Charmed Life (9 page)

Just as the hit the front door, ready to walk out, Louise’s voice shouted. “Grace!”

Freddy jumped and peeped a shriek. Slowly he turned around. “That her?”

Grace nodded.

Shuddering, Freddy balked back.

Louise walked over to them, she was smoking a cigarette. “Just wanted to let you know.” She inhaled hard and blew out the smoke, pointing the cigarette at Grace “Don’t you get any funny ideas. The door greeter position is mine. Mine. Been waiting on it.” She hit her cigarette again. “Don’t make me beat you up over it.”

“Louise!” Chip called out and ran over. “No smoking in the store!”

“I’m out of here,” she said, blew the smoke at Grace and walked out.

“Well,” Freddy gasped out. “There’s something you don’t see everyday. An elderly bully.”

Chip sighed. “Sorry. Just ignore her, Grace. Freddy great job today.”

“Thanks.” Freddy smiled.

“Grace … Grace …” He gave a closed mouth look. “You’re a trooper.” He delivered a playful punch to her arm. “See you tomorrow.” He walked away.

“Ready?” Freddy asked. “To go home?”

“Am I ever?”

He looped his arm though hers, “So, our first full day in the real world. How do you feel?”

“Like a loser.”

Freddy laughed, placed his arm around her, and gave her a squeeze. “Tomorrow is another day.”

Walking across the parking lot, Grace paused and looked at Louise. She shuddered. “And I’m scared.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Missing.

Alfonzo felt an ache and emptiness in his chest that he could only contribute to missing his Cara Mia.

He hadn’t seen her in nearly a week. The only comfort he got was a call from Grace’s father, in which he had spoken to her. He told Alfonzo that when he informed Grace about his looking for her, Grace gave the message to tell Alfonzo she still loves him.

Gregory told him he didn’t know why she would say that, but Alfonzo was certain of why.

“You’re a pussy,” Lou greeted his son.

Al looked up from his computer. “Excuse me? What did you call me?”

“Pussy,” Lou said. “You’re moping over that girl. Just go out, get another and get laid. You’ll feel better.”

“Obviously you don’t know what true love is.”

“Yeah, I do. I just don’t believe in practicing monogamy with it. Any luck?”

“Waiting,” Al replied. “Mr. Benson said he wired twenty grand from Grace’s account to a checking account. He gave us all the information, but he wasn’t sure where he wired it. He said he hoped we could find out.”

“Seems like easy information. I’m taking it, it wasn’t Grace’s account.”

“No.”

“She probably hired a poor local woman to get the money and paid her off. I would do the same if I didn’t want to be found. But …. It’s traceable, so mistake on her part.”

“Grace as never been the brightest bulb.”

“True.”

“If they gave away degree’s in coffee flavors, she’d have her doctrine.” Al chuckled and stopped, springing forward when the phone rang. “Yeah.” He clenched his fist and smiled. “Excellent. Send our guy there thanks.” He hung up.

“They traced the money?”

Al nodded. “And it makes perfect sense.”

“Where is she?”

“Honolulu.”

Lou made a comment that Grace was pretty far from home; he just didn’t know the half of it.

+++

Grace limped. Not a lot and certainly not as badly as when she wore jeans, and they rubbed against her shin.

Freddy was lying on the couch, feet propped on a pillow, holding the remote control. “Did you ever watch game shows?”

“Not really.”

“We should go on one. Josh was telling me about this show, it’s quite good.”

“Enjoying your day off?” Grace asked.

Freddy exhaled. “Yes. Very much. You?”

“Without a doubt.”

“How weird it is to have two days off in the middle of the week. We just started.”

“That’s because we have to work the weekends,” Grace said. “I hear it is a madhouse.”

“Who told you that? I didn’t think anyone but Larson talked to you.”

Grace folded her arms. “That’s not nice.”

“Sorry. Teasing.”

“But it’s true. I heard a customers say it.”

“The more the merrier, I find the customers a challenge and enjoyable,” Freddy sat up. “How the leg.”

Grace lifted her leg on the table. “Healing.”

“Nasty bruise. Even though the short out fit really works for you, princess should you cover that up.”

“The gash needs to air out.” Grace put her leg down.

“You never did tell me how and why that happened.”

“Because there is no reason why, Freddy. Gees.” Grace complained. “OK, Monday I knew when I was introduced to her, that I was in trouble. Tuesday, when we got together for training, Louise said, ‘shut up and follow’. Which worked for me. I just followed her around. I thought she was drunk.”

“That would be against the employee rules to show up intoxicated.”

“Yeah, but she smokes on the floor and gets away with it. So who’s paying attention? She scares everyone.”

“She would scare Jesus Christ.”

Grace nodded. “So yesterday, she tells me to follow Larson, which isn’t a good thing. He slobbered on me twice and ate an air freshener. Then at the end of the day, she decided to time me and test me on departments. She tells me where to go, tells me to get an item from that department and get back to her. See how fast.”

“What a wonderful training technique.”

“So I thought, too,” Grace said. “About the third run, she tells me to go to housewares. I went to home décor and brought back curtains. She kicked me for being stupid.”

Freddy gasped. “You’re right, that wasn’t a good reason.”

“I told on her. But that didn’t do any good. When I went to my locker, she had taken a Bargain-Mart flyer, cut out a woman in a Bargain-Mart uniform, and mangled her face with a pen. She wrote, ‘this is you’.”

Freddy widened his eyes. “How do you know it was her?”

“Because when I was taking it down from my locker she called me a tattletale and said, ‘don’t fucking tell on her again, douche bag’.”

“This is so reminiscent of my days in grade school. You may get stomach problems if she keeps this up.”

“I know. This is starting to affect my sel esteem,” said Grace.

The doorbell rang.

Grace walked to the door. “How many times a day can you be called an idiot and not start believe it. I am starting to think Larson was normal before Louise got a hold of him.” She opened the door.

“Hi!” Marybeth stood there. “You all busy? I’m not bothering you, am I?”

“No, not at all, come in.” Grace opened the door for her.

Marybeth stepped in. “Hi, Freddy.”

Freddy sat up from his laying position. “Don’t you look cute.”

“Aren’t you sweet, thank you.” Marybeth smiled. “So I went to Bargain-Mart yesterday, and who did I see?”

Grace shrugged. “Us.”

“Oh, I didn’t see you. I saw Freddy. I didn’t want to bother him because he looked so intense with that large fella,” Marybeth rambled. “I went back today to get that paper towel special.”

Freddy said, “Twelve rolls for five bucks?”

“That’s the one. So I was looking for you. The manager said everyone was looking for you. Said to come back on Friday, you were off. And I thought. Gee whiz, what a coincidence, I’m off, too. My boys just left to go spend time with their dad for the summer. I get so bored. I also hate to go to the movies all by myself. I was wondering if you all wanted to go catch that new Julia Smith movie. I know it’s one of those things called a chick flick, but I figured with you being gay and all, you may want to come along.”

Freddy stood up. “I love Julia Smith.”

Marybeth placed her hand on her chest. “Oh, me, too. I can drive. Movie starts in a half hour if you want to go.”

“Love to,” Freddy said. “Grace? You’re coming right?”

Grace shook her head. “No, I want to work on my novel.”

“Novel?” Marybeth grinned. “What are you reading?”

Freddy corrected. “Not reading, writing. She is writing a book.”

Marybeth gasped in excitement. “How thrilling. What kind of book?”

Grace replied. “A conspiracy novel.”

“You have to let me read it when you’re done. An author,” she sighed out. “I am so honored to meet an author. Oh! Wait. Lodi has this author lady that comes to town and does signings. Heard she’s gonna be at the Library next week for a signing. Then back for the Sweet Corn Festival next month. You ought to go down and talk to her.”

“I think I will, thanks,” Grace said.

“Well, Freddy we ought to be going,” Marybeth stated. “Grac,e you sure you don’t want to join us? They got the best buttered popcorn.”

“No, but thanks. You guys go.”

“Let me grab my man bag.” Freddy darted from the couch to his room, he returned with his bag.

“Ain’t that just the cutest thing,” Marybeth sang out. “I love it.”

“I made it.”

She responded with a gasping, ‘no.’

“Yep. I can make you one, too.” Freddy walked over to Grace. “Tap away my literary word generator. I expect a chapter.” He kissed her on the cheek.

Grace watched them leave. She really didn’t mind the alone time. Her novel had been flourishing in her mind, and it was time to get it on paper.

+++

Grace didn’t know the first thing about writing a novel. For the last couple of days she had been on line looking up instructions. There really wasn’t any, but there were guidelines.

Her characters were mapped out, and she had to make the determination of whose point of view to tell the story. She was going to go first person, which was easiest, but decided she couldn’t get reactions if she didn’t. So she found a solution. A third person Omniscient point of View was the see all know all.

Perfect.

She could write in first person, but write them as third person omniscient. A see all, know all. And she had the best character to do so. She would make the narrator God. But she did so and wanted to do so without letting her readers know who was telling the story. Not yet.

How to write it. She wanted to tell it in present day. How Gabriel wanted to tell the secret because he was sick of the ‘Jesus saves’ Christian movement.

Motivated by the pressures of Christianity.

She hoped that Freddy would give crucial feedback. He did do a lot of reading and if anyone could tell her if she was writing it correctly, he could.

Once she mentally mapped her direction, and tweaked her first portion outline, she took off.

‘Was it my imagination, or did he want to reveal the secret. He didn’t have a clue that I had been watching him forever.’

Grace was proud of her first line and the sequential four pages to follow. Not bad for a couple hours, not in her mind.

Stephen King may not be impressed. But Grace was.

It was time for a break, coffee, and thinking.

She took her empty mug to the kitchen, and noticed the pot was not only empty, but the power was off. Thinking not a problem she’d make another pot, she turned on the faucet. Reaching for the coffee filters, she felt the coldness on her feet. Looking down she saw water pouring out from under the sink.

“Shit.” Shutting off the faucet, Grace braved mechanics and took a look. She couched down and opened the cupboard under the sink.

The entire area was wet and she saw the culprit for it.

A piece of pipe, plastic, curved, and small lay on the floor. She didn’t need to be a plumbing Einstein to figure out that the reason the water was everywhere was because that piece of pipe was no longer a part of the whole pipeline system. The water flowed from the sink, down the drain, but if it didn’t have that bent portion, it went no further.

Holding the part in her hand, Grace knew if she wanted coffee, she needed water and wanted to get water without getting it all over the floor.

After wiping up the mess, she stared at the pipe for the longest time. What to do? She felt somewhat depressed. She literally clenched a virtual plumbing disaster in her hand and she didn’t have a clue on how to fix it. Fortunately, she lived a small walk from the hardware store and the coffee café.