“No, I wanted to talk with you first.”
She sighed and sat down on the bench by our lockers. “Okay, so talk, I’ve only got ten minutes.”
I had thought about what I wanted to say to her but then when she was right in front of me, I couldn’t speak. The truth of the matter was that I was afraid that I had been wrong and afraid that she would hate me because of it. I’m not sure when I suddenly became so insecure, but I was sure it was only when it had to do with her.
“Well, if you’re not going to say anything then let me. You are stubborn and mule headed, and you think you are always right. But you’re not, and you’d know that if you’d just listen before you bark.”
I found my words, but they weren’t the ones I had rehearsed, “Well you are too naïve and believe everything certain people tell you, regardless.”
Chris was pissed, and fired her words at me like they were bullets, “Meg told me that your father called her from Florida, offering her a contract to research historical property holdings on our building here in Memphis. She turned him down. When he asked why, because you know, no one says no to a Blackstone, she said that you were living in one of those buildings, and it would be too much of a conflict of interest for her.”
“She said that?”
“Yes, she did. She told me that it would make things worse between the two of you, if she suddenly became involved in whatever it is your father is after.”
“Well, then… I’m sorry I misjudged her.”
“You misjudged me too don’t forget.”
I looked at Chris and smiled, “I’m even sorrier that I misjudged you. I really am sorry, Chris.”
“Apology accepted. So what does your father want with our building? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”
“It’s a very bad thing. He’s buying up the block so he can tear down the buildings and build a resort.”
“Oh, no! Can he do that? Can he just push us out of our home?”
“I wish I could say no, but yes, he can do that. My concern is for Norma. She’s not going to like this at all.”
Chris’s eyes glisten as if she were about to cry, “Oh no, poor Norma. We can’t let this happen, Melinda. There’s got to be something we can do?”
“My parents will be here day after tomorrow, to inspect the building and me as well. I want you to meet them and maybe we can talk to them about it. I’ve already asked for the day off. Can you see if you can switch with someone and take off too?”
“Yes, of course. One of the girls owes me a day, I’m sure she’ll switch with me.”
“Good, because in all honesty I need you to be there with me.”
“Oh, do you mean in case you misjudge the situation and need a swift kick in the ass to set you straight again?”
I grinned at her, “Uh, sure, that’s it exactly.”
Chapter Eighteen
Breaking it to Norma — Norma Shelby, Christine Livingston and Melinda Blackstone
“Now, Pluto, behave yourself, the arm of that chair is not your scratching post.” Even as I scolded the kitten, I smiled at her playfulness. She was feeling quite frisky today, and I envied that energy of hers. I clapped my hands at her, just as someone was knocking at my door. I scooped up the kitten and walked to the door, peering out the peephole.
“Melinda, Chris, come in, come in.”
Chris was holding her kitten in her arms, “Can Blackie come in and play?” she asked.
“Damn, that sounds so kinky, but yeah, can I come in and play?” Melinda said with a mischievous grin.
My two girls, so alike and yet so completely different. Two better friends I could never have, and I am so blessed to know them. What a privilege it is to watch them mature, to face their challenges head on and conquer their fears. To watch them fall in love even as they struggle to prevent it.
“I see that Pluto is not the only one who’s feeling frisky today, Melinda.”
They both hugged me and Melinda gave me a peck on the cheek and a sly grin.
“And how about you, Norma? Are you feeling better today?”
“You’re a dear to ask, Chris. I’m feeling much better thanks to that chicken soup you brought me. Thank you again.”
“We’re happy to help, anytime. In fact, I plan to heat up some clam chowder later; can I bring you a bowl?”
“That would be lovely, thank you, Chris.”
Melinda pointed at my painting on the wall and asked me, “Norma, I’ve been meaning to ask, is that van Gogh an original?”
“Oh, good heavens, I only wish it were. No, it is a very good replica painted by my second husband, a provocative French artist who made his living copying famous paintings and selling them for a third of the price.”
“He sounds perfectly fascinating, and some day you’ll have to tell us all about him.” Chris said, looking like she was distracted with other things.
“Of course, dear, I would—”
“Norma, are you planning to move in with your grandson?”
Her sudden change in topics befuddled me for a moment, “No, I wouldn’t do that to them. They don’t have the space and besides, it would be cruel to subject them to an old lady in her eighties.”
I looked over at Melinda, who had a pinched look on her face, and I was getting the feeling something was off kilter, “Is everything all right, Melinda?”
She looked at me and took a deep breath, and I knew it wasn’t going to be good news, “No, it isn’t, Norma. Here, sit down, I need to tell you something.”
I sat there listening to Melinda tell me what her father’s plans were, and I grew increasingly numb with panic. What was I going to do, where was I going to go? I had not stepped out of my home further than the hallway in years. I don’t know if I have the courage to start over again. I don’t know that I would want to.
“Norma, are you all right?”
Chris put her hand on my arm and pulled me back from my thoughts.
“Yes, dear. I’m fine. It was just quite a shock.”
“Norma, don’t you worry, there’s still plenty of time to get things worked out. My father will be here tomorrow and I plan to have a talk with him about this. I won’t let him railroad you out of here, Norma.”
“No, dear, it’s all right. This resort he intends to build will bring in new jobs and help the economy, and that far outweighs the insecurities of one little old lady.”
“Norma, if I’ve learned one thing from this experiment that we’re doing, it’s that little old ladies are extremely important, and need to be protected and cherished, and put on a pedestal so that we can worship them from below. No resort can give me the kind of wisdom and guidance that you have in the short time I’ve known you, and if I make it through to the end of our challenge it will be as much because you encouraged me to believe in myself.”
I wiped away a stray tear and looked at Melinda, “You are so sweet, dear. Thank you.”
“I don’t want your thanks, I want your courage and determination, and…” Melinda looked at my movie poster and then smiled back at me, “I want you to help me kick some alien butt out of this building.”
Years of experience had taught me that she was deceiving herself. Once big corporations sink their teeth into a business deal, they’re like rabid dogs and they won’t let go until they have devoured their prey. Still, I applauded Melinda’s determination and promised her that I would not make any decisions until she talked with her father.
After the girls left, I sat in my chair, holding my kitten close, and looked at my possessions, walking down memory lane. It was a long walk that left me sad and weak.
Meeting the Parents — Melinda Blackstone, Christine Livingstone and Robert & Elizabeth Blackstone
There was a knock at our door and I stood up, smoothed down my shirt and looked at Chris.
“Are you ready for this?”
She stood up and nodded her head, clasping her hands together like a Catholic at communion. I thought she was praying and I joined her, saying a quic
k prayer under my breath before I opened the door.
“Father, mother, welcome to our humble abode.”
“Melinda, you look pale and thin. Have you been eating right?”
“Yes, mother, and it’s good to see you too.”
“Don’t pick on your mother, Melinda, she’s only concerned for you. Hello, my name’s Chris Livingston, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you.”
Chris shook their hands and showed them into the living room. I noticed mother looking at the curtain hanging across the room, blocking the window. Chris and I had set the bed on its side and leaned it against the wall, then pulled the curtain across to give us more room to sit and talk. Norma loaned us her small settee and I offered that to my parents to sit on. Chris and I sat on a couple of chairs we had borrowed from the laundry room, and listened, while my parents found fault in everything I had ever done in my entire life. I warned Chris that they would be like that but I don’t think she believed me. It only took a few minutes with my father to make her a believer.
“Dear Lord, Melinda, is this where you live? This is… is…”
“A dump. I know mother, but it’s all I can afford right now.”
“I knew it. I knew you’d end up broke, drinking with your riotous parties, throwing money around, buying cars and then throwing them away like they were trash.”
My father loved to say I told you so, even when he hadn’t told me so.
“Oh, Melinda, how could you come to this?” My mother was actually in tears, although I never could detect whether they were real or not. She wrapped her mink stole tighter around her diamonds and with her silk gloved hand, wiped away a tear. Chris went into the bathroom and brought out a few sheets of toilet paper to use as tissue, and handed them to my mother, but mother refused them in a semi-polite way.
Usually, in order to stand up for myself in front of them, I had to be angry. When I wasn’t, I was defeated, “I’m sorry I’m such a disappoint to you both.”
“No, you don’t understand. Melinda, tell them.” Chris said.
Chris put her hand on my arm and squeezed it. I knew if I didn’t tell them, she would and I’m ashamed to admit it, but I let her.
“Melinda is trying to become a better person, one who cares more for the person, than what the person has to offer her. She’s stopped drinking, stopped throwing money around, and in fact is living here with me with only the money she makes as a waitress. She’s working her butt off so she can make a difference. You should be proud of your daughter for her courage and determination.”
“And how long will it last this time, Melinda?”
“As long as I want it to, father.” He was the only man on earth who could push me to anger in five minutes flat. I think it’s a world record.
“Darling, we are proud of you, it’s just that you’ve always returned to your wanton ways, so we’re a little skeptical.”
Mother did have a point. “It’s all right, mother, it will take some time, but you’ll see, I’ve changed and this time it’s for real.”
“And does that mean you plan to stay here permanently? Or someplace similar, since, as I’m sure George told you, this building will be coming down next fall.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk with you about, father. Surely there is other property close by that you could destroy instead of demolishing this building. There are people living here that, believe it or not, actually like living here and they don’t want to leave. We have a friend who has lived here for over thirty years, and she’s too old to start over now.”
“Well, I’m sorry for them, but I have already given the go ahead on the acquisition. By this time next year, this building will come gone.”
“What if I bought it back from you?” It was a knee jerk reaction that I knew wouldn’t work. He would never sell it to me, just out of spite, and he knew I couldn’t meet his price, anyway.
My mother reproached me, “Stop being silly, what could you do with this old building?”
“Give it to the city for the homeless or infirmed.” Another knee jerk reaction that I wished I could take back, because that still wouldn’t help Norma any.
“All right, let’s stop this nonsense now,” he demanded, “You can spout off all day long and it’s not going to change things, Melinda. I have bought this building and it will come down. And with the resort I’m building, I will put almost five hundred people to work. I think that’s needed more than one little old lady who doesn’t want to move. Don’t you?”
Before I could unleash my anger on him, Chris asked a question, “Will you provide them with some assistance in moving?”
My father looked at her with contempt, “What do you mean? Pay them to move, maybe rent the u-hauls and drivers for them, and pay for their first month’s rent at some other dump? No, I think not.”
“Father, you don’t know what it means to be poor. I do… now, and I promise you that these people can’t afford to move. They will have to choose between something to eat, or medicine to buy, in order to move their meager belongs down the street two blocks. You have to help them out at least that much. Surely you’re not as big an asshole as you’re leading us to believe?” Finally, I had harnessed my anger and spoke eloquently, sincerely and accusingly. It would probably cost me my real job and my inheritance, but it was so worth it.
“Who the hell do you—“
My mother cut him off, although his face continued to turn red, even his ears had turned a deep shade of red.
“Now, Robert, stop toying with them.”
“Toying with us?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. Your father promised the city that the residents would be assisted in relocating. So you see, he’s not as heartless as you make him out to be, Melinda.”
My father gave me a contemptuous look as if to say I was the one being irrational, so I became irrational.
“So the city is insisting that he help them and now he thinks he’s being a hero? No, I don’t think so.”
Chris pinched me and said, “Melinda, can I see you a minute, outside please.” I wasn’t allowed to answer because she walked towards the door, “Please, excuse us, we’ll only be a second.”
I heard my father’s annoyed exhale as I shut the door behind us.
“Melinda, you have to stop. You’re only going to make things worse for yourself and for these people. His mind is made up and he’s not going to change it, so the best we can hope for is that he treats them with respect and keeps his promise to help them move.”
“It’s not enough, Chris. He doesn’t care about these people at all.”
“No, but you do, my dear.” I was so upset that I had not noticed when Norma opened her door, her kitten in her arms.
“What can I do, Norma?”
“Ask him to put you in charge of overseeing our move. It will build his confidence in you, and help the rest of us have some dignity.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Melinda.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right, Chris. Okay, Norma, I’ll ask him about it. Thanks.”
Norma coughed, a deep racking kind of cough that left me concerned, and then she said, “Ply him with your charm, dear, it worked with me.”
I laughed and told her that telling my father that he has some beautiful knockers probably wasn’t going to work out the same way. I took a deep, calming breath and walked back into our apartment.
“Father, let me oversee these people’s extrication. It will reflect positively on you, and satisfy my concerns as well. A win-win alternative for the both of us.”
My father’s face looked smug at first, and then he relented and said, “I was just going to suggest the same thing, Melinda.”
I think my mother must have had a talk with him while we were in the hallway, because that was just too easy.
“The eviction notices will go in the mail the first of January and they will be given until the end of June to vacate. We start tearing down buildings on August first.”
“Six mo
nths is not enough time, father.”
“It’s more than the city asked for, so don’t start whining about it. I’m being generous because you’re my daughter.”
I was ready with a snotty comeback, but Chris gave me a supportive smile, and I changed my mind.
“Thank you father, I will do the best I can with the little you offer me.” I guess that was snotty after all, but I said it from the heart.
“I’m sorry we have to cut the visit short, but we have to meet someone across town,” my mother stood up, “What a quaint little Christmas tree, so urban sheik.”
“And I don’t think it’s safe to leave my Mercedes alone in this neighborhood for very long.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell my father that his car was probably gone by now, or up on bricks without its tires.
“Melinda, will you be home for Christmas? We’re wintering in Florida this month, and you’re welcome to join us. And bring your friend, Chris… I’m sorry, what did you say your last name was?”
“Livingston.”
“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Chris.”
“And you as well.”
My father pinched his eyebrows together, “Livingston? Are you any relation to Carl Livingston, the investment guru of the south?”
Chris beamed with pride, “Yes, he’s my father.”
“He’s the one who helped procured this building for me.” My father stated, “Small world isn’t it?”
I heard my mother say, as they walked out the door, “Why do the rich kids today want to live in a slum?” I chuckled and thought to myself, if only she knew. But when I looked at Chris, she was dumbstruck and shaking.
Secrets Revealed — Christine Livingston and Melinda Blackstone
My father helped him buy this building. I kept repeating those words, trying to rationalize what that meant. My father helped him buy this building. It was like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game I use to play, where you name a person in a movie that connects them to Kevin.
“Wow, what are the odds, right? Your father and my father, partners in crime.”
From Riches to Rags Page 18