Page 78 of Off the Mark
“Well…sure,” I admitted, my brain sparking at the edges. “There’s a ton. I’ve been keeping this little list of ideas and thought I would pass it off to the next director. As long as they’re not too stupid.”
“I highly doubt they are,” she said firmly.
I glanced over to 10th Street. “One of those ideas is saving the food programbeforewe have to make cuts. Taking services away from this neighborhood will only feel like a punishment to people who’ve suffered enough. The cuts might seem like the only option but once we do it, I’m worried we’ll lose all this trust and goodwill we’ve spent years building. If I was in charge, I would handle the situation differently.”
Luciana was silent on the other end for a moment. “You would apply for the ED position to save Dean and Eddie’s jobs?”
“I’d apply for the position because I believe Icansave their jobs. And I’m the right person to do it.”
Where this certainty came from, I had not a clue. I was realizing it was the truth though.
What if Charlie and I getting into an argument helped me push past some of the other fear I was clinging to?
“I’m glad to hear it, because I’ve been rooting for you this whole time,” she finally said. “Let me talk to the board, hammer out some details, and get back to you. Does that work?”
I grinned. “You know where to find me. Surrounded by grant reports at Elaine’s desk.”
We hung up and I felt the tiniest bit lighter. It was a small victory—maybe—but I’d take it.
“Yo, Rowan,” Eddie yelled from across the street, “you gonna stand there in the sun letting our food melt? Some of us have places to be, you know.”
I shoved my phone back into my pocket and strolled up to the park with my arms outstretched, the plastic bag of food dangling from my finger.
“Are you really gonna fuck with me when I walked over here to feed you?”
I passed the plastic container of cannoli to my grandmother with a wink. “Don’t let Eddie lie. I’m his boss now, and I know where he has to be in the morning, and that’s not for another three hours.”
She tapped her cheek for a kiss, and I gave it. “I’ve never believed a word out of that man’s mouth, thank you very much. I’m not going to start now.”
Eddie sniffed, sitting on the chair next to Alice. A large rainbow umbrella provided shade so that these two elderly maniacs could gossip in the morning before moving to Midge and Maria’s stoop for additional lunchtime gossip.
Eddie handed me a tiny ball of purring fluff. I held it up to my face. “Do you think Tiffany remembers me rescuing her?”
“Probably. She’s smart, that one,” he said. At his feet, his other formerly feral cat, Pam, snoozed in a patch of sunlight. “And you don’t knowwhereI’m going to be today.”
“Don’t I? Because it should be your job. The ole place of employment. That side hustle I set you up with.”
Eddie stubbed out his cigarette and opened his container. Grunted his approval and said, “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
I dragged over a squeaky folding chair and sat on it backward, my elbows propped up. Dean and Tabitha strolled into the park—Tabitha yawning with a serious case of bedhead, Dean carrying a mug of coffee and a tiny radio.
He clicked it on to our favorite local sports station, and I relaxed into the gentle rise and fall of Phillies player stats and post-game analysis—the only numbers I’d ever understood. Used to be after my injury that I couldn’t even listen to the sounds of the sport that had been a constant metronome in my life.
Now it only caused a momentary pang of discomfort.
“Mornin’, lovebirds,” I called out. “What’s growing today?”
Dean set his coffee down on the picnic table and watched as Tabitha examined the first of three large planter beds.
She squealed and said, “We got tomatoes, baby!”
Dean shrugged. “Tomatoes. A lot of ’em.”
“We could have told you that,” my grandmother said primly. “Eddie and I have been tracking the garden for months now.”
I cast a questioning look at Eddie who shrugged in a Dean-like fashion. “Me and Dean divvy up the extra produce into the food boxes. We know who likes what at this point.”
I hid a grimace. “See? You don’t even need me at the center anymore. I’m the boring old guy in a suit now.”
