I’m not sure what I hoped for more as I entered the front door—an empty house or the usual noisy hustle and bustle. I wanted to talk to Polly and tell her how my day went, but more importantly, how it ended. Being alone with my thoughts was fun on occasion too, especially since I was in such a good mood.
“Hello,” I called after letting myself in with my key. A room-by-room inspection yielded I was indeed alone.
While sitting on the couch in the living room, I took off my shoes, took the contents of my left pants pocket, put it in my left shoe, and repeated the process for the right side. Some routines are helpful, I guess. I spread my arms wide and leaned back slowly as I blew out a cleansing breath. Closing my eyes, I could still see the outline of Alison slinking into the cab, going home without me.
The rain had stopped minutes after she departed, but it was enough to totally change the direction of my night. Honestly, what was I thinking? Women like Alison never end up with people like me. Not, at least, in real life. I’m like the scientist in the movie who builds something to save the world from destruction. Sure, I’m important, but it’s the macho jock guy who gets the girl because he flashed a winning smile while he was following my instructions to hit the right button at the right time.
Was it even realistic that she did seem into me a little bit? She is a bit off, which would rationalize her even talking to me in the first place. Oh no, is she nuts? Actually that would explain so much. No one should agree to firing two people they’ve just met. Some people are so quickly manipulated. I guess if my new job was on the line, I’d have done the same.
I opened my eyes and looked around the room. What would I be willing to do to keep my sister and kids safe? Was that even a fair comparison? I really should never be left alone to think through this kind of stuff. I am pretty sure very few people have as active and neurotic a thought life as me, let alone write it all down in elementary school journals.
I did feel tired, so I fell sideways slowly, curling up under a blanket that was folded nicely along the back of the couch. My knees felt uncomfortable together, so I slipped a little throw pillow between them and hoped to get in a little nap.
Waking up suddenly can often be very disorienting. That’s what happened when my sister came in carrying grocery bags along with two kids. I know she said something as she passed, but I’m sure I did not hear it correctly, so I sat up and stretched.
“What?” I yawned.
“Can you get the rest of the bags from the car?” My sister sat the kids at the dining room in their chairs and strapped them in accordingly. After seeing I wasn’t moving very quickly, she added, “If you’re not doing anything else, of course.” Her frown was obvious as she disappeared into the kitchen.
“Be right back,” I called, ready to go out again.
Before realizing it, I was outside in my socks, feeling each and every little imperfection in the night-cooled cement. My sister drove a station wagon with a glass hatch that she left open for me. I hung four full plastic bags on my right arm, tucked a paper bag under my left arm, and secured a box of laundry detergent in my left hand. Using my left elbow, I managed to gently slam the glass shut and headed for the door.
“Still doing the lazy man’s load?” my sister asked, holding the front door open for me.
I moved into the house intentionally, trying to make all the bags bump into her while smiling widely.
“It gets funnier every time you do that, you know.”
“Where do they go?” I demanded as I felt the plastic pressing heavily into my skin.
Before I got an answer, I entered into the kitchen and dropped off as much of the weight onto the counters. While rubbing my wrist so I can feel my arm again, I felt the bag under my left arm being pulled out roughly.
“Hey, be careful,” I said, spinning from the force.
My sister opened the bag and pulled out a loaf of bread that was squished in the middle. “Can you do me a favor and take two trips next time?”
I nodded slowly. “What do you need me to do?”
“Why don’t you sit with the kids while I finish putting this stuff away?” She took the rest of the load and motioned for me to leave the kitchen.
I sat down at the dining room table and saw the kids were already eating. “How did you get all that done in the time it took me to unload the car?”
Both of the children were watching me, hoping I would do something entertaining.
“I prepped it last night and pulled it out of the fridge just now,” she said, coming to the table.
“Are you done unpacking all that food?” I asked, truly amazed at how easy my sister made housework seem.
“You can put the soap powder downstairs with the canned goods after you eat.” She put a plate in front of me with two delicious-looking sandwiches with potato chips filling in the empty spaces. “So, how was your day?” she asked, sitting down.
“Did you get my message?” I asked, filling my face.
“No. I picked up the kids and went right to the grocery store. Was everything all right?” I could tell she was concerned.
“Oh, everything’s okay. I went out after work and wasn’t sure how long I was going to be.” I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to tell her, but she was going to get it out of me anyway.
“You mean to run errands?”
I noticed there wasn’t any food in front of my sister, but she kept herself busy feeding the kids. “Since it was our first day, I went out with Alison.”
My sister gave me a sideways glance.
“Didn’t I tell you about her?”
After giving the kids some more food, she sat back and shook her head. “No, you didn’t mention Alison. So where did you go?”
“There’s a dive bar right around the corner.”
My sister smiled.
“What?” I demanded as I started on my chips.
“So it was just the two of you?”
“Yes.”
“No one else wanted to go out with you?”
I furrowed my brow. “I didn’t ask anyone else. She was very upset, and I thought it would be a good idea.”
“Okay.” I could tell my sister wanted to say so much more but was holding back.
“I give you permission to speak your mind. I know that’s what you are waiting for, isn’t it?”
She smiled widely. “I do not want to fall into old habits of being too nosy and opinionated.”
“Go ahead,” I said, grabbing a napkin.
“Is she younger or older?”
“Younger by a few years?”
“Do you work with her?”
I laughed. “No, she’s an exec.”
My sister’s face went blank. “There’s an executive director at your place that’s younger than you?”
“Yeah, we interviewed on the same day, and both started today.”
Leaning forward to help the kids continue eating, she asked, “Didn’t she have to give notice at her previous job, or was she out of work for a while?”
I tapped my plate a few times while I was thinking. “I don’t think I know that answer.” To be honest, I really wanted to know, but if Alison told me tomorrow, she would not want me telling anyone the answer. “Does it matter?”
“To me, no.” She shrugged. “I do find it strange, but I’m sure your company must have found the reason acceptable.”
“Hey, before I forget, what’s an acceptable turnover rate for a company?”
“I don’t know. Are you concerned about your place?”
I nodded. “Yes, and Alison had to get rid of two people today.”
“So it was a rough one then.”
“For both of us. I had to work late because I took a longer lunch with the owners.”
“They made you work late after inviting you to lunch?”
I could tell my sister was getting very alarmed. “No, it was my boss that kept me late. Going to lunch was Alison’s idea.”
My sister cleaned up the kids, got them out of their chairs, and went into the living room. After placing the older one on the floor with some toys, she cradled the younger in her arms, then she sat on the couch.
“Is this girl going to get you in trouble every day?” she called to me, who was still sitting at the table.
“She didn’t get me into trouble. It was my own decision to go.” I stood, cleared the table, put the dishes in the sink, and flopped on the floor near the toy pile. “Plus it’ll help me get in good with the owners.”
“If your boss recommends that you be fired for not doing your job, then it won’t matter, right?”
I had to think that logic through. “I don’t think that would happen.” I hoped it wouldn’t happen at least.
“You know, there is a lot about working you are going to have to learn—some times the hard way, I’m sorry to say.”
I started trying to spell words with the few blocks that I found. “Like what?”
“When you start at a new place, there are a lot of politics going on that you have no idea about. Some people can get away with murder on a daily basis, but if you did the same thing, they’d throw you out on your rear.” My sister bounced the baby a little and then sat her next to her on the couch, propped up with several pillows. “You do understand that, correct?”
“Sure, I do. I can see there are some people that are getting away with not working when no one is around while a floor below they are firing people for not quite fitting into a team.” I banged two blocks together and rolled them toward the boy.
“Are you ready for this? Are you going to be able to get up every day, day in and day out, giving this place your all?”
I looked at her and then the ground.
“Time to grow up and act like it.”
“I’m doing okay, aren’t I?” I looked around and noticed I was playing more with the toy pile than the kid. I laughed and smiled when the boy held out one of the blocks I had rolled to him. Taking it, I said, “Thank you.”
“I am sure you will be very successful at whatever you put your mind to. Just don’t let yourself get in so deep so quick with someone you just met.”
“Stranger danger,” I said, waving my hands.
My sister was not amused.
“Come on, Polly. I’ll be okay. I have you to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
“You have to do it all for yourself, not me, not anyone else. Promise me you’ll do it all because it’s best for you.” She picked up the baby and went into the kitchen for a while. She returned and sat, cradling the baby with a bottle. “I really needed you to come home when you did, but if you couldn’t because of settling down out there, then I would have respected that.”
“I don’t think I would have amounted to much going in the direction I was before you called. At least with this place, I feel like I can help people. Most of them seem nice and civil. What about your place? Do you see yourself staying there until you retire?”
My sister tried not to laugh too loud, but the baby still looked up at her.
“I would love to find a job where I could constantly grow personally and professionally. Most people stay at one place for three years or less though. Nowadays people move around an awful lot because the promised opportunities dry up, the position changes, and the list goes on. Do you think your job is going to be as fresh and new a few years from now?”
I shrugged. “I would hope so. Don’t you get back out of your job what you put into it?”
“You are so sweet, Derrick. Don’t ever change.” She stood and burped the baby.
Gathering some more toys in front of me, I felt myself getting mad. “Are you happy where you are?”
She stared at me, and I could see tears welling up. “Happy to go to work every day? We were planning for me to stay home full time after Quinn was born.” She sniffed and shuffled the baby to her other shoulder. “It’s the time I’m losing with the kids that no employer can replace.”
I sat there with no words to comfort her. There was no way that I could make enough to help make her dream a reality any time soon. Was her dream even something that was realistic in this day and age? Our mom stayed home with us until we were in middle school, but even she went back.
“What now?” I asked, unsure what to say.
“Now? I get the kids ready for bed. After that, I get everything prepped for tomorrow. Later, if there’s time, I sit down and enjoy some TV before going to bed. It’s what all of us responsible-minded adults do.” She smirked. “How about you?”
“I guess I could take the stuff downstairs and do the dishes. You know, help out around here more. That might help you have a little more free time and feel you’re not all alone in this thing called life.” I stacked a few blocks to avoid eye contact with my sister. “If you think that would help, of course.”
“You know I’m only hoping the best for you even when I ask lots of questions, right?” My sister bent down and picked up the boy. “Any chance you could fix a bath?”
“What’s wrong with it?” I asked with a straight face.
It took her a moment to get it, but by that time, I had already flown past her and started the water.