Padre shook his head. “No. I don’t wanna know. My mom lost her mind and I don’t want it to happen to me.”
“Paul. There are all kinds of medications and things nowadays. You can slow the progress, even if you can’t stop it. Not finding out isn’t going to make it better.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew something was up with Padre, but I had no idea it was possibly Alzheimers. But it made perfect sense. I just hoped he’d get help before someone got really hurt.
* * *
“Where is he now?Pin was sitting to my left. “We don’t want him walkin’ in.”
I’d called an emergency meeting of the Outlaw Souls, and we were in the back room of the Blue Dog. Everyone was here except for Padre, because he was the subject of the meeting.
I had the two prospects Kimberly and Carlos outside guarding the door, and we had a signal for if Padre walked into the bar. I didn’t think he would be there, honestly. He’d had a rough day.
“I think he went home. We cleaned up the shop and it was a lot of physical labor. He’s gotta be tired.”
“So, what are we gonna do about Padre?” Hawk asked. “We can’t have a president who loses control like that.”
“I know. It’s a tough situation. I think we have some time, though, before we have to confront it directly. He promised Yoda he’d see a doctor and we have the Vegas run coming up. Plus, we’re doing security for that concert down at the convention center next week. We have a lot to keep him busy with. Let’s just make sure that one of us is always with him, except for when he’s at home. This way if he starts thinking crazy shit, we’ll be able to talk to him. Or at least alert each other.”
It was a temporary solution and one that I hoped would work. Time would tell.
Eighteen
Paige
My alarm went off, and for a moment I had a sinking feeling of dread. Another day waiting tables at Tiny’s.
It wasn’t that I hated the job. It was honest work, the customers tipped well (although not as well as the ones Rocky got for letting them grab her ass), and it wasn’t exactly hard. I just felt I was wasting my passion taking orders for today’s special and lemon pie. As much as I hated to admit it, my parents were right that I didn’t get a degree from USC to be waiting tables at a diner in North La Playa.
Almost as soon as the dread set in, though, it lifted as I remembered. My alarm wasn’t for work, it was for a job interview!
A couple of days ago, Rocky asked if she could pick up a couple of extra shifts. She wanted to save up for concert tickets and needed the extra money. I called Elizabeth Maroni at the Californians for Social Justice job and finally rescheduled that interview and got Rocky to cover my shift. It was some kind of miracle that the position was still open and that Elizabeth was willing to still consider me after my missing the interview with no warning.
I practically leapt out of bed. Even the mess of Banner Manor couldn’t ruin my mood today! It took just a few minutes to shower, fix my hair and makeup, and put on my interview outfit. I’d already stopped by FedEx Kinkos last night to print out my resume, and so I downed some coffee (being really careful not to spill!) and headed out the door.
The office was in downtown La Playa, not far from city hall and the convention center. As was typical for La Playa, traffic was a mess this time of day. But I didn’t care. I was interviewing for a job!
By the time I finally got to the building (GPS took me to the wrong place), the regular parking lot was full and I had to pay $20 to park three blocks away in one of those valet lots. It was a warm morning and I wasn’t exactly thrilled about having to walk that far in my heels right before a job interview. But what else could I do?
The sun was shining and there were seagulls cawing as the ocean breeze took a bit of the warmth off my face. If I got the job, this would be my workplace every day. That would be a Subway sandwich place I could go to at lunch. There would be my new Starbucks.
I really wanted this job.
The sign over the doors that said “Californians for Social Justice” was small. It was clearly not a big-budget place. I didn’t care. It was better than Tiny’s.
I pushed open the glass door and went inside. There was a small reception desk, but no one was at it. The walls of the waiting room were covered in posters about making a difference in the community. There were old magazines strewn about and a few metal chairs lined up against the wall.
I wasn’t sure what to do since no one was at the desk, so I stood there for a few moments. When no one came out, I said, “Hello?”
No one answered and so I said it again. “Hello?”
I looked at my phone to see if maybe Elizabeth had called or texted to reschedule. Nothing. Maybe this was her way of getting even with me for standing her up? I doubted she would be that childish.
So I just stood there, looking around, wondering what to do.
Finally, a small woman holding a plastic box full of papers came walking in the room backwards. Her brown hair was in a braid and she was wearing a long denim skirt with flats. She appeared to be struggling with the box, so I said, “Here. Let me help you,” and started to walk over to her.
Evidently I must have startled her because she jumped and said, “Oh!” and then dropped the box, spilling the papers.
