Monday Girl's Revenge

by David A. Thyfault

  “Not for something like this. I usually have to fund these things on my own, but I like the kids, so I do without some of the frills in life.”

  “Admirable,” she said, nodding.

  Carlton looked over to the kitchen area. “I doubt Mrs. Carbone would mind if I put on a pot of coffee. We can work out our plans and pretend we’re in a fancy restaurant.”

  “I’d like that.”

  They moved toward the kitchen. “When we get those ingredients,” he said, “we should double the order. That way a certain broke art teacher and an equally poor policewoman could have their own bake sale and split the profits.”

  Delores nodded, thinking about Gordon the Brit, Clint the cowboy and Dr. Moreno. Somehow this felt like progress.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  “Duck down,” Stump said as he and Myles drove past Stump’s school. “I don’t want anybody to see me with you.”

  Myles grinned. “Ain’t going to happen, but I want you to know I’m proud of you. Now you’ve got a full-blown driver’s license to show for all your efforts.”

  “The instructor said I needed to work on defensive driving.”

  “Well, we all do. And just to show you that I can be a nice guy once in a while, after we go home and I introduce you to my mom’s new caregiver, I’m going to let you use the truck to go to work today—”

  Stump’s heart jumped. Adulthood may have had extra responsibilities but it also contained some rad benefits.

  “That’s not all,” Myles added. “I’ve decided to give you ten bucks an hour whenever you take my mom places.”

  “But I already told you, I don’t want no—”

  “I know, and I appreciate that, but there’s a difference between hanging out with somebody and taking them places such as the doctor’s office or the park. Those things are extra and more like work.”

  Made sense. Stump nodded. “What about tripling it?”

  Myles’s smirked. “Straight to work and straight back afterwards, got it?”

  “Well. You can’t blame a guy for trying. Do I have to come right home after work ’cause—”

  “I should cut you off because of your bank-robbing episode while I was gone, but you’ve shown me a lot of compassion too. So the deal is you can hang out but you gotta get home in time for me to get to my meetings.” Myles raised a finger. “And no other driving in between. If you can handle that, then next time we might open up other possibilities. How does that sound?”

  Of course, it sounded great.

  A few minutes later, Stump and Myles arrived at their apartment where Grandma Pauline was watching TV and Stump was introduced to Katherine DeLong, a professional caregiver. In her late thirties, she had stunning Asian features including gorgeous eyes, bobbed black hair, and a pretty smile. She insisted that everybody refer to her by her first name.

  “How’d you do?” she asked Stump when he walked in.

  “I passed.”

  She hurried to him and gave him a warm, unanticipated hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Gee, thanks,” The embrace was unlike any other he’d ever experienced. Naturally, other mature women like his mom and Aunt Gerry had hugged him before, but they were family and that was before he’d gotten serious with Maria and became aware of some other things. Katherine’s breasts were larger than Maria’s.

  Katherine grabbed a package from the table. “This came for you while you were gone.”

  Stump turned it around. It had to be the DNA kit he’d ordered.

  “What is it?” Myles asked.

  “Just a small teddy bear for Maria’s birthday.” Stump said, not wanting to get into another uncomfortable conversation about his recent spending habits and why he needed a DNA test.

  Myles flipped him the keys to the truck. “Remember what we talked about. No side trips.”

  A little later, with the DNA test on the seat and savoring his adult-like status, Stump called Maria who agreed to meet him in ten minutes. When he made it to Cal-Vista he parked Myles’s truck toward the front of the lot where people might see him driving; then he went right to Mr. Kraft’s office.

  “You’re early, today,” Mr. Kraft said. “What’s going on?”

  “I passed my driver’s test and got my license. My dad even loaned me his truck. I drove here by myself.”

  “Oh, I see. That first drive is a big deal for a young fellow.”

  It wasn’t really the first drive, but it was the first completely legal solo drive. “I can’t wait to get my own car.”

  “Considering that deal you worked out with your dad, you must have a nice little nest egg already.”

  “I’ve decided not to be so picky.”

  “Good idea. The nicer cars depreciate too much.” Mr. Kraft rose and opened his wallet. “This won’t buy the entire car,” he said, handing Stump a twenty, “but it might help with that first tank of gas. Consider it a bonus.”

  “Really? Gee, thanks.” Stump had always liked Mr. Kraft. It wasn’t the money per se, but the fact that the man had faith in him. That must have been what grandfathers were like.

  “Glad to do it. I’m not going to be around forever and I can’t take it with me.” Mr. Kraft pointed a thumb toward the hallway. “I saw you finished up that back fence. That means you can replace all the light bulbs in the hallway. There’s a case of the new spiral-type fluorescent bulbs in the maintenance room.”

  “Will do.”

  When Stump opened the door to the maintenance room, he damn near tripped over the box of bulbs and noticed a new mattress leaning against the ladders and the Queen Anne bed. He flashed back to the old days when he was oblivious to the messes in his own bedroom. Now he knew why his mother got so frustrated with him.

  After the bulbs were replaced, Stump spent the rest of his shift straightening up the maintenance room, without being told to do so. When done it looked twice as big.

  After work he took the box of used light bulbs to Maria’s apartment, where she answered the door wearing a beautiful pink polo shirt. “How do you like my new blouse?” she asked as she opened the top button. “Mama got it for me.”

  “I noticed it right away, but you always look hot when you wear bright colors.”

  She smiled. “I do? Why didn’t you say so before?”

  “I thought it was obvious.”

  “Well, nobody else ever told me that.” She pointed to the box he’d brought with him. “What are those for?”

  “My boss said I could give them to you.”

  “What’s wrong with them?”

  “Nothing. We just changed to a different kind and he likes them all to be the same so he said I could have these. They still work and there’s no use wasting them, so I thought you might want them.”

  “How sweet.” She turned her head toward the center of the apartment. “Mama. Come see what Stump gave us.”

  Mrs. Quintana, still nursing a bandaged hand, came and took a peek. “Light bulbs. We’ll think of you every time we use one,” she said, mirroring her daughter’s grin. It was another good lesson for Stump. Presents didn’t always have to be expensive.

  Free to hang out together for a few hours, Stump and Maria meandered out to one of the picnic tables near the pool where Stump told Maria about the restrictions on his use of Myles’s truck. “Another thing,” he said. “The DNA test arrived. I think we should deal with it now so I can take it right over to the post office.”

  Maria put her hands on her hips. “Since you paid for it I guess I have to, but I’m telling you, it’s a waste of time.”

  “We’ll see,” Stump said while he opened the box. “All you gotta do is swab your mouth.”

  “Afterwards, will you buy me an ice cream cone?”

  “I’m not supposed to do that.” He was proud of himself for showing some restraint for a change.

  Maria touched his lower lip. “You might get a reward.”

  He tapped the swab. “Well, are you going to give me your DNA or not?”
r />   Maria sighed, grabbed it and dragged it extra slowly across her tongue. “There. Happy?”

  “It’s better if you wipe it on the roof of your mouth.”

  She stuck her tongue out, farther than before, and seductively wiped the swab across it again, this time even slower. “Take it or leave it.”

  Stump loved her playful nature. “Okay, I’ll take it,” he said as he packaged the items back up for the lab. “I’ll drop it off at the post office after school tomorrow. They ought to have the results posted online by Tuesday.”

  “Isn’t that the last City Council meeting? Are you going to try again?”

  “Can’t. After what Dixon did to me, everybody hates me and I’ve moved on.”

  Maria grabbed his hand. “Too bad we can’t take your truck to some secret place.”

  He observed her wide-open eyes and mischievous stare. He may not have been the world’s most experienced lover, but he got the hint.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  Maria’s not-so-subtle hint that she was open to making love was the highlight of Stump’s day, but they couldn’t do it right there in the front of the Cal-Vista lot. “I’ve got an idea,” Stump said, grabbing her hand. “Follow me.” He led her toward building six.

  “That’s where Mr. Kraft’s office is,” Maria whispered. “I don’t want to do it in there again.”

  “We’re not going there. I’ve got a better idea.”

  They went around back and tiptoed down the stairs in the direction of Mr. Kraft’s office but stopped one door earlier, at the maintenance room. Stump put his finger to his lips. “In here,” he said softly while inserting his key. “I just cleaned it up and nobody comes in here after hours.” Inside he flicked on the light and pointed toward the Queen Anne bed. “See. It’s even got a new mattress. I’ll lay it down.”

  Maria shrugged. “I guess it’ll do.”

  Stump reached for the mattress, just as a deep cough came from Mr. Kraft’s office. Maria and Stump swung in the direction of the noise. “What’s he doing here so late?” Maria whispered.

  “Don’t know. He’s usually pretty tired by this time of day.” Just then Stump heard somebody coming in the outer door. Stump flicked off the lights, as the person descended the stairs and opened the door to Mr. Kraft’s office.

  “I want to leave,” Maria whispered.

  Stump nodded. “Just a second. We gotta make sure they’re not coming right back into the hallway.” He moved from the door to the common wall between Mr. Kraft’s office and the maintenance room and stuck his ear to the wall.

  “Have a seat,” Mr. Kraft said to his visitor. “This invoice shows we received two stoves and two refrigerators last week.” Stump couldn’t hear real well, but Mr. Kraft’s voice was stern.

  “Yeah. So?”

  Stump’s eyebrows rose. “It’s Dixon,” he said softly to Maria before returning his ear to the wall again.

  “A few days ago, you said you were going to have a couple guys take both a stove and refrigerator to that vacant apartment in building four,” Mr. Kraft resumed.

  “What’s all this about?” Dixon asked.

  “The appliances were a different brand than I usually order, so a couple hours ago I went over to check them out. I was surprised to learn the place wasn’t vacant after all.”

  “Oh. If you’d said that in the first place I could have told you I just rented it yesterday. I told them they could stay for free until the end of the month, then their rent would start.”

  Stump raised a proud fist in the air. This was the type of crap he uncovered both the first time he and Myles visited the property and throughout the notebook. It was about time Dixon got called out for it.

  “What about the boxes?” Kraft asked.

  “Boxes?”

  “Yeah, considering they just moved in yesterday, as you said, I’d expect to see a few moving boxes—or at least some bags around. Instead, they’ve already unpacked, put their things away, been to the grocery store, cooked a meal and left some dishes in the sink. People can’t do all that in one day. So where are they?”

  “How should I know? They probably put them out by the trash last night, and somebody else must have taken them. Happens all the time.”

  “Yeah, right,” Kraft said sarcastically. “That’s not the only issue. They still had their old appliances so after I left, I looked everywhere for those new appliances and couldn’t find them. Some paint is missing too. We can go next door to the maintenance room right now to have another look if you don’t believe me.”

  Maria’s hands shot to her face.

  “It’s okay,” Stump whispered. “They won’t come. Dixon knows that stuff is gone.”

  “Is that what all this is about?” Dixon said. “It’s no problem. I heard there were some guys going around the neighborhood, late at night, breaking into maintenance rooms to steal tools and pawn them off. So just to be safe, I had a guy I know return those things to the store.”

  “That’s interesting. Then where’s the paperwork that shows I got a credit on my account?”

  Good question. Answer that, you lying pile of poop.

  Maria tugged on Stump’s sleeve. “I can’t take this. I’ll meet you by your truck.”

  “Okay. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

  “He hasn’t brought it back yet,” Dixon said, “but he should bring it around by tomorrow.”

  “Cut the b.s., Dixon. I may be ill but I’m no idiot. I’ve been doing a little research and I’m very disappointed in some of the things I’ve discovered.”

  “Oh, I see. It’s that Stump kid, isn’t it? He’s been making up shit about me ever since he got here. I told you he was no good.”

  “Don’t be passing your troubles off to him. He has nothing to do with this. I’m giving you fair warning; between radiation treatments and my meds I ain’t in no mood for this type of activity.”

  Stump scrunched his ear closer to the wall.

  “You’d have a hard time finding anybody who’d put up with all the crap around here,” Dixon replied. “And we both know it.”

  “I’ll tell you what we both know,” Mr. Kraft said in a louder voice. “We both know that you’ve learned to bluff your way through life, but this time you’re up against a better hand. You’d best heed my final warning lest you lose everything you’ve got. Now get out of here and watch your back ’cause I’m on to you now.”

  Stump felt like applauding but he waited to hear Dixon leave before he too scooted out the building and hustled off to his truck where Maria was waiting. “Sorry I left,” she said, “but I don’t like it when people yell at each other. What happened?”

  Stump unlocked the truck. “You would have loved it,” he said as they slid into the seat and turned on the radio. “Dixon almost got fired.”

  “I’m glad he’s still here so you can make him go to jail instead.”

  Stump wondered if she’d think that way when the DNA test came back. “We’ll see,” he said, as his thoughts returned to that other activity he had in mind earlier, but there was no way Maria would go back to the maintenance room now.

  Just then, the kissing van pulled into the lot and Manuel piled out with a shoebox-sized red and white box. He appeared to be chewing on something that looked like a piece of chicken. Stump watched Manuel walk up the sidewalk on the opposite side of the complex from where his apartment was. It was like being at the movies. Stump took Maria’s hand. “Too bad we don’t have some popcorn.”

  “Do you love me?” Maria asked Stump as she laid her head on his shoulder.

  “I think of you all the time,” Stump said as Manuel tossed his chicken in a trashcan, causing Stump to wonder if there was anything wrong with the trashcans on the other side of the complex.

  “You do?” Maria continued. ”What do you think about?”

  Returning his attention to Maria, Stump was still interested in the kinds of physical activities that lucky boys and girls do on occasion. “For one thing,” he said, �
�I know our relationship is special.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah. I like being with you. Doing things. Being alone. You’re an interesting person.” Anybody who’d spent her entire life happily believing in a Santa Clause type daddy would be plenty interesting. “You’re also one of the most loyal people I’ve ever known. You’re loyal to your papa even though you’ve never met him. You miss Señorita. You stood up for your mama and me. You’re usually very happy, and you’re a great kisser.”

  The gleam in Maria’s eyes was essentially an invitation. Stump leaned her way. He liked being with Maria, even if it was simply in a used pickup truck at the back of a parking lot.

  Another glance at the courtyard revealed that Manuel had disappeared and Dixon was near the pool and coming their direction. “I hope his rear-end hurts from that butt-chewing he just got,” Stump said.

  Maria looked up. “I hate that jerk-wad. Let’s not talk to him.”

  If Myles hadn’t forbidden him from side trips, Stump might have driven off. “Don’t worry, I can handle him,” he said, rolling down his window. Dixon came right to him, wagging a finger in Stump’s face. “I want you to get off this lot when you’re not working, rich boy.”

  “Go away.” Maria said. “Tenants can have guests and he’s my guest.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Dixon turned to Stump. “I know what you’re up to and I want you out of here.”

  “Okay with me,” Stump replied as he hopped out of the truck and reached back for Maria’s hand. “We’ll just go for a walk.”

  Maria stepped down, looked at Dixon and said, “We don’t like you!”

  Chapter Seventy

  Barely a block away from Cal-Vista Stump and Maria walked past a motorhome and Stump glanced at the large chrome bumper. “I gotta tell you something,” he said, “but whatever you do, don’t turn around.”

  “Don’t tell me the jerk-wad is following us.”

  “You guessed it, but don’t let him know we’re on to him. We can lead him on a wild goose chase.”