Hazel and Dan in the Hazy Days of Fall Bk. 03

Young love finds a way a rough tool works as well as a finely crafted one. Winning with love at first site and making our way in the world.

Hazel and Dan in the Hazy days of Fall. Book 03

I was rolling Hazy to the Car, she says. "I did not even ask you; sorry, it was less cool, but I go to church because I feel good when I do, but the thought of almost two hours holding your hand makes me happy indeed."

I say. "Your folks, you see why I can't break my word, Baby?"

"Can't fault a girl for trying, but if you leave, I will find you in a wheelchair. If I have to, I craw after you on broken glass I will, you hear me mister?"

Hazel was looking at me as she says it. "You're doing our portraits after Dinner; you got film, baby?"

"I got film, Hazel. I like to pay my way, thank you. You're going to make me cry." I say as I kiss you till your folks come out.

Bob chuckles. "Pay up, dear I told you they are kissing."

We drove to the church and waited in the Car until John arrived with his wife. She is in a wheelchair herself; she smiles and says. "Sisters." As I helped Hazel into her chair.

John says. "I pay you to build the same ramp for my wife. I need help getting her out of the bath; it's killing my back. I can't stand straight."

I say, smiling. "Have a custom shower built for her, Sir, with a bench seat and a flex hose to help hand washing. I can get the plans done in a few weeks, I need to measure the space first, and I know a good contractor who uses me to help build it. Maybe I can make a few bucks."

John says. "He pick up some Sunday Bird at Frenchy's, and we can eat at our place. Ellen, this is Hazel's Dan."

Wow, it hit me with a feeling of fitting in Hazel's; yes, it felt damn good. Although, of course, the church was less than that feeling, I held her hand anyway as the church all blessed her or shook my hand and welcomed me. Although, oddly, I felt genuinely welcome by John and Ellen more than the church folks, they looked down on my jeans and worn boots, left a bad taste in my mouth.

We got to Ellen's and John's house, a one-story ranch with a kitchen opened to the living room. I brought Hazel in, and John had an issue getting his wife's chair up the four-deck stairs with her in it. Bob and John are both having a go at it, but I come over, pick the chair up with her on it and take her inside. The chair gets in the backdoor, not an inch to spare. I almost lost some skin off my knuckles.

Ellen says. "Hazy is lucky your sexy and strong."

A lisp, I heard this before from strokes; she is not slow; one side of her face is not moving when she talks. I make a mental note to see if doors come in stock sizes or if I can make my own.

I stop inside the house and say. "John, you make your life harder than it needs to be, keeping this as it is, Sir; let me show you how easy this can be."

Jean says. "Let's eat first, but yes, John, listen to this young man. He set up Hazel's room on days she can care for herself."

Hazel says. "Dan is a fine photographer, too, and we are doing family photos after dinner."

We ate Sunday Bird and talked about changes to the house, and an idea popped into my mind. Of course, Hazel will be mad as a wet hen, but I promised not to do it in the house; this is another house.

I spoke up, my voice got steady for a change, and say. "Meaning no disrespect, Sir keeping the house normal in hopes of normal coming back is harder than it needs to be. I saw your love for her, Sir, but it's even harder when you're always tired. So Sir, for room and board and a place to work with my tools, I convert your house to make both your lives easier, and it would help out my problem in a big way."

Hazel raised her voice and says. "Mom, he can't leave me, but I would slap him when he's wrong, but he's not, right? Mom, he is making perfect sense; damn you, you dear man. Take me outside, please, Baby. I need some air."

Once outside, you say. "Damn, you hold me and tell me you brought a joint."

I say. "No baby, it's a one-hitter, and check this out. I pull out a toilet paper cardboard tube with a sock stuffed inside. It has been cut in half and flattened to fit in a pocket, but you light it using a new product, a butane lighter; it's disposable. Hitting the one-hitter and blowing it into the tube, there is a slight smell on us afterward. We smoked the tiny pipe reloading it twice each and twice baked. We were a new product on the market; Clear Eyes Eye Drops took our red eyes away.

As I put our things away, you watch me doing it, and you say. "Oh baby, what did you think of my acting?" Hazel asked.

I say. "That was acting, honey. I know how much I will miss having you down the hall, but I did not say I keep my hands off you; just not the same house, right?

Hazel answered. "Yes, I caught that you the man Man!"

Well, I kissed you and asked. "What's that over the garage?"

"It's an old mother-in-law-sweet Dude. You feel like carrying me up all those steps?" Hazel looked hopeful at me.

I say, holding you close. "Oh hell yes, but not this second I saw you come. It was the greatest day of my life. You changed me; you know that, right?"

Hazel says. "Dear man, you should be hard as steel in your heart, but you gave me yours and showed my family and me nothing but love."

I brought my camera bag and tripod with Hazels urging us on, and we set up a nice group shot of the family. Hazel asked me to be in one with the family.

I would have felt odd, but I was now in every setup with Hazel's hand in mine. Bob and Jean took a few of just Hazel and me. We had black and white Polaroids of the first of each shot with a pro camera called an 180 Polaroid Land camera. It took instant photos in just sixty seconds, I used it to tell the shadows, and the exposure was suitable for the scene it gave me an edge in making my photos looks better.

Bob and Jean said something about moving me later and what we needed to get in the way of clothes for me. I was waiting on a do not touch order, but she asked Hazel if they could go to the Doctor to take care of things on Tuesday. Hazel mouthed. "The Pill." Then her grin hit her face, and she kissed my fingers.

I was making a spinach and tuna casserole with cheese to start dinner, and I stuck it in the oven to cook as I cleaned the kitchen. Hazel watched me as everyone changed out of their Sunday clothes for shorts.

Jean came into the kitchen and says. "John and Ellen floated. They were happy and shocked when we said it was your turn to cook tonight. Oh, Hazel, you have not had his cooking yet, Dear. He has skills, and you two take your time. Hazel, if he says No, please listen and ask him why before you do what you want to anyway. I would say he's got a big plan, dear, but he's scared to tell you; give him time, my love, and trust him. You know your Dad, and I do trust both of you two. I can't tell you two to wait because we did not. But please take it slow. Let it grow. Shit, I know that looks Dear, Sorry Dan. Just love her and hang on. We love you both." Jean kissed us both and left.

I say. "Hazel, how would you like to do the first few cheers at the team season opener? Ask the girls to practice here, and I will show you what I mean. Bob and Jean were outside catching some sun, and he was smoking a cigar with a cocktail. I wheel Hazy out to the center of the backyard. I had her cassette tape player with the songs they picked to have the band play for their cheers.

I got her to stretch with me, and we warmed up. I pulled and stretched your good leg. "Here is the deal, dear this moving about has to be short, and you need to be stable. I'm only doing this for a few minutes tops. My Cousin needed to learn to dance for her wedding, and I strapped her to my legs as her Mom taught us to dance her name was Prissy. After just a few dances, she started to hurt ten minutes today tops, but we can do a chair workout to keep you sexy and fit."

"Mommy, my man called me sexy." Can I keep him?"

Jean and Bob cracked up. I, for once, did not feel like they were laughing at me but with us. It was a new first, and I saw no reason not to hope for more.

We were warmed up. "Baby, show me your moves to the music still sitting; it's two songs. That's close enough to ten minutes to work now. Show me the cues on the first song, and then we will run through it."

I picked you up and held you off the ground with just enough weight and balance for this to work. After a few minutes, I saw Hazel wince, and I say. "OK, it's a wrap; good job Sexy. Now, let's cool down and push against me." Cooling off, we moved as one. Starting isometrics pushing against each other to get all your mussel gropes a chair tune-up as we spent twenty minutes touching and working out stretching.

Jean says. "The man is slick, I give you that much, but I approve. I like the fact he has the guts. To do it in front of us, what do you think, Bob?"

Bob answers you. "It's like watching a couple learning each other's worth. But Dan, you say. Was Prissy?" Bob says with a note of concern on his face.

I say. "That Son of a bitch husband did not believe her when she said she was having trouble breathing. I got there to mow the yard the next day, and she was unresponsive. I called 'O' for an ambulance. They had her in an iron lung hooked to machines, but her husband went and played fucking golf with his Dad at his Dad's country club. Two days later, I was still in the Hospital when they unhooked her. She never spoke once, only looked up into my eyes with fear, unable to answer as she stopped breathing...."

I know I looked mad Hazel says. "You went after the Son of a Bitch husband, didn't you?" Hazel asked, concern in her voice.

"Catch the bloody bastard?" Bob asked.

I say. "Yes, Sir, Still at the fucking golf club, excuse me. It took a couple of caddies and two or three of the local finest boys in blue to cool me off enough to pull me off or stop hitting him. He was in the Hospital for more than a few days. The police had to use something called a slap-jack they used on me, and boy, it hurt. I was in jail for two days, but my head hurt less than my heart. The Judge heard my reason for taking the bastard down. The Judge had the Doctor come in and give his option about if she had gone to the Doctor when she said she would still be alive. The Doctor spoke. I am sure enough to tell you it will be the coroner's findings."

"A priest did my Cousin's wedding; he told the Judge about my love for my Cousin. It did not take any convincing the priest brought three others with him that told my story. So the Judge gave me a break, a hundred hours community service for the assault, and they charged the husband with manslaughter."

I stopped, took a deep breath, and my voice got louder. "The fucker has twelve more years to go in prison out of fourteen. Excuse my French. I have a hard time with my anger sometimes."

Hazel says. "You see, Mom, I am thankful you guys stopped him."

Jean says. "I saw him get kind because of you dear he has his anger under control now, son; what did you do for your time?"

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I thought back four years ago as I gathered my thoughts I said. "There was an abandoned lot. They told us to clean it. They gave us an orange vest to wear. It was a dumping ground of trash with lumber, pipes, chains, a wrecked firetruck, and tires."

"Working all day in the hot sun, we made a dent. I stayed up all night and had shop plans ready to make swings, slides, and jungle gyms and plans to make the firetrucks safe with everything in the lot. The boss of the crew called his boss, who called his boss. We had paint and ladders: brushes, tools, a power saw, a power drill, and a welding rig. I signed a weld on one of the rides. Finally, my time was up, as most community service folks returned to their lives. A few came back to work. There were four of us cleaning, and we thought we had help, but by midday, the few became none. So finally, it was just me."

"The neighborhood watched me toil in the hot sun the whole week. They would come and ask what a white guy I was doing, and I told them. With a little help and hard work, it could be a park for the kids."

Well, this eighty-year-old lady came to me and asked. "Why was a white boy doing this?"

I answered. "I had the skills to put the rides together but not the strength in my arms to do all the work. I hurt a man bad who killed my Cousin. I got community service, but that ran out the other day, and this place is hard enough without a park. I'll finish it; it's not a dream if you work on it."

"That old lady walked away and returned with iced tea, coveralls, and a rake. "Two pairs of hands for the Lord's work; it will go faster." She said. Then two hands became six, then twenty. By the end of the day, there felt like hundreds working in the hot sun. After dark there, the food was great, as was the live music. The old lady named Dora asked me—my name. I said. Dan, ma'am."

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I pull my camera bag out and my portfolio from the back pouch. I show my photo of a park where it was once a dumping ground. The sign on the playground is Dream park, and the hundred or so people who made it happen are standing next to me by the park sign.

We sat outside catching some sun, Hazel says. "It feels like life is moving slow, then you're in my arms holding me, kissing me, and like seconds have gone and become hours, then it starts over waiting to hold you again."

I say softly. "I heard of this before; just a question: do you think this is just a phase of a spoiled rich girl? Or are you all in on this? It will crush me if it's not?"

Hazel says. "I guess you've seen how I feel about you. It seems like life is screaming by at a snail's pace. But a full apartment, a shower, far enough away so I can scream it sounds like a dream to me, lover. And I'm so in, Baby."

I called Mae and asked her. "If her dad could sell me some gold for a pair of engagement rings I had been working on, and if Mae talked, I make sure Hazy knew it was her that spoiled the surprise."

I needed what was enough to make a good size pair of rings. So I called Mae's Dad. He wanted to see my sketches; first, I told him. "No sketch, Sir. I had carved them in jeweler's wax by feel, and I was ready to pour, but I was unsure how much gold it would take."

He asked me. "To come by to see what I made on Monday."

He sounded like I just did it in my spare time or in shop class, and he was doing this to keep his daughter happy, didn't care I was in the door. I carved wax rings to sell. I made ten pairs till I was delighted with the last pair. It was the last pair I started working on after our day in my shop. I kept working on the pair till I would be happy if you wore it with me forever as our rings. I would swing by after school to Mae's Dad's store. I forgot about getting clothes with Jean, so I was caught off-guard with what to say when she picked me up before the last study hall.

I decided to trust you and tell you. I say. "Jean, I designed our engagement rings, and no, Hazel has no clue, but Mae's Dad said he give me a price to cast my designs today, and you can come in if you promise not to tell her."

Well, we go into a jeweler's shop. I pull out my cigar box and unwrap ten pairs, and Mae's Dad places them in the order I made them in, but he got one wrong and did it for him. "Son, you want a full-time job working for me? Before you answer, I cast your rings if you sell me the Master molds of the eight good ones."

He moves the two of the weakest design and finishes off to the side. He hit a calculator to figure out how much. Nothing in my world prepared me for what he said. Jean is looking wide-eyed and has not said anything yet.

"I pay you forty-eight thousand for the eight molds and would love to look at anything you do in the future." Mae's Dad said.

I asked. "How many editions of each mold?"

He said. "Maybe a hundred each."

I say. "I don't mean to be rude, Sir. Can I have a piece of paper? As I do the math, eight pieces mean he will not sell our rings. They will be one of a kind; no one else will ever have one. A bit of math later, one of the rings would sell for five hundred each or Four hundred thousand. Nope, I am worth more.

I say. "One hundred thousand, you still make three hundred thousand on this batch alone. I give you an exclusive first pick to your store on all my future designs. Shake my hand, Sir? To seal the deal?"

He stood up. "You that Dan she keeps talking about at dinner. I am James Veese, Eighty thousand we have to pay for the gold."

I say. "That's fair. I did not know enough to add it to my math. But I look forward to working with you for years to come."

We shook hands and wrote up a contract Mae's Dad handed to Jean. "Have your hubby look this over and return it signed. Now you need the rings in a hurry?"

I say. "No sir, a smart person said to take our time and go slow. I love to be there to watch it being poured. I've only done lost wax twice, Sir. It was with silver I made Bolo ties."

Mr. Veese says. "Indeed, Son, come by. I'll call you on the pour date."

He asked a few craftsmen to come in and look over the rings, one older man says. "Son, you want to mix the platinum metal for the textured part and 10k gold for the high polish. These two look like you're in love, young Sir. Jean smiled and nodded as her face beamed with pride.

Walking to the Car, Jean has a look of wonder. Was this a dream, or did she watch her future son-in-law pick his path in life? Of course, no college would ever change this boy into a man. But her daughter did it for me well almost.

I say. "Jean, please, let's keep this from Hazel. I want her to move at her pace. If we tell her this, she jumps too many steps as we grow into us." I said as we got to the Car.

Jean held me and says. "Welcome to our family, son; Hazel is lucky to be loved by you."

We got clothes for me; it came to under a thousand, but it was doable. Jean asked me. "I guess you think this is a loan. But this is not a gift from us to thank you for taking such good care of our Baby."

I laughed and said. "OK, Mom, I know when I outclassed. I am getting a car when I set up a bank account. A tax Identification number, register my Design symbol, and Wait! Jean money Jean, I got it. I've won the golden ticket! Now I have to love her, and she lets me know when I have to ask her for hand in... Oh shit, Mom, how am I going to keep this from her?" I cried out.

Jean Says. "Tell her no... ask her to trust you, you have a plan in play, but you're waiting on certain signs, and you know when you will tell all your plans."

We got in, and Jean and Bob disappeared as Hazel looked at me and says. "Mom smiling a mile wide; your smiling shit looked at Dad. He was Smiling."

Hazel looked at me hard. I had been working metal in a hot forge cooler than Hazel's stare.

I say. "Baby, please trust me. I have a plan in play, but I am waiting on certain signs, and you know when then I will tell all," I said, shaking as I said it. The look on Hazel's face says it is not going to fly.

Hazel followed me into the kitchen on her wheels. Her folks look on and still have smiles. "You guys are way too fucking happy, and it means when my man gets the message through his thick Neanderthal skull I don't care it's only been days I need him like I need air can't explain it better, I'm ready to be his wife. It's not some puppy love, I had that and this is not it. Mom and I have talked."

Jean and Bob beamed as they looked on, smiling a mile wide.

I say. "Baby shit, Mom, your daughter won't play fair, will she but let me make a phone call, please."

I came back from making a call. So I can pick them up at school on Friday, the night of the homecoming game. So I won't see the pour.

I said. "Let's eat!" Hazel looks at me hard again.