One Good Turn Returns Another Ch. 02

Chloe was determined to reimburse me for my time and materials. I told her that I would keep a tally and present it to her later. Yea, right. I got this ocean front property in Arizona for you.

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As the morning light illuminated my room, I was startled awake. "OH FUCK. WHAT THE HELL DID I DO YESTERDAY?" My entire body felt like it was run over by a 18 wheeler, then it backed-up over me, then rolled forward over me the third time.

Plan of action needed now. THINK PLAN DO

OK, I have an hour till they arrive. Piece of bread to save my stomach, three ibuprofen, two glasses of water, put coffee on, hot shower... then dress and assemble breakfast.

THANK GOD FOR DRUGS AND HOT WATER AND COFFEE. I felt partially human by the time they arrived at the door. Smiling, they entered my house AND THEY ARE FUCKIN' PERKY. I HATE PERKY IN THE MORNING.

Chloe waved her grandmother goodbye and drove to work. By the time Tess and I assembled a no-cook breakfast and headed to the backyard, I noticed something changed. She was no longer perky. She was moving slowly and discomfort shown on her face. We sat down and started on breakfast.

"I take it you feel as bad as I do this morning?" I got a grunt in reply while she sipped her coffee. She had brought a box of dark roast pods which we were enjoying. "How many ibuprofens do you want?" She grunted two. I went back in the house, got her that and some waters and rye toast for both of us.

"Bill, do you feel like shit too?" "YEP, but I have an idea. After finishing breakfast, we are going to change into our swimsuits, grab some more coffee and waters and are going to spend an hour or two easing our bodies in the hot tub. It makes no sense to kill ourselves. You ok with that?" She answered with a smile, and then guzzled the drugs and the rest of her coffee. I got up and adjusted the hot tub settings so it would be ready for us.

We cleared the breakfast dishes and Tess went into my spare room to change as I went into my bedroom. Looking at my mirror I realize that it's been nearly a half century since I've been a 'spring chicken'. I really don't have much to offer. Well, if there is a Playgirl magazine for 95 year olds, then I may have a chance. Right. What's that old Smother Brothers line? Some people say that they've seen a chicken with lips.

My honest self-evaluation? - really not that bad, for an old man. I could stand to lose 15 pounds, would like more hair but my body is still functional - all parts of my body work reasonably well except the left hip and right knee. I was wacked by a falling garden display that I had overloaded ages ago. Darleen bitched at me for years for overloading that display and getting hurt. She never could give it up if she felt that somebody did something wrong. That was the story of her life.

I've been thinking about Tess since that day that Chloe came to empty her house. It was nice to connect with Tess for that hour and a half. Human contact without the drama. She really is a nice person and we have gotten along well. Well, at least she hasn't pulled out a knife and threatened me, yet. Then again, the day is still young. She looks reasonably healthy, a little plump, smiles a whole lot... I'm sure that she has some baggage, as we all do. With her nearby, maybe....

"YOOOO HOOOOO. Ready to soak our tired muscles?"

"Yes dear."

"EXCUSE ME? YOU SAID WHAT?"

"Yes, our dear muscles will be so glad in an hour."

"Great recovery."

"You expect anything less?"

"Just move it buster."

Her big smile just melted my heart. Shit, am I in trouble now.

It was an hour of soaking, hydrating, some stretches and quiet talking with each other that did wonders to us both. It helped that the ibuprofen kicked in too. Changing into work clothes, we then emptied each bathroom and then I started repairing asshole's writing on the walls that he did with wide Sharpies. Fine sandpaper followed by 2 coats of heavy duty kilz primer, then lunch consisting of some sandwiches. There were another 2 coats of primer followed by an hour in the hot tub. We finished with a full coat of white paint in each bathroom. It was garbage day tomorrow so we loaded up both of our wheeled cans in the alley from the debris of the kitchen and other assorted crap that the asshole left behind. I pulled something quick together for dinner and we relaxed. The last slice of deep dish was for desert. Nothing in the world is great like cold pizza. It's only better if the pizza is for breakfast. The next day would be short and sweet. The rest of the house would only need to be cleaned and vacuumed and be ready for the move in.

After cleaning up, we hit the backyard with water, fruit, a small amount of sharp cheeses and another bottle of wine. I can't remember the last time I drank so much, and so slowly. Felt like old times - a slight buzz. The thing is, I didn't have a wine or a recreational substance induced buzz. This was great.

"You know Tess; we really do work together quite well."

"Yea, I couldn't imagine doing this with my late husband Bob. He would have been arguing about every little detail."

"That's funny; I feel the same about Darleen. There was just something in her being that was difficult to deal with. I signed on when I said I DO, and I did try really hard to not break my word. But at least once a year I would do some serious planning on divorce to the point of looking for a place to live."

"Let me guess, you saw what rents were going for and she started to pull back slightly?" I nodded yes. "Shit not to be rich, huh?" I nodded yes again.

"It was the same with me and Bob. There comes a time where you just make an unofficial truce. I just got used to it. He did too. We just made it a point of trying to not set each other off. What a bunch of losers we are."

"Neither you nor I were losers. We also were not just survivors. We made the best of a not great situation. It wasn't a bad situation. Chloe has a bad situation, ours were just sub-optimal. It wasn't always not-great for me. What about you?"

"We were young and kind of dumb when we married. We made it work too." She looked around the garden and spoke in a far-away voice. "Yesterday I changed the subject when you asked about my children." I nodded yes, understanding that something important was going to be talked about now. Now is not the time for levity to defuse tension.

"Bob and I had three pregnancies. The first was when I was 21 and it was a miscarriage. I now know that that is not an unusual thing for a good proportion of first pregnancies. It was explained to me that sometimes the body rejects the first one, and then resets itself." I reached over and held her hand, and waited. "The next two pregnancies went to full term. John was our first born and his sister, Rebecca, Chloe's mother, were born 2 years apart." Tess wiped her eyes and continued. "He died in a training accident in the Marines."

I got up and knelt next to her and hugged her and rocked her as she softly cried. I got the feeling that she's not shared this in quite a while. You know the routine after a death - you got three weeks, then? it's over, get over it, move on, you'll get over it, don't live in the past, yada, yada, yada. Fuckin' bullshit. Had a cousin that lost her husband to cancer while they were in their early 30's. The old ladies gave her the strong vibe of 'now you know what it feels like honey'. I found out that the best gift is to listen and then support the person to join a grieving group. People heal at their own rate and they heal better with others.

I must have held her for a while when on cue, Chloe showed up. This time I was looking for her so I didn't jump out of my skin when she showed. "Grandma, how are you doing?" Tess slowly pulled away from me and smiled. My shirt was soaked, but I think that maybe I did some good. First time for everything I guess. "Chloe, I haven't been this good in years." As I was behind Tess and she couldn't see me, I mouthed 'John'. Chloe smiled and hugged her grandmother. She mouthed 'Thank you' to me.

It was getting late, but Chloe wanted to 'inspect' our work and we made the same plans for tomorrow. I got a big hug and a kiss from Tess before she entered Chloe's car. I slept well, waiting for tomorrow. The ibuprofen, hot tub and wine did their jobs too.

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I was awake as the morning light illuminated my room. Lying in bed is a good time of the day, time to plan my day with Tess. This morning, only half of my entire body felt like it was hit by a monster wheel pickup, but it only rolled over me once. Is this just getting fuckin' old, or is it just not physically working like I used to do? Who knows? All I really know is that I ache.

After breakfast, we began working on the house. A complete dusting, window washing, hanging curtains and cleaning blinds was followed by the vacuuming and washing the floors. We were done by 11:30 and headed over to my place for lunch. Today I was going to whip up some gnocchi with a cream sauce and a salad. As far as I was concerned, we were done for the day.

I was starting to collect the plates when Tess put her hand on mine and motioned to me to be still. "Bill, you have been so helpful these past few days."

"Isn't that what neighbors are for?"

"There is something I'd like to talk to you about." OH SHIT. This is a 'we have to talk' and those are never really good. She must have seen a look of pain on my face when she took my hand in hers. I could see the seriousness on her face. "Don't worry, this will not be painful." I exhaled quickly then she continued, "If you do it my way." Then she broke up laughing. Shit, being on the other side of one of these.... I just shook my head and smiled.

"I would like to return a favor to you. The first time I was in your house, you said something about it was the maid's year off?" I nodded. It was my mess in the living room. "Can I help you clean and organize your living room? We've been working so well together and it can't take more than 2 hours. What do you think?"

Tess is not Darleen. Darleen would take control and order things to be done, her way and her time - immediately if not sooner. She gave lip service to working with people, but it was always just lip service. It was working at people. Here is Tess ACTUALLY ASKING ME WHAT I THOUGHT. Fuck, this is something completely different.

"Earth to Bill, earth to Bill. Is anyone home?"

I shook my head to get back to the present. "Please forgive me, I'm not used to having people ask what I thought and wanted. It's kind of brand new. That is except when I'm at McDonalds. Then I have to decline their fries."

She reached out and held my hand again. "When you started cleaning my house, I was standing there in shock. I wasn't used to anybody just diving in and do what needed to be done without an attitude. More so, it wasn't even your house and I did not have to beg for the help. You gave it freely. That hasn't ever really happen to me in my family. My husband and daughter and a bit of Chloe all had to be asked and begged.

"I can see that your shock of somebody really asking you what you want would do that to you." She smiled at me and broke into a bit of a mischievous grin. "Think that we're yin and yang?"

"Laurel and Hardy?"

"How about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers?"

"Bert and Ernie?"

"Michelangelo and Raphael?"

"What about the other two turtles?" I reached over and briefly kissed her on the lips as she playfully slugged my shoulder.

"Do you want to get started now Mark Antony?"

"Sure as hell Cleopatra."

We were finished cleaning in 75 minutes. What we started, on the other hand, was something else.

Epilogue:

Their lease was up in 7 months and Tess and Chloe both moved in my house. Chloe had been taking part-time classes and still working full time. Without the cost of rent, she moved to full time school and part time work.

Tess moved into my bedroom, or should I say, our bedroom. Even Rebecca, Chloe's mother, noticed the wonderful difference in the lives of her mother and daughter. My kids and their spouses said the same thing. It's great to be with someone, a someone that completes you.