Page 84 of Seasons of Love
“You say that every day.”
“You also say every day this is your last babysitting day because you have your knitting club, your bingo night, and lord knows what else, and yet, here you are.”
She gives me a look that tells me not to sass a retired teacher if I know what’s good for me.
“Her dinner is in the fridge,” I say, “and I put a set of spare—”
“Clothes on the chair in the nursery. I know, I know. This isn’t my first rodeo, my boy. Now, off you go to work. Us girls have some important things to get on with. No boys allowed.” She ushers me out the door, and I let out a little sigh.
My heart breaks every time I have to leave my girl, even though I know she’s in the best hands.
God bless the day Florrie moved next door to the townhome we live in and needed help with the water pipe in her kitchen sink. Florrie, of course, fell in love with Sara while I fixed her problem. I got soaked in the process but gained a new friend.
She’s not from around here. You can tell because there’s no way she’d have moved to the south side of Stillwater if she knew better. Then again, on a teacher’s retirement salary, I don’t know if she could have afforded anything in a nicer part of town.
I look at my flip phone and see I have time to walk to work, so I save the bus money for the journey back.
Saving money is a bonus, but I enjoy the walk when it’s a beautiful summer day like today. If I ignore the old houses with the broken window panes and the overgrown grass and broken swings on what used to be our playground, then it’s not so bad.
The birds are chirping away, the sun is shining, and I know my girl is safe.
In a few more blocks, I’ll be in the rich part of town. During the thirty-minute walk to work, I get to pretend I live in a nice house with two bedrooms, one for me and one for Sara. We’d have a backyard and a living room big enough for a play area.
Yes, we’d definitely have a garden.
I’d plant my mom’s flowers there. Her favorite pink roses. And even though we probably wouldn’t have the right weather for it, we’d plant tulips. Because she loved tulips and because it would be our house, so we could.
And Florrie would live next door to us like she does now, of course.
Before I know it, I arrive at the grocery store where I work, setting my dreams aside to make way for the real world.
“Milo,” Pauline, one of the stockers, pulls me toward the break room when I’m barely through the door. She always knows everything. It’s like she has ears everywhere in this place.
“Wow, are you trying to dislocate my arm?”
She looks around as if to check that there’s no one nearby.
“Rumor is there’s a new supervisor vacancy coming up,” she says.
“And by rumor, you mean…”
She shakes her shoulders and straightens her work shirt, which is a hideous brown we all hate. “I was in Gerald’s office earlier.”
“Ew, are you okay? Do you need a shower? A Lysol spray?”
She laughs. “He didn’t get that close. Only close enough to notice the top two buttons on my shirt were undone, so he had a peek at the top of my bra.” She shudders. “Fucking pervert. Anyway, when I asked him about any jobs coming up, he sang like a canary. He thinks I want a promotion so I can be in the office with him all day. As if.” She rolls her eyes.
I give her a hug. “Thank you. Every time I ask for more hours, his excuses are budget cuts, his hands are tied, blah, always the same.”
“Bullshit. I don’t know why he’s got it in for you, but I’ll find out.” She looks at her watch. “Oh crap, I gotta go. My boyfriend is picking me up. We’ll catch up about this next time, okay?”
“Sure.”
Pauline grabs her bag from her locker and runs out the door. I love her for her tenacity. She’s moving to Florida in a few months, not that anyone else but me knows it, so she’s taking it upon herself to right all the wrongs in the store.
We all know Gerald, the store manager, has a thing for her. And by the looks of it, she’s using her powers for the greater good. The girl is crazy, but I’ll miss her when she goes.
I don’t have much on me. Only a sandwich to eat on my break and my phone, so I put those in my locker and get ready to start my shift.
