to take an AP Physics exam without a calculator. “This is like being back in high school,” I muttered.

“You’re still in high school,” he said with a grimace.

“Technically. Technically I’m also in college. Though what that has to do with the price of tea in China I don’t know. Look, I need to get Teena home. It’s getting colder … and damp. They’re promising snow before midnight if not sooner.”

“I’ll follow you and help you unload that wood.”

“I don’t need …”

He sighed again. “Obviously not but it would be a kindness if you’d let me.” I gave him a suspicious look. He shrugged and explained, “Mom and them brought some friends up this time and I’m not exactly fun to be around when I come in stinking like work and mess up their party vibe.”

“Seriously?” I asked like he was looking for pity.

He made a face and said, “You have no idea how serious.”

I decided free labor wasn’t something to turn my nose up at since I had all the wood and the groceries to take care of, plus the freeze drier that weighed more than just a little bit … try over two hundred pounds. “Fine. But you mind helping to carry a few other things through to the deck? I don’t want the wood to get damp and make the fireplace smoke. Once was enough. And I have something that would be easier to move with two people as well.”

He followed me back to the cabin. The wood brought no comment but the freeze drier brought a couple from both of us until I thought to use an old rolling mechanics cart my dad used to have a compound miter saw sitting on. Then as a thank you I fixed him some cocoa.

He looked around. “You’ve been doing a lot of work. Who did you have helping you?”

“No one.”

“No one?”

I just looked at him.

“Er … is that no one it is none of my business, or no one no one.”

“Both,” I said throwing a napkin at him and rolling my eyes. “I’m not helpless you know. Why would I need help to clean up and organize stuff?”

“Well, I wasn’t asking about that though having been there I know this must have been a lot of work. I was asking about the hardy board siding you put on that section where the freezer is.”

“Same question. Why would I need help? I grew up doing stuff like that.”

He pointed to my textbooks stacked on the table. “Those books and you with a hammer and nails in your hands don’t go together.”

“Why not?”

It took him a moment to answer. “Just doesn’t seem like it should.”

“Is this a guy thing?”

“A whut?”

“A guy thing. Where you think just because I’m not a guy I shouldn’t be able to do things like use a measuring tape, chop saw, and paint brush. You didn’t get all cross-eyed because I used a chain saw just now.”

“Even my mother can use a chainsaw. I guess …” He made a face. “Is this a girl trap?”

I shook my head. “I don’t play those games. Mostly ‘cause I don’t know how and think they’re nothing but stupid on top of stupid.”

He was silent for a moment then asked, “How you getting’ along?”

“Fine. Why?”

“’Cause I’m askin’. I didn’t find out until today that Monroe hurt you.”

“He didn’t … oh … you mean the black eye.” I shrugged. “It looked worse than it was.”

“That’s not the point. Celeste said you didn’t go to the Thanksgiving service or take the baby to the Angel Breakfast either. In fact she hasn’t seen you around town at all except maybe once. Smith said you haven’t been to the hardware store since … well since it happened. No one has seen you.”

“And that’s a problem why?”

“It’s … how rumors start.”

“No. Rumors start because people are nosey and just have to bump their gums to feel superior to other people.”

“Wow. You really are pissed.”

I sighed. “No. I’m just done. And pleeease don’t start with the jokes. It’s not funny. I’ve just had enough of the Monroes of this world. And the Fayes. And all the rest of the stupid they perpetuate on other people. I’ve got responsibilities. And I don’t want people like that taking aim at Teena regardless of their reasons, and I definitely don’t want her growing up that way. I’m it … the only thing that stands between Teena and all the crapheads and their craptastic crap.”

“You could have friends to help.”

“I had friends. Didn’t work out too well.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I looked at him and finally figured it out. “You don’t know do you?”

“Know what?”

“Huh. I thought Celeste said that people knew … or some people knew. That Uncle Tink had been, in her words slinking around up here, raising suspicions and spreading my story. You even said you read it in the newspapers online when you went looking and I even told you but … you still don’t really know.”

“Yeah, Tink Halsey was around while they were moving stuff in here. That’s how I found out about your aunt.”

“But you don’t know the rest of the story?”

“Appears I don’t. Thought you told me, or I thought you did.”

I tried to find the words to tell him, to just get it over with, but I couldn’t. Instead I opened my laptop, found one of the news articles that was closest to the truth that was published in the aftermath of the trial, and pushed it over to him and picked up Teena and walked down to the basement to start a fire, change her diaper, and feed her in the rocking chair I’d moved down there to have a place to sit. When I was finished, I put Teena down to sleep and walked back up expecting Winn to have let himself out. I nearly jumped a mile to find him staring out the kitchen window.

“I thought you’d be gone.”

He didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at me. Then he said, “You’ve never said anything about the scars or my limp.”

“None of my business and it doesn’t seem to get in your way. Besides you gave me the details when you explained it was during the DC riots.”

“Use to get in the way. Not so much anymore. Took a while. It’s going to take a while for you too.”

Oh boy. “Winn …”

“I’m sure no one has gotta explain that to you. You’ve been through stuff before. Big stuff a kid shouldn’t have had to.”

“Yeah, life sucks but unless you want to do nothing but sit around feeling sorry for yourself you have to learn to deal with the suckage.”

He finally turned around and there was a troubled look on his face. “Don’t let the bastards win Edie.”

“I’m not,” I told him.

“Yeah … yeah you are. Their win may not be obvious to you right now but take it from someone who knows. Shutting yourself off is just another type of being a victim. Don’t be that. As much as it sucks to get out there, especially on days when people don’t want to let you let go of the past, you still need to. They’ve taken enough from you. Don’t let ‘em take any more.”

“I don’t need a lecture.”

He shook his head. “Not giving you one. But I’m not kidding when I say I’ve been there. I had people I thought I could depend on … a person I thought I could depend on … turn their back because they couldn’t handle that I was never going to be what I was before the riot and that Molotov cocktail. If you think the scars are bad now, back then they … they were raw and terrible to look at. It hurt like hell when she did that. Other people that … that I needed to help me instead could only see the damaged person I was and my lost potential. My mom still flinches sometimes when she forgets and is suddenly faced with it again. If it wasn’t for my stepdad I don’t know where I would be right now but even he … look, I just get it that people can be hard on you even when they think they aren’t. But you still need people.”

“Don’t.” It was a command he didn’t listen to.

“Take it easy. I’m not telling you what to do. I’m not asking you to join the Garden Club or walk down the aisle at the First Baptist Church. But … at least keep the drawbridge down for a few people. It’s not gonna kill you and … and as hard as it is to believe right now, it’s what you need to do. Just think about it.”

I sighed. “You’re here aren’t you? Stop pushing.”

“I’m not. You need female friends to offset …”

“No. You can stop right there. Male. Female. Doesn’t matter. In case you didn’t get it from that article it was my best friend that helped to set me up. A lot of the girls that I thought of as good friends knew what was planned and went along with it. They knew. And a couple of them were there, laughing … participating. So no, it doesn’t matter what the gender is. People suck.”

“O…kay. Look, I’m not punching your buttons to hurt you or hack you off. There’s been enough of that. Just … just …”

I just wanted him to stop. “Fine. Whatever. But I’ll do it on my own time and in my own way. Got it? I don’t want to be … set up or … or …”

“I wouldn’t do that. I didn’t like it when people did it to me, even if they thought they were being nice or helpful. I got real good at avoiding the blind date set ups.” He snorted. “Got to be where they had to scrape the bottom of the barrels and the girls didn’t even have ‘a good personality.’ I got the ‘compassionate pity’ thing enough to make me want to punch a few people out.”

“Road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

“Yeah it is,” he agreed. “All I’m asking is that you think about it.”

“I already said I would didn’t I?”

“Okay.” He sighed. “Look, I’ll check on you tomorrow …”

“I do not need a babysitter.”

“I’m not being one smart mouth. This is your first winter on your own and this is going to be a bad storm. I’d feel like a jerk if I didn’t at least do that much. If you can be nice to Crazy Ol’ Man Godfrey despite how he is, is it so hard to understand that I’m doing this just to be nice as well?”

I looked at him and then shrugged. “Okay, nice I can accept. I don’t accept pity or anything else.”

“No. That’s not what you’ll get from me. Are you used to snow at all?”

“I can drive in it if that’s what you’re asking. I didn’t exactly live in sunny Arizona before I moved here.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Not to mention you don’t need to be out driving for the next few days. There’s gonna be lines down, trees down, and the road down to the highway is going to be slick and muddy and it isn’t smart to be driving on it when it is like that. There could be a wash out or slide. Could be nothing but a sheet of ice despite it being mostly gravel up this way. It’s happened before. And we might lose power.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you don’t have any heat in this place. What were they thinking? You’ve got a baby.”

“Uh … look, I moved down to the basement. It’s warmer down there.”

“You can tell me no, but … you mind if I take a look?”
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 29​


“Don’t wake Teena or you can change her diaper when she wakes up cranky.”

Trying to knock some of the tension down with humor he said, “That’s a threat worth taking into consideration.”

We weren’t down there long, but long enough that Winn understood I was serious about it being warmer down there and that I’d made it more secure as well. When we got back to the first floor he said, “That was a good idea. You got enough wood?”

“And brought home more in case you don’t remember carrying it in.”

“Hmm. I’m gonna take a load down there so you don’t have to go outside. And not the green stuff either because that is just a disaster waiting to happen. I’ll make it as dry as possible but you should take one of those tarps and put it on the floor away from the hearth so the plastic won’t catch.”

“Winn …”

“I know. I know. You can do it yourself. So call me a chauvinist pig and be done with it.”

“I don’t know enough about how you act around other people to say whether you are or are not,” I said, surprising him. “What I do know is that I can do it myself.”

“Fine. You can do it yourself. You’re free, white, and independent.” That was a weird echo of what Mr. Gibson had said and it made me uncomfortable. “But you can take that too far.”

“But …”

“Sure. In your shoes you need to be able to. That doesn’t mean that it has to be you and only you 100% of the time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“It means that you should give people a chance to help. It builds character, theirs and yours. And when you get a chance, you can help them. That doesn’t just build character, that builds community. If you’ve got community, when the big bad things that happen in this life come around, the load gets lighter because it is shared.”

I made a face. “That’s a nice fairytale Winn. I mean I know it does happen sometimes but not most of the time. I’ve lived it and know it for a fact.”

“Didn’t your aunt stand by you?”

“I was a kid. And she lost some friends over it and then lost some more who just stopped coming around when she got sick. And when she died not a single one of them came around. And I’m not a kid anymore. Time to stand on my own two feet.”

“Sure. You do. But you don’t need to do that alone all the time.”

“You’re an idealist.”

“A what?”

“Don’t play stupid. Just because you act like an oversized redneck pain in the butt on occasion doesn’t mean you’re stupid. You know what I mean. You’re nice and you think some other people are like that too even if you know the world is mostly full of jerks.”

We’d climbed back up the stairs and I didn’t think he was going to say anything until, “Edie, you have to be one of the only people that has ever thought that … whatever the hell you just said. Even my own family thinks I can be a standoffish, selfish jackass.”

“Then they’re the ones being stupid. Stupid for real. You taught me how to can for cripes sake. Something that I think is going to help me be able to make it when I turn eighteen and the survivor’s benefits go away. And you did it just to be nice and because I asked.”

“Maybe not just to be nice. When do you turn eighteen?”

“August.”

“Jesus, you’re even younger than I thought.”

“A situation that time will remedy fast enough,” I said causing him to look at me strangely. “Look, the law says I’m not a kid anymore. I needed my emancipation to stay out of foster care because Tink Halsey didn’t want anything to do with me regardless of what Aunt Nita had thought. He couldn’t get rid of the potential responsibility any faster and trust me, he tried. The man he hired on my behalf reminded me of that fact often enough. In truth, I wanted my emancipation for similar reasons. It meant giving up being a kid, not that I really was one anymore for the reasons you read in that news article and because I chose to be Teena’s mom rather than abort her or put her up for adoption. Every day that passes I am further away from being a kid. And even if someone up and took away my emancipation right now, I’m so far from who I used to be when I really was a kid that there’s no going back or even faking it. Not for anyone’s comfort level, not even my own. So just drop the whole oh-my-gawd-she’s-a-kid routine. It’s not true and it hasn’t been for maybe longer than even I am willing to admit. Maybe I was naïve, but I still lived a different life from my peers and not all of that is because of the way Aunt Nita ran things. I tried to fit in and thought I had friends, but if I’m honest I’ve always been different. I’ve learned to be okay with that. And no, that’s not my ego talking. It just is what it is. And I’m not real sure I would even try explaining this to anyone else so consider yourself privileged. You want another cup of cocoa when you finish bringing in the dang wood you insist on bringing in?”

His face went from frowning to grinning and then to a quiet chuckle because he didn’t want to change a diaper. “Yeah. That’d be good. I’ll drag those coolers in off the porch too.”

“Use the dolly. It’s easier on your back.” He wiped his mouth like he was fighting back a real laugh but for some reason I wanted to smile too.

Okay, so maybe, on occasion, letting people help isn’t a horrible crime against humanity. I still prefer to keep entanglements to a minimum. It is the only way to stay sane in an area where everyone seems to share the same family tree, and some of them seem to share a few too many branches at the same time resulting in weird knotholes and mutant nuts.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 30​


It was right after the polar vortex storm that I got the scare of a lifetime. I’ve already mentioned that Teena had a bad vaccination reaction, well it was the last week in January and it was her nine-month, Well-Baby checkup. Everything normal. Teena growing like she should and above the 80th percentile but fit and healthy. The pediatrician is really pleased with her fine motor skills, how well she is sitting up and just blinks when he watches her pull up and take a couple of steps. She’s not walking but she’s not just cruising either.

“I figure it’s paybacks,” I say.

“Excuse me?”

“I was walking by nine months. They tell me I drove everyone crazy. Next comes talking and the rest of it.”

The doctor laughed and then was really surprised when Teena spots a picture on the wall and squeals, “Kee kee!”

“You must have a cat.”

“Nope. There’s a story book that makes sounds that I read her at night. It’s Old McDonald’s Farm. She’s starting to recognize the animals when they appear outside of the book.”

He scribbled something in her chart and told me to make note of it in her baby book for future reference. Then it was time for her vaccinations. I’d already told the nurse about what had happened with the County and what I’d heard had been the cause. The Pediatrician, after being informed, had said that he would make personally sure that there was no question that Teena’s shot record was up to date in the system.

Teena doesn’t like shots, but I don’t think there is a kid on the planet that goes to the pediatrician and is excited about the pinch. She’s not even old enough to appreciate a sticker or a sugar-free piece of candy, but she doesn’t pitch too much of a fit either. The Pediatrician thinks it is because I don’t get all upset myself which apparently some parents do which the kid feeds off of and makes it worse all the way around.

I didn’t think anything of it, no one did, when all Teena wanted to do was lay her head down by the time we left the office. She wasn’t crying or carrying on which would have been different. So since I was out I headed to the warehouse store to pick up a few things … things that on this trip was mostly for her, including those “dog biscuits” for her to gnaw on with the little bandsaws she was developing. But she was quiet longer than she normally was and by the time I got her back to the Tahoe she was running a temperature. Not unusual but she was warmer than normal, so I decided to cut my errands short. There was a first time for everything, and I wasn’t freaking out yet.

However, by the time I got gas and was looking at the coupons I had to pick up something I didn’t have to cook myself she seemed to be worse. I called her doctor’s office and in the middle of the phone call – I was talking to the PA about it – Teena has a seizure. Now I’m freaking out.

“How close are you to Overton Advent?”

“Right around the corner at the gas station.”

“Take her straight to the emergency room. I’m calling it in now.”

She didn’t have to explain it twice. I got lucky and found a spot without having to play parking lot wars, grabbed Teena carrier and all and was running (slipping and sliding) into the ER. A cop stops me and I yell at him to get out of the way, that there was something wrong with my baby.

The next hour was a nightmare. The hospital staff all but accuse me of doing something to make Teena sick. Medical neglect. Physical abuse. Poisoned her. I could hear it in all their questions even after I showed them she’d just had her well-baby check up and everything was all right.

Finally Teena’s pediatrician comes in and puts the kibosh on the interrogation and takes over her care, but it doesn’t make Teena better. She’s admitted and they start pushing fluids. They think the seizure she had was called a febrile seizure caused by the high temperature she’d started to run. Nothing they are doing is making a difference. Her fever would spike, they’d give her something and it would come back down, but never to normal. They were talking PICU but the unit is full with flu patients and a rash of serious injuries from kids falling while playing outside in the snow.

I know time is passing but not paying much attention to it. I refused to leave her side even the few times they tried to make me. Almost everything they tried to get her to keep down, she’d throw up. Nine-month-olds do not throw up well. It’s like projectile vomiting and its easy for them to get choked on it. They finally put a tube down her nose. My poor baby was just about the same color as the sheets on the bed she was in.

She had one last seizure early in the morning then an hour later it was all over. She was cranky but the fever was gone and whatever it was had stopped. Her pediatrician still isn’t sure if it was the vaccines or a 24-hour virus but he charted it as a vaccine reaction just in case. Either way, from here on out, she gets one vaccine at a time, no combos, and there’s at least two months between shots to make sure there are no delayed reactions.

They took Miss Cranky Pants for vitals, to get weighed, and to get her ready for discharge. Me they sent down to Accounting and Records to fill out paperwork and to arrange a payment plan. It was worse than an AP exam even with the guy on the other side of the glass being as nice and helpful as he could be. He seemed to think it was all worth it though when I paid the insurance co-pay right there rather than do some sort of payment plan. He thought I was being responsible. I was only thinking about getting out of the hospital with Teena without them having a reason to sink any hooks in me. Mrs. Finkley had warned me that could be a motivation for people to do more than just keep an eye on me, or however they wanted to rationalize it.

“Keep the money you owe as close to zero as possible Edie.” Aunt Nita would have liked Mrs. Finkley, they had the same attitude about debt.

I’ve been holding up the entire time. Yeah, I freaked out at first but as soon as the pediatrician got there and took over I did exactly what he said I needed to do and made as little work for the hospital staff as possible. I didn’t get in the way even if I did insist on having every little thing explained to me. All the nurses but one seemed to understand, and if they didn’t at least they acted like it. That one nurse was Beezlebub’s Wetnurse. Man was she awful and I won’t insult the rest of the nurses in the world explaining just how awful she was.

Paperwork finished and all in order. Money exchanged so I could take Teena home. I even had her diaper bag ready with the all the papers and medicine for just in case her fever goes up again. I was walking back to the Pediatric Unit when I spotted a hospital chapel room next door to the waiting area. It was like I could hear Bobbie explaining things to me, the way he had the one time the doctors had thought Dad had had a heart attack. Turned out he hadn’t, just a bad bruise from where he’d fallen off a ladder. “C’mon Edie. Let’s go say a thanks prayer.”

“It’s not Thanksgiving.”

He gave me a look that Dad did on occasion. “Don’t say stupid stuff. Not Thanksgiving the holiday … a prayer of thanks. For Dad not having a heart attack.”

“But he still got hurt.”

“But it wasn’t what it could have been which would have been way worse. So you say thanks. It’s like having good manners and stuff even when you don’t ask for something.”

“But you did ask. I heard you praying with the Preacher.”

“Edie stop making things so complicated. I don’t have all the answers to your questions. Sometimes you just have to have faith. And then say thanks when things turn out okay. Geez, accept that the bad thing didn’t happen this time.”

I wasn’t even ten years old but what my brother said stuck with me. It had been a while. Since God hadn’t answered my prayers about Aunt Nita I guess, but something about that Chapel just pulled me in. Maybe I had given up on God for a while, but I guess God hadn’t given up on me because even without me asking he’d looked after Teena when even the doctors weren’t sure what to do next except maybe to do a spinal tap to see if she had meningitis.

As soon as I thought about what they had planned to do next it all just hit me and all I could do was cry and think, “thank you, thank you, thank you.” I’d seen parents up there that had kids that were dying. I’d heard one little girl who had a ruptured appendix was so sick they didn’t think she was going to make it and the mom was a mess. One kid got burned over 70% of his body when he’d been playing with the family BBQ. They’d closed the door so I wouldn’t hear his wailing despite all the narcotics but it still came through. His mother was even worse after she’d gotten the first look at him under his bandages. Her they had to take to another area of the hospital to wait out whatever was happening.

I couldn’t seem to stop. Almost didn’t want to stop because once the tap got turned on it was like flushing a lot of bad stuff out of my system.

“Edie?! Edie?!”

I heard the voice but nothing was computing. Then I heard another voice I vaguely recognized. “Bea said it was a close call. This is probably just her having a reaction. She’ll be all right. Why don’t you go get her a soda.”

“She don’t look all right.”

“Winn … just go.”

“But Cindy …”

I had been crying so hard I had snot going down the back of my throat and I had to get up and go to a trash can and start gagging because I couldn’t breathe real well.

I guess she must have convinced him because I didn’t see Winn when I could finally stand upright and fill my lungs.

“You okay now? Need to puke some more?”

I shook my head. “I … I need to get back to Teena. They’ll think I’ve abandoned her.”

“No they won’t. A friend of mine was here just a couple of minutes ago and told me they want to give her some more fluids because she lost more weight than they expected. Then they’re going to take the pic line out which you can’t be there for either. In the meantime you need …”

“To stop acting like a hysterical kid?”

“No Honey. You need to get something to eat yourself. They say you refused to leave her bedside. You would only drink water so you could keep pumping milk for the baby.”

“She couldn’t suck. They put a tube down her nose. She threw up everything else but breastmilk.”

“You were a good mama, Honey. But you need to take care of yourself too.”

“Mrs. Finkley said that.”

“Who?”

“My postpartum doula. She’s a nice lady. Like a Mary Poppins. Tough and sweet at the same time.” I sniffed, gagging on the snot from all my crying one more time.

“Think you can at least sip on the soda Winn brought you? If it doesn’t make you feel better, it will probably make him feel better. I think you freaked him out there for a second.”

“What’s he doing here? And you? Sorry, stuff is just kinda … confused right now.”

“Remember that friend I just told you about? When you said you didn’t have any family she saw your address was in Dunnville and gave me a call. I was actually here in the hospital checking on one of my cases.”

“That explains you but what is Winn doing here?”

She looked out the door to the hall and we both saw him pacing. She looked at me and said, “Doofus Maximus out there was here getting his arm looked at. One of Pauline’s friends let their dog run loose and for some reason it attacked Winn and got him good on his bad arm. Wouldn’t stop bleeding. Good thing Dad had already left or that dog would be dead.” When I didn’t understand who Pauline was she told me, “My step mom. Winn’s mother.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“No reason to be. Knowing Winn he probably just says “mom” and expects you to guess who he is talking about.”

“I thought he only had one mom.”

“Well he isn’t some alien experiment no matter how he occasionally acts,” she said with a grin. “Pauline is his mom but he grew up calling my mother ‘mom’ as well. And to make it even more confusing I have a half-sister through Dad whose mother gets called ‘mom’ by most of us as well. And calling them all by their married names wouldn’t have help since they were all Mrs. Dunn. Confused yet?”

“You have no idea.”

She laughed and Winn stuck his head around the door. “Uh … you can’t have food or drink in here. Why don’t you come sit in one of these chairs and drink this. I’ll go ask …”

Cindy nixed that. “You sit with her. I’ll go ask about the baby. You don’t need to scare anyone with that shirt that looks like a costume from a Friday night horror movie.”

Winn looks down and then at me and says, “Uh …”

“Cindy said a dog mistook you for a bucket of KFC.”

“She did not.”

“Okay, those weren’t her exact words.”

He slowly relaxed and then frowned. “You okay? Was it … bad?”

“I’ve been scared before. I’ve never been that kind of scared before.”

“But she’s better?”

I nodded. “They were … God Winn, if she hadn’t gotten better all of a sudden they were going to do a spinal tap on her.” I nearly started crying again.

“But they didn’t have to and she’s better … right?”

“That’s what they say … but I want out of here. I want to take her and get out of here before … well, not Cindy … but before other people start … start …” Then I almost cried again and told him what the hospital staff had thought when we’d first gotten there.

“What the hell? But the kid doc … pediatrician or whatever … he straightened that the hell out.”

“Yeah he did. It was still …” I shivered.

“I bet it was. Look, you’re the color of spoiled milk. I’ll drive you home.”

It took a second for that to sink in. “You can’t. You’re truck is here.”

“Naw. Mom dropped me off and then left.”

“Won’t she expect you to call and say you’re ready to be picked up?”

He made a face. “She was heading out to go back to the cabin. She didn’t want to leave her friends there alone if the weather gets rough. They aren’t people that deal with snow very often.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Nope.”

“Er …”

“I was gonna swing a ride with Cindy but this is better.”

We heard, “What’s better?”
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 31​


“Meathead is right Edie. You aren’t in any shape to drive, not with the weather starting to turn again.”

Winn said to Cindy, “And you don’t really want to drive up the mountain either.”

Cindy opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again to say, “It isn’t the road. I could always sack out at the cabin then work remotely this weekend. It’s that the crowd that Pauline brought this time just don’t thrill me none.”

Winn nodded. “I don’t think they thrilled your dad none either. He told Mom she better be home no later than Monday night or she can forget going with him to the Keys this Spring Break. How she talked him into letting her tag along on his annual fishing trip with his buddies in the first place I don’t know.”

“She wore him down,” Cindy said in a deadpan voice then they both laughed. The inside joke escaped me, and I admit I was too tired to figure it out.

I gave up and gave in and Cindy and the two nurses standing nearby seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I looked worse than I thought. I handed Winn the keys and told him where I had parked, and he left to go get it while I gathered all the papers that I hadn’t gotten before, and they double checked that I knew how to take care of the needle wounds and where they’d removed the pic line. Then Cindy walked with me down to the lobby because they had some alarm go off in one of the rooms and it was all hands-on deck.

We were in the lobby waiting for Winn to get his turn in the pickup line when I noticed Cindy was carrying a diaper bag and another big gift bag. “Oh, that’s not Teena’s.”

“Yeah it is. Your doctor signed her up for one.”

“One what?”

She looked at me and sighed. “Don’t take this the wrong way but please don’t be a hardhead. Your doctor thinks enough of you that he wants you to have this. The nurses I spoke to said they think you should get one as well. Think of it like a ‘thanks for picking Overton Advent, sorry your time here sucked’ basket.”

“I don’t need their charity,” I told her with a nasty taste in my mouth.

She shook her head. “You and Winn are like two peas in a pod; both stubborn way beyond good sense. Look, this isn’t charity exactly. The corporation that owns this hospital got together with a bunch of sponsors and they all get a tax write off which makes them happy, and a good reputation which keeps their investors happy. And there’s not just chipped beef in here like most of these things are at other hospitals. Trust me, I know. It’s a bag o’ stuff to help take the fright off your experience at the hospital and keep you coming back if you need a hospital. And its mostly for Teena but there’s other stuff in there as well. And it is designed for breast-feeding mothers and their babies in particular. You’ve been through a kind of shock. This is to help get you through so your life can normalize without too much stress.”

What I would have said to that I don’t know because Winn’s turn finally came and he told me to just ride in back near the car seat because that’s probably where I wanted to be anyway. True.

We were pulling out and he lifted up what I realized were my coupons.

“You left these in the seat. You mind if I use one to get us some lunch?”

“Sure. Let me get my purse.”

He snapped, “I said I’ll get it.”

“Uh …”

“Jesus … ignore me. That was a jackass way to say it after what you’ve been through.”

“Don’t throw yourself off Lookout Mountain. It wasn’t a capital offense.”

He snorted. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. But I mean it, I’m buying … with or without the coupon.”

Letting him be weird was easier than I probably should have let it be. “With. Um … please. I don’t care what so long as the line’s not long and I don’t have to get out.”

“KFC? Drive thru?”

“Sounds good.”

“What sides you want?”

“Potatoes, gravy on the side and corn on the cob if they have it and if not green beans.”

“The coupon is for a bucket and three sides so we’ll get all three. Want something to drink?”

“Unsweet tea.”

“Unsweet?”

“Yeah. But can you ask for honey and butter for the biscuits?”

“Can you eat KFC biscuits any other way?” he asked with a grin.

He wound up parking and running in to order because the drive-thru was backed up around the building. When he came out only a couple of minutes later some people gave him a nasty look, but he didn’t care.

From there things got quiet and I fell asleep against the car seat without meaning to.

# # # # #

I woke up to a jolt and Winn snarling quietly, “Damn idiot.”

I sat up blinking to see we were in the turn out by the mailboxes. I’m trying to figure out how we got here when I noticed Winn was wet.

“I fell asleep?” I asked groggily.

He turned his head. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you. Some idiot came skidding down the hill and I had to slam on the breaks … think it was the last of Mom’s friends.”

“Skidding?” I asked trying to get my brain out of first gear.

“Yeah. You mind if I stop by there real quick to check a few things? Mom said the power is out and I need to bleed the lines so they don’t freeze. You got water at your place? If not I’ll bleed the lines into some containers and …”

“But you’ll need it.”

“Does that mean you do or don’t have water?”

“Do. Plenty and then some but …”

“Look. I’m gonna sound like an ass, but I’m inviting myself over until the storm is over. Don’t fight me over it … please. I won’t be able to rest if I know you are by yourself during this one … it’s supposed to be worse than the last one. You … you don’t need to worry that I’ll … er …”

“Winn …” I said, checking on Teena who was hard asleep.

“Seriously Edie. It’s not about … uhhhhh …”

“Winn …”

“You’re gonna pitch a fit,” he said in resignation.

“Actually I was wondering if you can hang on a sec so I can check my mail box.”

“Er …”

I shook my head at what I thought was obvious. “You know this is the 21st Century and all, right?. I know you’re a guy, but I also know guys can be friends without it being about sex.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. Geez. You act like I’m 12 years old or something.”

He looked uncomfortable for a moment. “Yeah well … I know you’re not.”

“Suuuure you do.”

He seemed to come to some conclusion of his own. “Look, don’t go trusting just any guy like this.”

“See what I mean?”

Reseating his cap on his head for no reason he said, “You know, you make my head hurt.”

“It’s what I was born to do.”

He finally laughed and missed that I was a little freaked out. But I was also a little thankful since him playing sleepover wasn’t the only thing I was still freaked out over. I was scared that Teena was still sick and I’d be the only one around.

“I already got your mail. You want it or can it wait until we get up the hill?”

“It can wait. If there is something bad in it, I don’t think I want to know just yet.”

I’m glad I wasn’t the one that was driving. It had sleeted for a few minutes earlier and where there wasn’t ice there was icy mud. We pulled into his place and he said, “I’ll try and be as quick as possible. Um, the baby isn’t making any noise. Is … is she okay?”

“She’s zonked still. The doctor said that the medicine they gave her was pretty strong and that she would sleep for a while. When we get to the cabin, if she doesn’t wake up on her own, I’ll wake her up and see if she will eat.”

“Er … sounds like a plan.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 32​


“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her make this kind of noise.”

“I have,” I told him while I was trying to tape the diaper onto a baby that was just about as mad as a hungover hornet. “But only once. I’m going to need to feed her before I can get anything else done. Go ahead and eat before it gets any colder.”

“You do what you need to. I’m gonna start a fire so ya’ll don’t freeze then I’ll bring some wood in and then bring in that stuff that is in the back of your car.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know. Just do your thing with the baby before she decides we look like dinner.”

He was grinning when he said it, so I knew he was just kidding, but I was pretty sure at that point he was right. Not only did she empty both sides, she was still hungry after that. I had an old cowboy coffee pot that I put some water in to warm and was walking Teena around trying to convince her it hadn’t been a couple of years since her last meal when Winn came down the stairs with the KFC and said, “Whoa.”

“She’ll stop … I hope … after I fix her some rice cereal. She’s just used to regular meals and was starting on semi-solids right before this. She wants her tank topped off and doesn’t understand why I’m being so mean.”

“You’re not being mean.”

“I know that. She doesn’t.”

“Er … Hmm … Look, I was gonna sleep upstairs but …”

“You’ll freeze if you try that.”

He nodded. “Yeah I will. I brought my sleeping bag. You … have a problem with me throwing it down on the floor here?”

“No. And get that surprised look off your face. No one else would have made it passed the front door. I just … I … look, I know it sounds awful, just don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t. It’s not like I want it to get around either.” He must have imagined something in the look on my face because he said, “Hell, that didn’t come out right. I’m just saying I don’t want people to think I’m taking advantage of you. I don’t need that kind of trouble.” Then he winced when he realized how that sounded.

I managed to snag up the coffee pot and make the cereal despite Teena’s Queen of the Jungle wiggles and yodels. “Relax. I know what you are saying. It’s trouble neither one of us needs and frankly I’m not interested in people getting into my business regardless of their intentions. I’ve had enough trouble of my own for a good long while. Hey, sorry I’m such a spazz and didn’t ask before now, how’s your arm?”

“It’s fine.”

Oh no. If he expected me to be Susie Sunshine’s sister, he had to give too. “Look, cranky is my act in this play. You are playing the mature and responsible hero so don’t change things up on me, I might not be able to keep up.”

“Er …”

“If I’m not allowed to be bent out of shape that you’re riding to the rescue, you, as the protagonist with a character of gold, are not allowed to get bent out of shape because me, the damsel in distress, gives a crap that she might be taking advantage of you.”

He shook his head. “You’re right. I think you’re born to make my head hurt.”

“Good. So seriously, how’s your arm?”

“Sore,” he answered like he was trying to hold back some snark.

“Did they give you anything for it?”

Whoops. Snark escaped its leash. “A damn tetanus shot ‘just to be sure’ despite me telling them I’d had one four years ago.”

Snark meet sarcasm. “Busybodies. They should have just let your arm fall off and you die a horrible death from one of the worst and most painful infections known to man. Would serve them right.”

He gave me a look then said, “That headache ain’t exactly leaving.”

“Good. Proves my gift is natural talent and not just learned from books. There’s a medicine cabinet in the bathroom behind that door in the utility area. There’s a bottle of Aleve in there. There’s also bottles of Advil, Motrin, Tylenol, and Midol. I don’t think the Midol will really help but you could try.” I could hear him finally giving into a laugh when he was opening one of them and shaking a couple of pills out.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 33​


Teena had tired herself out and gone back to sleep after eating a piece of a second bowl of rice cereal. The first one she inhaled in near panic like I wasn’t going to let her have all of it. Good thing I don’t have a weak stomach because all I could think about while I ate was just how nasty her next couple of diapers were bound to be.

Winn was coming down with the last basket load of stuff out of the Tahoe … despite his sore arm that he was doing everything he could to make worse … when he told me, “No lights in town either. This is going to be fun. That charger thing really work?”

“The one my phone is plugged into? Yeah. I got it online when I realized that the lithium storage batteries discharged too fast during winter. It’s solar, wind-up, and has an emergency light on it. All you need is your charging cable.”

“I keep a spare taped to my phone case. I have one of those wind up wonders in my tool chest. Problem is my tool chest …”

“… is in your truck.”

“How ever did you guess?”

I laughed quietly. “Because I keep one in Teena’s baby bag and another in the Tahoe’s glove compartment. If we need it we can go get it.”

“Too cold,” he said with a troubled look on his face.

“You wondering if your mom made it home?”

“She did. Just got a text from Dad. And Cindy opted to stay at the hospital when the storm came in faster than expected. She’s done it before and actually has hospital privileges as she was a CNA before she got into social work.”

“Then?”

“Thinking of the mess this storm is going to leave behind. It came up fast and as bad as they said it was going to be, I’m thinking it’s worse than expected. Sun hasn’t even gone down yet and it’s already in the teens. There’s a lot of ice hanging on the trees and from what I could see you got a lot of ice on the decks and hanging off the roof. I’m just warning you, I’m probably gonna get stuck here for a couple of days. I wasn’t thinking … but I’m not sorry either.”

“Well as long as you don’t go into a decline because you’re going to miss the Superbowl.”

He laughed. “Naw. I … kinda lost interest in football a couple of years ago. My brother still plays.”

“Little brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Bobbie played until he decided he preferred a paycheck over pads and pom poms.”

“Uh …”

I laughed, nearly waking Teena up. I stopped and whispered, “Football pads and cheerleaders calling him up at all hours you goof.”

“Ooooh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“I take it Bobbie was your brother that … I mean …”

“Yeah. Bobbie and Dad went together. They say when the creep shot Dad, Bobbie nearly decapitated the guy with a cement block but … anyway they died next to each other. Then the guy tried to blow his own head off and only kinda missed. He’s warehoused in some care facility over the State Line. That’s when Aunt Nita moved in so I wouldn’t go into foster care. And … sorry. I guess I also have a talent for killing a conversation.”

“No. Don’t say that. I just kinda wish I’d known before now. I keep wondering if I’ve said anything that brought up bad memories in the past.”

“Why is my past somehow your responsibility to tippy-toe around?”

“Huh?”

“Sorry. I know I might sound mad, but if I am it isn’t at you. Look, I can’t change what happened. It just isn’t the way things are. And Aunt Nita … well, Dad and Bobbie too … just didn’t raise me to … to wallow in it. No excuses were allowed. Just because bad things happened I couldn’t act bad … misbehave I mean. I might not remember my mom and sister but I had Dad and Aunt Nita who both did great about raising me to be a real live human and not some Apocalypse Barbie. And now they aren’t around I’m trying to do the same thing for Teena. It sucked … really, really, really sucked … how she got created. But that’s not her fault and she can be a better person because of suckage and in spite of it.”

“Er … can I ask … the guy … er …”

“They figured out which one was her sperm donor if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“I didn’t exactly mean it like that. Just … are they making him pay child support so she doesn’t have to go without.”

“No. Wait, let me finish,” I said when he looked mad. “Layton is his name. He was my BFFs boyfriend and one of the …” I explained in a little more detail what the news article hadn’t covered. “Layton, none of them for that matter, can ever come near me or Teena without risking a lot more years in prison than they got during sentencing. And I am perfectly fine with that. I’ve got all his family medical history and stuff in a file in case for some reason that Teena needs it at some point in her life, but I’m never going to encourage her to seek them out. Layton’s family turned out to be a super dysfunctional mess. Stuff came out at the hearing about some of the others involved that I never knew and never would have guessed. Those people are damaged. Even if they turn over a new leaf and turn out to be Mother Teresa in their future lives, I’m still not going to have anything to do with them and I don’t want Teena to either. Just because I can forgive someone so I don’t have to carry that baggage around doesn’t mean … look, it is just a non-negotiable in my life even if I could go to court and ask for child support. Although not really because the judge severed his parental rights so he couldn’t use it to stalk me at any point.”

“Good. That’s real good.” He stopped for a moment and then said, “’Cause I was just wondering after seeing some of the things you’ve done to the place.”

“Like what?”

“The bars … barricades, d-bars at the floor, two deadbolts, swing bar locks, and that’s on top of that I know there is security film on all the windows and exterior glass. The metal grate shutters on the small windows like for the utility and bathroom.”

“I am not paranoid.”

“Nope. I was just wondering if there was anything … or anyone … in particular you were trying to keep out. Because some of these … look some of them might be a fire hazard.”

“I have at least one way out in every room. I just have to flip a lever and the security bars swing off the wall.”

“Show me?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m interested. These are DIY and I want to know how they work because I might suggest them for installing on a few vacation rentals up here that go vacant for long stretches.”

So I did and he said, “Do you have a way to get out from the top floor?”

“One of those ladders that are on chains. You hang it on the open window, unroll it, and climb out and down.”

“Good. Just make sure the ladder is easy to get to even if the room is full of smoke.”

“I put a short bookshelf or nightstand type table under each window and the roll up ladder lives in there out of sight behind a little curtain.”

He took a deep breath and let it out. “Fire extinguishers?”

“Near every fireplace and two in the kitchen. And because they were here when I moved in, I took them to the fire station to have them checked and certified. I also have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.”

“Now it is my turn to say I am not paranoid.”

“Nope. You’re not. You just don’t want anyone else going through what you went through.”

He got up real fast and walked over to the part of the window that showed above the pool table where it leaned on its side and looked out. “Cold is really starting to press in. When I started working for your aunt one of the first jobs I did was lay gravel over an old concrete slab that she said belonged to a car shed that she’d had torn down. I could keep my eyes out for ….” He stopped in mid-sentence. “No. I don’t want anyone to go through what I did. Especially not you or the baby.” He sighed real deep. “Most of the time I’ve put it behind me. Hell of a thing to show you though when I’m trying to prove I’m not some crazy person that’s gonna jump all over you.”

“We’re both … damaged. And not because we did anything to deserve it. But damaged does not mean crazy.”

“No it don’t.” He was quiet again before saying. “One of the reasons I don’t want this getting out is because I used to be.”

“Used to be what?”

“Damaged and crazy. If it wasn’t the physical pain it was … was the mental pain. The drugs they had me on turned my dreams into nightmares. And I craved being outside in the sun even if it wasn’t real good for the burns. I used to wind up on the roof of the hospital just to get away from everything and feel human for a while. They thought it was because it happened at night but then a doctor did a blood panel and found out I was deficient in Vitamin D. Happens to … to burn victims. You get most of your vitamin D from sunlight that your skin absorbs but I … man, the burns … I still have to wear a compression sleeve on my arm but there’s burns on my chest and back too. They healed more than my arm but they can still itch like a sum … er … bad. And don’t worry, I’m not asking you to look at them.”

“Yeah well, I’ve got a nasty episiotomy scar I’m not looking to show off either.”

Some spit went down the wrong way and it took him a minute to catch his breath.

I could feel my face was a little hot and it wasn’t from the fireplace. “I take it you know what that is.”

He coughed and said, “Yeah I do. Mom made sure all of us understood what that is after my youngest brother was born.”

I grinned in embarrassment and looked away. “Er … sorry. I used to drive people crazy. Either with questions or … or saying outrageous things. My former friends used to think it was funny … most of the time.”

He came back over and sat on the rug near the rocking chair where I was sitting. “As a natural talent that’s not a bad one to have.”

“It does come in handy on occasion. Hey, there’s an old glide recliner upstairs. It shouldn’t be that hard for the two of us to bring down here. Better than sitting on the floor. And the trundle for this bed is in the closet. It’s in pieces but isn’t hard to put back together. Easier than the crib.”

“I got hired to put a crib together once. I think they make them so hard to put together so a guy will think twice before knockin’ a girl up.”

“That’s a real possibility,” I said, remembering how awful Teena’s was even the second time around.

“Look, I don’t want to make work for you.”

I shook my head. “I may have a talent for giving you a headache, but I don’t have a talent for sitting around doing nothing. And I’m getting twitchy.”

“Because I’m around?”

“Uh uh. I’m … I’m scared Teena is going to wake up sick in the night.”

“Whoa, you really are twitchy aren’t you,” when he saw the look that was forming on my face from the thoughts that had been forming in my head.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Let’s go get that chair.”

“And the trundle.”

“And the trundle. Then we’ll see what else we can get up to.”
 
Sammy55

Sammy55

Veteran Member
Thanks for the new stories, Kathy! I'm still finding them. Feel like Santa Claus, I've been "making a list, checking it twice" to make sure I read all the stories...that's nice!

LOL! But YOU are the Santa as YOU have the gifts you're giving us!

For some reason, the last few days I've had Christmas on my mind. Have most of the gifts bought and the supplies bought for the gifts I'm making. But I'm double checking the gifts and the list to make sure I've got what I want for Christmas this year. After the elections in three weeks, I have a heavy, sneaky feeling that things are going to crap rather quickly and there might not be much to get out there. One more little Christmas with gifts of things needed and really wanted for those near and dear.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 34​


Well, we got the chair and the trundle. While he put the trundle together, I put the groceries away and added them to my inventory before the cold zapped the computer battery. The trundle slid under my bed until it was needed and then he got to see what I’d been doing which included canning, both BWB and pressure canning.

“You got you some work done.”

“Did you think I was just wasting your time asking for you to teach me how?”

He looked at me and grinned. “Looks like not. You got fancy though.”

“None of this is fancy,” I denied.

“Those soups are compared to what I normally do.”

“Convenience.” When he hiked an eyebrow in unspoken question I explained, “Right now there is one of me. I’ve always eaten a lot of soup.”

“And grilled cheese sammiches.”

I grinned. “And grilled cheese sandwiches.” Then I shrugged. “Sometimes it gets old eating the same thing all the time. I just figured this way I could have something different without a lot of work or cost. Those cans of Progresso and Campbell’s Chunky are expensive and sometimes the cheap stuff just … tastes cheap … sometimes metallic on top of it. For a few bucks more I can make a big batch of homemade soup and then preserve it. It’s really cool. In case I never said … um … thanks.”

“All the thanks I need is seeing this and your smile.” I made a face. “Too much?” he asked.

“Well, it wasn’t terrible, but you don’t need to say things like that to me. But I wouldn’t say it to anyone else over the age of six, they might take it the wrong way. I know you are doing it just to build my self-esteem since you now see me as some kind of injured animal you need to take care of. Someone else? Particularly a female someone else? You could wind up in a world of hurt depending on how serious you were when you said it.”

He laughed and shook his head. “One, the chance of me saying that to anyone else is pretty damn low. Two, I don’t see you as an injured animal … a person that’s been kicked around by life? Yeah. Handicapped by that? No.”

That made me feel better than he probably understood. Either way we went on to a different topic when he asked why I inventoried stuff the way I did.

“Habit, or at least partially. I always helped Aunt Nita with the computer stuff and the inventory and sales had to be computerized so we could prove we were paying as much sales tax as we were supposed to, and most customers wanted an itemized receipt that showed the item, price, and any discount they were due. It kinda bled over into other areas of my life.”

“Doesn’t that get old? Just figure out how much you use every month and that’s what you buy to replace what you use.”

“That’s the problem, I’ve never done the whole dealio before. First off, I didn’t start with much … just some paper products and spices. Mr. Gibson had what groceries he thought I should have for the time he was involved delivered, except for baby supplies and my personal hygiene stuff. And once Mrs. Finkley left, the food was just shelf stable meals that could be nuked in a micro. It was like he was afraid I was going to burn down the house or something stupid.”

“Nels Gibson?”

“Er … you know him.”

“Of him,” he said a little cautiously. “I’m surprised Tinker … never mind.”

“Unless you want me to get cranky let’s leave Nels Gibson and Tinker Halsey in the past where they belong. They might be your friends …”

“No … they’re not. Tinker is my mom’s cousin. But after DC … he just didn’t think I would be useful anymore and a drag on my parents. He kept telling Mom – he wouldn’t say boo to Dad after they had one big blow up on the subject – that I should be sent to one of those farms where they’ve been warehousing wounded vets to keep them off the street. It was so I could earn my keep and not be a drain on resources better spent another way.”

“Out of sight, out of mind.”

Getting thoughtful Winn slowly nodded. “Sounds like something he would think.”

“And Mr. Gibson is just like him.”

“No. Not really. He’s self-serving and can be an asshole, but it’s more I’m surprised Tinker hired Gibson. He ain’t cheap.”

“The way Mr. Gibson talked Tinker had something on him or he owed Tinker something. And either way they are out of my life and out of my life they are going to stay.”

“I can understand your feelings the more I find out. Tinker has never been my favorite person. He can’t handle kids, not even his own. He won’t even be in a room with little kids unless he absolutely can’t get out of it. But that’s probably because some little girl that was friends with his oldest daughter accused him of … er …”

“I’m not breakable. How old was she?”

“Ten, eleven, something like that. Before I came on the scene but it still grows legs in the family sometimes.”

“With reason?”

“Nope. Because it turned Tinker strange about being near kids, especially after his first wife died.”

I muttered, “And Aunt Nita thought that guy was good guardian material?”

“I will admit that is strange,” Winn answered even though my question had been rhetorical.

Going back to the original subject I told him, “This is how I’ll keep track of what I use. It also lets me keep track of what I spend. I have a budget but sometimes it gets away from me.”

“That’s what budgets do. You should see the original budget for the cabin compared to what the parental units have put into it. And now they are talking solar but how they expect to do that when the lot the house sits on is completely tree-covered is beyond me. First they wouldn’t even let me cut back the limbs from over the roof, now they want to clear cut everything for some hypothetical energy storage system.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“Trim the trees back?”

“Doh. Ha ha. No, I mean the solar stuff.”

“Yeah. Plenty of people have them up here but they only provide emergency back up or some power … like they run their hot water or the well or maybe a separate shed or something like that. But the bigger the set up the more expensive.”

“How expensive?”

The figure he named made my newly formed dream go up in smoke. “Well that let’s that out unless I want to give up a year of college.”

He looked at me and the said dead serious, “You’re an heiress.”

I nearly spit out the hot cider I was drinking. “No!”

“Uh …”

“Social security survivor’s benefits. I’ve had them my whole life. First my mother, then when … when Dad died. But those stop when I turn eighteen this year. The college fund was Bobbie’s. I guess there’s some money from my Dad’s estate but that’s supposed to help pay for the college stuff the other doesn’t cover. There’s Aunt Nita’s estate but this property and what was left over from Vintiques is most of it and that’s supposed help get me through a couple years of property taxes, normal monthly bills, repairs and maintenance on the cabin and Tahoe, and stuff that Teena is going to need. When I first found out about all of it, it sounded like a ton of money but now that I’m paying the bills, it’s not working out to be as much as I thought.”

“Tell me to shut up if it’s none of my business but … I mean …”

“How am I doing what’s in the pantry?”

“Well, yeah.”

“It’s no state secret but I don’t want it to get around please.” He nodded. “The judge … from … from …”

“What happened to you.”

“Yeah. The judge blasted all the defendants with victim restitution fines to be paid out over a five-year period or sooner … or else. For some of them the restitution is a condition of parole, early release, and getting any kind of rights back. They pay the clerk of the court then the court pays me minus a transaction fee. But if they don’t pay, I don’t get. And some of them have stopped paying. A couple because they paid the debt off in a lump sum and some because they claimed indigent status though apparently they have to participate in some work program and a piece of that will be paid to me, but we are talking pennies on the dollar.”

“Well that sucks.”

“It will for them. The State likes its transaction fees. And court costs and restitution and things like that are considered undischargeable debt. So is the interest that is piling up on the unpaid restitution. That means they can’t get out of it for any reason, not even bankruptcy; and the longer they don’t pay the more they owe. Not even indigent status will stop it, just delay it. And for those it is a condition of release or whatever, it means they are going back to jail if they aren’t there already. There are some that might not ever pay, but they’ll never escape it either. It shows up on your credit, will come up if someone does any kind of background check, they can’t get into the military, hold any kind of job that requires a clean credit score, rental and loan applications, lots of stuff people don’t think of until it is too late.”

“Well, it sounds like Nels Gibson did his job.”

I snorted. “No. I did mine. I like research. This was just a different kind of research for a more personal reason. Mr. Gibson told me what the judge did. I was the one that had to figure out what that meant and how to make it work so I wouldn’t be the one in trouble.”

“I get disability. It ain’t much but …”

“Every little bit helps. Trust me, I had that pounded into my head by Aunt Nita from the beginning. And even if she hadn’t, life has taught me that. And I see you eyeing those tax books. I’m not giving myself a headache on purpose. I’ve called the IRS tip line three times and gotten three different answers about whether the restitution money is taxable. And can we talk about something else, I’m going to need a Rolaids pretty soon.”

Quietly he said, “Sure. Yeah. Sorry.”

“I don’t mean to be a jerk.”

He looked at me quickly and said, “Shouldn’t that be my line?”

“No,” I said, a little outraged. “Trust me, I prefer honesty. I hate when people keep things from me like I’m some know-nothing kid. Just because I was naïve at one point doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I just can’t compute when I don’t have information.”

After looking at me just long enough for me to get uncomfortable he said, “You’re different.”

“Yeah? And that’s a surprise why?”

“No idea why it keeps surprising me.”

About that time Teena decided to wake up again.

# # # # #

Teena has my surprise genes. Seems “Weeee” was one of her first sorta words and Winn was absolutely gobsmacked. Teena knows exactly what she means by “Weeee” because she reaches for Winn or at him to get his attention. She occasionally throws blocks these days; thank goodness they’re plastic. She’s got a good arm. Sports may be in her future.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________

Chapter 35​


“She’s really saying my name. She knows who I am,” Winn said while he blinked in complete and utter gobsmackedness. “Emma Jean’s kids still don’t know who I am half the time and they’re in school. I used to pick them up from the bus stop for her and Chris and they acted like they didn’t know me until they saw … er … my arm. All the littles in the family don’t seem to recognize my face … I had to start wearing a special sleeve that was … it had cartoons on it.” He looked slightly ashamed as he started to explain, “I mean I’m not around ‘em much but …”

I’m betting that made him feel worse than he wanted to let on. To distract him I asked, “Chris?”

He jumped at the chance to move the conversation in a different direction. “Emma Jean’s husband. He’s in the National Guard and between that and his day job he used to be gone … a lot.”

“By choice?”

He finally stopped eyeing Teena like she was either the most brilliant kid in the universe or a monster out to get him. He turned to look at me and even managed to look like he was stuffing his brains back in his ears where they’d been leaking out. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“Your voice and a good guess.”

“Hella good guess. Not many people knew about the trouble they were going through at the time. They were good at playacting. Sometimes they even fooled themselves.”

Hearing another clue I asked, “At the time? So they’re back together?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. It sucks not to have both parents. There’s always things that make life harder when you don’t have a parent a and a parent b under the same roof.”

He got it in one without me having to explain. He said, “Experience talking?”

“Yep.” I looked over at Teena, letting him see I thought she was pretty spectacular as well … and that I worried I wasn’t enough. “But sometimes life just happens.” Refusing to say anything more about it I said, “You sure you don’t mind doing the couch potato thing so I can finish this term paper?”

“You kidding? One, you don’t need to entertain me. Two, I can’t believe you have all those movies downloaded.”

I shrugged, only mildly embarrassed, and explained, “I had a lot of time on my hands for a little while. I couldn’t leave the house except to go to Vintiques and then after Mr. Gibson started running my life … and getting rid of stuff before he warned me … I just had a lot of down time and … tried to turn as much digital as I could before more stuff disappeared and anyway …”

“Hey, do what ya gotta do. Wish I knew more about computers. But to be honest, being inside all day would drive me nuts. When I was in the hospital they had to keep me sedated or I doubt I’d have survived. The walls kept closing in. Even knocked out I could only twilight sleep. And when I was awake and aware there wasn’t any escaping the pain, and the worst was all the questions they tried to throw at me before the drugs took affect again.”

The idea of him in pain didn’t thrill me so I asked, “Questions?”

“Let’s just say the group that was there protesting and that threw the molotovs that night weren’t of the expected political or gender persuasion.”

I shrugged. “A bad guy, is a bad guy.”

“Depends on the chain of command and who was in charge on what day. And yeah, I know that sounds ignorant. I hope you never get stuck in that kind of situation.”

“But …”

“It was mostly women in that group. It’s why they were not looked at with the same level of security as some of the other groups we had to deal with.”

Still not understanding I said, “Huh?”

Clarifying he explained, “There were some groups that for whatever reason we were supposed to stay hands-off with, and some we were supposed to bounce their skulls with our batons if they even looked at us wrong. The nights that the “allowed” groups came out to protest had started drawing tourists with cameras. Normally those groups just got rowdy and … er … they put on a good show for those that came to watch. They really liked having their picture taken and making it as a post on other people’s social media. That’s how things got out of control … people were posting vids of what happened before it could be managed.” Winn gave a disgusted snort. “The only tool left in the PTB’s belt after that was to somehow make it our fault for antagonizing them. But all we were doing was standing in single line formation outside the barriers. The molotovs just came out of nowhere.”

His explanation made me wonder, “Did they ever get the people who threw them?”

“A couple but I was there that night. There were more than a couple directly involved, and it wasn’t just molotovs that made them what the lawyers call culpable. The entire group had some responsibility because they tried to keep help from getting to us that were injured. I got spit on I don’t know how many times, kicked a couple, and a buddy of mine was pissed on by a group of three guys and a female while he was down and couldn’t defend himself … he had 60% burns on the lower half of his body.” I could see him shudder. “Mostly females or not, they acted like animals.”

Not at my most sensitive I tried to distract him with the opposite result. “Hey, it’s over. Do you like have PTSD? I don’t want to set it off or …”

“No I don’t have PTSD,” he snapped. “Some of the others do but I don’t. I react kinda strong on occasion but that’s all.”

“Yeah you do,” I told him. “React strongly on occasion. I’m sorry.” I didn’t mean it to come out sounding snotty but I guess I was reacting to his reaction and instead of sounding understanding I sounded … well, definitely not.

But I was sorry and feeling bad, so I got up to check on Teena and then go grab my school stuff that was upstairs.

A few minutes later I hear, “You aren’t studying up here are you?”

“No. Just have to pull everything together, check the windows and doors, and …”

“I did already. Even upstairs.”

I sighed.

“Look, if me being here bothers you I’ll …” he started to say.

“What? No. That’s not what … look I ....” I shrugged, not knowing how to explain I was sorry without making it worse.

“Then come down. It’s cold as hell up here. There’s frost on the inside of the windows.”

I tried not to sigh again but it was close. “The pipes are going to freeze this time.”

“I bled the lines. It should keep it to a minimum and the hot water and bladder are in the utility area which will help keep problems to a minimum.”

I picked up my books went back down and he followed. I got to the bottom of the stairs and turned. “Look. I’m sorry. Ask anyone that used to know me and they will explain that I’m not always socially aware.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It basically means that most of the time I suck when interacting with my peer group. I do better with people older than I am but even there I can look and sound like a screw up. They could tell you I have a high IQ and too much ego. I can say I don’t mean to upset people but that doesn’t excuse the cluelessness. So … I’m sorry.”

I turned to go over to the bed. My plan was to sit on it criss-cross while I worked but Winn stopped me. “Hey. I over reacted.”

“Did you? It wasn’t any of my business.”

“I opened the door.”

“But not to have someone run through it with a chainsaw. Just … I gotta get this report finished while Teena is quiet.”

“Sure.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top