“I bet,” Jacob said.
“Being out of my apartment made me more convinced…” Honey said.
Honey and MJ shared a long look.
“Listen, Honey, if you need to move into a condo or somewhere else, I…” Jacob started.
“Move out? Me?” Honey asked. “No way. I mean, not unless you want me to move.”
“Of course not,” Jacob said.
“We’re not sure what’s going on,” Jill said. “We’ve had so much drama that… I’m glad you’ll stay.”
Honey beamed at Jill. Jacob poured the wine and gave a glass to MJ. He held a glass out to Honey. MJ took the glass and helped Honey grasp the stem with her paralyzed fist. Jacob gave a glass to Jill. For a moment, they sipped the wine in silence.
“Okay, I’ll start,” Honey said. “Jake, you have an apartment building. The one you showed us?”
Jacob nodded.
“Have you done anything with it?” MJ asked.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Jacob said.
“You told us that when people move out, you tore out the old apartments. Did you do anything with the space?”
“I haven’t,” Jacob said. “I’ve been a little overwhelmed with everything. That building hasn’t had a lot of attention. The residents seem happy. That’s all I care about really.”
“We spent a bunch of time there this week,” Honey said. “Did you know Mrs. Robinson needs to be in assisted living but she can’t afford it?”
“Oh no,” Jill said. “I knew she was kind of old…”
“She’s eight-four years old,” Honey said.
“But that’s not the point,” MJ said. “We’d like to ask you to convert the building to a wheelchair access building.”
“The whole building?” Jill asked.
“More than wheelchair access,” Honey said. “I talked to Steve. He says the hardest thing about helping people like me is getting from place to place. We figure if we created a building for people like me with some nursing staff…”
“Like an assisted living?” Jacob asked. “Aren’t there big companies that run those?”
“They run them for old people but not for younger people,” Honey said.
“People who want to work and stuff,” MJ said.
“MJ was talking to a doc at Walter Reed. He said the wheelchair bound soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan don’t have places to live. They’re more like me. They need help in the morning and at night but otherwise, they want to work and live and…”
“We thought maybe you could hire people too,” MJ said.
“You know I can’t work at Lipson right?” Jacob asked.
“You still own it.” Honey’s face clouded. “This isn’t going well.”
“Wait,” Jill said. “We’re just trying to get what you’re saying. You’d like to convert my old apartment building into a kind of assisted living facility for younger people who are wheelchair bound. You talked to Steve. Is he in?”
“Steve says that he can find other nurses,” MJ said. “He says it’s great work and if we do it well, we could help a lot of people. It’s not like we’re asking you to do it for free. There’s good money in this for everyone. There just aren’t a lot of facilities.”
“It seems like a good business. The most expensive thing is…”
“The building,” Jacob nodded. “I have a building.”
“And you’re already tearing out the old stuff,” Honey said.
“We’re just saying,” MJ said. “Why not replace it with wheelchair accessible apartments?”
“I’m sorry. I’m tired and it has been a shitty week,” Jacob said. “I think it’s a solid idea but I’d like to spend some time running numbers. Would you run the business?”
“I want to keep working for Bambi,” Honey said.
“I’d run the business?” Jacob asked.
“We’d run it together,” MJ said.
“But we don’t have any money to put in,” Honey said.
“Sure you do,” Jill said. “You have your portion of the money Jake got back when Tiffanie divorced Sam.”
Jacob looked at Jill. She smiled at him. He shook his head at her in amazement.
“It’s really what you need, Jake,” Jill said. “A new mess to sort through. And that building is a mess. I’ll design the interiors. It’ll be fun.”
Jacob shook his head.
“What’s not right?” MJ asked.
“Everything’s right,” Jacob said. “And Jill’s right. I do need a new mess to sink my teeth into. Especially since we can’t get into the chapel until the police are done. The apartment building is about thirty percent occupied. I’ve tore out the interior of the third floor.”
Jacob closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. For the first time since finding the bodies, he smiled.
“We could start on the third floor,” Jacob said. “That would give us a place to try out the idea on a small scale. If it works, we move to the rest of the building.”
“What about jobs?” MJ asked. “People need jobs.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Jacob said. “Place to stay first. We can add job placement as a service.”
“And we’ll be a part of it?” Honey asked.
“Of course,” Jacob said. “I have to think it through but we can be partners in this venture.”
“But…” MJ said.
“We’ll figure out a way for you to work for your equity,” Jill said.
Honey and MJ looked at each other and smiled. Lost in his own thoughts, Jacob laughed.
“If you had asked me before this Johansen thing happened, I would have been much more gung ho,” Jacob said. “It’s been a crappy few weeks. I need a vacation.”
“You do,” MJ said. “You both do.”
Jill smiled at Jacob and he nodded.
“Maybe that’s what’s next.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and THREE
Changing Times
Friday morning — 4:00 A.M.
As the light began to invade the early dark of morning, Jacob woke up with a start. It was time to get his day started. Slipping out of bed, he wandered across the loft. He opened the white shutters Jill had used to cover the front East facing windows and sat down in an armchair.
In the still quiet of the morning, he could hear the people below him starting their day. Aden said something. Sandy’s high pitch laugh responded before the water turned on for his shower. His father’s usual tuneless whistle moved through the building below. Jacob even thought he heard Honey and MJ roll to the gym two floors below.
They were getting ready for a day at Lipson Construction.
A week ago, Jacob was among them. He was up at 3:30 or so to grab the first shower. He’d luxuriate in the shower until the water pressure shifted and he knew someone else was up. He had planned his day in the shower. By the time he came down from the loft, he was grounded and ready to take on whatever Lipson Construction had to dish out. Every day for the last five years had started the same way.
Until today.
Wednesday, he’d started the day this way. But by the end of the day, he was out of Lipson Construction. He’d started yesterday with the usual 3:30 AM shower followed by a brutal five hour meeting with the board of directors.
Today was the first day in five years that he didn’t have to be anywhere.
He’d fought to be rid of Lipson Construction. He’d called it his personal albatross. More than once, he’d wished the company and all its problems would disappear.
But today, he felt lost.
Who was he now that he didn’t run Lipson Construction?
What would he do with his life?
He’d never asked that question. He’d always just done what’s next. High School led to College. College led to his carpentry business in Brunswick, Maine. He’d been certain he would marry his college girlfriend. Or maybe the girlfriend after the college girlfriend. Everything changed when his distraught f
ather arrived in Brunswick. Sam’s plan to sell Lipson to some asshole investors launched Jacob into action. Or that’s what he told himself in the dark light of morning.
He returned to Denver to save his father. The construction company and the asshole investors were way down the list of reasons he was in Denver. The girl, now his wife, was near the top. Jacob sighed. He came to Denver because he had to.
And now, he didn’t have to live in Denver anymore.
In fact, the moment the news of his ‘problems’ in Denver became public, he’d received job offers from construction companies all over the country. Those who knew Jacob, knew he didn’t do the things he was accused of. They also knew he had worked miracles at Lipson Construction. In some way, they hoped he would work miracles for them too. He could step into a CEO position at any of at least ten companies. A couple of companies called to see if he would be willing to consult.
“What is it?” Jill asked.
He looked up to see her pad across the hardwood floors in her bare feet and a sexy negligee he’d bought for her. He held his arms out and she sat on his lap. He kissed her neck. She put her head on his shoulder. For a moment, they sat in silence.
“What is it?” Jill repeated.
“Feel weird not getting up for work,” Jacob said.
“It’s what you wanted,” she said. She kissed his lips.
“I know,” he said.
She returned to resting against him. He stared at the rising light.
“I feel lost,” he said.
“I know,” she said.
~~~~~~~~
Friday morning — 8:35 A.M.
Sandy turned left on Locust Street and drove the couple of blocks toward where her father’s house had been. After scraping the house, Jacob and his MLR Properties had erected a chain link fence around the property. She pulled Aden’s SAAB sedan in front of the lot.
They were going to finish clearing the lot on Monday. By this time Friday, there will be a foundation for a new house. Because they were getting one of those super green pre-manufactured homes, the house and landscaping would be done in a month’s time. Jacob had already sold the new home to a site manager at Lipson Construction. The site manager would get a great deal on the house. And Jacob would make a lot of money.
Unlike the house her father owned, the new home looked like a historic Victorian. It was gorgeous. The landscaping was going to be gorgeous. By the end of the month, the place where everything awful happened will be gone forever.
Sandy unlocked the padlock with the key Jill had given her. She pried open the gate portion of the fence and shoved her pregnant body through.
The grass her father had tended to perfection had withered and died. The space where the house had been was bare dirt. They’d left the big trees and most of the wild backyard. Her father never cared about the backyard. He was too busy making sure the neighbors only saw perfection. Anything protected by walls or six foot fences was left to its own devices. The backyard had been Sandy’s jungle paradise.
She’d torn down most of the building and found her father’s hidden money stash the last time she was here. Of course, the Feds kept all the money. But that was all right. Sandy didn’t want the money her father made selling her childhood sex tapes.
Then again, when Sandy was here last, she was also madly in love with Aden. He’d just beat up her father and their journey through the criminal justice system had just begun. At that time, she believed in him and the promise of their life together. She’d just found out she was pregnant too.
And now? They were getting along. They weren’t arguing anymore. He’d slept over every night this week because he was in so much pain with his teeth. She was guardian to his children. And…
Sandy’s mind went blank. Sighing, she picked her way across the lot.
He’d asked her last night what it would take for them to get back on track again. She’d been so happy just a few months before. Now, there was an invisible barrier between them. She longed to be close to him again, to trust him again but she couldn’t imagine a way back to loving him again.
Shaking her head at herself, she moved through what used to be the backyard. They had cleared and cut back much of the wild brush of the backyard. They left the towering trees near the back - an ancient Elm and a regal Cottonwood tree.
Sandy went to the back of the lot where the fence had been. She used to hide back here for hours at a time. When Frisky, the cat who loved her no matter what, died, she’d buried him here. In the moments when all her hope was lost, she’d buried her sorrow here. She was confident her father had never been back here. And in all the intervening years when her father was in prison, no one else seemed to come back here.
Sandy sat down on the big boulder between the two towering trees. She touched the popsicle-stick cross she’d placed for Frisky, the cat who loved her no matter what. In all those years before her step-father saved her and she met Jill, Frisky had been her only friend. She used to bring Frisky back and forth between her Mom’s house and her father’s house.
Frisky died one night at her father’s house. She wasn’t exactly sure how Frisky died. She’d always thought her father killed him. A tear dropped splashed on the ground for Frisky.
She’d asked Jill whether she should move Frisky. But Jill thought, after almost seventeen years, Frisky would be sad to leave the trees. She suggested they create a nice place to remember Frisky. Jill had asked Delphie if they had a place. Delphie took them to the area of the garden, near the bees, where they’d buried their dogs and cats. They did a little ceremony and Delphie had created a lovely cross for Frisky, the cat who loved Sandy no matter what.
But Frisky’s body was buried on this property. Before another family moved in, Sandy had wanted to say ‘good-bye’ to Frisky.
She touched the cross one more time and went to Aden’s sedan. Opening the trunk, she took out the long pink jacket she used for dying hair, a pair of work gloves, long handled digging shovel and a tarp. She looked down the street to see if anyone noticed her and returned to the lot. She walked to the boulder at the back of the lot again. She paced off three steps to the south and four steps to the west. She laid out the tarp, put on the work gloves and the pink jacket. Leaning down, she brushed the leaves from the spot.
Sandy began digging. One full shovel. Two full shovels. Three full shovels. She set the loose dirt on the tarp. Her fourth stab into the earth with the shovel made a ‘chunk’ sound. She looked from side to side. No one could see her behind the tall bushes. She dug the rest of the dirt from the hole and pulled out a rusty metal box. She set the box on the tarp and put it down on the ground. Reaching into the hole, she pulled a two gallon pickle jar out of the ground. She shook the dirt off the jar making the coins inside rattle against the glass. She lay down again and pulled out another pickle jar. Moving quickly, she filled the hole with the dirt on the tarp.
She took four steps to the north and began digging again. After she retrieved two large pickle jars full of coins, she took four steps to the east. She added two more large pickle jars to the growing line of coin filled jars. Breathing hard, Sandy moved the dirt around until all three holes were filled in. One at a time, she carried the heavy jars to the car. Returning to the back of the lot, Sandy looked from side to side to see if she could find the last spot.
She sat down on the boulder next to Frisky, the cat who loved her no matter what. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there before she realized two things.
First, she expected Aden to act like Frisky or Cleo, her cats who loved her no matter what. But Aden was not a cat. She touched her belly, and the baby inside, for the obviousness of his non-catness. She expected too much from him. She nodded to herself and thanked Frisky for always giving her the wisdom she needed at the exact moment she needed it.
She also realized where to find the last coin stashes. She went over to a bush near the very back of the lot. The construction people had driven over this entire area when they were clearing the
brush. Sandy fought against the hard packed dirt until she was able to retrieve a jar. She went two feet and dug up another jar. One at a time, she carried the heavy jars to the car. Aden’s sedan sagged against the weight of the jars.
She refilled the remaining holes and checked that all the holes were filled. She jumped up and down on each hold to compact the dirt. She added the remaining dirt to the holes and jumped on them again. Finally, she carried the shovel and tarp back to the car. She went back to layer leaves and grass over her digging sites. Looking up, she saw the heavy snow clouds coming in. After the snow, no one would know she’s taken something from here.
She went back one last time to say good-bye to Frisky. Crying, she told him that a new family would arrive and that he would bless their lives. She took the popsicle cross for Frisky’s new memorial at the Castle. With one last, ‘I love you’ and ‘Thanks’, she walked to Aden’s car. She took off the long pink coat and drove to her hair studio. When she got there, she asked Pete if he would help her unload. Pete followed her to Aden’s sedan.
“What is this?” Pete asked when she popped the trunk.
“Gold coins,” Sandy said.
Pete backed away from the trunk.
“Is it stolen? I can’t be around anything illegal, Sandy,” Pete said. “You know that. I won’t risk losing Molly and the kids again. One more time and…”
“It’s mine,” Sandy said. “I earned it when I was a kid. But you can’t tell anyone.”
“Why?” Pete asked.
“The Feds will think it’s my father’s money,” Sandy said. “No one knows this is mine.”
“Where did you get it?” Pete asked.
“From my father. He gave me a jar every Christmas. Said it was my college fund.” Sandy shrugged. “He thought it made everything even. It didn’t.”
“You’ve been so against your father and his money,” Pete said. “Why did you get this?”
“I don’t know,” Sandy shrugged. “I guess I wanted it for the baby.”
“You work, Aden works,” Pete said.
Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 Page 16