Subway Girl Ch. 06

When I got to the address Don had texted me, Lenny was there but Don wasn't. "This is going to be a quick one," Lenny said. "This lady barely lived here and kept it real clean, so we just need to do some touch up paint and get rid of the stuff she left behind."

The apartment did look really clean with just a few nail holes where pictures were hung and a futon and dining table left behind. "Why'd she leave this furniture? It looks new."

"Who knows? Probably didn't want to hassle with it. I'm going to take the dining table. Do you want the futon?"

"Are you serious? That's way better than what I have now. But I can't get it home."

"I'll drop you off and we can take it in the truck," Lenny offered. "I can't see us workin' past noon today, but Don is off lookin' at a big job. If he gets it, we are gonna be busy as hell. Probably gonna have to hire some help and work Saturdays."

I thought about soccer, but it was a fleeting thought. I could give up soccer for a while if it meant getting on my feet financially, especially considering I no longer had roommates to help with the rent. Lenny was right, we were done by noon and today's work was so light he talked a lot and told me about his kids. I liked how Lenny was when he was by himself. He worked hard and was quiet most of the time, but he was really easygoing and I get along with those kinds of guys really well. They seem rare, almost an endangered species, especially in the construction world.

When we finished the apartment, we loaded the table and futon into the truck and made the short drive over to my place, which took plenty of time because of the traffic. I started to feel anxious about Lenny seeing my place. We double parked with the emergency flashers on, so at least I knew it would be all business and over quickly. When I opened the door, he didn't react at all, except to say we could take the couch and cot out and he would drop them off at the dump. I was really feeling indebted to him for helping me. With the couch and cot gone, my place seemed, well... not big, but normal-sized by New York standards. At least it was clean. Lenny finally looked around and said, "You should paint that one wall a different color. That would really help. Let's go see what we have in the truck."

We walked down to the truck that was now loaded down with furniture; he couldn't get to the paint cans, but he did pull out some sandpaper. "Tomorrow, see what we got in here. I think there is some of that mocha paint left over. That'll look good with that red futon. Meanwhile, get the wall ready and sand your coffee table. We've got some stain and polyurethane you can put on it." I thanked him and shook his hand. I walked back upstairs thinking about how different Don and Lenny were from my dad. With plumbing, it was all about getting things to work. With Don and Lenny, they cared about how things looked and I do too. I realized that is why I liked this type of work better, even better than the job I had with Carlos doing maintenance.

I started sanding the coffee table while I waited until it was time to meet Alicia at the station, but around four o'clock I got a text from her saying she was sick and didn't go to work that day. My first concern was that she would cancel our date tomorrow, but I caught myself feeling selfish. My second thought was that I had known her only a short time and she already was sick once before. That seemed kind of weird; she didn't look unhealthy, but maybe it was just a coincidence. I decided to give her a call.

"Hi, Ray!" She sounded happy but her voice was scratchy.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, it's just my stomach bothers me sometimes. I'll be okay by tomorrow for sure."

I sighed in relief but wondered how she could be certain? Maybe she just had female issues, so I didn't question it. We ended up talking on the phone for an hour. I learned that her longest relationship was two years and that she was still friendly with the guy and he was even dating one of her friends and she was okay with it. She said she started dating a guy she met in New York, but he complained that she was too busy. I told her about my old girlfriends. There had been two significant relationships but nothing serious since I moved.

Alicia told me that she feels a lot of prejudice because she is from California. That never occurred to me, but she said they tease her at work sometimes, saying she is from "La-la land."

"Well, you guys did elect 'The Terminator' for Governor," I said.

"Point taken," she agreed. "But there is this attitude I pick up on that I wasn't properly educated because I didn't attend Ivy League schools."

"Yeah, I don't get that at my work," I laughed. I told here how we might be getting really busy and I might have to work Saturdays. Alicia said that was good because I couldn't complain about her being busy and I told her I wasn't going to complain about that anyway.

She finally said she had better go and study and we said goodnight until tomorrow. Alicia said not to worry about the subway, but come over at seven and she hoped I wasn't a picky eater.

That made me laugh and I said, "No, I am definitely not a picky eater."

After we said goodbye and hung up, I took a hot shower, something I don't think I'll ever take for granted again. All night I reveled in the thought that I was going to Alicia's apartment the next day. A date with Subway Girl, Alicia. California Sunshine Girl. I fell asleep on my new futon with a book about an adventure in New York on my chest and a grin on my face.