Chapter 6 #3
“We love them too. They’re not immortal, did you know that?
They decided that they’ve been on this earth for about as long as they want and don’t want to hang out anymore.
I can understand that. I’m going to miss them when they pass, but I understand what they’re saying when they say that they only want to live for as long as they have.
” She wasn’t sure about being immortal either and said as much to Lance.
“I’ve been giving it some thought myself.
I don’t know that I want to outlive my friends.
Maybe once the kids start coming, I’ll feel differently, but right now I just want to live my life one day at a time and see where that gets me. ”
“That’s what I keep telling myself. And then I think of being around forever, I wonder how many Tuckers that will be in say a hundred years, when all of us are immortal.
That will be a lot of people just hanging around for no other reason other than someone decided that they should be immortal.
” She thought about something else. “What if my kids don’t want it either?
Will I have to watch them die when they get older?
I don’t think I could handle that at all.
To watch my children get old and die when I’m going to be around for the rest of the days in my life. ”
They both talked about immortality between calls. She asked him if he’d talked to anyone else about it, and he said that he’d mentioned it to Georgie. But they didn’t have any reason right now to not want it. She asked about his grandparents’ dying and how he was going to handle that.
“Not well. They raised us, as you know. My grandparents are all that I know as parents, and I don’t know what we would have done without them around when they took us in.
” He told her how his parents had dropped them off one Thanksgiving and never returned.
“They were selfish right up until they were killed by the pride. My mom was even upset about them having ten kids and having to raise them. She said that it wasn’t their fault.
I don’t know whose else it would be but theirs, do you? ”
“No. Kayce said that he didn’t remember them at all, that he was just a toddler when they were left behind.
” He said that he was old enough to remember how much he hated them when they’d done that to them.
Not to mention the grandparents. “They couldn’t have been very young when this happened.
I wonder what was on their mind when they were suddenly the parents of all of you.
They certainly made it work for you guys. ”
“They made it so we all got to go to college as well. That couldn’t have been easy on them either.
But there was always food on the table. Not always meat, but there was plenty to go around.
” She was glad that she’d gotten to know them and told Lance that.
“Yes, I am as well. Hopefully, they’ll be around for when the kids start coming, but I don’t know.
They’re well into their nineties now and are starting to look it. ”
“I love the stories that they tell about you boys growing up. Mostly it’s just little bits of trouble that you got into as kids, but they’re funny to know that you all were just like every little kid around.
” He said they had their fair share of cuts and bruises, too.
“I bet you did. Then, when Dakota got married, and then the other two, it made it a little bit easier around the household. I think that it’s amazing that you all still hang out together. Even the married ones.”
“We were all we had. It was hard for a person to go anywhere and not know one or two of us. Even when we had part-time jobs around the town we lived in, we’d see one another.
” Lance told her how they all took home their paychecks when they were still living at the home and made sure that there was money for fees and such.
“Grannie would make sure we had spending money too if we worked, but we were all so happy to have a place to be nightly that we’d hand over our checks without a word.
They raised us to be that generous with our money.
Like I said, family is all we had back then. ”
“Now look at you. You all still have each other and so much more. Coming here opened up a whole new life for all of you. One I bet you didn’t expect either.
” Lance said he didn’t know what he’d do without Georgie in his life.
“I know what you mean. I love Kayce so much, and I can’t believe how much I love just being around him.
He’s become my best friend, too. Plus all the others in the family, too. ”
At noon, Lance went to get them lunch. There were always vendor trucks around that they could go to, and today was no different.
When he came back with Cubans, a delicious sandwich made with roasted pork, ham, dill pickle, and Swiss cheese, and grilled on a specialized bread, she couldn’t believe how good it tasted.
When he ate all of his, she gave him what she couldn’t eat of hers. They were that good.
By three, they had taken a total of thirty calls each.
Most of them were going to have interviews on how they could get help.
While a few of them were calls like the one she’d had earlier, just people trying to scam a good charity out of some of their cash.
She even had one where a woman wanted to drop off her kids for the day so that she could go to work.
She said that’s what a charity could do for her today.
Of course, they didn’t take her up on her fine offer but told her that she could call the health department to see if they could help her out.
“Once, when I was working, I had a woman come to the door to ask about diapers. That’s a big thing for them to need.
They’re so expensive, and when she needed help, as you can imagine, she couldn’t wait for a week, as she needed them now.
I had her come by, and I gave her what money I had on me.
It wasn’t much, like thirty dollars. But it was enough with what she had to get some diapers.
” He smiled at the memory, and she joined him.
“I wouldn’t have done it if Parker hadn’t made it so that no one can enter this building with ill will in their hearts.
That sort of made me realize that she did indeed need the money, and I felt good about giving it to her. ”
“Would you do it again?” He shook his head, and she asked him why. “I mean, it turned out well for you and her. Why don’t we have a few bucks around so that we can do that when it’s needed?”
“Because word would get out and we’d be bombarded by people every day.
Can you imagine giving thirty bucks to every person who had a sad story?
I mean, that woman from earlier would have taken it and told all her friends how she’s scammed this place.
They’d be lined up out the door to get their thirty bucks.
I might be jaded, and I probably am, but I’ve learned that people as a whole are screwed up.
A person is all right and will stop to help you if you’re injured along the side of the road.
But get a group of people together, and they’ll pull out their cell phone to record what’s happening to you before calling 911.
” She told him she was sorry that he felt that way.
“I am too somedays. That’s why I blow glass and make love to my wife.
Because I’m afraid of getting so deep into thinking that the world is a terrible place that I’ll never come out of it.
Today I shouldn’t have come in, but I thought working with you would be fun.
And it has been, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve had a rough couple of weeks getting work done, and I’ve been suffering. ”
“Why don’t you go home? I can handle this for the next hour.
And if I can’t, they’ll just have to call back when they don’t get me.
” He asked her if she was sure. “I am. I’m not down in the dumps like you are, so I’m fine.
Go ahead and leave, and you’ll feel better once you get home with Georgie.
Go and have a good day, Lance. You deserve it. ”
When he finally left, she only had an hour to go.
The phone rang about a half dozen times, but she could handle it.
After locking up and heading home, she felt better, too.
She was going to talk to Kayce about Lance and see if he could not work the phones for a while.
He needed a break before it became too much for him.