Opening the Door

by Michael Roberts

  “He is looking for something on this side of the water to be close to me.”

  “When you went out last Sunday for dinner and a few drinks, who paid?”

  “He was a little short so I lent him something to tide him over till he gets back up on his feet. I would do the same for you.” She is starting to get a little indignant.

  Careful, I need to ease up now.

  I turned around to face her, looking directly into her eyes and speaking from the heart.

  “Yes you would. You have always been there for me and I love you like a sister. I am always here for you, and always will be.” As I am saying this I know I am getting what others called ‘misty eyed’ (must be from the onions), but I was speaking from the heart. “One of my biggest fears is that you will move or something and we lose touch with each other. I have lost too many people in my life. I can’t lose anymore.”

  She stared at me for a moment and swallowed hard. “You won’t. I promise you that.”

  “Good.” Turning back around. “So what are we going to wear when we go out on Saturday?”

  After this our conversation turned casual, but somewhere deep within me a fire started to burn.

  When I arrived at Beverly’s office on Monday morning she handed me a stack of papers to fill out and sign. It was what I needed to be legally employed in Virginia. (Hooray for me.) I have never enjoyed filling out paper work more in my life.

  Beverly still does not plan on paying me for the ‘volunteer’ work I do in her office. However when she sends me to ‘help a friend’ she cuts me a check on a job by job basis. Maybe that wouldn’t be a good deal to some people but it is just what I need. Mentally I still think of Beverly as ‘Pimping me out’.

  That morning after filling out my own paperwork, I had to bring a stack of papers to Bill’s for him to notarize. I love seeing that old man, he is as sweet as can be. Whenever my personal business takes me to Surry County I make sure to stop by the Dixie Diner to get him a Peanut Pie Supreme. Of course I get one for Ann and me from the diner as well.

  I grew up eating Pecan Pies in Savannah, but these Peanut Pies have them beat hands down. As always I called ahead to see if Bill wanted us to pick up anything for him at the store. He never asks for much, usually only bread, milk and eggs, stuff like that.

  He says the doctors told him to eat healthier but that he has never gotten the knack of cooking for one. He makes himself a lot of sandwiches. The doctors also told him to cut back on the amount of salt he eats but his reply was “I am 96 years old. I think I should be able to eat whatever the heck I want.” I kind of agree with that, but Beverly and I still worry. Somebody has to care about him. His family only lives a few blocks away from him but as I mentioned before they are “too busy” to come see him.

  Bastards.

  I sent a text to our friend Cindy and asked for a favor. Since she was going to be our waitress on Saturday night I asked her to serve me a regular coke, not the rum and coke I planned to order. I said I was going to be on a first date with someone and didn’t want to get too tipsy. She understood and said she was looking forward to seeing us.

  The two of us were at Ann’s place the next night eating left over chili and rice. (Why is chili always better when it’s reheated?) This is when that jack-ass Bobby “Just happened to drop by.” Wanting to check on Ann. He wasn’t especially happy to see me there. The more hints he dropped that I should “Keep up with my studies” the more I wanted to stay there.

  So I did.

  I didn’t like seeing that he immediately began helping himself to her booze and checking out what was in the fridge so he could make himself a snack. That is something only I can do damn it!!! She has one of those small couches that only seats two people and I was not going to give up my seat on it. (That asshole can sit in a chair, preferably across town, not next to my sister). He then told her a list of groceries she should buy that would be ‘healthier’ for her than what she had. Things that he liked of course. I did see her stiffen a little at that. ‘Good. Let him dig himself a little deeper then I’ll bury the bastard.’

  When it comes to looking out for Ann all I can say is that if I’ve dug one hole, I can always dig another. This may be a bad thought to some but meeting Ann is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I care about the ones I love.

  It took a couple of hours for him to finally realize that I wasn’t going anywhere. He declared that he had some “Business to take care of”. Which is pure B.S. His broke ass is just looking to get something for free. He probably has some other woman lined up for later tonight.

  Scum bag.

  After he left I stayed a while to make sure he didn’t loop back after I was gone. Around 10ish Ann said she was going to bed and walked me to the door. She gave me a big hug while whispering in my ear “Thanks for the cock block”. Then she laughed at my expression and hustled me out the door. Maybe sometimes I am not as slick as I think I am.

  The next morning I got up at dawn and went to Surry to do my ATM run and drove by where Sawyer’s grave was. The grass and bushes were covering everything and growing nicely. I caught myself thinking it would probably be a little more difficult now to dig a hole then it was before. Sometimes it is harder to go thru life without committing multiple felonies than you would think it is. Still I doubt it will come to that.

  When I arrived at work, Beverly and I sat down and discussed which on-line courses would be the most advantageous for me to take. Beverly made me pre-register early for the next semester. She also insisted that I take the correspondence courses in an accelerated time frame.

  Sometimes I am not sure if Beverly is my Pimp Momma, my Mentor, or the Mother that she feels I should have had all along. Her insistence on this means that I have to pay for these courses early. I do have the money – but not much more. I am constantly trying to build up my cash cushion. Difficult sometimes, but I know that it is needed.

  On the other hand at least I now have some income which is at least semi-legit. When I finish school I won’t have a ton of debt to keep me a financial wage slave for the rest of my life. My long term goal is to have enough money that paydays don’t matter. (This may take a while.)

  Later on Beverly called me into her office and handed me a plain envelope with my name on it. In it was a short note from Mr. Kostas saying how much he regretted my ruining such a lovely outfit and telling me not to be a stranger but to “feel free to stop by when I need something done”. Not sure what he meant by that. It also had a gift card for Christopher Banks, which is a very nice shop at Patrick Henry Mall. I looked at Beverly and stated “You said not to take anything from anybody but you.”

  “I know. That is why I am the one that is handing this to you.” Yep, definitely my Pimp Momma.

  “What did he mean by ‘stop by when I need something done’?”

  She hesitated a moment, then looked at me and said “He is kind of what people would call ‘old fashioned’ about some things. He means if you need a favor you could ask him. But always remember that nothing in life is free and you should always think carefully before you do something like that.” I do not have any problem understanding what she means.

  I can tell that he and Beverly have some history together. While my curiosity might like to know what it was, my sense of inner survival knows that this is a cookie jar I do not want to open.

  Beverly smiled and said this will be the last time I will take four correspondence courses at once. Beginning next year I will only need three courses at one time, which will take some of the work load off me. It helps that when I am in her office I can play some of my online courses as back ground on my lap top while I am doing other tasks for her. The only thing that makes me slightly nervous is that smile she gets when she is thinking something devious. Especially since it seems to usually have something to do with me.

  Ann was of course ecstatic about the gift c
ertificate and the chance to do some ‘retail therapy’ as she calls it. I reluctantly agreed to go shopping with her tomorrow but only if we could use some of this money on her too. After all, to me it was free money so why not spend it to make someone happy that I care about?

  * * *

  After busting out that gift card at the mall, and spending a little bit more, we decided to get our nails done at Maxine’s. Ann wanted to get our hair done too but I thought that would be a little bit over the top. Besides Ann’s gorgeous red hair never seems to even need a brush, not even when she first wakes up.

  After our shopping spree we went to Vito’s for some killer baked ziti. Ann got a guilty look on her face and said Bobby wanted her to cut down on things like this so she wouldn’t get fat. I was blowing on my fork full of food, supposedly to cool it down but really to buy a moment so I wouldn’t immediately declare my heart felt desire to castrate that scumbag.

  Ann works out or goes running twice a day every day. She also teaches aerobics, and dances for several hours a night to make a living. She has the most amazing body and muscle definitions a woman can have and he thinks she is fat? I caught her looking at me to gauge my reaction. I have to be careful how I handle this.

  “Ann, as far as I am concerned you are the sister I should have had growing up.” Need to think before I speak. “If I thought you were fat, horrible, or gross in any way, I would tell you and tease the Hell out of you about it in a heartbeat. The fact is that you have the most amazing body I have ever seen and that is all there is to it. You should have been a model on a catwalk for Victoria’s Secret. Has it ever occurred to you that sometimes you are too good to guys?”

  She frowned “I try to be nice to people but I think that he wants too much from me sometimes.”

  “Why are you with him? I never see him being nice to you. Never hear him compliment you on how you look, and never see him do anything for you.” Still trying to keep this light and not make her turn defensive and clam up. “He takes your money and booze, but I never see him buy anything for you. Why do you think he was fired from his last job, and for that matter how many jobs has he had? I have only known him for a few months and that was his third that I am aware of.” Bad memories of my own mom’s work record began to surface. “That is never a good sign.”

  “I know I am not good at relationships with guys. Never have been.” Then trying to change the subject. “So what’s with you and Dave? I notice him trying to figure out how to flirt a little with you but when we get together you are always joined at the hip with Rico, and people never want to risk crossing Rico.” She gave a happy smile that was good to see. “You are the only woman anybody has ever seen him hug and hold on to. It’s obvious that the two of you are close.”

  “It’s not like that with me and Rico and you know it.” Too bad, if he wasn’t both gay and acting like the proverbial big brother to me he would be the perfect man to have. “It’s just that I like being with him and we don’t get to see him often.”

  After a minute. “So, do you really think Dave is interested in me?”

  “Definitely.”

  The next day Beverly chided me for letting one of my grades ‘slip’ as she calls it. I only got a ‘B’ on a single test for one of my remedial elective classes. ‘Really? I am taking more than is required for a full school load plus working for her in the office almost full time and she says something about my grades?’

  I only swallowed hard and told her “I will try harder this semester.”

  That is when I saw that enigmatic smile which means she has something planned for me. Something she will find personally amusing. I wonder if she is going to pimp me out again to ‘help one of her friends’. How many people does she know anyway?

  “Am I going to help out someone again for you?”

  “Yes, but that’s not the reason you need to keep your grades up.”

  “Where am I going?”

  “The week after next beginning on Wednesday, you need to go to work in my friend’s office as a receptionist. His usual assistant will give you three days of orientation then you will be there two more weeks as his assistant/receptionist. Any problems?”

  “No Ma’am.” Yep, being pimped out again.

  “Seriously you need to get all ‘A’s this semester. Do what you have to and make it happen. If you need help I will be there to advise you, but you need to do this on your own.” My Spidey senses are tingling, something is up.

  I only look at her. “You’re not going to tell me what’s going on are you?”

  “No, but if you do everything right it could work out well for you.” Then as she went back to her office she let drop that this was a realty lawyer’s office. She added that I should try to do a very good job because “You might need him soon.” With that parting remark she closed the door to her office before I could say anything. Her timing is always perfect. (Damn it.)

  * * *

  Ann worked Friday night so I tried to burn through as much of my on-line courses as I could without my brain turning to mush. I even gave up having an NCIS marathon on Netflix, which was very virtuous on my part.

  We all agreed to have the guys pick us up at my place on Saturday. Not looking forward to this but I will do anything for Ann. This is one of those things that sisters do for each other. I also thought about my remark to her at Vito’s, when I said I wished she had been with me growing up. I am glad she wasn’t. She is a bright spirited person and I would not have wished my upbringing on anyone. Because of things that happened when I was younger I see things differently than most people do. It has taken me a while to recognize that fact.

  Ann has been hurt before too. All the signs are there. I am going to protect her from more hurt the best way I can.

  * * *

  Predictably the guys were almost an hour late, not a good start. You would not have to tell me they were cousins. The minute I saw them I could tell they were related. Everything from the way they dressed, to the way they walked and the smart ass smirks they both wore. Before Bobby could make the introductions Jeff asked him “Which one is for me tonight?”

  Neither Ann nor I cared for that remark.

  He was visibly disappointed when he saw that he was with me and not Ann. I kept waiting for him to ask Bobby if he wanted to trade dates for the night. The fact that they had both been drinking may not have seemed to be a good idea to some. However it fit right in with my plans for the evening. I knew I would be sober and was betting on his being stupid. Much can come of this type of situation.

  When we got to the club the line to get in had more than a hundred people in it. It stretched from the front doors, where the doormen were, across the length of an adjacent furniture store called ‘The Dump’. The guys were about to leave and change their mind. When Ann said we could just walk in. It seemed to impress them.

  That’s when Jeff asked if there were any metal detectors at the door and if we could get him through them. Alarm bells were going off in my head at that question. Ann caught on and we both said “Yes” at the same time. The answer didn’t seem to please him but I think he expected it. When we parked he pulled out a pistol and put it in the glove box. I saw there was already one in there. Guess it belonged to Bobby.

  Some people carry guns because they are scared of someone. Some carry one ‘just in case’. Some carry one because it’s their job. These two carried them so they could convince themselves that they really were some kind of gangsters. Instead of punks.

  When we were getting out of the car Bobby said quite grandly, “Don’t worry girls. Tonight all the drinks are on us.” I was thinking ‘No shit. You’re the ones asking us out. Not the other way around.’ Of course this was followed by a leer from Jeff, that was supposed to be a smile, saying “Don’t worry, you girls can team up to pay us back when we get home.” Ann and I looked at each other with the same unspoken thought in mind. ‘B.S.’


  Phil and Dave were working the door and we walked right up to them. Dave’s face lit up when he saw me (looks like Ann was right) but his smile shut down when Jeff put his arm around my waist. This jerk thinks he already has a ‘sure thing’ with me. Tonight I am going to figure out how to put him in his place. Neither one of these two clowns would have made it past puberty in Savannah.

  Cindy had reserved a table in the back for us (bless her heart), it really does pay to have friends in the right places. Beverly has her circle and I have mine. When the first round of drinks came only I could tell that mine was just coke. The guys were upset that they couldn’t run a tab but thankfully Cindy said ‘no’. They both slammed their drinks right away and were pushing us to drink faster while they ordered another round. I wondered how many times I could match him drink for drink before he caught on that I wasn’t even getting a buzz. He wasn’t that smart so it could take a few. Good.

  Ann was figuring out how to start a conversation without any antagonizing statements. (She is so much nicer than I am). When she asked if the guys wanted to dance with us they just smirked and said “No. You two girls take care of yourselves on the dance floor. We’ll take care of you when we get home.”

  That was about the last straw for Ann. She makes a living as a visual fantasy for guys to stare at. Sometimes she and another woman will do one of those long slow lesbian dances that guys fantasize about. But it is just an act, and she resents anyone saying anything different. Then it occurred to me that she was angry about them slighting me too.

  She was getting ready to spit fire when I grabbed her hand and said “Let’s go.” She stared for a second then came out to the floor with me, a quizzical look on her face. I nodded to a part of the club where some Hispanic guys were hanging out and said “Let’s start dancing there and see if any of them want to join in.” She looked at me for a moment then got an evil little grin saying. “Well, I did come out here to dance, so why not?”