Video Tape AM041.2
I apologize that I did not switch the tapes out and thus had to interrupt Adrian's session. I was so taken aback by his visitor, I forgot to change Harold's tape, and our session did run long that day. As I was putting a fresh tape in, Sue argued to Adrian all the reasons that could persuade him to consider her as a tenant, which will be listed again momentarily. He responded about four or five times, and his argument was always the same.
"I'm telling you, Sue, you don't know what you're asking."
"Yes I do! Haven't you been listening? I thought this through. It'll be perfect."
At this point, I reentered the room. "Uh, hey Sue, would you mind going outside for a while?"
She looked at me suspiciously. "Why?"
"Well . . . don't be offended, but this is a big decision. From my experience with Adrian, it's best for us to discuss such decisions alone. Here, just down the hall and to your right, there's a door to the outside there. You can see that waterfall up close."
"Cool! Ok." She got up from her chair and began to leave but first looked at Adrian. "Just think about it, ok? Take all the time you need."
As she exited the room, Adrian smiled at me and shook his head. "What did I tell you about her? So bright, and yet so naive."
"Go for it."
"OK. I'm getting a little old. Maybe my hearing's not as good as it used to be. Did you just say, 'Go for it' or 'No, don't . . . do it'?"
I gave him an "I'm-not-falling-for-that-one" look. Adrian looked defeated and threw his hands in the air. "It was worth a shot."
"Adrian, it's not unheard of for people your age to take in a college student in need, just to help her get back on her feet. It can be a very enriching experience for you, if she's devoted to her studies. If Sue were a party student, I would reconsider her offer. But since she's very serious about her work, I think this could be a great thing. Think of it this way. At her age, she needs to feel a sense of independence. At your age, you need to feel a sense of authority. And both of you need to feel respect and acceptance. So you see, this can be mutually beneficial."
"Yeah, she was saying the same thing. She gave a very compelling, convincing argument." With a nervous laugh, he added, "Of course, what else should I expect from an English major?"
"Right."
"But there is a flaw in her argument. She only gave me pros. She didn't even consider any cons, and in my mind, the cons greatly outweigh the pros."
"Well, what pros did she provide you?"
"She realizes that I would probably be a 'harsh taskmaster,' but she's a stickler for following rules, and she'd have more respect for my needs than anyone else would. She'd be out of the way most of the time. She's a very modest girl, so she won't do anything to disturb me. She's very neat and organized. She can clean. She can cook. She'll give Natalie a little bit of a break. She's willing to give me a listening ear if I will do the same for her. And she'll pay me."
"She's will?"
"That's right. She said that as a tenant, she'd pay me, her landlord, rent and a percentage of my utilities. And she'd sweep my deck for free."
"Sweep your deck?"
"Yeah, which would be helpful if I actually had a deck."
"Very good, and what are the cons, as you perceive them?"
"The con is it's IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Calm down, Adrian. Please, elaborate for me."
"W-w-well . . . well . . . she . . . sh . . . I CAN'T! You know I can't! We've been through this again and again!"
"Adrian . . ."
"One person's enough. I can't handle two! Remember Tommy? You wouldn't let me have Tommy!"
"Adrian, Tommy was two years old. Sue's gotta be somewhere in her twenties."
"23, actually. She told me."
"It's not a matter of you taking care of her. She can look after herself."
"Well, that's not the only thing, though. Sue's a great girl, a smart girl, and I have a lot of respect for her ambition, and I appreciate her concern for me, but I really don't think we could get along for that long."
"Why not?"
"She just . . . she doesn't have the level of concern for . . . " He gestured out the window where Sue was dancing around the waterfall while reading a book. "Well, just look at her. She's more nature-oriented. She likes walking in redwood forests, sitting on logs, playing in waterfalls. This morning she picked an earthworm of the sidewalk. She said it would die of dehydration if she didn't return it to the soil. That was very thoughtful and everything, but when she handed me her syllabus to help her study for her poetry exam, it felt all slimy in my hands. I'm not sure if it was the earthworm slime or . . ." (He glanced out the window at Sue and said quietly) "or the residue from her hand sanitizer."
"She uses hand sanitizer instead of moist towlettes?"
"Yeah. I tried it once. It feels so filmy. It's more like lotion. I don't like lotion. It doesn't make me feel any cleaner."
"You know, if that's a problem, you need to talk to her about that. Maybe she doesn't understand that part of your condition."
"No, she does. She got after her father for shaking my hand. I think that's why she uses hand sanitizer so much."
"Well, you just need to be clearer. She specifically said that she'd make you her landlord?"
"Yes."
"Well, that puts you at advantage. If things don't go well, if she disregards your rules, you say, 'Sue, I don't think this is working out. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find some other place to live.' And you give her back her security deposit."
"You're saying I can throw her out?"
"Sure. You'll have that right. Of course, I would only reserve that power if it really gets unbearable. And remember, she's got her own needs. It's up to you to be sympathetic to those needs. Otherwise, she'll feel like this is only going one way. If you do this right, you might fulfill her dream. You remember, the bridge?"
Adrian looked distracted.
"What's wrong?"
"I . . . I only have one bathroom."
"Negotiate."
Long pause. "OK."
"You'll try it?"
"I'll think about thinking about trying it."
"Maybe a month will be a good indicator."
"I don't think it'll take that long to reach a decision."
"No, I mean for Sue."
"Oh! Maybe." Adrian looked out the window again. "What if something happens to me?"
"I don't she'll do anything deliberately to–"
"No, I mean, what if when I'm working, something happens to me? What then?"
"You'll have to discuss that. You'll devise an emergency plan together. If worse came to worst, she could probably contact her family to take her away. But we don't want to think about worst case scenarios right now, ok?"
"OK."
"Let me know when you make a decision."
"Sure."
(End Tape AM041)
December 21, 9:32 P.M.
Merry Early Christmas!
Mood: Touched
It's so nice to be out of school. Now we all wait anxiously for my grades. I don't expect any problems.
We're leaving for Texas tomorrow, so Dad and I went down tonight to Mr. Monk's to spread some holiday cheer. I spent all day making "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" Cookies and marshmallow snowmen. I already had presents picked out, and Dad wrapped them for me.
Well, Mr. Monk could tell it was a book. I wasn't surprised. You can't disguise that kind of thing from a detective. But I dared him to tell me what kind of book it was. He had three guesses: a religious text, an anthology, or one of my textbooks. He was right, of course. It was the complete works of O. Henry. I explained that he was my favorite short story writer, and some of the things Mr. Monk told me about reminded me of O. Henry's short stories. I challenged Mr. Monk to find out the ironic twists before he got to them. I convinced him to read "Gift of the Magi" out loud, even though he said that he read that one before, and he knew how it ended. I liked the way he read it.
Of course, I didn't leave Natalie and Julie out. I gave Natalie some scented candles ('cause I can tell that working with Mr. Monk all the time really makes her tense), and I got Julie a book of little known Harry Potter facts. It's mostly about the origins of a lot of the characters' names and stuff. She was excited. And I gave everybody their own little snowman. Natalie thought it was the most darling thing in the world, and she wouldn't eat it. She asked me how I put it together. When I told her that water was like marshmallow glue, she was amazed. She was also impressed with the Christmas cookies. I told her all it was was Ritz crackers, almond bark, and peanut butter, really easy stuff to make. Julie was the only one who ate one. She liked it. I was trying to encourage Mr. Monk to share them with the rest of his police department and with Dr. Kroger. I was surprised; he told me Dr. Kroger was Jewish. I couldn't tell. I joked and said he could tell him it's manna. Then I shrugged and said, "Well, Irving Berlin was Jewish, and he wrote 'White Christmas.'" He could still give Dr. Kroger the snowman because that's more of a winter thing than a Christmas thing. It's just to say thanks for helping me through some of my thoughts.
Oh, and Natalie got me a gift. It was some nice hand lotion. It's jasmine scented, and it's all glittery. I love jasmine. I'm sure I'll get this used up. And then, before we left, Mr. Monk ran back to his study, and he did the sweetest thing. He gave me his copy of Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I did not want to take it. It had too much sentimental value. He had notes in the margins, some weren't in his perfect handwriting (maybe they were his wife's!). But every time I tried to give it back, he was adamant that I keep it. He said I needed it more than he did because of my thesis. He read it cover to cover dozens of times, and he knew every word. Maybe he just wants me to borrow it. I'll take the best care of it that I can. I can't believe that he did that for me. I am overwhelmed with emotion. I wanted so badly to give him a hug, but I knew he wouldn't want that.
January 5, 8:22 P.M.
I Got an Apartment!
Mood: Excited
Alright, it's time to tell you people. I got this idea a few weeks ago that maybe I could move in with Mr. Monk. I thought it would really work out nicely, but I was very worried that he would put his foot down and say no. He seemed very pensive about the whole deal. But today he called me and asked me to come over to his apartment. He said that he discussed with his landlord, and though he wasn't particularly happy, he allowed it. And Mr. Monk said he'd let me stay, if I observed his house rules.
–Everything has to be straight, even, balanced, organized, clean, and overall neat at all times, no exceptions, no questions asked. (Well, that's a no-brainer.)
–There are only certain times that I can use the bathroom in a day, for any use. And every time I'm in there, I have to keep the door locked, even if I'm just brushing my teeth. The quicker, the better; the cleaner, the better.
–He gave me a list of food he likes. He has a pretty strict menu. For instance, he has pot pies every Tuesday.
–Everything I handle of his I have to handle with a moist towlette. I don't know if just having my hand sanitized 24-7 will be enough.
–He's putting me in his study, but sometimes he needs to use it to think. So he wants me to stay decent in there as much as possible. He said it would be best for both of us if I stayed away from his bedroom.
Well, those are some pretty strange rules. I can understand why they're so strict, but I am a little worried that I may not be able to deliver. If I drop a plate, I'll scratch his linoleum and miss a few shards when I'm cleaning it up and I'll get him upset. But he said he'll be easy on me. He understands I have problems too, and he'll try to be lenient.
It ended kinda funnily. I went ahead and signed an agreement. I knew I could trust him. Then I said, "Well, I guess we ought to seal this somehow." I knew he wouldn't want me to shake his hand. He'd grab one of his moist towlettes and wipe his hand immediately. He wouldn't want me to hug him either or give him a high-five. So I finally just got some hand sanitizer, scrubbed it in real good, got into every crevice. Then I extended it out for him to shake. He took my hand then immediately let go and grabbed a wipe. I said, "What are you doing? I just killed 99.9 of the germs on my hand." And he said, "Yeah, I know, and I appreciate it. I'm just getting that last tenth of a percent." I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I laughed harder when I thought about it again later. Last tenth of a percent. That was great.
Natalie then offered to help in any way that Mr. Monk couldn't. I asked her if it was ok if she could give me transportation. I wanted to lessen it; I told her that she could at least take me to a bus stop instead of taking me to school. But she seemed fine with it. She said the campus was on the way to Julie's school. I offered to pay her gas bill. She said Mr. Monk pays it. So I offered to pay 10. She agreed with that.
Before I left, I asked Mr. Monk out of curiosity what made him decide. This was sweet; he told me he had a dream about me. I said I thought he had dreams about his wife. He said she was there too, but so was I. He didn't tell me the details, but he said even though Dr. Kroger, Natalie, and the captain all tried to talk him into it, the wife got the last word. He told me the only reason he was hesitant was because he had an experience taking care of a two-year-old boy. He was an orphaned toddler who was involved in a case. He was taken away from his foster parents, and Mr. Monk offered to look after him. The boy already found a connection with Mr. Monk; he even learned his name. As they spent time together, the boy starting emulating Mr. Monk's habits. Mr. Monk said those were the happiest two days of his life since his wife's death. He even thought adopting the boy, but he realized that he couldn't take care of the boy by himself. And he said, "So that was the thing, you see. I just didn't want to get my hopes up." I told him I wouldn't let him down. When I got away, though, I cried a little bit. It just really touched me.
Anyway, we move in next weekend. I can't wait!
Thanks for the response from all of my reviewers. I'm afraid this is going to be it for a little while. I got to turn my attention to writing a thesis. Hopefully the new season of "Monk" will be on when I'm done so I'll have more ideas.