“Maybe I am a famous landscaper, after all.” Yoko raised her meticulous eyebrows.
Danny drove them back at maximum speed. Once again Yoko thought about Annie’s lead foot. This time, she snickered.
“What?” Danny looked in her direction. “Driving too fast fer ya?”
“No, not at all. I have a friend who actually owns a souped-up golf cart. Advanced EV Advent 48V.”
Danny let out a whistle. “You’re talking major bucks. Almost as much as this little buggy.” He patted the steering wheel. “Is she a big golfer?”
“What? No. She uses it to drive to the market and around the neighborhood.”
“That’s kinda like what people do around here. I mean, that’s how they get around the complex.”
“So do they own their own carts, or do they rent them?”
“They rent them. If you notice, there are small porticos next to the duplexes. That’s so they can park them. The regular cars are in lots, but easily accessible to their duplexes. Twenty-five feet at the most.”
“I see. What about deliveries? Carrying groceries?”
“If the residents drive their own cars, they pull up to the front of the main building. One of the attendants unloads it and drives it over in a cart.”
“Excellent service. Sounds like they’ve thought of everything.”
“Pretty much.” Danny pulled the cart through the large doors of the warehouse and parked along the wall.
Yoko noticed it was just after three. “What’s next?”
“Go over the plans for tomorrow.”
“Are there any days when you have a light load?”
“Here? Never. There is always something for us to do. Things grow really superfast here. Always a bunch of weeds to pluck. Or tired plants to replace.”
Yoko nodded in acknowledgment. “I need to freshen up. Where should I meet you?”
“Office. Over there.” He jerked his finger over his shoulder.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
Yoko entered the unisex bathroom. There were two, plus a handicapped one. She was pleasantly surprised to find the bathroom was clean. Using a men’s bathroom can sometimes be a rather nasty experience. Then again, she had been in some rather gross women’s rooms, too.What is wrong with people? Flush the toilet, for heaven’s sake!Even this restroom had the sign: EMPLOYEESMUSTWASHTHEIRHANDS.Shouldn’t everybody? Common sense. Does anybody remember COVID?Then she recalled a sign she saw in a women’s bathroom at a local restaurant that said: PLEASEDONOTWRITE ON THEWALLS ORSTEALANYTHING.Seriously? This is what it has come to. We must remind people how to behave in public while they are in public. Again, she thought,What is wrong with people?
She bent over the sink and splashed water on her face. When she stood, she spotted a small object in the air vent. Yoko immediately recognized it as a security camera.Whoa. Now that is bizarre. She pretended not to notice, dried her face, and walked to the office, where Danny was waiting.
“You know, nobody told me if I was your boss, or if you are my boss,” Danny noted.
“Does it matter? You know more about this place than I do. As long as we can work as a team, there shouldn’t be an issue. Right?”
As far as Yoko knew, her title was Director of Landscaping, but that was never put forth by Ivan. It really didn’t matter. If she and the Sisters performed in their usual manner, within a week everyone would be sitting around the beautiful table in Myra’s dining room, feasting on one of Charles’s magnificent meals.
Danny went over the post for the next day. “Pretty much the same as today. A few residents would like their flower beds freshened up.”
“Sounds good.” Yoko got up to leave, but Danny stopped her.
“Hey, I just wanna say thanks for holding up your end of the gig. When I saw you walking in my direction, I thought someone must be in the wrong place.”
“I get that a lot.” Yoko grinned. “And you are welcome. I always make every attempt to hold up my end. Even if I have to use rope.” She pointed to her makeshift belt. “Thanks. It helped.”
Yoko headed to the locker room to change and then walked to the employee parking lot, where she saw Izzie following the woman she was with earlier. She guessed things were falling into place for her. Yoko decided she would head back to the apartment suite. There was a call scheduled for nine so the Arizona people could be in on it at six. Her plan was to take a long shower, then decide what to do for dinner. Lunch for tomorrow was another issue. There was no way she was going to eat the food in the warehouse cafeteria. Even putting those two words in the same sentence gave her indigestion. She stopped at a Food Mart on the way back.
