It was well after 1:00 AM when he finally walked in the door for the night. He was exhausted. It had been a long week, and it was only Wednesday. The double shifts were really getting to him, but it was all worth it. That was what he was telling himself every single night as he worked yet another shift. He'd been able to pick up a lot of extra shifts lately over the last month. One of the regulars had quit, why, Andy didn't know; he didn't care. It had freed up some shifts that he'd gladly taken. Thankfully, the security job was flexible enough to work around his regular job and regular nights on call. As he unlocked the back door and walked into the house, he realized that he hadn't had a single day off, whether he was working one or both jobs, since the 4th of July. It had been a solid month of work.
Now, all of that work was helping him out in many ways. He had been budgeting and saving since he moved into Sharon's place and finally had enough money to buy a decent used car. During his lunch breaks or in the evening, his short dinner break, he had been scouring the used car listings. He had a tight budget. As his savings account grew closer and closer to that budget amount, he got more and more excited. His latest paycheck, one now that he'd received on the first of August, just a few days ago now, had put him over his car budget, meaning that he was now ready to buy a car. Well, he was more than ready. Bumming rides off Provenza and guys from his second job had humbled him. Sharon had even been kind enough to loan him her car on some basic errands when she was home and didn't need it. Finally, he was getting a car, something so simple to most people, something he'd once had, but after losing everything, he was finally getting his footing again. Whatever car he bought wouldn't be perfect; it wouldn't even be that great, but it would be his. It would be transportation to and from work, freedom to venture beyond the neighborhood where he lived. This car purchase felt better than the first one he'd made at 16 because now, he knew how far he'd fallen, how hard he'd worked to get back up, and he wasn't going to lose everything again-never ever again.
With his car fund ready, Andy had plans to go car shopping on Friday afternoon. He had a half day on Friday after working through the weekend. Instead of being approved for more overtime, his department had been told to take off at lunch on Friday. That worked perfectly with his plans because for once, he wasn't scheduled to work at his nighttime security job. He had a full afternoon and evening to car shop and had plans to come home that night with a car. Provenza was going to go along to help him shop; Provenza had been a good friend, the best friend a guy could want. Sure, they argued over stupid things, but he was a good friend. As Andy thought about his plans for Friday, he walked into his room and turned on the ceiling light, surveying the scene.
He sighed as he looked around. Thank goodness he didn't spend a lot of time in this room. The space was great; Sharon had given him the master bedroom because it was off from the rest of the house. What he'd done with it was what was depressing. Andy was sure that any frat house looked better than his room, well, except for the cleanliness part. He had kept the room clean, but the décor was terrible. Since he'd moved in, he hadn't done anything more to the room. Sharon had given him that card table for his tv, and he'd borrowed a few things from Provenza, but nothing matched. Nothing looked good, and nothing felt like his style. Even his comforter was a solid black one, one of those bed in a bag kind he'd picked up for $20 including the sheets. It was fine, though. He had a bed, a roof over his head, and eventually, he'd work on the room. He still had the consignment guy keeping an eye out for something that might work. The guy had called him last week, but the set he'd gotten in was nothing like Andy wanted, all antique white and very ornate. He kept telling himself to just keep moving forward. He'd hit his goal with the car, or he would when he bought it on Friday. Once that hurdle was behind him, he'd start to focus on saving for his own apartment and with that, for his own furniture. Staying at Sharon's was fine, but he was a grown man who needed his own space.
Staying at Sharon's had its advantage right now, though. True to her word, Sharon had spoken to his attorney and social worker, and by some miracle, Andy was going to be able to see his kids. If he was excited to buy a new car on Friday, he was ecstatic to see his kids on Saturday. Yes, this Saturday. The weekend was shaping up to be the best he'd had in a very, very long time IF things worked out as planned. Andy still had his doubts. Sandra seemed to have ways to challenge everything. With it only being Wednesday, he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the "excuse" as to why the visit wouldn't happen this weekend. He knew it was coming, and because of that, with as excited as he wanted to be, he was trying to keep cool, to talk himself down, to almost prepare for the disappointment. Now, though, as he stood in his doorway and ran his hand over the back of his neck, he needed to shower and get in bed. First, though, he needed a glass of water and maybe a snack. The turkey sandwich he'd had at 8:00 wasn't holding him tonight.
Andy was surprised when he walked down the hall and around the corner to find the kitchen light on. He hadn't noticed it when he'd come in through the back, but his mind has been preoccupied. He surveyed the room and sighed, walking toward the couch where Sharon was asleep. This wasn't the first time he'd found her there, and it had almost become a habit to wake her so she could get a decent night of sleep. She'd thanked him before, and he hesitated when he saw how peaceful she looked. She was stretched out, a lightweight blanket covering her and a book at her side. She'd been reading, something Sharon had told him she was trying to do more of in the evening. He tapped her lightly.
"Hey, Sharon, you fell asleep," he said. She opened her eyes quickly and looked up at him. He stepped back and gave her a small smile. "Hey," he said again.
"Oh, hi," she said, shaking her head as she sat up. Andy stepped back even further. "Happy Birthday," she said when she cleared her throat.
Andy frowned, "It's not my birthday."
"It is," Sharon frowned, "right? August 5-you said that was your birthday. It's after midnight."
"Oh,"he chuckled and looked at his watch. He nodded, "Yeah, I guess it is now, middle of the night, my birthday."
"It's after midnight," Sharon pointed out again as she stood. "Happy Birthday, Andy."
"Well, thank you," he nodded at her. "I can honestly say you were the first and maybe only today to wish me that. Provenza doesn't utter the words," he winked.
Sharon chuckled, and she walked by him, motioning for him to follow her. She turned to talk as she walked, "I knew you had another long evening and have another double tomorrow with both jobs, so," she said as she gestured at the counter, "enjoy."
"Wait, what?" Andy said, following her. As he approached, he noticed she was pointing at a covered dish. He eyed her and found her smiling back at him with a small shrug.
"Wait, is that cobbler?" Andy asked, his eyes widening.
Sharon crossed her arms, her eyes sparkling as she smiled, "Of course, didn't you say that you loved cobbler for your birthday? I thought you could take it to both jobs for your birthday. Oh, and Emily made you a card," she said, reaching behind the cobbler for a homemade card. Andy's eyes widened again, something so simple and sweet, but to him, so unexpected.
"Wow, I'm speechless," he said, shaking his head as he accepted the card. He smiled as he looked it over. She'd drawn a rainbow and had put his name, with the "d" originally written backwards, crossed out, and then, written correctly. He knew Sharon had been working with her on her letters. Her name was written in big pink crayons at the bottom. The card was perfect; it was special, and as hard as it was to admit, his own kids had not ever made a card like this for him. "Thank you," he said with a bright smile at Sharon. "Really, for all this, thanks. It's the best birthday I've had in a very long time, and it's only what a couple hours into my birthday," he chuckled.
"I'm going to head to bed, but I did want to stay awake to tell you to have a great day. I know we barely see each other with our schedules," she said, looking at him.
"You've been more than kind, a friend," he added. "I don't know how I will repay you."
"No need," Sharon crossed her arms and looked to the floor as she shook her head. "It's nice to see someone get back up, to have a fresh start, and I hope you continue on your path. Are you still planning to buy your car this week? You told me that you had almost saved enough."
"Yeah," he smiled at her. "I have saved enough, so Friday afternoon it is. Maybe I'll come home with some sports car," he winked.
Sharon burst out laughing, "Hmm, here I was proud of my old sedan," she grinned. "The neighbors will talk if you show up with some fancy car."
"Hey, one can dream, right? I'll just take something that runs," he smiled.
"Well," she reached over to her stack of bills. Andy followed her hand. She kept a very tidy house and had her mail always stacked neatly on the corner of the counter. She picked up an envelope and handed it to him.
"Eviction papers?" Andy raised an eyebrow at her. Sharon chuckled and covered her mouth while she cleared her throat.
"No, neither of us can afford that right now," she grinned. "Besides, you've been a model tenant. No, it's your birthday," she gestured. Andy rolled his eyes, with the navy blue envelope making it pretty obvious it was a card. He opened it to find a very simple card. It had a cake on the front with the wording, "Happy Birthday." Inside, it said, "Here's hoping your day is great." Underneath, she'd simply signed her name. It was such a simple gesture, but it meant a lot to him. Like the cobbler, he couldn't remember when someone had been thoughtful on his birthday.
What he hadn't noticed when he'd taken the card out was the card still inside, a gift card. He looked to Sharon with a questioning eye. She shrugged, and as he pulled it out, he smiled at her, "You didn't need to do that."
She shrugged again, patting his arm as she started to walk by him, "If you have a car, you'll need to get gas. Least I could do is buy you your first tank of it." Andy looked again at the gas gift card and then to Sharon who was now almost to the hallway leading back to her bedroom. "Sharon, really, thank you."
"Happy Birthday," she said, leaning over toward the counter. "Enjoy your cobbler. I made meatloaf for dinner, and if you don't mind mediocre cooking, you are welcome to any leftovers. The kids hate it, but it's comfort food to me. Anyway, I hope the rest of your day is enjoyable, and just think, your kids will be a belated present this weekend when they get to visit. Sleep well."
"I can never repay you, not for your kindness or thoughtfulness," he shook his head.
"Friendship comes in unlikely forms sometimes," she said as she thought about each word. "I think you are repaying me; you just don't realize it."
He watched as she walked to her room, and then, he stood there, almost stunned. He'd had a great birthday already. Andy almost didn't know what to do. Well, he was hungry. He'd eat, and leftover meatloaf sounded like a fantastic birthday meal.