From Riches To Rags Part 15

"Why cant we?" I asked as I slipped into my jeans.

"Because theres too much to be done, to prepare for the big meal."

"There is?" Whats to prepare, you show up and then start eating.

"Oh yes. Most of the preparation is in the peeling. I used to help my mom, even after we were rich, peel potatoes, onions, oranges and carrots, and then boil eggs, and after that, the turkey neck so she could make giblet gravy. Then Id help her with the dressing, crumbing up the stale bread into a bowl, adding some orange bits, celery and onions, and while the turkey and dressing were baking, wed make the deviled eggs, mash the potatoes, bake the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, green bean ca.s.serole, the broccoli, orange, and olive salad, and last but not least, the dinner roles. And that was just on the big day. The day before, we made pies, chocolate cream, pumpkin, and walnut pies. My favorite part was licking the spoons afterwards."

"Wow, I didnt know all that work went into the Thanksgiving meal. My job was just to show up and eat."

"Well, your job today will be at the peeling station, sc.r.a.ping the skin off the potatoes."

"Oh joy, cant wait."

Norma was ready for us when we walked in early that morning. The turkey was thawing in the kitchen sink, the innards already removed and simmering in a pan. She had started peeling potatoes but I took that ch.o.r.e from her and gave it to Melinda, and then I began peeling the onions. I tried to insist that Norma leave the work to us, she enjoyed cooking, and wanted to be a part of it all. So I asked her if she would mind breaking up the hard bread for the dressing. I sat her down at the table and gave her a bowl to put the bread in.

The best part about all that work was that the three of us talked like we were family and it was a very comforting feeling. I was really missing my parents today, and I had a feeling the other two were missing people in their lives too. Holidays are always the hardest time to be away from loved ones.

"So, Melinda, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"What? Oh, you mean my first day as a waitress? Sure, how hard can it be?"

Norma chuckled and said, "Do you know what tomorrow is, dear?"

"Friday?"

Now it was my turn to chuckle, "Its Black Friday, Melinda. The restaurant will be inundated with exhausted shoppers with sore feet and frustrated tempers. By the end of the day, well be the ones with sore feet, and none the richer for it."

"Its that bad? Maybe we should wait until after the holidays to do this?"

I laughed and shook my head at her, the holidays were the perfect time for her to test her resolve.

"When Chris told me what you were trying to achieve, Melinda, giving up your money to live in poverty, I thought you were so brave, and I had no doubts that you would succeed. But dear, that will only happen if you believe in yourself."

"Norma, if I can peel a potato, I can do anything." Melinda said as the potato squirted out of her hand and across the table. She growled and stabbed it with the potato peeler and tried again.

Norma looked over at me and we both smiled knowingly.

After hours of preparation our feast was finally ready. We would eat buffet style around the coffee table. Before we took our first bite, I asked if we could hold hands and go around the table, each saying a prayer of thanksgiving. Norma went first.

"Like pennies from heaven, I am thankful for these two beautiful young women who dropped into my life, sharing their friends.h.i.+p with me. Their potential has not been realized yet, and I pray that I will be there to see them achieve it."

Shes going to make me cry. I went next because Melinda was stalling for time, "Lord, your blessings come in many guises and I am thankful for the blessing of Normas wisdom, her friends.h.i.+p, and her history. I am also thankful for the blessing of my childhood and ask a special blessing for my parents today, I miss them dearly. And I am thankful for Melinda who has added so much to my life with her friends.h.i.+p. Bless her in the days to come, G.o.d, and let her emerge triumphant."

It was Melindas turn and we looked up at each other for a second and then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and said, "Uh, G.o.d, h.e.l.lo, its Melinda. Youve probably forgotten me by now, its been so long since I talked with you but uh, thank you for both these women, they are worthy of your love, and uh, thank you for giving me this second chance. Dont let me screw it up, okay, G.o.d? Uh, thanks."

Melinda looked at me sheepishly and I patted her hand. It was the perfect prayer.

Just as Melinda began to carve the turkey, there was a knock at the door. Norma, who had a cautious look on her face, told us that she was not expecting anyone, so Melinda, with the carving knife still in her hand, opened the door and asked what they wanted.

"Um, my name is Ben Steward, and my mothers name was Rebecca Steward. I, um, I think my grandmother lives here?"

Norma clapped her hands together and cried, "Benjamin! Benjamin, is that really you?"

"Yes, grandmother."

Melinda stood to the side and let him in, followed by a woman and two children, a boy and a girl.

"Benjamin, let me look at you! Youre exactly as Ive picture you, all these years."

"Grandmother, youre just as beautiful as I remember you." He said graciously. "Let me introduce you to the family. This is my wife, Loretta, and our two children, Billy, whos fifteen and Norma, whose thirteen. Norma has a little cold, so I wouldnt get to close to her if I were you."

"Of course I will," Norma put her hands on the girls shoulders as Benjamin explained that she was named for her. Tears ran down her cheeks as she pulled both children into a hug, and then the entire family was hugging.

Through my tears, I looked at Melinda, who was crying as well. I nodded towards the door and Melinda followed me out, to give Norma and her family some privacy.

"Wasnt that wonderful?" Melinda gushed, "Oh, my G.o.d, Im in tears."

"Me too," I said as I wiped them away, "Im so happy for her."

"Melinda, Chris, where do you two think you are you going?"

Norma was standing in her door way, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at us.

"Its all right, Norma, you should be with your family now."

"And I will be, dear, as soon as the rest of my family comes back in here."

I looked at Melinda and she nodded, so we followed Norma back inside, and she made the introductions.

The seven of us sat in whatever chairs were available, the children sat on the floor and we all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together. Benjamin, who preferred to be called Ben, explained how he had gotten an anonymous letter in the mail last week.

"It said that they may have found my grandmother. At first I thought it was a hoax, but then they gave your name and talked about the movie," he pointed to the poster on the wall, "and then I knew it was you."

Melinda and I shared a glance as he continued.

"My wife and I decided to take a chance and surprise you today, because we rarely get two days in a row off from work."

"Oh, Im so glad you did, Ben. I am so happy to see you again. My goodness, I think that the last time I saw you, was when I came to your college graduation. Do you remember that?"

"Yes maam, you gave me a new car for graduation."

"I did? How wonderful. I hope you put it to good use?"

He looked down sheepishly and his wife answered for him, "No, maam, he wrecked it two months later at a frat party."

"Oh dear."

"Im sorry, Grandmother. I was a young, stupid kid."

"Its all right, dear. Im just glad you werent seriously hurt."

Young Norma held her hand and asked, "Mrs. Grandmother, may I go to the bathroom?"

"Of course, my dear, and please, call me grandma."

"Thanks, Grandma."

Melinda jumped up and said, "Dont get up, Norma, Ill show Norma Junior where its at."

Norma laughed, and instructed the young girl, "Go with Melinda, dear."

After a minute, Melinda came back and sat down just as Ben set his plate down and looked at Norma.

"Grandma, I dont mean to be insensitive, but uh, I was wondering how..."

"How I ended up living here? Its simple, my dear, I was a drunk who fell in love with a gambler and lost everything."

To her credit, she neither flinched, nor looked at us when she said that. In fact, it was Melinda and I who flinched because it hit so close to home.

"But that was a long time ago and I am very happy living here, especially now with my new young friends, and my little kitten. I wonder where she is?"

The young girl, came back carrying the kitten, "Grandma, I found her sleeping inside one of your fuzzy slippers, in your bathroom. Whats the kittens name?"

"Why, dear, I havent chosen a name for her yet, would you like to pick one out?"

"Oh, could I?"

"Certainly, just make sure its an easy one that I can remember."

The girl giggled and studied the kitten, Melinda got up and looked at me, "Chris, can I see you in the hall for a minute?"

"Oh, um, sure."

Just as we opened the door we heard the young girl shout, "Pluto! Lets name her Pluto like in that poster up there."

"Oh, thats an excellent name for her."

We shut the door behind us and walked a step or two away and then Melinda asked, "Chris, couldnt we start our test tomorrow? I can help these people. They need a place to stay, Norma needs to be able to feed them, the kids need-"

"Melinda, your heart is in the right place, and I feel the same way as you do. But we cant put the test on hold every time you want to use your money, no matter what your good intentions are. Please, dont make me the bad guy in this. You do what you feel you feel is best."

"Youre right, and youre not the bad guy, its just that I can do something good for someone right now, but Im not supposed to touch my money. It makes me feel useless."

"The fact that you feel that way is a very good thing and I dont mean it in a mean way. Try putting yourself in my place. I love Norma like she was my own grandmother, and I would do anything in the world for her, but I cant. All I can do is be her friend and save up a weeks worth of tips to buy a turkey for our dinner. I cant run to my bank account and buy her whatever she needs. I dont even have a bank account. My father cut off my allowance almost a year ago."

She snapped, "I have my own d.a.m.n money, I dont have to rely on daddy to provide for me, like you use to."

"I know, Melinda." I said calmly, "And I am not trying to upset you. You have to do whats in your heart and if your heart leads you to help these people, then I will understand."

"Im sorry. I shouldnt have snapped at you like that."

"Its okay. I know it must be frustrating for you."

"You have no idea. But we made a pack and here I am on day one trying to break it already. I understand now what you meant by it being a test. I think I just flunked."

"No, you didnt Melinda, unless, um, youre going to use your money to help Norma?"

"What money? I have no money anymore, remember?"

I smiled and squeezed her arm. "I think youre going to do just fine, Melinda, just hang in there for twenty-nine more days."

Chapter Fifteen.

Black Friday, Also Known As Melindas First Day of Real Work - Melinda Blackstone and Christine Livingston "Oh, my G.o.d, my feet are killing me!"

"Youve only been working for half-an-hour. They cant be hurting you that badly already."

"Well, they are."

"Okay, come with me."

I followed Chris into the ladys bathroom where she told me to sit down on the chair in the sitting area and take off my shoes. While I did that, she went into one of the stales and I heard her pulling down the toilet paper. Oh, thats a great idea!

She brought two handfuls of the really thin paper over and lined my shoes with them.

"Its going to be snug in here but you can loosen your shoelaces if you need to."

I slipped my feet inside and felt instant comfort, almost like walking on a cloud. "Hey this is great, thank you."

"It will take a couple of days for your feet to get use to working like this, so remember before you clock in tomorrow to come in here and line your shoes, all right?"

"If I last until tomorrow."

She laughed but I seriously meant it. Because it was "Black Friday", the manager had everyone working twelve hours and I was ready to quit after half-an-hour. How do people do this kind of work? Its excruciating. The manager, in his wisdom, a.s.signed only two tables for me to wait on in section D. Chris had section A, which was five tables in a section of the eating area. Then there was some kid named Dwayne, who had four tables in section B, and Lila, who had four tables in the C section.

At first things were slow and I only had one customer to wait on. I have to admit, I was feeling pretty sure of myself when I got a tip. I showed Chris my four quarters. She only smiled at me and said not to worry, that once I get the hang of things, the tips will get much bigger.

It started to get busy, especially toward early evening, when weary shoppers came stumbling in with their packages, still in that get out of my way, I saw it first, kind of mentality. Ive never had the need to shop on Black Friday, thank G.o.d, but Ive seen stories on the news where people were actually trampled to death to get at the discounted sales. Seems to me like it wouldnt be worth losing your life so little Billy could have the latest toy craze. Not only is Billy not going to get that toy, but his momma isnt going to be there at Christmas now, because shes dead. Im not a Bible thumper, but I dont think thats what the spirit of Christmas is supposed to be about.

In short order, the place was absolutely chaotic. People were talking loud to be heard over other people talking loud. Babies were crying, kids were running around uninhibited, and dishes were being dropped, or clanked. Most of the customers were satisfied and showed their happiness by leaving five or six dollars as a tip. Im pretty sure Chris would consider that a good size tip.