The morning goes without a hitch and when there’s finally a lull in business, Penny turns to me and asks, “So, Mr. Green Beret is hot, huh?”
I look at her with confusion.
“Mr. MI6? I thought we were giving him pseudonyms according to his badassery.” She looks at me expectantly.
I chuckle at her assessment.
“I knew it. You’re smitten,” she squeals with delight, and I cover my face in embarrassment. She couldn’t be more wrong.
“Please tell me you gave him a blow job as a thank you.”
I playfully slap her butt with my dirty dish towel. “You’re so bad!” But now that I think of it, in all the excitement, I don’t think I said thank you once. Shit. I groan and tell her just that.
“You have my permission to give him free coffee for the next month,” she tells me, “But I think you should also ask him out on a date… to make up for him saving your life of course.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
I chuckle. “I’ll give him the coffee but there’s no way I’m asking him on a date. He looks like he eats girls like me for breakfast.”
A sly smile takes over her face. “Even better.”
I walked right into that one.
~ ~ ~
I clock out at two PM and head home to wait for Kyle to get back from school. I have just enough time to edit some of the photos I took of Penny and Autumn yesterday. I have to admit, they’re beautiful. I can’t wait for them to see these.
Part of me is green with envy over what Penny has with Autumn. Sure, their circumstances aren't normal. Being a young single mom is not the quintessential American dream. But they have each other, plus a support system in Alex and Briana. And Alex and Briana would do, and have done, anything for their daughter and granddaughter.
I know it won’t be like that for me. My family unit was severed a long time ago. Any chance of a support system was ripped away in the blink of an eye. Well, ripped away and pushed away.
Which reminds me, I have my monthly meeting with my dad next week. Even though I have to go to our lunches, I would rather not. Our relationship is tainted now, and I hate it. I schedule our meetups during his lunch break and only allow myself to stay for fifteen minutes or so. It works for me, but he’s made it very clear it doesn’t work for him. And while I want to forgive him, I can only tolerate so much. But every time we meet up, he won’t relent in trying to mend our relationship and I won’t relent in keeping us apart. It’s a juxtaposition if I’ve ever seen one. It just goes to show that our stubbornness is the only thing we have in common these days.
As I snap out of my thoughts, I check the clock.
Kyle should be home from school by now and I head upstairs to have a chat.
Mary Williams, Kyle's mom, opens the door, confusion etched on her brow. “Jordan, is everything okay?”
My face must say what I am not.
Mary is a beautiful woman. Straight, chocolate hair sits just above her shoulders, and her whisky-brown eyes areframed by naturally long lashes that everyone is envious of. Nowadays though, she seems a touch too thin. But despite her circumstances, she radiates hope. At only forty years old, Mary was diagnosed with MS and has been battling her symptoms for the last three years.
I only know this because I caught her sitting at the bottom of the stairs, which happens to be right next to my door, and took a chance at talking to her when she was bawling her eyes out one day. My heart ached for her and her two kids when she told me her story, and we became neighborly acquaintances that day instead of strangers.
Coincidentally, that’s exactly how I met Kyle too. He tried to act tough when I saw tears streaming down his face but as soon as I sat down next to him, he started crying even harder. The weight of the world is on his shoulders as the man of the house. It has been ever since his dad bailed on them five years ago. I know he feels the need to take care of his mom and little sister, Maggie, which is why I didn’t want to involve authorities this morning.
From what Mary tells me, and the research I’ve done, her symptoms are mild compared to other people with the disease. But some days are worse than others, and as a single mother I know she worries about her and her kid’s situation in the future. Her job with the school district is very accommodating when her symptoms flare up, taking some of the stress off her. But even though she has health insurance, there’s still quite a bit of overhead between doctor’s appointments and purchasing her medication.
At the end of the day, they’re barely scraping by. Just like me. But I’m hoping this offer from Penny can help out some.
I spot her twelve-year-old daughter already doing homework on the couch but don’t see Kyle.
“Hi, Mary,” I greet her. “Is Kyle home? I wanted to talk with you both.” Her worried expression doesn’t escape me.
“Uh, yeah. He just got home. Kyle, come here!” she yells behind her.
He turns the corner towards his mom’s voice and his face pales when he catches sight of me.
Mary looks from her son to me and back again, widening the door. “Why don’t you come in and I’ll make us some tea.”
