4. Theresa
That horrible excuse for a neighbor had no idea what he was talking about. No one was taking advantage of anyone on that dating app. All the men and women knew what they were getting into. The extensive screening process assured that. No one could sign up for the dating service without going through an interview, which included evidence of wealth for the men and trophy-wife potential for the women.
Theresa passed that part with flying colors. Intelligent, thanks to her years studying late at night to pass countless nursing school exams. Gorgeous, at least with the right amount of make-up applied. Short, but closer to average height with the right pair of heels. And although no one would call her thin, lots of men were looking for a woman with a few extra pounds. She had that, as long as she stuck to her regular kickboxing classes at the studio down the street.
Fortunately, the dating service didn”t care about family history. She wasn”t about to volunteer that information, either. Besides, her mother only appeared when she was sober enough to remember she had daughters, and her twin sister disappeared years ago.
Which was exactly why she had to marry rich. Private investigators and the best drug rehab facilities carried a high price tag.
So that nosy, partying, better-than-everyone-else neighbor of hers could mind his own business and stop judging her for knowing what she wanted and going after it, aggressively.
There’d been no sign of him all week, and with any luck, there’d be no sign of him again tomorrow morning when she spent another Saturday engaged in her version of speed dating. One rich man after another, short date after short date, until she could find someone who had the potential to be a good husband.
But first, she had another busy Friday evening at the soup kitchen.
She grabbed her purse, adjusting the newest plant in her small plant collection so that it was closer to the speaker that played quiet music. An online article said that plants liked opera music, and she didn’t want her plants to have to listen to any hard music if her partying neighbor had another gathering tonight.
The newest plant was a small succulent that looked dead, ready to wither away. The store had given up on it and placed it on the shelf for plants marked at a steep discount, final sale only, highlighting the problem with the world. People gave up on living creatures too easily, ready to give up all hope on others and throw them away. This plant could be saved though. It just needed time and help. And a little music. Satisfied that the newest plant was in a position to benefit from the baritone opera singer’s voice that came from the speaker, she picked up her phone and tapped the screen a few times to order a rideshare car.
Yes, her only friend, Emily, would say it was stupid to meet random guys in a public place for a date. She”d say it”s even worse to plan a night trip to a section of town where poverty reigned and daily survival had to be earned. And she”d probably try to get Theresa committed if she knew that she was doing it without her car. But her car was in the shop, and she wouldn’t miss her night at the soup kitchen.
She couldn”t miss any chance that could help her find her sister.
Theresa stepped outside of her apartment building and wrapped her jacket around her tighter as a measure of protection against the chill winter air. A car pulled up to the curb with a matching license plate to the one specified in the rideshare app. She pulled open the back door and climbed into the seat, rubbing her arms.
“Thanks for picking me up. Can you verify your name?”
“James.”
She closed the car door, buckled the seatbelt, and then looked closer at the man in the front seat. Theresa gasped, recognizing her driver. “You aren”t James! What are you doing here, Derek? “
He turned on his blinker and pulled out into traffic. “I go by my middle name, which is Derek. The rideshare company refers to me by my first name, James, since it”s the name on my driver’s license.”
“Fine.” Theresa grimaced. Of course her neighbor would be the one to pick her up. A few minutes of silence passed before she couldn”t handle it anymore. “I”m not shallow.”
“I never said you were.”
“And I don”t take advantage of people.”
“You just send security guards after people who invite you to a party and offer free food and alcohol.”
“If you”d been considerate of the people in your building, there wouldn”t have been a reason to call Kirk.”
He was silent for a minute, like he was debating whether to ask something. When he spoke again, his tone was gentler. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I don”t know about you, but I don”t like having enemies. And I don”t want to spend each evening wondering if another cop is going to show up just because I”m listening to music.”
“I”m fine just being neighbors. We don”t have to get along. We can ignore each other and live our separate lives.”
“I prefer to know the people I share the elevator with.”
“The building doesn’t have an elevator.” She didn”t need people watching her movements, judging her from the safety of their apartments. Especially once she found her sister. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of her teenage years, where people who were supposed to be friends turned into gossips and abandoned her as soon as her twin started down the wrong path.
She”d learned her lesson well. Friends weren”t worth their weight in dried up, crusty nail polish containers.
“We can make a truce. You stay out of my business, and I”ll stay out of yours.”
“No more cops showing up at my apartment?”
“No more late-night drunken parties?”
“I like to socialize. Better than spending a night alone binging on tv.”
“Then I can”t guarantee that the police will stay away.”
He seemed unfazed. “You can”t be that uptight.”
“I”m not uptight.” Theresa uncrossed her arms and tried to settle in to a more relaxed posture. His eyes flitted up to the rearview mirror and made brief contact with hers. “Fine. I had a bad day and I don”t like loud parties.”
“Apology accepted. How”d you convince a cop to show up, anyway? I”d think they had better things to do with their time.”
“Let”s say I called in a favor.” The police officer often monitored the streets around the soup kitchen and was one of the few people who knew about her search for her sister. They often crossed paths during her wanderings around the city, and she’d met his wife a few times. “And I didn”t apologize,” she added under her breath.
“I”m hosting another party tomorrow. Should be a smaller group, mostly a few people from my old neighborhood. Want to stop by?”
“Why would you invite me?”
“I like having friends instead of enemies.”
“That’s how we”re different. I don’t have friends.”
“We don”t have to be enemies.”
“I don”t do the whole ”friend” thing.”
“I thought the girl at the coffee shop last weekend, Ashley, said that you were friends with her cousin.”
“That”s an exception.”
“Well, make an exception again tomorrow and come over. Hang out. Maybe you”ll have a good time. It can”t be any worse than having coffee with an old guy who wants to get in your pants.”
Theresa stared out the window without responding. Street lamps were turning on at the corners, and dusk was finally winning the fight, turning the city into a gray, cloudy day to night. A few people who looked like they had no home to go to for the night were taking over a small section off an alley near where their car was stopped at the traffic light. Theresa looked closely to see if any of the people, covered in layers of clothing to fight off the chill, resembled her twin.
“Ok, fine, I deserve the silent treatment. That was rude of me, and I apologize, ok? Turns out that I know Ashley’s boyfriend, Michael. Helped him find his last apartment, and we hung out a few times since.”
“I’m going to give you a bad rating on the app. You talk too much.”
The traffic light turned green, and Derek took a left onto the street that housed the soup kitchen.
“Are you sure you put in the right address? This street looks rough. Want me to turn around?”
Theresa refused to look toward the front of the car, not wanting to see his eyes in the rearview mirror again. “I know how to put an address in the app.”
He let out a low whistle and pulled up to the curb, blinker on, stopping a few feet away from the entrance to the soup kitchen. “What is this place?”
The bars covering the windows of the building and several of the surrounding buildings had intimidated her at first, too. The streets in this section of town were different from the streets near her apartment. But after she started volunteering here four years ago, she stopped seeing the bars, the broken glass, the layers of dirt that covered the tattered clothing worn by some of the local residents. She just saw the familiar faces of people who had fallen off the radar and lived in some of the harshest conditions.
“I”m fine. Thanks for the ride.” Theresa opened the car door, wanting to get out as soon as possible. No one needed to know where she went in her free time, or why.
“Wait.” Something in the tone of his voice made her hesitate and turn back to him. “How are you getting home later?”
“I”ll call another ride.”
“Do you have somewhere safe to wait?”
She pointed to the building. “I”ll wait inside. It”s fine.”
He didn”t look convinced. “What time are you done?”
“I”m done when I”m done.” She paused and waited until his eyes were focused on her. “Look, don’t try to be my friend. Don’t show up on any more of my dates. And don’t try to watch out for me. I don’t need your judgment or your opinion on how I live my life.” She jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind her and not looking back until she reached the door to the soup kitchen. When she finally looked back, Derek”s car hadn”t moved from its spot. She made a shooing motion with her hand.
Their entire conversation about becoming friends was stupid and pointless. Why would he bother to invite her to a party when he didn’t know her and spent more time annoying her than anything else? Even if he was as rich as the men she was meeting on the app, she wouldn’t give him the time of day. Guys like him were too nice. And being nice was a sign of weakness.
He probably lived his entire life in the comfort of a stable family with enough food each night. Never spent a night dealing with the uglier sides of reality: addiction, homelessness, hunger.
He’d never be able to hold his own. Never be able to walk with her down the broken streets, looking for her sister. He’d become an obstacle standing in her path to her family. He’d try to convince her not to go out, try to convince her that her family’s problems were not her own. But they were. In a matter of time, he’d discover how broken she was, how people around her struggled, and how people like her didn’t deserve happiness until she could make things right with her family. She needed to find her sister and her mother. Get them off the streets, away from their addictions, into rehab, and help her family become whole again.
That”s why she needed a rich husband to pay for everything. And why she could never be friends—or anything else—with a man like Derek.
Her back achedfrom standing on the concrete floor and passing out scoops of mashed potatoes by the time a friendly voice greeted her on the other side of the serving line.
“Was hoping I”d see you tonight.” Ed”s voice crackled as he spoke. His knitted hat was pulled down far over his forehead, covering his grey whisky hair.
“I promise you I”m only serving today. I didn”t cook the potatoes.”
“Wouldn”t care if you burnt them again.”
Theresa held up the spoon of potatoes. “One scoop or two?”
“Two. Word on the street is that your sister is back in town.”
“You tell me that about once a month.” Val hadn”t actually been seen in the city for months. The last time Theresa found out that Val was around, someone had arranged for Val to meet Theresa in the parking lot of the hospital after her shift ended one day. Unfortunately, Theresa had missed her chance to see Val.
Ashley, the woman who’d spied on her blind dates at the coffee shop last week, had blocked her exit by making out with her new boyfriend in the stairwell leading to the exit. Even worse, Ashley’s new boyfriend had rejected her flirtations before he and Ashely started dating, before she’d sworn off men her age. Interrupting a make-out session with a man who’d turned her down would be humiliating. She had to find a different way out of the hospital, and by the time she got to the parking lot, her sister was gone.
Now, any hope she had of finding her sister grew dimmer each day. “You want peas tonight?” she asked Ed, motioning to the container next to her.
After she spooned a generous portion of vegetables onto Ed”s plate, she spent the next forty-five minutes serving the others in the long line. Twenty people still waited for their food when she turned and called back to the kitchen area.
“Need more potatoes and peas, please!” She waited for about thirty seconds before excusing herself from the serving line. She entered the food prep area only to see the volunteers washing and drying large cooking pots.
Cherie, the supervisor for the night, sat at the side counter, bent over. Theresa weaved her way over to her.
“We need more food for the line. I”m out of potatoes and peas. There”s only a few more servings of meatloaf left and barely enough gravy for those servings.”
Cherie let out a quiet groan. “How many people are still in line?”
“About twenty when I came back here, but I”m sure there”s more now.”
“Every month, it”s getting worse. Donations are down, and I can”t find any more. I barely have enough time to come here on the weekends.” Theresa knew that Cherie often worked overtime at her job as a hairstylist. “We need restaurant sponsors. Grocery store sponsors too. Heck, we need any sponsor, as long as they”ll help us get more food or money to buy food.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing left to serve tonight?” Theresa didn”t want to see the look of disappointment on the faces of those waiting for a warm meal.
The look in Cherie”s eyes confirmed it. “I”ll go out there and tell them myself. It”s the least I can do at this point.”
Theresa followed Cherie back to the serving line and started cleaning up her station while hungry people walked away, either to sit at a table in the warmth until closing time or back to the familiar night chill. After a few minutes, the hairs on the back of Theresa”s neck started to rise. An unfamiliar woman openly stared at her from one of the tables in the back.
She shook her head and returned to work, helping with the cleanup in the kitchen. By the time the last serving spoon was returned to its place and the crumbs were swept off the dining room floor, very few people remained aside from the volunteers.
Theresa walked back to the dining room, phone in hand, to call a ride. She stopped short when the woman who”d stared at her earlier got up and walked over.
“It”s like I”m seeing a ghost.” The woman stared up at Theresa, speaking in a quiet voice that was slightly slurred. Her eyes had a glassy look but bore holes right through Theresa. “You cleaned up well. Even gained some weight. Good for you.” She turned and started walking away.
“Wait! You recognize me.”
The woman stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Of course, I recognize you, Val.” She shook her head and muttered something that sounded like cursing under her breath. “Don”t go acting all high and mighty. Don”t pretend like you didn’t see me earlier this evening and ignore me. Guess you changed after getting cleaned up. Would have thought better of you.”
“I”m not Val.” Theresa put her hand on the woman”s shoulder to get her to turn around again but immediately withdrew as the woman glared. “I”m not Val, but I”m her sister. We”re twins. Identical twins. Did you see her today?”
She narrowed her eyes. “That”s a load of bull. You come to the soup kitchen and act like you”re something special just because you”re on the other side now. Don”t go making up lies.”
“It”s the truth. Look.” Theresa pulled her phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen a few times. “Here”s a picture of us. From high school. And here”s another, from about three years ago.”
The woman’s eyes widened at the second picture. Theresa tried not to visualize the picture in her mind. It was too painful. Val looked like she”d lived decades longer than her the last time they”d been in the same space together.
“She never told me she had a twin sister.”
“I want to help her, but I can”t find her. When did you last see her? Do you know where she is or how I can find her?”
“It”s no use. The Val I know won”t accept help from anyone.”
“I’m her sister!” Didn”t the woman have any clue as to how much she wanted to get her sister back? How she”d do anything she could to help? “Do you know how I can find her?”
“Nah. Haven”t seen her for about a year. Good luck, though. And maybe convince them to serve some lasagna next week. Been craving that lately.”
The woman walked away with barely any acknowledgment that she”d stabbed Theresa in the heart with the false hope that she”d know where to find her sister.
Only after Theresa wiped her eyes with the back of her hands did she see a familiar eavesdropping man standing at the back of the room, looking overly interested in a notice posted on the bulletin board.
She marched over and stood next to Derek, refusing to make eye contact. “I told you I”d get my own ride home.”
“I was in the neighborhood.” He turned to face her, but she refused to look. “I didn”t mean to eavesdrop, but?—”
“Then act like you didn”t hear a thing. Let”s go.”