Untrusting (Troubled) (32 page)

Maria calls just before the alarm
goes off.  Steve talks to Bob and they’ll take the afternoon shift with
Penny at the hospital and we’ll take the evening shift.  Shay needs to
stay on schedule so Maria wants to be home for supper.

So okay, we get to go Christmas shopping
this afternoon.  We get dressed, grab a burger and look around town for an
hour then start for the hospital, stopping at several stores along the
way.  We’re mostly finished with our shopping when we reach the
hospital.  I think Steve went overboard on the kids, but I kept track so
Bob and Maria don’t duplicate, or we don’t.

Penny and Shay are playing with
some toys Bob and Maria had purchased on the way, mostly cards, coloring books
and crayons, and story books.  They had bought a tote bag for the toys
too.  Steve and I hadn’t thought of those things, we’d bought a doll and a
teddy bear.

“Did ya bring flowers for
mama?  The others did,” Penny says.

“No we didn’t, but would ya like to
go with us to eat and we’ll let you pick the flowers and a gift for your
mama.  Okay?”  I hope she agrees, I’m starving.

She smiles and nods, “Where are we
going for supper?”  She says ‘bye and hugs Bob and Maria, but only says
‘bye to Shay.  He looks a little hurt, so I tell Penny she can hug him if
she wants.  She sorta hugs him and says ‘bye again.  We all go down
together in the elevator after we see Mrs. Perez to let her know we’re going to
supper, but we’ll be back.  She smiles and Steve lifts Penny to kiss her
mother’s cheek.

Penny doesn’t know about pizza or
hamburgers so we find a Mexican restaurant and she orders what she wants. 
Then ate and ate.  I thought she was going to explode.  We refuse to
get her dessert, afraid she’d get sick from so much food.  We tell her
we’ll get dessert on the way home.

We go a florist to get fresh
flowers for Mrs. Perez and Penny picks some large orange, yellow and white
daisies.  She says they look like the paper flowers her mother used to
make.  We get a card and look at something for a gift.  But Penny’s
adamant, she wants to get her mother some nice smelling soaps and
shampoo.  Penny must’ve smelled every gift basket in Walmart before she
decides on Gardenia.  Then we go get shampoo and conditioner to go with
it.  And we get a card.

Penny walks into her mother’s room
carrying the gift and I brought in the flowers.  Mrs. Perez is feeling
better and is able to stay awake for an hour to talk with Penny.  At eight
the nurse says we have to go so Penny hugs her mother and we say ‘bye and
assure her Penny will be back tomorrow morning.  “No.  I have to go
to mass tomorrow morning, to pray for mama.” She says.  Then after lunch
because mass will last ‘til lunch time.  Maybe Maria will bring her and
chat with Mrs. Perez.  Then we’ll take over at supper.  Miss Lili and
Glen can have the day off, or work on the town’s Christmas.

After dessert of ice cream cones,
we get home to find Miss Lili and two dozen volunteers working on the referrals
that have been collected from the churches and the boxes.  They’re
coordinating the requests for help for the needy.  Steve joins them while
I get Penny ready for bed with her new teddy bear.  She’s much more at
ease about her mother so goes to sleep right away.  I go downstairs and
join the work force.

When Bob calls, I go over to talk
to them.  I ask Maria about taking Penny to church and then to the
hospital.  I want her to talk to Mrs. Perez so we can find out as much as
possible about them.  The information will help us to help them.  I
ask Maria to find out about Mrs. Perez’s work skills and Penny’s father’s
status.  Maria says she’ll do it as long as she’s relieved before dinner
time.  I agree then go home.

When I get home the volunteers are
gone and the living room has been rearranged.  Steve says ‘our’ Christmas
tree will be delivered Monday.  This year it’ll be decorated for us, since
he and Bob can’t do the climbing to get it decorated.  I’m okay with that,
not that I have any say.

I ask what he’d done with our
shopping bags.  He says they’re in the maid’s quarters.  I ask him to
show me where that is.  There’s a door off the pantry that leads to a
living room then there’s a good sized bedroom and a nice bathroom.  I sort
through the bags to find what I’d bought and set them aside.  Then we go
to get a shower, check on Penny and go to bed.

I have Penny up, fed and dressed
when Maria arrives to pick her up for church.  Then I go back to
bed.  At ten we’re having breakfast with Glen and Miss Lili.  They
tell us Glen’s family of eight will be here two days before Christmas and will
leave two days after Christmas.  Now we have to figure out where everyone
will sleep.  Two per bedroom upstairs will leave no bedroom available for
Steve or Bob.  Bob will stay at Maria’s and Steve can stay at my place, or
Steve and I can keep that bedroom and two of them can stay in the maid’s
quarters.  It’s settled.  I stayed out of it. It’s not my house or my
relatives.

Steve and I go to relieve Maria and
her brood at the hospital.  Maria tells me Yolanda Perez has been a
housekeeper, a maid, a cook at a café, a transient worker in the citrus groves,
a ranch cook, well there isn’t much she hasn’t done.  Penny’s father was
American, that’s why they’re here.  But she knows nothing about him
now.  They were never married and he knows nothing about Penny.  She
wasn’t married to the last man either, but he kept them fed.  That’s the
only man Penny knows.  Maria shrugs and I thank her for helping.

They leave and we go in to see
Penny and Yolanda.  Penny’s sleeping in bed next to Yolanda who’s asleep,
too.  The nurse comes in to take Yolanda’s vitals, smiles at Penny and
tries not to wake her while she does her job.  I ask how Yolanda’s doing
and the nurse says she’s getting better.  The doctor can tell us more and
he’ll be in soon.

When he comes in he says she’ll be
ready to go home Wednesday, if she continues to improve.  He’s going to
start Inhalation Therapy tomorrow to clear her lungs.  He says she was
very serious when she was admitted, another day or two and she might have
died.  She’ll have medication and she’ll need to do her breathing
exercises for a few weeks.  She’ll need to see her doctor before Christmas
to get continuing care for about a month after she leaves the hospital. 
She’ll be getting her strength back slowly, but it will come back.  She’ll
need some help for a week or so after she leaves the hospital.  I can see
we’re going to have a problem, or two, or three.

Penny’s coloring when we go back
into the room.  We talk to Yolanda in our broken Tex-Mex Spanish. 
She said the doctor had told her in Spanish.  I tell her Penny will be in
to see her tomorrow after supper because we all work and that’s the earliest
someone can bring her.  I tell her to feel better and get Penny to say
‘bye so we can leave.

We haven’t eaten yet so we stop to
eat and feed Penny.  Penny’s asleep before we get home.  I change her
and put her to bed.  Then I go down to face Miss Lili with the information
from the doctor.  I ask where Penny and Yolanda are going to stay for
about six weeks.  She says she’ll have to arrange a place.  Steve
wants them to stay in the maid’s quarters and pay one of Maria’s sisters or
nieces to stay with them while I’m not here.  I’m suddenly understanding
and not liking it.

“Steve, we’ll be out at my
place.  I won’t be here except for supper.”

“Oh, that’s right.  Maybe
Glen’s daughter will help out.”

“Steve, what are ya thinking? 
They’re guests.  We can’t ask them to do that for a stranger.”  Miss
Lili is miffed at the thought of imposing on Glen’s family, but not at imposing
on me.  I wait it out.

Miss Lili mentions my Mom taking
them in.  “I wouldn’t consider asking Mom to take on Yolanda and
Penny.  That would be bad manners and an imposition on her.”

“Are you saying ya won’t ask
her?”  Steve’s shocked.

“Yes.  And nobody else had
better ask her either.”  I’m looking at him sternly and he seems not to
like it.

“Sher, we help the people of the
town.  It seems only right that the people help others.”  Miss Lili’s
just as shocked.

“My family helps in any way they
can, but I hardly think imposing on them is helping anyone.  I suggest ya
find somebody else to help, someone that has the time.”  I’m getting
pissed and if Penny wasn’t upstairs asleep, I’d leave.

“Are you insinuating we impose on
the people of the town?”  Steve’s getting mad now.

“No.  I suggest ya ‘ask’ for volunteers
to help, not volunteer someone and expect their cooperation.”  I’m going
to stand up to this challenge.

“That’s not what we do and I’m
insulted that you would say that.”  Miss Lili is getting mad, too.

“Miss Lili, I didn’t intend to
insult anyone.  But I’ve been listening to your plans and it sure sounded
exactly like what I’d said.  You may not have meant it the way it sounded,
but that didn’t stop it from coming across like that.”

Miss Lili looks at Glen and he
nods.  “Oh, my gosh!  I’ve been doing this so long I’ve become brash,
ill mannered and commanding, rather than charitable to others who help me help
others.  I need to get more help from the town’s people to make this the
town they want, not try to keep it the way it is.  We need progress here,
not stifle updating....”

I interrupt her, “Miss Lili, that’s
not what I meant.  I don’t believe you’re stifling the town, just
overpowering it a bit.  But who else would push the town to keep going, if
not you.  Miss Lili, maybe they have someone they can stay with.  I
think we’re just taking over too much without asking Yolanda.  And trying
to guilt or shame one of the town’s people to take them on isn’t
mannerly.  That’s all.”

“I see.  I’ll ask around to
see if someone is willing to take them in for a few weeks and help care for
them, if it’s needed.  I’ll help them out financially and anyway I
can.  I need to remember to aide in the organizing of things, not command
it the way I think it should be done.  That’s my New Year’s resolution and
you and Glen have to make me stick to it.”  She’s looking at me so I nod.

“Does this mean there’ll be less
done for the town?”  Steve’s not so sure about this.

“That wasn’t my meaning.  Miss
Lili has done a great job of keeping people’s spirits up and things moving. 
I just think she needs to get more backing from volunteers to decide and
accomplish what needs to be done.  After all, the term ‘for the town’
indicates the town is involved.  Otherwise, it might be termed ‘to the
town’ if only one person is doing the deciding.  That’s a lotta blame to
take on if the town doesn’t agree.”  Now Miss Lili and Steve get it and
they nod to show it.

“There’s another thing, concerning
Yolanda and Penny.  Yolanda has the experience to be a housekeeper and
cook.  I asked Maria to find out about their background so we can help her
get a job.  Miss Lili, I wanted to ask ya if ya thought ya could use a
housekeeper.  With the four of us working, the house and cooking is left
to you and you have the town to keep up with.  You could decide what the
housekeeper’s duties would be and keep the duties ya want when ya want
them.  Think about it.”

Glen smiles at Miss Lili and she
smiles back.  They’ll have their heads together discussing my suggestion,
later.  Steve’s thinking, too.  “I’m going to bed.  I told
Yolanda, Penny would be in to see her tomorrow after work.  If someone
wants to take her before that, let me know.”

I go upstairs to shower and go to
bed.  Steve’s not upstairs yet.

When I get up in the morning,
Steve’s not in bed.  I get dressed and go downstairs and Steve’s asleep on
the couch.  I don’t wake him. 

 Maria’s at work already and
doesn’t look happy, either.  We discuss what happened last night. 
Steve went after Bob last night to relay the whole story.  Bob didn’t go
back to Maria’s nor did he call her.  I tell her Steve slept on the
couch.  I don’t know any more than that.  We shrug and get ready for
our appointments.  I have two spayings to do today so I’ll be staying the
night here at the clinic.

At lunch Maria tells me we have six
reservations for the hotel starting Friday and lasting up to the third of
January.  We have room for six dogs and eight cats.  That’s okay
since it doesn’t look like this holiday season’s going to be too great
anyway.  I don’t even know, for sure, if I’m engaged.  Oh well, with
Miss Lili occupied with Glen’s family, maybe Steve and I can figure it
out.  Or, at least, maybe I can.

Maria and I get the two puppies
surgeries over and put them to rest in a kennel.  We go outside to get a
breath of fresh air and there’s a shaded patio swing and a patio set sitting
there on pavers.  Miss Lili, Glen, Steve, Bob and Penny come through the
gate.  “Do you like it?” Miss Lili asks.

We say yes then want to know where
it came from.  “It’s an engagement gift for you girls.  We couldn’t
think of anything else to get ya.”  Miss Lili is doing the talking.

“Thank you, Miss Lili.  We
appreciate it.”  Maria and I sit down in the swing.

“It’s not from me.  Bob and
Steve got it for ya.”

“Thanks guys.  If we weren’t
so tired we’d kiss ya.”  I say.

“If you’ll come over here, we’ll
still kiss ya.”  Maria says.  The guys hop over on their crutches for
their kisses.

I hear an alarm and go running in
the back.  One of the puppies is in trouble.  I take a look at the
puppy and it’s moved and is pinching the tube for its I.V.  I move the
tube and everything’s quiet.  I go out to sit down and relax.  Penny
starts asking questions about what I do so I take her in to see the sleeping
puppies.  She pets them, lightly, then says she’ll pray for them and we go
outside.

Miss Lili says she’ll take Penny to
the hospital so I can stay with the patients.  I thank her.  Then she
tells us that the boys had stayed up all night putting the swing
together.  They had a couple of guys come by to clear and prepare the area
for the pavers and lay them.  Then help bring the furniture over. 
Now they have to go, the boys have doctor’s appointments and Miss Lili and Glen
are going to take Penny to see her Mom.