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D inner turned out better than she’d expected. Bad Apple traveled with a few items, which was not totally great but would make the evening tolerable. One was a folding table, like the 6 footers often used at conventions. Two, he had six metal chairs which reminded her of Sunday school in the church basement. Paper plates and plastic utensils were used for the salad in the container which he rinsed under the water faucet she was sure was pumping out unwanted impurities, bacteria or worse. The kids ate, who said little, as well as the adults.
No conversation was needed as the sound of a delivery truck arrived with the beds for the rooms. Helen sat at the table watching it pull up, wondering if it was indeed only beds or if he had purchased anything else. Apple sat observing her. Then, from his wallet, he removed a credit card and passed it to Helen.
“There is about five grand on it to get all the things we need to get set up here,” he told her. “You will need to set a budget, provide me with receipts, and cover a lot of ground with those funds.”
She didn’t balk at the request, only asking, “So now I am your secret shopper?”
“No, I need to understand your thought processes,” he told her. “I need to know how you think so I can better target what kind of person I am training. The way you spend that money will tell me a lot about who you are and what you prioritize as important, not only for yourself, but for the people in this home.”
She placed the card in her pocket, taking a good look at the kids. They didn’t have suitcases per se but overnight bags. Oscar’s meager belongings were in a garbage bag. Those items were the only possessions they had in this world.
“I would like to prioritize the bathrooms if we could,” she stated, her eyes going to Ricky. “I tried to clean those toilets, but seriously, if you could make new toilets and vanities top of the list for tomorrow, that would be phenomenal.”
Ricky nodded and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Mr. Milton,” she said, looking at Bad Apple, “I assume the appliances and furniture will not come out of the funds on this card?”
“The appliances, no,” he said.
“Hmm,” she replied, squinting her eyes at him. “Food and pantry stores, linens, dishes, and sundries on the card?”
“Yep,” he said, leaning back in the chair.
She picked up a napkin and grabbed a pen. She asked them all, “Anybody with food allergies, any allergies to soaps, powders, or particular color preferences?”
“I like green,” Oscar said. “Green means go. I like the idea of green. I like green foods too.”
“Okay, Stephen? Jeffrey?”
Jeffrey had little to say, “I’ve never eaten shrimp. I’d like to try some. Don’t care about colors, just no pink.”
Stephen pushed aside the slice of pizza, “I want dinnerware. I’d like to set the table for dinner with candles and stuff and place mats with real cloth napkins. No allergies that I know about, but I want some real good shampoo and conditioner for my hair, none of that stuff from the $1 store either.”
Helen looked to Bad Apple, “Mr. Milton?”
“Me?” he asked surprised.
“Yes, Sir. I’m shopping once and getting it all, so let me know what your color preferences are, food allergies, and the rest,” she said softly.
“I like blues, no food allergies, prefer rice over potatoes, lots of leafy greens, and proteins,” he told her.
When she looked up, her eyes were on Ricky. “And you, Sir?”
“I don’t think I count in this equation,” he added with a voice so deep she felt it vibrate in her chest.
“You’re working here, taking meals here, and sitting at the table. You’re as important as everyone else in this room,” she told him, watching his chest puff up.
“I’m easy,” he told her. “I don’t like kale but will eat it. I’m partial to red, but love the energy of an orange, which is my favorite fruit.”
Oscar perked up, “I love fruit too. Not the kind in the can, though.”
“Noted,” Helen said, putting down her pen when the knock came at the door. She didn’t move as Apple rose to let in the delivery men with the beds.
Helen maintained her private thoughts, keeping them to herself when she realized they were, in fact only beds and frames. The better news is all the beds were the same size. There were no headboards, simply a metal frame with a box spring and a mattress. Apple didn’t have or provide any bed linens; he passed out paper thin blankets for them all. Mentally, Helen was checked out. She wanted a moment alone with the thoughts that had invisibly climbed out of her brain, sauntered across the room and currently were strangling Apple. She excused herself for the evening, retreating to the stark bedroom.
In her room, what she hadn’t noticed, or at least it wasn’t there earlier, was a lock on the inside of her door. For measure, she checked Oscar’s room, then Jeffrey’s and finally Stephen’s. They all had the same thing.
“Good night, everyone,” she said, going to her room and locking herself in for the night. “This is going to be rough.”
Apple sat at the table with Ricky, thinking of everything he’d noticed about the new Technician named Cranberry. She made a point to get everyone’s feedback and opinions, including Ricky’s, making him feel as a part of the team. Helen, in his opinion, was a survivor and a manipulator. He wasn’t certain if she knew how to use it for good or if training her would make her a dark weapon to profit from the unrefined skill set.
“She’s a thinker,” Ricky said. “I think I like her. I want to see what she comes back with when she goes shopping tomorrow.”
“You and me both; 5k is not a lot, considering we are operating with a blank slate here,” Apple said. “I’ve never known The Company to take on a Tech that wasn’t already trained, physically and mentally or just pissed off at the injustices of the world. This one, you can’t really read her. The best thing I've learned about her thus far, is what is on her mind, she shares, in moderation.”
Ricky nodded. “She read the room and the table. Those boys felt included. Hell, so did I.”
“Yeah, I saw you puff up your chest,” Apple said almost as a caution. “She doesn’t look hungry about the eyes. She’s got a man who recently loved on her real good.”
“Noticed it too,” Ricky said, sounding almost disappointed. “I put locks on all the bedroom doors, including yours.”
“Thanks, I need them all to feel as if they have control over their safety. In time, they will go to bed with the doors open or even unlocked.”
“This house needs a lot of work: roof, bathrooms, floors,” Ricky added. “Living here and working here simultaneously is going to be tough.”
“Yep,” he said. “Helen will need to employ serious problem-solving skills to make it less chaotic for herself and the kids. School starts next month, and there’s a lot to get done.”
THE BED WASN’T HALF bad, but it was also not half good. A tiredness eked into her spirit, facing a colossal task, as well as preparing the kids to start school next month. He’d only given her five grand to get a lot done and she would. It was a test to see if she would blow the money on bullshit or if she actually had a working brain in her head.
“I like that fucker,” Helen said, rising to start her day. There was no bed to make since there were no sheets. She couldn’t put away her clothing since there were no hangers or rods in the closets to put away said articles, for a body to wear. No dresser, not even a rug was available to greet her feet as she stepped out of bed. “Mister. I’m smarter than you think. Five grand in my world is like a million dollars. I’m going to show you some shit.”
By the time she made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth, a new energy filled her. The watch on her arm said 7:30 a.m. Coffee. Breakfast. Make a plan. With her planner in hand, she made her way downstairs to discover coffee already made and what could be considered a bagel with cream cheese, soggy from being stored in a cooler overnight. The same cooler also held creamer. On the table was a small sugar container and a Styrofoam cup.
“It will do,” she said, sitting down, gnawing on the chewy bagel, and going through her phone. Happily, the community had a wholesale club for which she was already a member and a consignment shop, as well as a few big box stores to pick up items. The big stores didn’t open until ten.
“Morning,” Apple said, entering the room and filling it with Alpha male energy.
“Thanks for making the coffee,” she said, continuing to make notes. “Are there washer and dryer connections in the kitchen?”
“Yes; the appliances should be arriving this morning,” he said. “The washer and dryer connections are in the mudroom.”
“Odd question, but do you have any cash? I can make better deals at consignment shops with cash on hand versus using the card,” she told him.
“Yep, I have about a grand in cash,” he said.
“Can I use five hundred of it?”
“The cash will come off the budget, leaving only 4500 to use on the card,” he said.
“Roger that,” she told him, sipping at the coffee.
“What’s the plan?”
She looked up, giving him a wry smile. “I’m going to go spend your money.”
He smiled. The man actually smiled, and it creeped Helen the hell out. When he spotted her reaction, the smile quickly faded. “Helen, how do you plan to spend it?”
“Wisely,” she replied, smiling at him.
“Listen here, Cranberry, I will fight a woman,” he said and chuckled. “I will open-handed give it to you and make you see stars.”
“That’s if you get close enough before I cut off your balls,” she replied, chuckling as well. Helen took a pause. “Listen, I get it. You want to see how my mind works. If I tell you up front what I’m thinking or planning, it defeats the purpose. You are charging me with creating an environment for the souls in this home to live and thrive, including myself. I understand the first assignment.”
“This isn’t the first assignment; the first one you’ve passed,” he told her.
She sat back in the chair, squaring her shoulders and asked, “And what was that?”
He poured himself a reheat on the coffee. Intentionally, he entered the pauses in the conversation to make her wait for his words. She didn’t jump in to fill the air with unnecessary confrontations, which he greatly appreciated in the woman. This was the conversation he had meant to have yesterday, but it would happen today.
“We are the gatekeepers,” he said. “Each state has a gatekeeper. Our job is basically to safeguard the women and children. Societies fail and collapse when children and women no longer have hope. Yesterday, you gave us all hope. This house is a shit box. You gave me hope that you would turn it into a home for those kids. It doesn’t matter that you’re not staying. They have hope that when you come back today from wherever you’re going to spend my money wisely, there will be fresh fruit and Jeffrey will get to try shrimp for dinner.”
He paused again before saying, “Hopefully, if not tonight then maybe tomorrow, Stephen will set the table for dinner with cloth napkins. It’s not much, but they have hope.”
“And what about me in this scenario? What are you hoping that I understand?”
Apple was a handsome man. He was tall, dark, and mysterious and exuded manliness. However, in his eyes, a darkness lurked, which made her wary but not afraid. This man too, was a protector.
“Cranberry, taking lives really only requires you to aim and shoot. Creating a life means you understand those you’re sharing space with, and everything you do from now on is to be a part of their world, and you’re doing everything you can to make their world a better place to live,” he said, sighing heavily before changing the topic. “Do you want to take my truck today?”
“No, my seats let down,” she told him.
“Cranberry, you care. When you come back from shopping, those boys will learn how much their lives mean to not only you, but to me,” he said.
“Sir, permission to speak freely?”
“In private between you and me, always,” he replied.
“Your training program sucks,” she told him. “Do you even know how many windows are in this house? Fifteen. Fifteen windows and all of them need curtains!”
“That’s your concern?”
“And rods. I guess you’re also going to make me hang them at the windows as well?”
“You do need to know how to use tools,” he said, finding himself laughing.
It was the same moment Ricky came through the back door. He froze where he stood, seeing yet not believing. He was hearing the Bad Apple himself laugh. For that alone, Helen, whatever her name was, had his full support in whatever she needed.
HELEN LEFT THE HOUSE at 9:30. She knew the wholesale club opened at 10 a.m., but a home goods store was open now. The shopping spree from hell would start there. She collected items for the kitchen and bathrooms and some bed linens. She put a primary set in the basket, then thought better with boys being in the house. Instead, she selected darker towels and one washcloth and towel in each of the boys’ preferred colors so they would know whose towel belonged to whom. She grabbed two bath rugs and soap dispensers with matching lotion containers. A bar of goat’s milk soap with oatmeal would work well for Jeffrey’s dry skin. She reached the register having only spent $120.
“I can do this,” she said, loading the items into the back of the vehicle.
The next stop was named Property Pickers. Outside were chairs lined up on the sidewalk. Her purse, a slung crossbody bag, became a safety device with a concealed carry in the slotted pocket as she walked inside with an enormous smile on her face. This stop required finesse.
“Whew, I have found my mecca!” she said to the woman behind the counter.
A lady with hair that seemed uncertain how to behave in the daylight asked, “Morning, can I help you?”
“Sure hope you can,” Helen said. “Me and my brood lost everything in a fire, and I have a hand full of beans to make Jack and his brothers believe the beanstalk is real. Honey, we need everything down to curtains and curtain rods. Please help a sister out.”
As simple as that and five hundred dollars in cash, and Helen negotiated a dining room set with six chairs, an office desk, a sideboard, a set of dishes with cups to serve eight, and five full sized headboards for the beds. Two of the headboards needed a fine sanding and some paint, but she’d done it before and was no stranger to painting old furniture to give it new life. Somehow, and she wasn’t even sure how, she also wrangled out five dressers, with the additional two hundred in cash she herself had in pocket, along with two pink wingback chairs and a side table to go in between for the living room. Just as a bit of a cheek, Helen purchased a chest of drawers for an additional $100 for Apple’s room. She smiled at the implication, wondering if the man himself would wonder why he was the only one to receive two units in his room to hold clothing.
Happy with her purchases, she informed the lady that her husband and his friend would be by later to pick up the items. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, she made a note in her planner of what she’d spent on the card and in cash. The two hundred she’d reserved anyway for the space she would occupy to make it feel at home for herself during the stay. The two pink chairs would be her downstairs reading space. It was a solid investment.
However, for the common room she wanted to take a different approach. Instead of getting a sectional for the same price, she purchased a chair for each of the family members. Each chair was a different color and style. In her mind, she easily envisioned who would select which chair, including Ricky. Her style choice set the budget back by $1,700, but it was worth it. For an extra $160, she added on a colorful rug.
“Whew, Chile,” she said, providing the delivery address for the home. “I still need a shit ton of curtains and rods.”
The next stop was Carousel Consignments, a place where it looked as if a hoarder and an antique collector had gotten together and made a store baby. Inside, she located nightstands and bed lamps for the bedrooms. The amiable lady even threw in the light bulbs.
“I need curtains and rods,” Helen said to the lady. “We have about fifteen windows and I’m not about to go broke covering the eyes of the house from the nosiest of neighbors. Plus, we have teens.”
She omitted the part about the teens being boys, but an hour later, she had a decent pair of living room drapes and curtains for all the rooms, including the kitchen. They smelled of being closed up or from once hanging in an old home, but a quick wash and bit of fabric refresher would give them new life. Feeling proud of herself, she made her way to the wholesale club.
“Rice, lots of fresh fruits, shrimp for dinner with chicken, and maybe a salad,” she said, loading up the basket with milk, eggs, bread, peanut butter, and items for the home. She purchased an 11-piece ceramic cookware set and an enamel cast iron cook set in the same color. In the bedding aisle, she located a 3-piece printed quilt set for all five beds at $25.00 each. A multi-colored rug caught her eye, and the size of 3x5, which was perfect to go by the side of the beds, at $30 each worked well. The beds also needed pillows, which she grabbed, praying, all of it would actually fit in the vehicle, but the extra hundred for a resting place for their heads at night was worth the hundred and twenty dollars. The total came to $775.
“Damn marvelous if I may say so myself,” she said, shoving those items into the already overloaded vehicle and heading for the house. If she needed the men to track her travel, she’d left a clear path through the town. “Oh, we are going to need a few blankets for the beds as well. I am not going to shiver my buns off in that house when the temp drops.”
Helen made a mental note to take care of those items when she took them on their individual shopping trips. She arrived the same time the chairs purchased at the furniture store did. Helen parked, exiting the vehicle to the ever-watchful eye of Apple and calling to him, “The car is full. Please have the boys come out to unload.”
He nodded, calling for the kids who barreled out of the door like roaches with the light coming on.
“Please put everything for right now in the living room,” she told them. To Apple, she added, “The other furniture will need to be picked up from the consignment shops. You will need Ricky’s truck as well to go get the items and the boys to help with the dressers when you get back from town.”
She guided the delivery people through the house as they brought in the chairs. The kids watched the furniture coming in noting the placement facing the wall. Jeffrey asked, “Is there a TV?”
“Mr. Milton will have to go get one because I had no more room in the vehicle,” she said, feeling proud.
To her surprise, the appliances were in place: a shiny new fridge, a stove, and a dishwasher. The grungy counter top was no more, and a nice solid butcher block workspace sat in the kitchen. She called to the boys, who had gotten extremely quiet. Helen walked through the house to locate the crew to find they each had claimed a chair for themselves. She smiled at the sight, realizing that the chairs she’d mentally picked for each kid, they also selected the same chair. For a moment, Apple had taken a seat in the chair she’d chosen for him as well as Ricky. Only one empty chair remained.
It was the seat the guys had saved for her. She clapped her hands together. “I have some dishes, Stephen, but I need Mr. Ricky and Mr. Milton to go pick up the dining room table so we can use it to eat supper. We’re having shrimp and rice with chicken, broccoli and a side salad.”
She tossed a banana to Oscar. “Let’s get it moving, guys.” Helen provided the receipts for the consignment shops and the address to Bad Apple and Ricky, who went into town to collect the items. Per Helen’s instruction, they needed both trucks.
“Shit, we need a moving van,” Ricky said. “How much did you give her to spend?”
A woman in the store grinned at them both. “Hey, you must be the husband. Your wife came through here like the Tasmanian Devil and dropped eight hundred like it was nothing. She made some quality choices, too.”
“Yes, my Helen is something,” Apple said, looking at all the furniture she’d picked out for only eight hundred dollars. The haul filled the bed of each truck after both stops to get it all loaded and back to the house. He arrived at the sad little grey house to happy faces waiting for him on the porch that leaned to one side. Eager, they rushed out to carry in the items, listening carefully to where everything would be placed.
The boys fussed and fawned over everything, almost sensing which items she’d picked for each of them, and even Apple himself became impressed at what she’d gotten for him. When he reached his bedroom, fresh blue sheets were on his bed, with a color coordinated comforter set, with a bar of soap in a container and towels at the foot. The curtains she’d chosen for the room rested under the window for hanging. He also had a rug on the floor by his bed. More importantly, he had pillows. It would make for a more restful night.
When he looked in the boy’s rooms, he saw the same. The kids were optimistic, and Stephen, happier than he needed to be, prepared dinner in matching cookware. He and Helen set the table with real dishes on coordinating placemats and cloth napkins. In the consignment's corner shop, Helen located a tablecloth which she draped over the dining room table, giving it an air of holiday vibes. She had even picked up a set of napkin rings, which made the young man cry as he set the table for supper.
Helen looked at Bad Apple. He scowled at her. Hesitantly, he asked, “did you go over, and how much?”
She scowled back at him, “I came in under. There is a balance of about a thousand on the card, minus the $300 cash you owe me for the headboard, dresser and chest of drawers for your bedroom. I only spent roughly around four hundred to stock the pantry and freezer. So that leaves about seven.”
Helen walked off to grab a few melted down candles she’d purchased from a bin at the second-hand store, lighting them to set the ambiance for dinner. She instructed the boys to wash up for supper and come to the table. To drive home her ability as a thrifty woman, she handed him the list along with her final receipts for the day.
Ricky, standing behind Apple and looking at the table, whispered, “I think I might love her. Whoever he is, I may throw my hat in the ring for that lady.”