Opening the Door Read online

  However when it comes to shopping, Ann is always glad to help. Her taste and style are better than mine so I let her use me as a model Barbie Doll and dress me accordingly. So far I have never been able to argue about the outcome. But for a girl like me whose former idea of a treat was looking for things in the discount bins of Goodwill, the sticker shock is sometimes a little too much to handle.

  Ann and I always go out to eat after shopping and I insist on treating. I tell her it’s her pay for being my ‘personal styling consultant’. Ann can eat anything she wants and never gain an ounce on her perfect figure. Her job as a dancer has a lot to do with it. If I didn’t love her so much I could easily grow to hate her for it. On the other hand she works out at Planet Fitness in Hampton every day and runs most mornings so that has a lot to do with it too.

  Most people just see her perfect figure and beautiful heart shaped face surrounded by strikingly gorgeous red hair and think that is all she is. She also has a heart of gold and a sharp mind that can surprise people.

  I have no idea how much money she makes as a dancer but know it is mostly in cash. She rents one of the duplexes I have. I once thought about telling her not to worry about paying the rent but I know that would insult her. Which is the last thing I want to do. This woman is the sister I never had. From the first time I met her, literally the first hour, Ann has been there for me.

  When I initially took over the duplexes it was a chancy thing (to say the least). Ann helped me avoid a confrontation with some rednecks that would have ended badly for me. By ‘badly’ I mean my being beaten bloody and probably arrested.

  When I was injured in an incident with an asshole named Braon she was there acting as a personal nurse. When I was visiting the jail in Richmond to see Jason, the man I thought I wanted to spend my life with, Ann drove there with me. When that ended badly she held me when I cried. She immediately included me in her circle of friends and made sure I felt comfortable with them. Her group members include dancers like her, bouncers, waitresses, bartenders and kitchen folk. All are good people. You just have to learn how to accept folks as they are and not as you would want them to be. The only thing I would ever change about Ann is that I wish she would not smoke so much Ganja (which is what they call weed up here) but that is just the way she is. It does keep her calm and mellow, otherwise she gets nervous about things. To each their own.

  Beverly is another story. When I first met Beverly she was a bank officer at the Credit Union. I went there for advice about how to get a good credit rating and possibly buying a car. I asked for her because she was the only woman listed on their directory. It was one of the best choices I ever made. Not only did she help me out with that problem but she also told me about seminars the Credit Union was giving concerning various financial matters. At first I did not understand most of their jargon at the seminars but I made notes to look things up later. Slowly it all began to make sense to me. Even though I only had a GED.

  The reason I had dropped out of High School when I was 16 wasn’t because school was hard. For me it was incredibly easy. I could never understand why others didn’t get things right away so I began to get bored and started what other people called “acting out”. You see my upbringing left something to be desired in the way of life skills. Skills such as how to cope with the world around you without violence. I did learn at an early age that if you wanted things in life you had to get them for yourself and not wait for others to help you. I also learned:

  ‘You can have what you can hold, if you can’t hold it, you can’t have it.’ That may not be the socially acceptable political correctness people like to hear, but it is the truth. When I told this to Beverly she seemed to understand.

  Meeting Beverly was one of the best things that has happened to me. Shortly after I got to know her she started her own accounting business. I may have been her first client. She knows I do more things on the ‘shy side’ of legal than I let on but doesn’t judge me for it. Several times she has dropped hints that I need to follow about money. Usually she does so by telling a story about how a “friend” handled a certain situation. I get the hint.

  She helped me set up my own company called Buckroe Investments and taught me how to write off expenses so I pay very little tax on what I have. Or at least as little as possible. She never asks questions about things I have done, or how I did them, which I do appreciate. Our deal was that I work (unpaid) for her for two days a week, mostly answering phones. When I have an Associate’s Degree I will be able to list Beverly as a reference on my resume. Lately I have been spending more and more time at her office. She has introduced me as her “intern” to several people who she thinks might come in handy for me to know later.

  Her world is very different from Ann’s.

  Not necessarily better, just different.

  Lately Beverly has expanded her client base and is thinking about relocating to an office park just north of Coliseum Central. When she does she said that she will hire a receptionist. Since it would be nice to have a steady paycheck coming in I had hoped it would be me but she quickly squashed that idea before I could even bring it up.

  “Sarah you need to concentrate on your studies and not worry about who gets what record folder filed in which cabinet. You are better than that and have more important things ahead of you. Is that understood?”

  Then she gave me ‘that look’ which brokered no argument.

  “Yes Ma’am.” What else could I say to that?

  I did volunteer the services of my friends to help her move things when the time comes. She said that could be useful but that most of the stuff will be picked up by a contractor who specializes in moving offices. I had never heard of this. I thought that usually you just rent a U-Haul, get some big guys together and promise them pizza and beer. But this is her business so what she says goes.

  * * *

  Inside her office Beverly was beaming with pride. She had just reviewed Sarah’s latest batch of test papers and couldn’t find a thing wrong with them. They were perfectly done, right down to the correct font to be used in each one. She thought ‘If Sarah can keep this up, there will be no stopping this young woman.’

  At one time she had toyed with the idea of taking Sarah on as her business grew. That idea had to be set aside. Beverly realized that Sarah was way too smart, and catches on to things way too quickly, to be fooled for long about what she does for ‘select clients’. No matter how much she liked Sarah, there were things that Beverly didn’t really want anybody else to know about. Especially how she handled those certain accounts. She had been badly burned by the wrong partners last time and she wasn’t going to let that happen again. But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t do anything for Sarah, she just had to be careful how she did it.

  * * *

  Beverly had set me up with a friend of hers holding investment seminars concerning wills, estates and trusts. Mostly it was just to greet people and see that they registered and get as much personal information from them as possible. It is amazing what people will tell you. (Especially if it is an older man talking to a younger woman.) I also had to ensure that there was no problem with the ‘free’ lunches everyone received. It was interesting to listen to the seminar speeches and I picked up a lot of both what was and wasn’t said. (Most of it I had to ask Beverly about later on.) We did a total of eight seminars on the peninsula and I got paid $100 each time. Not bad for about five hours of work a day.

  So far my school time is averaging about 30 hours a week. I also spend that much time at Beverly’s office or running errands for her so I keep busy. Which is good because I still miss my former lover Jason but need to move on. Ann started teaching dance/aerobic classes at the “Y” and insists I take at least two of them a week. When that woman gets started she is like the energizer bunny. She seems to instinctively know how far she can push people to get the most out of them without going overboard. She is better at enco
uraging people and making them feel good about themselves with a smile, a look, and a nod, then any therapist could be. When Ann’s students leave her class they are both physically exhausted and mentally happy. I know she makes much more money as an exotic dancer but this is her true calling.

  In an effort to coax me to go to Planet Fitness with her she mentioned that Rico and some of his friends go there too. I almost went for it before I had a chance to think it over a little. I know Rico is gay and have no problem with it. I have no illusions about “turning him straight” or any of that happy malarkey. It is just that I have never seen any of his ‘boyfriends’ and don’t want to. I know that seems hypocritical but that’s just the way I feel.

  * * *

  Ann was watching Sarah concentrate on her lessons hunched over her laptop. She thought ‘Damn that girl needs to hook up with someone. She is driving herself crazy.’ Then, ‘She is driving me crazy too.’ Jason had been a disaster. The amazing thing was that as smart as Sarah was, when something was too close to her she couldn’t seem to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Ann figured out what happened right after Jason broke up with her. It only took two phone calls to confirm what she suspected, but she didn’t think she could ever tell Sarah. It would hurt her best friend too much and break her heart all over again.

  * * *

  On the way to Beverly’s office the next day I could see the city’s survey teams working on several more houses along Mallory Street. I wish I knew what that was all about but there is nothing in the paper or on the city’s web site about it. Things like that bother me. With good reason.

  When I got to the office Beverly asked me to call her friend Bill to ask what he needed from the grocery store. This is something we always do before heading over there to have him notarize paperwork for us. If you could think of what a stereotyped grandfather was supposed to look like, Bill’s face is the picture that would pop in your head. It is hard for him to get out of his house to go shopping so we pick stuff up for him. He insists on paying us right away but we tell him it only costs half of what we actually pay at the store.

  I brought him a Peanut Pie Supreme from the Dixie Diner once and his eyes lit up like a kid’s at Christmas. I love hearing his stories about when he was a kid. I am always a little sad when I have to go. He talks a lot about his grandkids and wishes they would come by, or call, more often but they ‘have busy lives’ as he says.

  In my mind I call ‘B.S.’.

  They only live half a mile away from him but don’t bother coming to see him. Some people will never appreciate what they have until it’s gone. If I could, I would adopt him as my grandfather. I have to be careful what I say about his relatives when I am around him because if I ever let my tongue loose no good would come of it.

  Older people usually know what’s going on, and know they are living a lie about their families caring. Maybe they have told themselves the lie so often that it is all they have to believe in anymore. Knowing the truth will not set you free, however it can make you miserable.

  Beverly had a surprise for me when I got to the office. I could see that little smile she has when I walked in the door and knew it was something to do with me.

  “Well yes Sarah.” She greeted me. “I think that would be a great idea.”

  Hunh…..wtf.

  “I am so glad that you decided to help a friend of mine out for a little bit.”

  “I did?”

  “Your learning how an auditor counts inventories will give you a decided edge in understanding the ins and outs of the accounting field.” She was trying not to laugh, but it was beginning to seep through.

  “I bet you did not know exactly how exciting and rewarding this new career of yours could be. Did you?” She handed me a piece of paper.

  “No, not exactly.” I was hesitant but took it.

  “Here is the address where you will meet your client. She will explain your duties when you get there. Her name is Beth and I am sure you will get along fine.”

  “Did you mention something about ‘rewarding’?”

  “Of course I did. When you work for me it is for free, others pay for your time and trouble.” (I feel like I am being pimped out.) “She cannot pay much but her usual assistant is out on maternity vacation and I thought you might like to earn some extra income that is above board and legit. True?”

  She always has a way of implying things without articulating them.

  “Of course I will Beverly. When do I start?”

  “She will meet you at Spartan Automotive on Shell road in 30 minutes. You have time to swing by your house and put on some jeans you don’t mind getting dirty. Better hurry, it doesn’t pay to be late on your first day at work now does it?” I know when I leave her she is going to break out laughing.

  “How long is the assignment and what is the pay?”

  “Probably two to three weeks. She and I will settle on the amount and I will cut you a check from here. Congratulations, you are now a part time employee of mine.”

  Definitely being pimped out.

  I barely managed to make it there in time but when I did it was easy to spot her. She was the harried looking woman with one of those belt calculators strapped to her side. She introduced herself as Beth and asked what experience I had doing this. Truthfully all I could say was that I had seen people audit convenience stores when I worked in them but that was about it.

  As it turned out my job was to stay ahead of her and turn the bar codes on each item so that they point out. She then could scan them in the inventory. After she scanned I had to turn them back around on the shelves so the labels faced outward. When items were either under some other junk or stuck on some top shelf I had to pull them out for her. Not a bad job once you get in the rhythm of things. Usually her daughter helps but her daughter is expecting a baby. I think Beth paid more attention to checking her phone for updates on her daughter then she did to counting.

  She showed me how to enter the figures with their different categories and transfer everything from her laptop to the store’s computer. Things like that don’t require skill, just fill in the blanks and do what the prompts tell you to do. She seemed surprised that I only had to be told something once. I wondered about the other people she was used to working with. I thought about telling her that she may want to consider an upgrade of personnel. However since those other persons included her daughter, I decided to keep my comments to myself for a change.

  This particular store is one of a chain of auto/car repair stores on the peninsula. Supposedly someone from Greece got stuck here in Virginia during Hitler’s time and decided to stay and make a go of it. I think all of the employees in the store are related in one way or the other. Which is kind of like a place I used to work.

  It took us most of the day to count all of the stuff on the shelves and in the storage sheds. Nothing inside the sheds was in any kind of order. Most of it consisted of parts stuck anyplace they would fit. The best way to do that was to pull everything out and sort it in the open. Then, after it was scanned, stuff it back into the storage sheds anyway I could.

  Beverly was right about wearing clothes I didn’t mind getting dirty. At the end of the day I was hot, dirty and tired. When I went home I had to study for my classes. It is too easy to let things slip and tell yourself that you will catch up later. ‘Later’ never comes, if people don’t do things when they need to be done then something else always comes along later. Always.

  In this case the ‘something else’ came first thing in the morning right after we started on a store in Denbigh. We had just set up and were on the first set of shelves when Beth got a call that her daughter was on the way to Sentara to have her baby. Beth was frantic, this would be her first grandchild, by her only child, and she was terrified of something going wrong. I told her “I got it. Go see your grandbaby.” She was torn between staying with me and driving there as fast
as she could. Even still I almost had to push her out the door.

  Fortunately this was one of the smaller stores but I was still there until after six that evening. I did three other stores myself that first week. On the following Monday I had to do the main store/warehouse where the other outlets got their supplies and inventories. In the other stores we were mostly politely ignored but in this one they were watching my every move. If it was just the men I could have marked it up to their “being guys”, but the two women who worked there were checking me out too. Wearing old jeans and a junky shirt I am simply not that good looking and neither one of them gave off any kind of a gay vibe so ‘wtf’.

  Over our usual dinner of Chinese take-out, I talked about it with Ann while she was getting ready for work. She made some cute remark and laughed it off saying it was only because I was alone and not with Beth. Still, little things bother me.

  I have gotten pretty good about reading Ann since we met, there is something she wants to ask but is trying to figure out the right way to do it. I will probably say ‘yes’ to whatever it is. My suspicions were confirmed when, just as she was walking out the door to work, she said “I have good news for you! On the last Saturday of this month we are going out so don’t make any plans.” Then she ran to her car and drove off. I was unaware that we had anything going on that Saturday night but this seems to be my week to be surprised.

  Beth usually calls me every morning to make certain that things worked out all right the day before. I always ask about the baby of course. His name is “Leo, like the lion” she said. She then gave all the information that every new grandmother in the world thinks is so important for everyone to have. I am happy for them, really I am, but there is a point where I am ‘babied out’ and cannot take anymore cuteisms.