Chapter 4
Passing through the main hall and commons, people are already gathering at the long tables for the family-style meal. Seeing folks who came in with nothing finally having a warm place to sit down, eat, and get taken care of brings a genuine sense of pride.
Growing up, my mom was always working herself to the bone just to make ends meet, and my childhood was practically soundtracked by my parents going at each other's throats over every single dime.
"Chaquille, you know damn well I can't handle all these finances alone!
" my mom had screamed in our cramped kitchen, slamming a fistful of past-due notices onto the counter.
"You're the one who said we should pool our money together because you're the man of the house!
I was supposed to be following your lead, and you can't even remember to pay the fucking bills?
What kind of shit is that? What kind of man forgets to pay the bills? "
"I'm tired, woman!" my dad had shouted back, throwing his hands up after a grueling shift.
"I asked you to handle them for one week!
It's kind of hard to keep the bills paid when you're constantly taking cash out of the account.
I set those damn things on autopay. If they're not going through, it's because you're overdrawing the balance! "
"That's some bullshit! The only time I overdrew was after the bills were supposed to clear! And don't act like I'm the only one draining the account. You're out here robbing Peter to pay Paul!"
"What the hell do you want me to do? I can't make cash appear out of thin air! I'm working my ass off every day. You're the one spending the money. I'm not the one who put us in debt!"
Something heavy went flying across the kitchen, crashing against the wall. "How dare you! You're the one who had problems before, and I put us in debt to dig us out of your goddamn mess and take care of Melody! Not to mention half that money you're sneaking off to spend on your fucking baby mama!"
Shaking my head, I push the memory straight out of my mind. It was a constant war back then, and toward the end, their fighting was pretty much all they had left. Not like any of it matters now.
Heading down the corridor toward the annex classrooms, the sound of kids chattering in the workshops drifts out.
"Melody!"
A small streak of energy comes running down the hall. Ryan throws his arms around me before I can even set the carrier down.
"Hey, Ryan!"
Scooping him up, I swing him around in a quick circle before setting him back on his feet.
Ryan looks up, grinning from ear to ear. "I got an A on my spelling test today! I spelled all ten words right, even mountain and dinosaur!"
"That's really awesome, but, I mean, I'm not, like, surprised or anything because I already knew you were a genius," I tell him, bobbing my head and looking up at the ceiling dramatically.
Ryan gives my arm a playful shove. "You did not!"
"I did TOO!"
Ryan lunges forward and starts tickling my sides, and I immediately dig my fingers in to tickle him right back. The other kids at the tables start cracking up, jumping out of their chairs to watch the chaos.
The teacher, a woman in her mid-thirties, claps her hands with an amused grin.
"Alright, alright, alright. Let's calm down, everyone.
Miss Melody, you're gonna have to come back at a later time.
" She puts on a sing-song, mock-stern voice, but the hint of joy in it makes it obvious she isn't actually upset.
"Sorry, sorry," I say with a laugh, stepping back with my hands up. "See, you guys always get me in trouble."
"Hi, Melody!" a few of the other kids chorus from their desks.
"Bye, guys. Have fun! Don't give your teacher any problems, okay?"
Heading further down the hall, I make my way toward the lounge where a group of hospice vets are visiting.
It's a special day-trip program out to the community center that I personally paid extra to arrange with their care facilities.
Leaving these older folks who worked their asses off and served their country stuck staring at the same four walls all day without any family to visit just isn't fair.
Covering the transportation and fees so they can come over here, watch movies, or sit for story time was a no-brainer.
Pulling the paperback out of my pocket, I push through the double doors into the sunny room.
"Hi, guys!"
Walking around the rows of chairs, I give everyone a warm hug, even the ones who aren't completely all there anymore. The old man who used to be totally grumpy toward me has been on his best behavior lately compared to when I first started coming by.
Setting the travel carrier down on a low table beside my chair, Miss Daphne immediately leans forward from her walker.
"Oh, you brought them? Can I hold them?" she asks, her shaky voice filled with excitement.
"Of course you can. Just don't let them escape."
"Oh, I'm not gonna let them escape," she smiles, cupping her frail hands gently near the mesh. "I had little mice back when I was a little girl, and they were the prettiest things ever."
"I know they were. They must have been," I tell her with a laugh, winking at the folks across from us. "You must have loved them so much."
The grumpy old man barks across the room, "You can talk about the mice later! You done talked about that story seventeen times!"
"Now, that's not nice," I scold playfully, leaning down to wrap an arm around him and plant a quick kiss on his leathery cheek. "We're all gonna be nice to each other today, because guess what I have?"
A few of the older folks look up, the grumpy man lets out a low groan, and a couple of others just stare out the window, looking out of it.
"I've got the last chapter of the book!"
A scratchy voice from the back calls out, "Thank goodness! I've been waiting."
"Exactly!"
"Thought I was gonna die before you finished the damn book," he mutters.
"Really, Alvin?" A loud laugh escapes me as I flip the paperback open. "Well, you better not die before I finish it. This is the last chapter, so at least stay awake!"
About an hour goes by.
Some of the old people have fallen asleep, but most of them are still locked in, waiting for the ending of the book. Turning the page, I love the way the paper feels and sounds as my middle finger catches the edge.
"We're on the home stretch, guys."
"Thank God," an old man mutters from the back.
Inhaling deeply, I notice Miss Patricia step up to the doorway. My eyes instantly brighten seeing the old lady standing there, smiling back at me.
"So Cherish knew that no matter what, the werewolves would be fine," I continue in my reading voice.
"But she knew her life was very separate from theirs, and there was nothing that she could do to change the lot she'd been given in life.
She was a chimera, and chimeras cannot live among werewolves.
It's forbidden. She did all that she could to save them and him.
He had done all he could to save her. The war was finally over, and a new beginning was starting.
And as she walked to her little cottage, the small little nook beyond the lily pad river and the purple mushroom forest and the cliff of doom...
she laid in her den, stretched out her arms, curled into her tail, and then winced. "
I make a little chimera growling noise, reading to these old people just like they're babies, mostly because that's the exact way I like stories being read to me.
All at once, a memory hits me out of nowhere.
"And then the caterpillar ate the blade of grass," Daniel had said, "and with every inch it took—"
"Hahaha! Inch."
"Stop it," Daniel said, giving me a look. "Or I'm not gonna tell you any more stories."
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"With every inch he took, he got bigger and bigger until he turned into..." Daniel paused, waiting for me to finish the end of the story, always loving it when I chimed in.
"A dinosaur."
"That's exactly what I was gonna say. How did you know that?"
"Because that's what I want," I laughed, lying on my left side and snuggling into him while he lay on his back, huddling over me.
"You're so spoiled. Do you know that?"
"I know. Right?"
"Anyway, it turned into a dinosaur, and then the dinosaur grew wings and burned the entire village down."
My eyes went wide open as I started laughing so hard. "What kinda ending is that?"
"That's what you get."
"Oh my god, what did I do? Why would you kill all those people? They were his friends!"
I was laughing so hard that I was crying, and then Daniel was laughing right along with me.
Coming back to the present, I have tears in my eyes, just remembering how nice things were back then and how much like kids we were.
Sniffling at the memory, I take a deep breath to finish the story.
"Then she grimaced and pushed… then pushed, and from out of her came three chimera children. One of them bearing a striking resemblance… to Eros, the black, silvery fur, the long snout, and the howl… of a wolf."
Snapping the book shut, very sparse claps from three weak old people sound across the room. Miss Daphne barely lifts one hand while keeping her other one resting against the gerbil cage.
"Hoorah," she says in her brittle, bird-like voice. "That was well done. Oh my gosh. Well done! Such a well-written story. You did a good job."
"Well, I didn't write the story," I tell her with a smile. "I was just reading it."
"Oh, I know, dear. You told me how a long time ago, you actually went to the president's house and you told him this grand story. And he gave you $1,000,000, and now look at where you are."
Smiling, I get up, take the carrier, and lean down to wrap Miss Daphne in a hug, kissing the top of her head. The woman still has a thick, full head of dark gray hair.
"You're so sweet, Miss Daphne."
Miss Daphne really is the sweetest. The old Italian woman has dementia, and she comes out with the wildest delusions of grandeur claims ever.
Even though I don't feed into it, having patience and understanding with her is easy for me to do.
The woman is living her best life somewhere in her head, and if that's how she spends the last years of her life, happy and at peace, then that's all I could ever ask for.
"Will you come again to tell the story of the chimeras?" Miss Daphne asks.
"I could tell another story, but I think Alvin over there is sick and tired of hearing this one."
Looking over toward Miss Patricia at the door, I give her a grin before turning back to the room.
"Alright, guys. I'll see you soon. Let me come hug all of you."
I do a goofy little penguin walk around the room, hugging and kissing each one of them before picking up the carrier again.
"I'll bring them in to see you again, okay?"
"Oh, that's if I'm still here," Miss Daphne remarks.
"Well, if you're still here, I'm sure they'll love you to hold them again."
"No. We wouldn't," Germany mutters from inside the cage.
Walking out into the hallway with Miss Patricia, the older woman turns to me with a warm smile.
"Thank you so much, Melody. The food drive was really successful. And by the way, Alexander told me to tell you that he got his first job."
"Oh my god, he did?!"
"Yes," Miss Patricia nods. "And he's no longer homeless. He's staying with another guy that also rented his first apartment."
"Did you vet that guy?"
"He's clean," she assures me.
"I'm so excited for him! Oh my gosh, it makes me feel SO good!" I express, tears almost welling up for real. "What was his job?"
"He got hired as a night-shift janitor over at the medical clinic," she tells me.
Clapping my hands together, I grin. "That's amazing! Oh my gosh, I really hope he stays clean."
Miss Patricia walks beside me down toward the cafeteria area, chatting about the schedule.
"Well, we still have the AA meetings running here as usual, and the local church is holding a few of their community programs in the west room too.
" She pauses, turning her eyes to mine. "You're doing so much good, Melody. I'm very, very proud of you."
"Don't be proud of me, Miss Patricia. It's what all of us are supposed to do."
"No," Miss Patricia insists. "Most young people are selfish. I know I was when I was your age."
"I can't ever see you being selfish in any lifetime at any age. And what are you talking about? You are my age!"
Laughing, I throw an arm around her side and give her a squeeze. We both share a laugh as we make our way into the cafeteria, and for a while, a genuine sense of happiness carries me through.
Sitting down at the tables, I spend time talking with several residents and families, just having the time of my life listening to their stories.
But after a couple of hours, the exhaustion starts creeping in, getting tired of keeping a smile constantly plastered on my face.
Every ounce of love gets drained straight out of me, because that's the exact warmth I wish I could feel myself, and these people genuinely need it.
When it's finally time to leave, I walk out to my car holding the gerbil carrier in my lap. The drive home passes quietly.
Stepping through the front door into the big, empty house, a faint smile lingers, happy that I put smiles on people's faces today.
Then I sit down by the piano, and I cry. I cry, and I cry.
.-.-..-- .--.---- .--...-.