The next two days had been quiet, it was just me and the animals. I was learning a lot about their personalities. The all brown mare was fiesty and she wouldn't listen even when I bribed her with treats. The black and white mare was sweet, and loved to be stroked and groomed. The goats were all wild, running around and there was a specific dark gray one that would ram me in the legs every time I was in their pen. Chickens were all easy, they didn't really care as long as I fed them, my book told me to make sure to steal their eggs where they couldn't see me, which is much harder than it seems.
I had done my morning duties with the animals and had a final game plan for the house. I was going to put down new carpet in the living room and the bedrooms, repaint all the rooms, but leave the bathroom and kitchen the same, besides painting. I wanted a dark brown chocolate colored carpet in the living room and the hallway with dark blue walls. I decided to take Delilah's room since it was bigger, I was going to paint the room a pretty orange color, my absolute favorite with some gray carpet. Then the other room was going to have a spare bed, but not as big as the one it had now, maybe a twin, just so I could add a desk and bookshelves.
It was about mid afternoon when I had thrown the last lawn figurine in the back of my Uhaul, the lawn looked awful. It had so many dead sports from where the gnomes had been at, it need some time to regrow. I kept one gnome that had a wheelbarrow full of flowers, I thought it was super cute. Now I had carried/dragged the vanity outside so I could strip it down and start working on it. I was scrubbing off the old paint when I heard a voice.
"Hello! Ms. Caroline!," it sang from the front of the house.
Who is that? I got off the floor and made my around the side of the house when I saw a boy standing in my driveway and as I went further I saw Mary Sicelle on my steps.
"Oh there you are," she smiled. "I brought my boy with me. Tommy! Come here!," she beckoned for the boy to come to us.
He didn't move and stayed frozen in my driveway, staring at us blankly.
"Tommy," she sighed. "Come on, no ones gonna bite ya now. Come here," she gave me an apologetic smile," Sorry, he can be a bit shy around new people."
"Oh, it's okay."
Mary went to her son and linked his arm with hers, pulling him to here I stood by my steps. As he was closer, I could see he was a tall kid, maybe 6'5 with brown hair that brushed into his eyes sightly. He looked strong, like maybe he did do a lot of farm work for his mom and dad. Maybe he can help me carry the vanity inside, I thought, happy to have the help.
"Tommy," Mary smiled. "This is Ms. Caroline. She's our new neighbor. Say hi."
Thomas looked down and didn't say anything.
I looked between the two of them, Is it really that weird? For someone new to move in?
"It's okay, darlin'," she rubbed his back. "No need to be shy now." Mary turned to me then back to her son," Would you like to see the horses?"
Thomas nodded without looking up.
Mary turned to me," Is that alright?"
"Yeah sure," I was happy to get rid of this awkward momement. "They're both in their pens."
"Stalls," the boy lifted his head.
"What?"
"They're called stalls. You said pens, but they're stalls, not pens."
"Oh... yeah," I grinned. "They are stalls. I guess I need to keep reading," I laughed.
"You go on, Tommy," Mary gave her son an encouraging push. "Go on now. We'll be in the house."
Thomas quickly made his way around the house and back to the horses and I turned to Mary who was watching her son for a moment longer before giving me her attention.
"Can we?," she gestured to the door.
"Yeah, sure," I followed her up and into the house, where she took a seat at the table like she had before and drew out a cigarette.
What do I say?
"He doesn't seem to like me, huh?," I asked her.
Mary took a long drag before responding," I know... I should have told you."
Told me? Told me what?
"But you see, most people, hearts aren't so kind. Most folks in Baxter are nice enough, but I know they treat him different. People just have no patience for him."
"For Thomas?," I clarified.
"Tommy is so good with the animals," Mary told me. "I'm not lyin'. He really does have a way with them, it's... it's like his gift."
"Well, that's great, I could use the help. One of the mares can be pretty stubborn."
"But most folks don't give him a chance."
"Why?"
"Well... he's different," Mary emptied her ash into the tray. "Doctors say he's slower than others. Austitic is the word they use, say he'll never really be able to on his own ever. They say his brin is just not like ours, he's just wired a little different."
"Oh..."
What do I say to that? Maybe that's why he didn't like me?
"But he's no trouble," Mary raised he hands. "I can promise, he's never had any to trouble in his life, not even when the other kids would beat him black and blue. Tommy never fought back, he's just too sweet. He's gentle, is all."
"I believe you," I sat across from her. "And I would love the help, really."
"That's so kind of you, Caroline," Mary smiled. "You don't have to treat him no different than you would anyone else. Only time is sometimes, he might need some extra time, that's all."
"That's fine," I told her. "I'm in no rush to get anything done."
"Oh, Caroline," Mary reached her hand out or mine. "You are gift from God, let me tell you."
Really? Why?
Mary continued like she could her me thinking," When Del died, I thought that was it, Tommy wouldn't get a chance to be around animals anymore."
"Why not?"
"Well, few years back he accidentally let out John Verades' whole farm. He just went through and let them all out of their pens, animals were all over town and everyone was so mad at him for it, he just...," Mary paused. "He just wanted them to be free is all, he just loves them that much."
"Will he do it to my animals?," I looked out over my shoulder to the side door, hopeng not to see a chicken running past.
"No, no, no," Mary reassured me. "He's learned, I promise you that. Del was the only one left who let him come 'round. With her gone, I could see he was sad about it. I think he missed comin' by and seeing them all."
"Well, he can come by anytime," I reassured her
Mary smiled," You sweet little thing, that means so much."
"Of course," I smiled back. "What are neighbors for?"
Mary laughed," Aw, you little angel. Come on now," she stood up and put her cigarette out. "Let me introduce you guys proper this time."
Out back, Thomas was standing with the brown mare, whispering softly while stroking her mane. My jaw dropped when I saw it, she had barely let me touch her without throwing a fit.
"That's amazing," I gawked. "She's so calm!"
"What'd I tell ya! Tommy's got a gift," she smiled to her son.
Thomas didn't look at us as he kept stroking the mare," She likes it when you scratch the mane," he told us.
"I'll have to remember that," I watched as the horse greedily nudged him to pet her more.
He giggled like a little kid when the horse ran its tongue across his face," Stop that Peppermint," he pretended to scold her.
"Peppermint?," I questioned getting closer.
Thomas stepped back away from the horse and looked to the ground silently.
"Oh I'm sorry," I apologized as the horse saw me and turned away going to the back of her stall. "I just... I was hopeng to get a chance to pet her too. Did you say Peppermint? Is that her name?"
Thomas was quiet for a second and kept his head tucked to his chest," Yeah."
"Peppermint," I repeated and looked to the fussy brown horse. "I didn't even know," I chuckled. "I was going to name her Ms. Crawford, after my second grade science teacher, she was so mean," I laughed at the thought.
"No, you can't, her name is Peppermint and you can't just change her name, no," Thomas said quickly without looking at me.
"Tommy, mind your manners," his mother warned.
"No," I defended him. "He's right, I wouldn't change her name. So, what's her name," I pointed to the other mare in the stall across from Peppermint.
Thomas side glanced to the other horse," It's Blossom."
"Blossom! Awe, that's so cute," I went over to her and she came to the gate to be stroked. "It'll have to write that down."
"I know all the names. All the animal names," Thomas told me.
"Well, that'd be great. I didn't even know they all had names."
Thomas nodded, his head was now sitting straight on his head "Del and I named them all, we did it together."
"Oh, that's great."
"Here, I'll show you," Thomas went to get out of the stable and around the side to chicken coop when his mom stopped him.
"Maybe next time, Tommy. We gotta get home for supper."
He stopped and nodded, looking back to the ground and started to gnaw at his fingernails.
"Oh Tommy," Mary slapped his hands away from his face. "You never do that! Don't do that," Mary turned to me. "Well, Caroline, it was so great to see you again, good to see you're making good of this house."
I smiled and gave Blossom one more stroke before joining them outside the stable. "Yeah, I'm going to start strippeng up carpet tomorrow."
"Oh dear, aren't you gonna hire someone to do that for you?"
"Nah," I chuckled. "Cheaper to do it myself. Besides, how hard can it be?"
"Well, Tommy can come by, help you out. He's a strong boy," she smiled to her son who kept his gaze on the ground. "What do you say Tommy. Want to come back tomorrow? Help Ms. Caroline?"
"Oh no, he doesn't have to. It's boring work, I would hate to force someone else to do it."
"I'll do it," Tommy nodded, his eyes glued to the grass.
Mary smiled," I raised him with manners," she gloated. "Well, Tommy load up," she told him and he turned and went to the car. "Thanks again, Caroline," she grinned and pulled out another cigarette as she followed her son to the car.
Well maybe it will be good to have some help with carpet...
I went back to the vanity and finished peeling off the old paint, it looked so different in it's original brown state with no white paint to hide it. I was so excited to start painting, but I knew that it would have to wait. I needed to get inside and started moving furniture so I could move the carpet. I moved the TV and the remaining furniture into the kitchen. I was hungry so I ate some microwave meal and showered for bed.
It was early, the sun had barely risen when there was a knock on my door. I woke up with a start and shuffled towards the door to see Tommy Sicelle standing on my steps.
"Tommy?," I asked rubbing my eyes.
"Ms. Caroline... Momma told me to come and help you. I'm here to help you with the carpet."
"Oh, right, yeah," I yawned and opened the screen door. "Sorry, I'm not used to waking up so early," I wrapped my robe a little tighter around myself. "Let me change and start some coffee, then we can start. Sound good?"
"I can make coffee. Momma says I make good coffee."
"Oh... oh, sure yeah. I... I just kind of have the kitchen all cluttered with stuff. Are you sure?," I asked.
"I can make coffee," he nodded maneuvered around the TV sitting on the tile floor.
"Okay...," I watched for a minute then ran into my back room to change quickly. I there on my old work clothes and heard a loud clang from the kitchen. "Tommy!? Tommy, you okay!?"
I ran out into the hall, trippeng over my self and then into then around the corner in the kitchen I saw Tommy had dropped the coffee grounds on the ground, brown was plastered all over the ground and Tommy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of relief, thank god...
"Ms. Caroline... I'm so sorry. I never meant to spill. I put it on the counter and when I turned it fell off. I didn't mean to spill it. I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
I made my way to him," Tommy, it's alright. Trust me, this is very common. I spill stuff all the time," I laughed. "It's no big deal, trust me."
"Momma said to never leave them on the edge. Ms. Caroline, I'm sorry."
"Tommy, it's alright, it was a mistake. No big deal. It happens to everyone. Why don;t you go in and clean up and I'll sweep this up."
"I'm sorry," he said again and shuffled down the hall and into the bathroom.
"Don't need coffee to wake up now," I mumbled and got the broom. Last thing I need is to maim some kid on my first month her, become a pariah and get shunned by everyone. That's be just my luck. thank god, he didn't. Is it safe for him to be around the nails and stuff from the floor? Should I just sent him home now, tell him I need to go buy some paint or something? I don't want him to get hurt.
Tommy came back out," What do you want me to do now?," he asked.
I put the broom away," Well... I don't know. I've never done this before. I was actually thinking I should go to the store and-..."
"I've done it before. You start in the corners."
"You have? When?"
Thomas looked to the door," I did it at Mr. Verades' house."
"Oh, sounds fun."
Tommy shook his head, but didn't elaborate.
"Okay, the corners then."
"I need gloves," Tommy told me. "You need gloves too, you can't putt up the floor without gloves."
"Oh... I hadn't thought of that..." Makes sense. Maybe I have some gloves in the shed out back? I could use the grooming gloves. "Yeah, hold on, let me grab them," I ran out and grabbed the horse gloves and a pair of gardening gloves from the shack. "Here you go," I handed him a pair and looked on to the living room. "The corner huh?"
Thomas nodded and went to the corner near the front door and knelt down, fiddled with the fibers for a second then go a solid grip and yanked hard. The corner then ripped up and I could see the exposed floor beneath.
"Wow," I came up behind him, I couldn't stop smiling.
Thomas kept working, he ignored me until I joined and we had the entire living room exposed along with the hallway. I told him the bedrooms would have to wait, I didn't have the carpet fro them yet, I was picking it up later.
"Where is your new carpet?," Thomas asked as I surveyed the room.
"It's on my room," I told him while sliding my foot across the bare floor. "Wow..." I giggled. "This is crazy."
"Crazy?"
"Yeah, I mean... I guess I'm really doing this," the realization hit me. "I'm really here remodeling my house."
Thomas didn't say anything, he just bit his nails while I collected myself. Okay, now measure out the room and cut the carpet.
"Well, thanks so much Tommy, I mean it. That's all the carpet tearing up I had to do today."
"I can help put carpet down," he looked to the floor.
"I haven't really got that far yet, I still need to measure. Guess I need to start making lists so I do things in order."
Then I had a thought... maybe I should have painted before tearing up the carpet, so I don't get any on the new stuff... I have the paint in the bathroom.
"Can I go see the horses," he asked me.
"Sure," I smiled. "I haven't gone out yet. I can come with, feed them and-..."
"I can do all that. Del taught it all to me. I know how."
My mind flashed to the coffee incident from the morning, what happens if he gets hurt out there!? But I should start peeling the wallpaper... I used my better judgement and went out with Thomas to the animals.
"Maybe you can show my some things, I still need to get the hang of it all."
"Always feed Blossom first," he grabbed the food and went to he stall. "She eats faster and when I let her out and come back, Peppermint sometimes isn't done."
"Good to know," I made a mental note as we went on through the animals.
Mary didn't lie, Thomas knew the animals all too well. They seemed to recognize him and flock o hi for affection and food, he had a bunch of good tips for me; like how to avoid the goat who rams my legs. Thomas said his name was Charlie because he always gave people charlie horses from hitting them. The sun was high in the sky by the time we went back inside.
"I guess I should make some food," I looked at my disastrous kitchen. "Anything you want?"
"I like brownies," he told me shyly.
"Fresh out. Sorry, Tommy. I can make some peanut butter and jelly, sound good."
He nodded and sat t the kitchen table. He didn't speak very much as I prepped the lunch, just kept his head low and twiddled with his fingers.
"I think," I told him while I ate my sandwich," I'm going to strip the wall and paint before putting down carpet."
"You're gonna paint?"
"Yeah," I pulled out the paint samples I had. "I have this color: Deep Sea Diving."
"Blue is my favorite," Thomas told me looking at the shades.
"Mine is orange," I showed him the color for my room next.
"Pretty," he giggled.
"When do you have to be home, Tommy? I don't want your mom to worry."
"Supper time," he swallowed his bite. "Momma's at work now."
"Oh really, where does she work?"
"In town," he replied.
Maybe he doesn't know?
"Well," I stood up. "Back to work," I told him and through the paper plates into the trash. "Do you know how to peel off wallpaper," I asked.
"Can I go see the horses?," he twiddled his fingers.
"Oh yeah, sure of course," I opened the door for him. Probably bored of doing this stuff, not that I blame him, it's kind of boring. But not for me! This is too exciting! I guess it's just like carpet?
I started peeling, but it was a lot harder than carpet, I had to scrap off large chunks and it took like 2 hours to just get one wall done. I should check on Tommy, huh? I thought and made my way out back to the animals. I heard him before I saw him, he was talking out loud, he was in the stables.
"I guess we'll never know... Momma would be so mad."
Is that Tommy? It doesn't sound like him...
"Tommy?," I called out.
I heard a shuffle and then he answered," Yes Ms. Caroline. I'm in here," now it was Tommy's voice.
It came from Peppermint's stall. I peaked in and he was sitting on the floor while Peppermint lay across from him. He looked over to me then down at his hands," I was just talking to Peppermint is all."
"I heard," I looked down at the large horse," She seems so calm around you. She must really like you."
Thomas looked over to the mare," Peppermint is nice."
"I just thought I'd come see how you're doing, I'm about halfway done in the living room. Just need to finish the other two walls." Thomas didn't say anything, he just kept twiddling his fingers in his lap. "Well, come to the house if you need anything, alright?"
"Yes, Ms. Caroline," he said while avoiding my eyes.
I went back inside and managed to get the whole living room stripped hen I heard a small knock on my side door. "Tommy?," I called out as I opened the door. There he was standing outside. "I think I'd better go home now. Momma will want me home."
"Okay, sure. Oh," I opened the screen door. "Tommy, I just want to say thanks. You were a big help today."
"I didn't do nothing," he said bashfully.
"No, you did. I never would have known how to strip carpet," I chuckled at the thought. "And with the animals. I made sure to write it all down, so now I know."
"Okay," he said and turned and went down the driveway.
Okay then, I went back inside and swept the floors, Tomorrow I would get to paint.
