Sliding Home

The clanging of his head striking the metal pipes under the sink sounded like a church bell leading Terry Wallace to come within a hairsbreadth of launching into a profanity-laced tirade, but he caught himself at the last minute just barely holding it in.

"You o.k. under there?" said a voice from outside.

"Yeah, Grandpa, I'm fine."

"Hit your head didn't ya?"

"Yes, I did."

"Bet that hurt like Hell."

"Grandpa! Watch your language. There are kids around. Why do you think I wasn't cussing a blue streak?"

"Ha! Kids these days are too soft. A few little curse words gonna ruin them for life or something?"

Terry slid out from under the sink where he had been trying with mixed results for the past hour to fix a leak. His grandfather, a cantankerous old man, staring his seventy-ninth birthday square in the face looked down at him.

"No, Grandpa, but we should still set a good example for them. This is a daycare, after all, people count on us not just to watch out for their kids, but to be an example of good behavior."

"I'm too old to worry about setting examples for a bunch of kids. You need to invest in earplugs for the little suckers."

"I'll add it to the list along with new plumbing for this entire dump. I have no idea how Mom kept this place running."

"Did you fix the leak?"

"It will hold for now, but we need a professional to do the job right."

"So hire a pro."

Terry didn't even bother to reply. He knew all too well that their current budgetary situation precluded any such extravagances like hiring a real plumber.

When he had gotten the call a year earlier that his Mom was in the hospital having suffered a stroke, Terry Wallace had been trying to live his dream. He had just been promoted to the next level in the Houston Astros system, "A" Ball in Davenport, Iowa, it was a jump over the rookie league where he had started. It seemed like maybe things were finally taking off for the twenty-two-year-old after four years of playing in the low minors. The lack of power in his swing had made him harder to notice than the big boys who swung for the fences, but Terry had tried to make up for it with speed and defense. He was starting to make contact more often at the plate, and if he got on, he knew he could make the pitcher nervous with his ability to go to second with even a small jump. He was never going to be a big money player, but he thought he was beginning to carve out a niche of his own.

Then the phone call came.

He had rushed back home to find his Mom clinging to life with his grandpa sitting by her side. Terry had already lost his Dad to a heart attack when he was still in high school. It seemed ridiculously unfair to now be sitting by his mother's bedside watching her slip away too.

"Mom?"

Her voice was so weak he had to lean in to hear her speak.

"Terry, Baby...I was afraid...I wouldn't get...to see you..."

"I'm here, Mom. The doctors say you need to rest if you're going to get better," he lied.

"Don't...pa...patro...patronize me...I know this is it...I need something from you, Terry. Please...Don't let them close my school...so many folks...depend on...us...please."

The daycare school had always been his Mom's dream. She had opened it with his father's help when Terry had been just two years old. He had been one of its first students. His mom had called it "Grandma's House" because she wanted to invoke an image that was safe in the minds of the little ones that went there. The school had grown slowly bringing in kids from the surrounding neighborhoods until, eventually, they had enough income to expand adding a Pre-K classroom as well as building a full-size outdoor play area complete with swings, jungle gym, and a merry-go-round. Terry's grandpa had built a sandbox large enough to accommodate a couple of dozen kids at once.

Grandma's House had flourished for a time, but when they started to open bigger, fancier franchised daycare centers nearby it had begun to eat into their clientèle. By the time Terry had graduated from high school, the business was starting to decline, but if his mom had felt any pressure, she never showed it. The woman loved children, and they seemed to gravitate toward her as well. She was determined to give them the best care she could, and she always tried to make the school a welcoming and happy place.

"When these kids come here, especially for the first time, their going to be scared. A lot of them have never been away from their moms and dads, so we owe it to them to make this transition as easy as possible," she had told Terry one sunny afternoon.

Terry had listened and been proud of what his mom was accomplishing, but the school had never really been his dream. He had wanted to be a pro ball player from the time he was in Kindergarten. If he wasn't the most gifted athlete he certainly worked hard, and that perseverance started to pay off by the time he was a freshman at Donner West High School. He had learned early on that with his frame he would likely never hit for power, but he was fast and had a good glove. That combination of defense in the outfield and base stealing ability had caught the eye of a few scouts, and Terry had been selected in the late rounds of the Major League draft.

After his Mom's death, Terry had tried in vain to find someone else to take over the business, but other than his grandpa whose health wouldn't allow it, there were no close relatives or friends who were interested. He couldn't blame them giving the declining attendance. The idea of selling had occurred to him on many occasions, but he had promised his mother on her death bed to keep the school open. It didn't seem right to go back on that promise.

"Earth to Terry? You going to answer the phone or what?"

"Huh? Oh! Right..." said Terry realizing he had been daydreaming and that the phone in his office was ringing.

He shut the door behind him dropping into the chair by the desk. The old wood creaked beneath him, and he wondered if it would continue to hold his weight.

"You should have at least replaced the chair, Mom," he thought absently.

"Grandma's House! This is Terry speaking."

"Terry! My friend! How's it hanging brother?"

"Miguel? Oh Wow! It's so good to hear your voice. Things are...Um...Good. How about you?"

"I can't complain. If I can just get my curveball over a little more consistently, I think I can start turning some heads around here."

Terry had met Miguel Esperanza while playing rookie ball. Miguel was a left-handed pitcher with a wicked fastball, but some serious control issues. The first time Terry had batted against him in practice Miguel had drilled him so hard in the head Terry had seen double for a full day afterward. The two had become roommates and close friends on and off the field. The one thing Terry missed almost as much as playing the game was his friend, Miguel.

"What can I do for you, Miguel?"

"I do need a favor. My sister, Gabriella, lives in your area and she just lost her job at the Super-Mart. I was hoping that you could give her a chance at your place. She studied "Early Childhood Education" at the university but had to drop out when my mom got sick. She knows her stuff though when it comes to kids."

"I don't know, Miguel..." waffled Terry.

He could barely afford the people he had on staff now.

"Come on, Dude. I swear she is aces! Just give her a chance."

"I tell you what. Send her over and let me meet her. We will see where it goes from there, O.K.?"

"Thanks, Terry, I knew I could count on you. Shit! I got to go, Man! Batting practice is starting. We miss you around here!"

"Yeah...I miss you guys too," replied Terry wistfully as Miguel broke the connection.

"We taking in more strays?" asked his grandpa from the door.

"Maybe...We'll see..." replied Terry coming to his feet.

"You can't afford a decent plumber! How are you going to afford another teacher?"

"Maybe I'll take it out of your salary," said Terry slapping his grandpa on the arm as he passed.

"You don't freaking pay me!"

Terry made his way into the large lunch room where the noise of dozens of rowdy kids quickly overwhelmed his ears. They came in all shapes and sizes but were almost always universally loud.

There was one exception to that rule today.

"How is she doing?" asked Terry to one of his teachers, and an older, gray-haired lady named Ms. Helen Carasco.

"Nervous and still a bit sad. I tried to get her to sit with the other kids but..."

Helen indicated the subject of their brief discussion with a nod.

The young girl, maybe five years old sat apart from everyone looking down at her plate with its turkey sandwich and chips, but not touching the food. Terry carefully settled himself down on the tiny, round seat meant for a person much more diminutive and smiled.

"Not a big fan of turkey?"

The little blond head didn't move or even register that she was aware of his presence.

"Ms. Helen told me your name is Annie. I'm Mr. Terry. It's nice to meet you, Annie."

Her small face, scared and distrusting briefly glanced up and then back down.

"You know if you're not going to eat that sandwich maybe I could give it to Arthur. If I can get him out of his tree that is..."

"There is a kid in a tree?" came a hushed voice.

"Well, Arthur isn't exactly a kid. He is more of a furry friend that likes turkey. Would you like to meet him?"

Terry waited patiently until the blond head nodded once slowly. Then he picked up Annie's plate and walked to the back door of the school. He opened the door leaving one cacophony of noise behind and trading it for another as the playground was teeming with kids who had the first lunch period. He waved at the two teachers who stood nearby keeping an eye on things while he walked past them keeping a slow pace so his tiny companion could match his longer strides with her much shorter legs.

He led her along the fence line to a small, gnarled looking tree in one corner. A green wood bench sat in front of it, and Terry took a seat. Annie joined him but scooted as far to the opposite side as she could.

"I think he might show his face, but we have to be real quiet and not move, o.k," whispered Terry out of the corner of his mouth.

The sounds of children laughing continued as a backdrop to their vigil as they waited.

Terry had set the plate down with a bit of turkey and a couple of chips sitting in the middle while he put the rest on a napkin in his lap. His keen eyes picked out Arthur a moment later, and he smiled. His mother had been feeding the family of squirrels in this tree for years, and they had become almost as tame as house pets. Arthur slipped down from where he had been hiding up in the top branches, scurrying down the trunk and dropping on to the ground before standing on his hind legs to sniff the air.

"Ooohh..." breathed Annie next to him.

"Stay still. He will come to us."

Arthur lowered himself back down, and in short bursts made his way toward the plate that sat on the ground at Terry's feet. He stopped just short, his tiny nose sniffing the air, then like a brown blur he was at the edge of the plate scooping up a piece of turkey and holding it in his tiny paws very much like a human would have taking quick bites.

"He's so pretty," breathed Annie.

"He has friends..." whispered Terry.

Two more squirrels had dropped from the tree unnoticed, and seeing that the coast was clear, they joined Arthur picking at the turkey and chips.

"Are they his kid's?" asked Annie.

"I think they're all kind of just friends that share the same tree."

"Would you like the rest of your sandwich?"

Annie tentatively reached over to take the sandwich from Terry's hand and began to nibble at it while watching the dining squirrels.

"I know this school seems big and strange to you, Annie, but we are all happy you're here with us. I think Arthur is happy too."

She laughed as the squirrels finished their food and ran right beneath her feet staring up at her as if hoping for more. When they realized nothing was forthcoming, that chased each other playfully back up into the tree.

"Do you like to swing?" asked Terry as she finished her sandwich.

"Yes! I like to go high!"

Terry laughed, "I did too when I was small like you. My Mom used to swing me on that very swing set right over there."

He led Annie over to the swings, and she slipped into one of the seats taking the chains in a tight grip. Terry started her off slow, but soon she was giggling and calling him to, "Swing higher! Swing Higher!"

As Annie kicked with her feet and rose higher into the air, Terry spotted his grandpa limping his way across the playground. He joined them just as Annie was winding down and Ms. Carasco showed up to take her for her nap.

"Thank you for the swing. Can I see Arthur again?"

"Sure, Kid, anytime you want."

They left together leaving Terry and his grandpa watching them walk away.

"You have your mothers gift, like a kid whisperer, they gravitate to you."

"I think they just understand I'm at the same intellectual level."

"Ha! I know that's true. I came to get you because there is a young lady in the lobby asking for you."

"Right, that must be Miguel's sister; she got here fast."

"Maybe you could use some help with the interview process?" said his grandpa with a twinkle in his eye.

"Nope, I think I got this, but thanks for volunteering,"

"Well, you know where I am if you change your mind."

Terry nodded smiling and walked back inside. The minute his eyes landed on Gabriella Esperanza he knew why his grandpa had shown interest in joining the conversation, he had always been a bit of a dirty old man, and she was not unattractive. Standing about five-foot-four-inches tall, the young Hispanic girl was leaning against the counter when he arrived. She had the typical dark brown hair and oval face he had come to associate with women from the Spanish speaking world, but she was even prettier than most with large, wide-set brown eyes and full, soft looking lips painted a berry-brown color. Her body was curvy, with decent sized breasts that pushed out the top of her t-shirt giving him just a glimpse of the swell of light brown flesh concealed beneath.

"Gabriella?"

"Hi! You must be Terry. Miguel has talked about you so much I feel like I know you already! It's so good to be here, and I can't thank you enough for seeing me. It's always been my dream to work with kids every since I was in grade school I..."

She ran on for another minute, talking so fast that her accent made it hard to make out what she was saying.

"Woah! Easy there. Why don't we go to my office?" suggested Terry.

She stopped talking long enough to follow Terry inside, and he shut the door behind them.

"I'm sorry! I'm a little nervous, and when I get nervous I tend to talk faster, and then my accent gets kind of bad, and people can't understand me which makes me more nervous, so I talk even faster and then..."

"Gabriella?" cut in Terry.

"Yes!" she said, halting so fast if she had been driving instead talking they would have been thrown forward in their seats.

"Take a breath between your words. I'm getting scared you're going to pass out on me."

"I'm still doing it, aren't I? Sorry, I'm nervous..."

"I don't bite, Kid. Why don't we slow down and you tell me a little bit about your background? Try not to hurt yourself doing it."

She laughed and started again, this time at a slower, more intelligible pace. Terry listened intently. It was apparent inside of five-minutes she was infinitely qualified to help, but that didn't change the fact that money was very tight.

"Look, I can tell you're more than prepared for this job, but see the thing is..."

He started to explain the economic realities, but as he spoke, he could see her face fall. The thing about Miguel that had always amazed Terry had been how effective he was at using what he called the "sad puppy dog face" it was clear his sister had inherited the same ability. The more he tried to clue her into his financial woes the sadder she looked, and Terry quickly lost heart.

"I guess, maybe we could take you in on a trial basis, and see how it goes," he said finally.

"Oh! That is so kind of you! I won't let you down I promise! I will be the best teacher here! I will always be on time, and keep the kids happy, and listen to everything you say, and..."

"Gabriella! You got the job!"

"Right...Sorry...I promise I'm not always this chatty. Although everyone calls me, Gabby, not Gabriella, so maybe there is something to that."

"Well, Gabby, welcome to Grandma's House. What do we you say we get you a locker for your purse, and I will show you around?"

The stowed away Gabby's belongings, and she fell in alongside him as he acquainted her with the grounds and the rest of the staff. The good news was that as she got more comfortable, and started to speak at a normal pace, her accent receded and he was able to understand her much better. A couple of times she got excited at the prospect of working with the kids, and her speech sped up again, once even lapsing momentarily into Spanish before Terry politely explained he wasn't bilingual.

"Oh! Yeah...Sorry. I got carried away," she apologized though Terry rather enjoyed the way the foreign words rolled off her tongue, it made her even more attractive.

He finally left her with Ms. Carasco to get her feet wet with one of the classes and returned to his office to face a growing mountain of paperwork.

"So I see you didn't turn away the stray...again," observed his grandpa from the doorway.

"It's just a trial thing. We will see how it goes."

"I'm not complaining. She is very easy on the eyes...We could use a little pick me up in the scenery around here."

"I didn't hire her for her looks."

"They didn't hurt though did they?"

"Grandpa, please don't hit on my new teacher. She is way too young for you."

"What's a matter? Afraid I'll get to first base before you, Mr. Hot Shot Ball Player?"

"First of all, I don't play ball anymore, thanks for reminding me. Second, this isn't a competition and...You know, why am I even having this conversation with you? You've got one foot in the grave, you even tried anything with her she would give you a heart attack inside of ten seconds!"

"Yeah, but what a way to go! I always did want to go out with a bang!"

"Jesus, Grandpa! I don't need that image in my head! Why don't you go help wash dishes in the kitchen or something?"

"Fine, Fine, but the game is on, Sonny! We'll see who has more charm."

Terry rolled his eyes as his grandpa left the office, he was the kind of old man the orderlies were always chasing out of the other female retiree's rooms at any old folks home. It was one of the reasons Terry had been reluctant to commit him to one.

All the talk of Gabriella Esperanza got him to thinking of her, especially the way her rear-end filled out her tight jeans, but he just as quickly pushed such thoughts from his mind. He was far to busy trying to keep this place afloat to get involved with someone.

The afternoon seemed to crawl by, and Terry finally took a break from his labors to check on the latest addition to the Grandma's House family. He slipped quietly into the back of Ms. Carasco's classroom where the pre-K kids were sitting in a circle on the floor. To his surprise, it was Gabriella who was sitting in the middle of the group and reading to them in a voice that mirrored the grumpy character from the storybook in her hand.

"She's a natural," supplied Ms. Carasco quietly as she joined Terry by the door.

"I can see that."

"The kids came right to her, and she had them eating out of her hand in no time."

He hung around for a while watching her interact with the children, and he had to agree with Ms. Carasco, Gabriella had that special something when it came to dealing with kids.