Grammy smiled at Awsty.
“Funny how other people can influence our thinkin’, huh?
“Well, all I know is I love everything you got. Your wardrobe looks completely different than I thought it would after our shopping today.
“Let’s see. What all did you get today? We should prob’ly discuss what you still need.”
Awsty shifted her gaze somewhere to the left above her head. Grammy could tell she was thinking.
“Ok,” Awsty said. “I think this is it. Four shirts, two pairs of pants, two scarves, one necklace, two handbags, two pairs of shoes, and lots of pretty underthings.
“Is that it? I can’t think of anything I’ve forgotten.”
Grammy nodded as Awsty listed the clothing items. Once Awsty finished her count, Grammy emphatically said, “Ya forgot the dress ya got!”
“Oh, yeah, I did. Grammy, I haven’t worn a dress since I was just a little girl. I forgot all about it. I think it’s really cute, though.” Pause. “Oh, I forgot the cardigan sweater that you bought me to go with it! To be truthful, those girls in the dressing room were the ones to make me decide to get the dress and sweater. I could hear them whispering how they loved what it looked like with the cardigan.
“I’m not used to having so many things to choose from! It’s so strange to think I’ll actually have to get up each morning and decide which of all these things to wear.
“And, Grammy, I was just thinking, the things we picked out will sort of mix with each other so that my wardrobe will look even bigger.
“You know, Grammy, I can’t think of any way to show you how much I appreciate all these pretty things. I don’t think I’ve ever thought that a time would come when I could have things like these.
“I know these cost a lot, even if they were bought at discount stores, and some of them were closeout items. Grammy, are you absolutely sure this is ok? You spent a lot of money on me this morning.”
Grammy smiled with an unconditional love at this young woman who was her granddaughter.
“Sweetie, I can’t think of a better way ta invest what the Lord gives me than inta you. He’s blessed me with ya, ya know. And, even as much as I love ya, Jesus loves ya even more.”
Awsty didn’t respond. Mainly because she didn’t want that line of conversation to continue. She felt completely out of her element talking about spiritual things. So, she diverted the conversation.
“Grammy, I don’t know if I’m getting carried away, but I did want to ask you for just a couple more things. Well, actually… three.”
Grammy’s response was a loving, “Sure, Sweetheart. What?”
“I really like the eyeshadow from my party.” She closed her eyes for Grammy to look at it on her, as though Grammy couldn’t already see it.
“But, I was thinking. When I start back looking for work tomorrow, I think I would feel better about my appearance if I had just a few more things. Am I being vain or something if I add some mascara, a light blush, and like maybe a lip gloss?”
Grammy shook her head. Awsty thought that was her disapproval, until Grammy added words to the head-shaking.
“No, I don’t think that’s bein’ vain at all. In fact, I had already decided that after we’re through here with our lunch that I was gonna take us by the drugstore over there,” she said, as she pointed across the street to its location. “I agree. Ya’d look like ya took care ‘o yerself and were puttin’ yer best face forward.”
“Thank you, Grammy.
“Well, I don’t know about you, Grammy, but I’m through. Since the shopping bags are already in the trunk of the car, I guess I can just throw away our trash, take the picnic bag back with us, throw it in the back seat and we can head off.”
As they walked back to the car, Awsty put her arm around Grammy’s shoulder.
“Grammy, what makes you so different than my mother was?” This was the first time Grammy had seen Awsty shed a single tear with regard to her mother.
“Jesus.”
Grammy knew Awsty didn’t really want to hear the answer, but the truth was the truth.
With a squeeze to her grandmother’s arm, Awsty replied, “How’d I already know you’d say that?”
*****
Mason arose from his kneeling position. He had extensively prayed for Awsty. He asked the Lord to meet her at the point of her greatest need. He asked the Lord to soften her heart to God’s plan of salvation. And on and on he had petitioned on her behalf before his Lord.
At the end, he also threw in a short request for Geneva to have a good day.
Time to get to class this morning.
*****
Pastor Greg woke up with a headache. A really bad headache. After taking a couple of aspirin with his orange juice, eating a piece of dry toast, showering, shaving, and dressing, he turned his attention to his day’s schedule. Wow, were his mornings predictable! They never changed! Always the same! Every day seemed like such a drudgery.
He was so thankful it was Monday, his day off. If his head didn’t stop pounding soon, he’d need to lie down again. But, no matter what, he had to go see his grandmother in the afternoon. He was glad that Trenton-Taylor Assisted Living Home was no further than it was.
After another twenty minutes of his head throbbing, and getting worse, he went back to his bedroom, disrobed, threw on a pair of walking shorts and a t-shirt, and carefully laid down, trying not to jar his head.
He was just going to lie there until his head stopped hurting. Surely the aspirin would kick in soon. As he lay there, his painful brain kept turning toward Awsty Truesdale. He kept reviewing the way she had stormed in the front church doors and let into him with her wrath. Well, maybe she didn’t ‘let loose,’ but it felt like it. He still couldn’t understand where all the anger came from.
Lord, this young woman needs You so bad. Make her heart soft, and bring those into her life that can plant seed. Make her heart ready to hear about you. And, Jesus,…
Without completing his thought, and with the last conscious word of his prayer being the wonderful name of His Lord, Pastor Greg fell into a first fitful, then deep sleep.
His day didn’t go as he planned. When he again woke up after noon, he could see that visiting his grandmother wasn’t going to happen. Leaving her a short message on her voice mail, telling her why he wasn’t able to come today, he fell back asleep and didn’t wake up again until after dark.
Chapter 24
By three-fifteen p.m. Monday afternoon, Grammy and Awsty had completed all their shopping and had taken all Awsty’s new clothes home. Awsty wanted to try them on again, but decided instead that she would put them away for now, and maybe run to Trenton-Taylor Assisted Living Home to say hi to Stella, and tell her about her exciting clothes-shopping excursion with her grandmother earlier in the day. She found she had thought about Stella several times during the week, and planned to go back to visit her again soon. This was as good a time as any.
“Grammy, I’ve put away my clothes, straightened my room, and washed and put away the few dishes that were in the kitchen sink.
“I was thinking maybe I would go visit a couple of the old people at Trenton-Taylor before dinner. Would that be ok with you, or did you have some things you wanted me to do this afternoon?”
Grammy admired the new shirt, pants, and cute shoes Awsty had put on. And, she could see that Awsty had used the new makeup pickups. She smiled at Awsty and said, “No, Sweetheart, I don’t have anythin’ fer ya ta do. I think that would be a lovely gesture. Those old folks get really lonely there, and would prob’ly love ta have a young person visit ‘em. Did ya want me ta drive ya?”
“Thank you, Grammy, but it’s beautiful outside, and I think I’ll just walk.”
Awsty waved goodbye to her grandmother, then exited the apartment. But after closing the door, she re-opened it immediately and came back in, sought out her grandmother, who was walking to the kitchen, and enfolded her in her arms.
“Grammy, thank you so much
for what you’ve done for me! Giving me a place to stay, feeding me, and buying me all these gorgeous clothes. And, I want you to know that I’m going to look really hard tomorrow and for as long as it takes to find a job. I promise you won’t be stuck with me too much longer. Thank you, and I love you!”
Awsty didn’t wait for her Grammy’s reply. She just turned and ran back out the front door.
Grammy just stood there, shaking her head.
“Lord, I love that child. My new prayer, Jesus, is that Ya’ll make her as beautiful on the inside as Ya’ve made her on the outside.”
*****
Awsty knocked on Stella’s door. By the second knock, the door was opened and Stella had said hello. She asked the stranger if she could help her with something.
“Stella, it’s me… Awsty. Oh… that’s right. You haven’t seen the new, improved me!”
Placing her hands on her hips, Awsty pivoted in a complete circle.
“What d’ya think?”
Stella’s mouth was agape. She appeared to be absolutely and completely stunned.
“Awsty… is that really you?!”
“I know, right?! I can’t believe myself what I look like now. It’s weird, too. Now I think I even walk taller and I’m not so afraid to look people in the eye.”
Stella grabbed the young girl by the arm and pulled her into her room. Once inside, with door shut, she pulled Awsty into a bear hug. It was hard to believe it, but the little less-than-one-hundred pound woman was squeezing the breath out of her.
“Stella, I can’t breathe!” Awsty forced out.
Realizing she was hugging too briskly, Stella released Awsty, held the girl’s hands at arms’ length, and perused Awsty from head to toe, then back up.
“Awsty, you look absolutely beautiful! I don’t understand. Why the change? When and where did you get this adorable outfit? And, your beautiful auburn hair! I love it!”
Walking over to the sofa, Awsty and Stella sat down and began chatting as though they had known each other all their lives.
“Well, as you know from when I met you last week, I’m looking for a job. Still! But, on the way home from visiting with you, I twisted my ankle in my lace-up boots. I was in bed with my leg up for several days. I think Grammy felt sorry for me, so Saturday, Grammy and some of her friends gave me a Twenty-First Un-Birthday Makeover Party. Everything from hair, to makeup, to mani-pedis. Then, this morning, Grammy gave me her gift. A whole wardrobe of clothes. I got shirts, pants, a dress, shoes, purses, just all kinds of cute clothes. Oh… scarves, too!”
Stella asked questions. Awsty answered them, then continued the whole story with even more enthusiasm and details. Stella seemed spellbound. Her only interruptions were giggles when Awsty said something funny, or her eyes became really large when Awsty embellished details.
After talking and sharing a soda, Awsty looked up at the clock on Stella’s kitchenette wall. She had been there almost two and a half hours. She gasped when she saw the time.
“Stella, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stay so long! I only meant to stay a few minutes.”
“Honey, this has been the most fun two and a half hours I’ve ever had! I’m actually sorry you missed my grandson today. He comes to visit me every Monday afternoon, but he woke up with a headache this morning. Must have been really bad, ‘cause when I called him, he didn’t even pick up. Oh, I wish he could meet you. He’d like you, I just know it!”
“Well, maybe if I don’t have a job yet, next Monday I can come by and meet him and his wife.”
“Oh. Actually, Honey, he’s a widower.”
Awsty actually felt sad. She liked Stella, and was sure that with a mom like her, her son must be really nice too. She thought how sad it would be to lose your husband or wife. She wondered if he had any kids, but figured it probably wasn’t appropriate to ask something that would probably cause substantially more sadness to Stella when she ventured to answer.
“I’m so sorry. Well, maybe next Monday you and I together can cheer him up some.”
“That’d be lovely, Sweetie.”
Within a couple of minutes, they had hugged, and Awsty was out the door.
Turning the opposite way she should take to go home, Awsty headed down to Robert’s room. When he opened the door, he seemed terribly confused. She could tell he had no idea who she was.
“Hi, Robert. I’m Awsty. We met last Monday. I visited with you.”
He still looked confused.
“You shared two candy bars with me and told me about Ginny, your wife.”
Upon hearing Ginny’s name, he seemed to respond. “Come on in, Autry.”
She didn’t correct him.
“I just wanted to come by and say hi.” She walked to his couch and sat down where he motioned her to go.
“You knew my Ginny, did you? She did the funniest thing last night at dinnertime.”
Awsty knew she had died, but she didn’t correct him. Instead, she said, “Oh, tell me about it!”
And, he did. She listened carefully as he told her about dropping a dish when they were cleaning up after dinner, and what he said, and the nickname she gave him as a result. He told her how he snatched Ginny up, twirled her around, and gave her innumerable kisses. He went on to say that this morning she gave him a present, after going shopping. It was a winter scarf with a painted broken dish on it.
“Wait a minute. Let me go get it and show you.”
When he brought her the scarf to look at, she asked if she could try it on. She thought it might please him if she showed interest. When she took it off, he told her that he was allergic to cashmere, and asked if she’d like to have it.
“Are you sure?!”
“Yes, somebody should make use of it. And, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have it than you, Aggie.”
Before speaking, Awsty couldn’t help but think, Poor old thing just can’t remember my name!
“Thank you. I would love to have it. I really need to leave, Robert. But, maybe I’ll come back and visit you again soon.”
“Yes, come back. You didn’t get to meet Ginny today. I was hoping she’d get home while you were still here. You need to come back so you two can meet.”
Awsty looked quickly around the room. She grabbed a pencil and paper she saw on Robert’s old, worn desk in the corner that held a television and a few odds and ends. She asked if she could borrow the pencil and paper for a minute. When he said yes, she picked it up and wrote as she spoke the words out loud, “Ginny, Robert let me have your scarf today. He said you’d be glad that someone could use it, since he’s allergic to cashmere. Thank you both so much! Love, Awsty Truesdale “
“Here, Robert. Give this to Ginny when she gets home.”
As he followed her to the door, he said to her, “Please come back and visit us soon. Sometimes Ginny and I get a little lonely.”
She turned, gave him a hug, then said, “You have my promise.”
He gave her a large generous smile, then closed the door behind her.
As she walked toward the building’s exit door, heading toward Grammy’s, and fondling the scarf in her hands, she thought to herself, Robert, there are three things I know for a fact. One, I know the difference between cheap polyester and cashmere. Two, I will positively come back to visit you, as often as I can. And three, this has just been the best day ever!
Chapter 25
By eight-thirty a.m., Tuesday morning, Awsty was out the door. She had taken great care to make sure she looked professional in every way. Her outfit and accessories were well-coordinated, her hair and makeup were perfect, and Grammy had even dabbed her wrist pulse points with some old, but very expensive perfume. Awsty thought the name of it, Moonlight Kiss, sounded like something out of the eighteen hundreds. And, frankly, she was stunned when she hesitantly breathed in its fragrance. It was elegant! Well, Awsty had never had perfume before, nor had Regina, her mother, so she really wasn’t sure what qualified as good perfume. All she knew was that it smelle
d good enough to her that she took one of her wrists and distributed the scent even further on one side of her neck. During the arm movement to her neck, she had caught yet another waft of the delicious fragrance, and still thinking it to be glorious, she decided to repeat the action with her other wrist to the other side of her neck. She wasn’t really sure if wearing perfume was correct when searching for employment, but there was still enough of a rebelliousness in Awsty that she didn’t really care what anyone thought. She liked it. So there!
Grammy asked Awsty if she would let her pray for her before she left. Awsty cringed inside, but said ok, as long as it was short. After all, she needed to get out there and find a job today.
Grammy didn’t make a big production out of it. She simply took one of Awsty’s hands and bowed her head. She only offered a quick and concise thanks.
“Jesus, thank Ya fer helpin’ Awsty find a job. In Yer Name we pray. Amen.”
That’s it?! Wasn’t Grammy going to go on and on about every last thing she was thankful for, and every last thing she was troubled about, then finish it by pleading the blood of Jesus over Awsty and her lost soul?! And, how could she thank God for finding her a job when she didn’t even have one yet? Seriously?… Huh!
*****
She had made seven job-search stops. Two were fast food drive-thrus, two were regular restaurants where she applied for waitressing, and three were clerical positions. The clerical jobs were in an escrow office, and two dentist offices.
The two fast food drive-thrus told her they weren’t hiring. However, Awsty didn’t know that they turned her down because she looked too sharp, and spoke too well. As she walked away from those two places, they watched her walk off down the street, wondering why such a classy young woman would be seeking kitchen work and serving at a drive-thru window. Frankly, she intimidated the interviewers. She looked better than they did, and had better command of the English language. She’d probably be the one that would be promoted before them. And, they couldn’t take a chance on that happening.
The first actual sit-down restaurant asked to see Awsty’s resume. When she informed them this was her first job since high school so she didn’t have one, they were gracious, but nonetheless told her that they really wanted someone with experience.