She played it smart in the second restaurant. After the interviewer introduced himself, Awsty immediately told the interviewer that her resume was not quite finished, and that she would gladly drop it by the next day, if they would like. That mollified the interviewer temporarily. But by the end of their meeting, Awsty just felt in her bones that they would not be hiring her. She wasn’t sure what had changed the meeting from something positive to something so negative. Probably that whole no-experience thing!
Out of the three clerical positions, one said they would like her to return in two days along with her promised resume. That was one of the dentist’s offices. After talking to them, she felt like they really wanted her as a receptionist. They complimented her by telling her that she made a very good first impression, and that they were looking forward to looking over her resume. The dental hygienist actually walked her out the front door, shook her hand, and said, “I’m looking forward to seeing you again on Thursday. Let’s make it about ten a.m., ok?”
Awsty replied, “That sounds just fine. Thank you again. I’ll see you on Thursday. G’bye.”
“Bye, Awsty.”
That was Awsty’s last stop before lunch. She was exhausted from all the walking and the interviews. She had taken the opposite direction from two Mondays ago in circling around the street, having turned right when she exited the apartment building. Once she passed Grammy’s church, she crossed the street at the corner and started back the opposite direction she had been walking.
It was warm, or at least it seemed so to Awsty. Everywhere she looked around her, women were wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts. Even the men had walking shorts on with hang-out short-sleeve shirts. The cooler and more comfortable they looked, the hotter and more miserable she felt. Although she continued searching for businesses to inquire within, there weren’t any that she felt like she should bother with, so she just continued walking. Five blocks later, she was standing right in front of Trenton-Taylor Assisted Living Home.
Would Stella mind if she just dropped by to get a bottled water and get in out of the heat? She was just here yesterday. Was this overkill? Would Stella be glad to see her or wonder what kind of nightmare she had created for herself with this crazy young girl feeling like she could just drop by anytime she wanted to see her?
Normally, the very act of questioning herself would make her continue on down the street, but frankly, she was feeling faint from lack of liquids in her system and the heat of the sun beating down on her. She’d explain to Stella why she stopped by. She was a sweet little elderly lady, and she’d never make Awsty feel unwelcome. Besides, she wanted to talk with someone about something and Stella was as good as anyone.
*****
“Hi, Awsty! Wow! You’ve come to visit me again? This is just fantastic! I love it! Come in! Come in!”
Stella, astute woman that she was, noticed Awsty’s pallor and asked her if she was all right.
Before Awsty answered, though, Stella led her to the sofa, and lightly pushed her shoulders down, indicating that Awsty needed to sit down right then. She left her long enough to get her a glass of water.
“I’m ok, I guess. I’ve been walking block after block looking for work today, and it’s really pretty warm today. I forgot again to bring a bottled water along with me, and here I am ready to pass out.” She grinned at Stella, showing she was dramatizing her situation, but Stella knew there was more truth than fiction to it.
“Well, you’ve come at the perfect time!”
“I have?”
“Yes. I just made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I know I’ll only be able to eat half, mainly because I’m having some chips with my lunch today. I always overeat on the chips, so I never have enough room to finish the sandwich. The thing is, with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they have a tendency to get soggy overnight when kept, even when it’s in the fridge. Now I can insist you stay and help me by eating half of it. You really would be doing me a favor. Oh… I went down to the vending machine earlier this morning and got a Dr. Pepper, so we’ll split that too. Oh, this is just so much fun!”
Awsty just loved this dear old lady already. She was so warm and friendly, and Awsty felt downright loved when in her presence.
Stella offered a word of thanks to Jesus before they began their feast. Once the Amen had been pronounced, they both dug in. Awsty took a huge bite of her sandwich and at first gave Stella the “OK” sign. But, the more she chewed, it seemed to gain in volume. Unfortunately, she had already finished her glass of water before they started eating, and the half glass of Dr. Pepper only moments later, so when she began choking on the overly peanut-butter-laden bite, she had no way to get it down. Stella seemed completely unable to figure out what to do, and Awsty felt like she would never be able to take in another breath.
Grabbing her throat, Awsty motioned that she needed help and needed it fast. At that very moment, there was a knock at the front door. Stella yelled for whoever it was to come in since the door was unlocked, while she stood in front of Awsty, shaking her hands in helplessness. Since Awsty’s back was to the door, the visitor couldn’t see who she was, but immediately understood the situation. He grabbed her from behind, and using the Heimlich Maneuver, forced Awsty to spit up the offending food. It plopped on the floor with an unceremonious splat.
Awsty immediately took in a cleansing and much-needed breath. Slightly embarrassed, but gratefully relieved, she turned around to thank her savior. Her shock knew no bounds, nor did his, when she found herself staring directly into the face of Pastor Greg.
“Awsty?!”
“Pastor Greg?!”
“You two know each other?!” asked Stella, with no small amount of surprise.
Awsty had regained her breathing ability, but had totally lost her composure. She was beyond embarrassed. She was totally and completely mortified. She looked down to see the masticated piece of grossness she had just spewed on Stella’s floor. She didn’t know what to say to either of them, nor did she want to even converse with either of them.
“I… uh… I… I’m so sorry… I…” Awsty sputtered.
Pastor Greg, on the other hand, took command of the situation, and knew exactly what to say.
“Awsty, are you all right? Can you breathe ok? Here, sit down,” he said, then took her by the shoulder and assisted her in sitting back down on the chair she had been using before the incident.
“I’m… I’m ok.”
After a minute of breathing, and total quiet reigning within the room, Stella realized Awsty was going to be fine. She turned to her grandson and simply said, “Thank you, Greg. I had no idea what to do. I’m so thankful you came by. You’re a lifesaver! Your headache must have finally gone away. I didn’t expect to see you today.”
Awsty seemed to be forgotten for a few moments, which was just fine with her. She sat back in her seat, simply breathing and watching Stella and Greg interact. He hugged Stella and said his head was fine today. Well, there was just a hint of it left, but not enough to keep him from visiting his most favorite grandmother in the whole world. He grabbed her at this point, threw his arms around her, and gave her a couple of kisses on her forehead. He asked how his gorgeous grandmother was doing today. They just conversed so easily and pleasantly that Awsty forgot momentarily about her choking mishap.
A few minutes later, however, the attention shifted back to her. Pastor Greg spoke to her first.
“Are you sure you’re ok now? That must have been so frightening for you. I’m so grateful that I was here to help.”
Stella knew Awsty had to be totally embarrassed in front of her grandson and her, and that’s what prompted her next comments.
“When Greg here was about ten years old…” she began.
“Grandma, no, don’t tell that! You promised you’d never bring it up again!”
“Well, I lied. Awsty needs a bit of encouragement right now, and I intend to give it to her.”
“Grandma, really… this isn’t the
time.”
“It’s exactly the time! If you don’t want to hear it, don’t listen.”
Awsty could see Pastor Greg’s shoulders slump as he eased himself back into the chair in dread of Awsty hearing the story. He looked down as he fiddled with his hands.
Stella resumed. But, as she talked, she rose from her seat, took a paper towel, scooped up the food glop still on the floor. She had discarded it in the wastebasket before Awsty even had the time to be humiliated.
“As I was saying, Greg was about ten years old,” Stella said as she returned to her chair, “when he fell madly in love with a little girl his age at church. Her parents and Greg’s mom and dad were all friends and decided one Sunday morning to go out to lunch together after morning worship services. Greg was so excited. Two or three times as his folks, he and I were driving to the restaurant, he leaned over to me in the back seat of the car and asked me if I thought she was pretty. Of course, I said she was absolutely adorable, which she was.
“Anyway, we were all seated in a huge booth at the restaurant. Greg had somehow wrangled it so that he and the little girl… what was her name?” Stella asked Greg.
“Belinda,” he grudgingly whispered, as he crossed his arms, fully leaned back, and extended his legs straight out, crossing them at the ankle. This had always been his I-don’t-have-any-control-over-this-do-I posture.
Awsty was beginning to take an interest in the story, especially when it kept the focus off her.
“Everything was going well. The adults were visiting with each other, the two kids,” pointing to Greg, “were laughing and talking, when Greg started choking on a bite of his meal. I don’t remember what he was eating that day… but I remember exactly what happened next.
“Greg started grabbing at his throat, and at once we all realized he was in real distress.
“Belinda started yelling at all of us for someone to do the Heimlich Maneuver on him. Unfortunately, none of us had the presence of mind to do it. So, Belinda pushed him off the end seat, jumped out after him, and grabbed him from behind. Even as little as she was, she grabbed him with interlocked hands around his rib cage and started jerking the life out of him. Maybe four or five jerks later, that mouthful came flying out of his mouth and landed on the table.
“I don’t know if it was the shock, fear, or humiliation, or what, but when we all looked at Greg’s face, he was looking down at his pants.”
Stella started laughing at this point, as she looked squarely into Greg’s embarrassed face. He began shaking his head and just looking at her as she betrayed the private event from his past.
At least a minute passed without anyone speaking. When Awsty realized why he was looking down, she burst out laughing. It wasn’t even a girlie or cute feminine laugh. It was a combination scream-laugh that almost exploded from her.
“You wet your pants?! In front of the girl? You did, didn’t you? You. Wet. Your. Pants!” She covered her mouth with both hands as she doubled over in laughter. Stella’s voice joined hers, and although he tried not to, Greg burst out laughing as well.
Chapter 26
“My stomach hurts. I’ve got to stop laughing. Somebody say something sad so I can stop,” Awsty laughed out.
“Death, famine… uh… warts!” offered Pastor Greg.
“Warts? Did you just say warts?!” Awsty asked, as she grinned at Pastor Greg.
“Well, I was in a pinch. I couldn’t think of anything else!” offered Pastor Greg in reply.
Stella had long since stopped talking with the two young people. She just sat back on the sofa and smiled while she watched them interact. She knew Greg would like her. She was just the most adorable thing she’d ever seen.
At Pastor Greg’s warts contribution, Awsty started in a whole new round of laughter. But, it was during this round of hilarity that she glanced up at the clock. Three-thirty-seven p.m. Her laughter came to a sudden halt. It was like she had been catapulted harshly back into reality.
“Oh, I had no idea! I had no intention of spending this much time again, Stella. And, I still have something I need to discuss with you before I leave,” Awsty said to her already-dear friend.
“Oh, should I let you two ladies alone? Grandma, you weren’t expecting me anyway, so I can leave and give you two some time to talk. I really just wanted to come see you and tell you that you’re still my girl!”
“Oh, no, Pastor Greg. You’re welcome to stay. In fact, maybe you can help too.”
Awsty began filling Stella and Greg in on her current job hunt, and about the dentist’s office that wanted her to return on Thursday, with her resume.
“The problem is, I’ve never done a resume before, and I don’t have a clue how, or even where to begin. I was hoping maybe you,” she looked directly at Stella, “could help me with it, or give me some instruction on how to get started.”
Before Stella could even open her mouth, Pastor Greg jumped in.
“Awsty, I’m sure no expert, but I’ve done plenty of resumes in my life. I could help you with one.”
“Really?! Oh, I would be so grateful! I don’t have much time, though. I need to take it with me to Thursday’s interview. Wow! I have a second interview!”
“Well, the library is just a few doors down,” as he pointed in the general direction, “and across the side street. If you have time, we can walk there and get started. They have a couple of really good how-to books on resumes that I used myself years ago. We could take a look at them for reference and decide together how to make yours unique and powerful. What d’ya say?”
Awsty looked a little hesitant, just as she had the day she met Stella out on the lawn and had been invited to come to Stella’s quarters. Stella recognized the look immediately. Without hesitation she offered to Awsty, “Afraid, since you don’t have the ‘eviscerating nails’ anymore?” Pause. “Don’t worry, I can vouch for him. You’ll be safe.”
Awsty smiled at Stella. She remembered their conversation that first day.
“Well, if you can vouch for him, I guess I’m willing to take a chance. I guess it’s safe, since we’d be going to the library, not a restaurant. I don’t know how to do the Heimlich Maneuver… yet.”
*****
“Yes. Give me a minute to write down the standard stuff that goes first. I’d check this book out, but I’d need to apply for a library card, and it has to be done by ten a.m., Thursday morning,” Awsty said quiety.
“You know,” Pastor Greg simply stated, “you could probably find all this same information online at home.”
“Yes,” Awsty stated, “but my Grammy doesn’t have a computer, much less an internet connection. I’ll invest in those things after I find work, but for now, the library is my only source. Pastor Greg, if you feel like you need to get going, I sure do understand. We’ve been here almost two hours, and you’ve been more help than I thought anyone could be. I can finish up now that you’ve gotten me started.”
“No way. I’m nothing, if not a man of perseverance. I feel like I owe it to you anyway, after traumatizing you with the ‘warts talk.’”
Awsty grinned, and even a small giggle escaped her lips.
“I hate to say this to a clergyman, but you’re a mess. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard people talking about it behind my back. So, I made a choice a long time ago. Either I could hurt them and become a criminal, or forgive them and become a pastor.”
“So, there was nothing in between? Just criminal or pastor?” Awsty kept a sober face as she asked, implying that she thought this to be a serious conversation.
“No, just those two options. That’s all that was open to me.”
“I’m glad you chose the second option.”
“Yeah, me too.”
*****
“I think maybe you should call your grandmother and tell her you’re not coming home just yet, since your resume isn’t quite finished,” offered Pastor Greg.
“Oh, I forgot all about her. Boy, we’ve rea
lly been focused, haven’t we?” Awsty responded.
“What’s her number?” asked Pastor Greg, retrieving his cell phone from his pocket.
“Oh… yeah. It’s…” And she gave him the number, saying it twice.
After he handed the phone to Awsty, she spoke with her grandmother. Toward the end of her call, she said, “Yes, it’ll be after dark, but Grammy, the lights are so bright on this main street that it stays almost like daytime. I promise to be very safe. “
Awsty was silent for a moment, but finished by saying, “No, I’ll grab some of the leftovers out of the fridge when I get home. Thank you, though. I love you, Grammy. I have so much to tell you. I love you too,” after which she hung up and returned the phone to Pastor Greg.
“She worries about me.”
“She should. You’re worth worrying about.” For some reason, this made Awsty blush. She’d never heard a minister talk so familiarly with his congregants. It seemed weird. But, weird in a nice way.
“Now that she won’t be sitting by the door waiting for you, I think we should take a little break. Actually, I think we’re through with what we need to do here. The library is really just a starting place. We need to talk in depth about how to present some things on the resume, and they kind of frown on talking in libraries.
“So, I thought maybe we could go to Mexicale Rose, get some tacos or something, and sit on their patio. We can get a bite to eat and discuss how to finish up your resume. And, since it’s only three doors away, we can walk there. Sound ok?”
“Oh, well… I don’t…” replied Awsty. The pause was a long one. Finally, Pastor Greg broke in.
“You don’t what?”
“Pastor Greg, I have no money until I get a job. But, I have no problem waiting until I get home later to eat. There are plenty of leftovers at Grammy’s. And, we can just as easily sit at the benches in the front lawn at the assisted living home while we finish the resume. That would be fine. Really.”
“Well then, how in the world am I supposed to prove to you that I can eat in public without choking or wetting myself?”
She giggled… yet again… then said, “Ok, you win. Wow!”
“Wow what?” Pastor Greg asked.
“Wow! Now that I know you’re paying, I’m starving to death! You’ve never seen the quantities I can eat when I’m hungry. Let’s see… three tacos, two burritos, nachos with both cheese and beans on top, and… a grande Diet Pepsi, because I am watching my figure, of course.”