Thorns of Rosewood

by G M Barlean

  “Well, Tanya, if Mrs. Waterman Talbot wants you to clean your area, it’s what you’ll do.” He gave Naomi a wink. “Beautiful outfit you have on today, Naomi.” He eyed her from top to bottom, lingering on her long legs and high-heeled sandals.

  “Now, Richard, you behave.” She batted her lashes, then turned to me. ‘Tanya, if you’re too busy, I can clean it after work today.” Naomi offered a pathetic look.

  Right. She’d clean it after work. What a load of bull.

  “Don’t be silly, Naomi. You’re management. Tanya will take care of it.” Stupid president of the bank, standing there trying to impress Naomi.

  “Well, if it’s okay with Tanya, of course. I don’t want to cause her extra work.” Naomi’s fake guilt and pout fooled him, but not me. I couldn’t hide my disgust. I glared at Naomi, shrugged, and nodded. What choice did I have?

  “You’re a trouper, Tanya.” She gave Richard a winning smile. “I’d better get busy. I have so much work to do today.” Naomi wiggled off to her office.

  Richard watched her, then turned to me. He nodded at my desk and left with his head high in the air.

  I swallowed hard and thought about how much my husband and I needed the money from this job. It was better than waitressing or working at the factory. But being Naomi’s secretary and what it entailed was lower than I thought I’d ever have to stoop.

  Marrying Rusty Gunderson a year after high school was still one of the best things I’d ever done. He was adorable and sweet and everything I’d always wanted… except he didn’t have a dime to his name and probably never would. But being in love counted for a lot, and I would always be in love with Rusty.

  Back in the storage room, I found the Clorox and a sponge and filled a bucket with hot water, then I trudged back to my perfectly clean and un-smelly desk.

  I began to scrub. Naomi stood, shut the door to her office, and closed the blinds. Now the entire view of me cleaning was out of sight, out of mind. Apparently, such menial labor affected her thought process.

  A half hour later, the desk had been scrubbed down and every drawer cleaned out and washed. Now I could finally settle in to work.

  Enter Darby Pederson—Naomi’s most frequent visitor. Everyone suspected he came around for more than financial advice.

  Naomi swung open the door to her office and allowed him full view of her tight skirt and long legs. “Darby, are you here to see me?” She tilted her head and gave him a dirty little grin. His smile bloomed into a goofy grin, and his face went from ruddy to downright crimson.

  “Hey, Naomi. Do you have a little time for me?”

  “I always have time for you, Darby.” Naomi crooked her finger and lured him into her office. She was about to close her door when she leaned out and sniffed. “Tanya, what in the world did you clean your desk with?” Naomi brought a handkerchief to her nose and breathed through the cotton and lace.

  “Clorox… on my hands and knees… Why?”

  “Oh heavens. Clorox is such a strong smell. I’d say it’s almost worse than it was before. Makes my eyes water. You should have used Pine-Sol.” Naomi shook her head and frowned. “From now on, Tanya, maybe don’t let your area get so dirty in the first place.”

  She shut her door and I was left listening to giggles and hushed conversation coming from inside her office. Luckily, the blinds were still closed, so at least I didn’t have to watch her shameless flirting.

  Within five minutes, the couple emerged from her office, Naomi with the handkerchief covering her nose so she wouldn’t offend her delicate nostrils with the smell of Clorox, and Darby with a look of great anticipation in his eyes. “Tanya, I’m going with Darby to check out some property he’s looking into purchasing. I’ll be back later.”

  “You have a one p.m. appointment,” I reminded her.

  “Of course, Tanya. I know. I’ll be back.” Naomi waved me off with a roll of her eyes.

  Right. Like Naomi was ever on time or good for her word. She’d stumble in at one fifteen and I would have already spent fifteen minutes reassuring a grumpy client. It had happened many times before.

  The morning continued in the same dismal way. It was one of those days. Right about the time I wanted to take lunch, the school called to tell me my son had been in a pushing match on the playground.

  When I returned from visiting with the principal, another loan officer demanded the papers I’d been preparing for him. They weren’t ready, of course, because I had wasted so much time cleaning my desk.

  And of course, the one p.m. client arrived on time, but not Naomi. And yes, I ended up fetching him coffee and visiting with him to help pass the time until Naomi finally swished in at twenty after. She did what she always did. Acted as though her life was so, so busy and she was so, so important. Somehow, the client managed to forgive her within seconds but gave me a look as though I had somehow wasted his time.

  It was almost two before I even had an opportunity to pull my lunch out of the bottom drawer of the desk. I unwrapped the egg-salad sandwich after Naomi’s client left. She had walked him to the front door and when she returned, she stopped in front of my desk and sniffed again.

  I stopped chewing and stared at her, waiting for whatever hell was going to rain down next.

  “Egg salad? Oh for heaven’s sake. I’ll bet I was smelling your nasty egg salad, Tanya.” She shook her head and laughed as she disappeared into her office, shutting the door behind her.

  I stared at the sandwich, and the longer I sat staring, the more infuriated I became. About the time I thought I was going to crack, my phone rang.

  “Tanya, I need you to pick me up at work. The car broke down, and I have a dentist appointment,” my husband yelled over the sounds of heavy equipment at the plant.

  “What’s wrong with the car? We brought it home from the repair shop last week.” We’d spent more than we could afford to have it fixed after it broke down the last time. We desperately needed a new vehicle but couldn’t afford one.

  “I know. I think it’s the plugs.” I could hear impatience in Rusty’s voice. He wanted to take care of his family. He was doing the best he could.

  I sighed. “What time’s your appointment?”

  “In ten minutes. I’m sorry, hon. I don’t have any choice.”

  My Rusty. I knew how hard he tried. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  I hung up the phone and took a deep breath and went to Naomi’s office door. I knocked. No answer. I really didn’t have time for this. I opened the door and poked my head in, and Naomi looked up with a glare.

  “I have to go pick up my husband and take him to the dentist. His car broke down and he needs a ride.” This wasn’t a big deal. I tapped on the doorway with nervous fingers, waiting for Naomi’s reply.

  Naomi sighed. “Tanya, have a seat.” She stood and pointed to the chair across from her desk.

  I stared at the chair then back at Naomi. “Can I please go get my husband? He’ll be late for his dentist appointment. Surely we can talk later.”

  Naomi’s face turned sour—hard eyes and a set jaw. “I’ll decide when we talk. Now is best for me, so have a seat.” Her voice didn’t allow for argument.

  I sighed heavily and thought to myself, I need this job, I need this job, I need this job.

  Sitting down, I folded my hands in my lap and hoped like hell this would be over quick.

  “I’m so disappointed in you, Tanya.” Naomi paced behind her desk, her hands clasped behind her back. “You started today with a foul-smelling desk. I heard you were late with some reports. Rebecca told me you had to go to school for something to do with a child of yours misbehaving? Then I catch you eating smelly old egg salad at your desk. Now this, Tanya? You have to shuttle your husband around like he’s a child? Really. You don’t seem to have your life in order, and I think it’s affecting your work. I know it’s affecting my work. I mean, I simply must have an efficient and clean secretary representing my office.”

  Naomi stopped and turne
d to stare at me with a look of pity. “Are you sure this job isn’t too much for you? Maybe going back to being a teller would be best. I know Rebecca would love to move up and she’s such a crackerjack. She has the smarts to do so well.”

  Heat crept up my neck to my face. It wouldn’t have surprised me if I burst into flames. So this is what Naomi’s game was about today. She wants to demote me. But I needed to keep this job. It paid better than being a teller, and it had taken years to work my way up.

  “Naomi, I’m just having an off day. Please, I really have to go. Can we talk about this later?”

  “Now see? There you go putting your work last and making excuses again. Don’t you value this position?” Naomi smiled a pathetic smile and offered a look filled with false concern, worried eyebrows, and downturned mouth.

  “Of course, of course. But I have to go get my husband so he’s not late for his dental appointment. He’s had a bad toothache.”

  Naomi paused. “Well, that’s really not my problem, now is it?”

  A cold hard stare reminded me who I was dealing with.

  “My only responsibility to you is to give you a job. And my only concern is for you to do your work properly.” Her face no longer hid superiority and arrogance. “So if I want to talk for another thirty minutes, that’s what we’ll do, Tanya. Because I’m the boss. Remember? Your boss. And it’s not my fault you married a loser who can’t afford a decent car.”

  I jumped out of the chair, my hands in tight balls and my jaw clenched. “You have no right to speak about my Rusty like that. And you can’t fool me. You’re trying to make me look bad so you can fire me, you… you…” I stopped myself. I had to keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t lose my job.

  “What’s that, Tanya? You have something you want to say to me? Like it would matter. You hold no power over me.” Naomi leaned over her desk, her cleavage showing, a wicked smile on her face. “But you can get it off your chest if you feel like it.”

  I stood up straight and let it go. “You mean-spirited… tramp.”

  Damn, that felt good. But I might as well have jumped off the roof. I brought my hand up and slapped it over my mouth. What have I done? But it was like Pandora’s box and kept coming out. “I know you’ve been gunning for me ever since you took this job. And I’ve had it.” I paused, out of breath and apparently out of my mind. Naomi would make me pay for this. There would be no doubt about it. “Now, I’m leaving whether you like it or not.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that, Tanya? I’ve asked you not to leave.” Naomi pulled a legal pad out of the top drawer and plopped it on her desk, then picked up a pen.

  I put my hands on my hips. I was so furious and so confused I didn’t know what else to do but storm out. “Yes. I’m leaving.”

  Naomi leaned over and wrote the word Insubordination on the yellow paper in large, dark blue letters. “Go on then, Tanya. You do what you have to do, and I’ll do the same.”

  I never mentioned a word of it to Rusty. No need to trouble him.

  As I sat in the outer office of the dentist, waiting while he had his tooth filled, I knew what I’d be going back to. While I was gone, Naomi would make sure the bank president and other loan officers, right down to every teller, knew what a troublemaker I was. All I could do was walk back in with my head held high and try to fight for my job.

  In the meantime, I wondered how we’d ever pay our bills.

  Chapter 12

  Gloria found herself becoming angry as she listened to Tanya’s story. “What a…” She held back her thought.

  “Bitch?” Debbie offered.

  Gloria nodded.

  She was starting to see the bigger picture. Naomi was one of those self-absorbed women and everything had to revolve around her. Naomi clearly didn’t consider anyone else’s feelings to be important. Other people seemed to be nothing more than a means to her ends.

  Something occurred to Gloria. “How in the world did this pushy, narcissistic woman behave as a mother?” She gulped at the thought of Naomi being her birth mother. She couldn’t imagine anything worse.

  “This is where my part of the story comes in,” Josie said, a sad memory in her eyes. “And I’m afraid it’s an unsavory tale and the ending isn’t a happy one.”

  Gloria cracked her knuckles and readied her hand to write notes in her yellow pad. Everything to do with Naomi seemed unsavory to her.

  Josie’s Teacher’s Conference—1962

  As a seventh grade teacher, I had to be well prepared for teacher’s conferences. I shuffled through the graded papers on my table and waited for the next parent to sit down, worry in their eyes as they asked me how their child was doing in school. I was a strict teacher but loved my kids. Most of them were well behaved and most of the parents were doing their best. Yet I worried about some.

  I checked my class roster. Only four more students left for the day and Doug Talbot Jr. was one of them.

  The auditorium buzzed with the sounds of parents and students visiting with teachers. The principal greeted people by the doorway of the gym. The women of the PTA ran a cookie and punch table along one wall, and the booster club sold tickets for a stadium blanket at the raffle table. The room filled with the usual sights, sounds, and smells of a teacher’s conference: sweaty children, tired parents, and dozens of conversations rising up into the rafters where they would fade away.

  In our small town, conferences were held in the school gym. Each teacher sat at a table, and the parents made their rounds. I saw Tanya walking toward my desk and I gave her a wave. She had her youngest in tow and gripped his little hand in her own. “Hey, Josie,” she said, tugging the three-year-old along.

  “Hi, Tanya. Glad you stopped to visit. I have time to kill between parent visits.” I reached down into a bag to pull out a Tootsie Roll for the little fella. “Here you go, Marty.”

  Marty’s eyes lit up and his hand shot out and grabbed the candy.

  “Marty, what do you say?” Tanya took the candy from him and peeled the wrapper off the treat.

  “I like candy!” he yelled.

  Tanya shook her head. “Thank you. We say thank you.”

  Marty nodded and stuffed the chocolaty caramel candy into his mouth. A drip of brown goo leaked from the corner of his lips.

  “How’s it going?” Tanya asked as she wiped Marty’s face with a tissue.

  “Not bad. I only have four more appointments. Junior Talbot’s parents are one of them.” I sighed and rested my chin in my hand.

  “Does his father bring him or does the hag come?”

  “What’s a hag, Mommy?” Marty gnawed on his Tootsie Roll and swung his feet back and forth.

  “It’s a bad word. Don’t say it.” Tanya wiped his face again.

  “You said it.” Marty opened his mouth wide to show his mother the chewed-up candy.

  “Oh! Close your mouth.” Tanya covered his mouth and shook her head. She and I laughed.

  “Hard to say. If Doug comes, everything will go well. If Naomi comes, it will be a whole different ballgame.” Nervous, I straightened the papers again and tapped them on the desk. I didn’t quite know how to handle Naomi. I don’t think anyone really did.

  The truth was, I had always been a little shy. It wasn’t my style to argue or make waves. It wasn’t the way I was raised. My grandmother always said, “A smart woman can get what she needs without causing a fuss.” And it was true. Usually, I was able to get what I needed without much trouble. Most parents could be calmed with quiet, controlled words. I could almost always reason with, or at least understand the motivation of, the parents of children in my class. But not Naomi. Naomi made her own rules and tested all my limits.

  “So, is Rusty here?” I asked Tanya, trying to change the subject.

  “Yeah. He’s visiting with coach about softball for the summer. The kids had good reports and are out on the playground. I thought I’d stop and say hi before we left.”

  Marty started to squirm in his seat. “More candy.”
He tried to stand on the chair.

  “I think it’s time for us to go. Candyman here has had enough sitting for this afternoon.” She stood and picked up her sticky son.

  He buried his head in her shoulder, smashing tootsie roll drool into her shirt. “Go home. Go home. Go home.” Marty chanted as he wiggled.

  “Hush,” Tanya told the child.

  “How’s work been going?” I asked over Marty’s noise.

  “Oh, all right, I guess. I’d rather be a teller than what’s-her-name’s secretary, even though it doesn’t pay as well. But I shouldn’t complain. It’s a better job than some.” Tanya put the squirming boy down but kept a tight grip on his wrist. He strained against her, still chanting, “Go home, go home, go home.”

  “I will say this…” Tanya leaned closer down and whispered, “I think Rebecca wishes she was still a teller instead of being the hag’s secretary.” Tanya giggled.

  “Hag, hag, hag!” Marty shouted.

  I caught sight of Naomi coming up fast behind Tanya, and I stiffened.

  “Tanya, you must be so proud of your son. Quite a vocabulary he has.” Naomi stood with her arms crossed, a judgmental stare in her eyes and a smirk on her face.

  Tanya spun to the voice behind her. She glanced down at Marty’s face, sticky with Tootsie Roll, as he yelled, “Go home, hag. Go home, hag!”

  Naomi rolled her eyes and cut a wide swath around them to get to my table. “Josie, I know it’s fun to visit with friends, but I do hope you can make time to actually meet with a parent.” Naomi sneered.

  I inhaled deeply. “Of course, Naomi. Have a seat.” I pointed at the chair in front of my table and waved good-bye to Tanya. She waved back, but it looked more like she was shooing flies.

  “Talk to you later,” she mouthed to me, then turned to hurry away.

  “Oh, Tanya,” Naomi called out before she escaped.

  She stopped. Her shoulders sagged as she turned back to Naomi.

  “I’ll need you to run an errand for me before you go back to the bank.” Naomi reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. “I have the payment for the bill at the hardware store. Drop this off to them.”