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Chapter 8
"Look who stopped by to say hello?" His father turned his wheelchair to face him as soon as he walked through the door. It had been a week since his date and no one had forgotten. "You remember Randie?"
"Yeah, I remember." He spat. There she was sitting there in a pretty pastel pink blouse and a pair of designer jeans. Actually the jeans threw him off a little, but her hair looked professionally done, even though it still hid part of her face and her nails looked freshly manicured as well. She looked as rich as ever and probably came by just to see if they were still just as poor. "I have to cook dinner."
"He's always crabby after work." His father excused. "He's been working twelve hours lately, sometimes more."
Matt went into the kitchen and began working on throwing something together. His coworkers had been giving him hell about his failed date with Carrie. Someone even placed a picture of her in his tool box, or a picture of some grotesquely obese naked woman with Carrie's head pasted on.
"Where is Jeff?" He asked Sloan just as Jeff waltzed through the front door. "Where have you been?"
"I got a job." Jeff said with a big smile. "Bagging groceries at Old man's Johnson's store."
"You what?"
"It's in the evenings. Only a few hours so I'll be able to do it when school starts back. I'm gonna work some day shifts over the summer."
"And who the hell's going to be here with dad and the boys? You know someone has to be with him now and I can't afford to pay a sitter all summer. I can barely afford the nurse that comes out to check on him every day."
His father's health had gotten worse. So bad that the doctor said he wasn't able to watch his youngest children anymore. And a case worker was up their ass so he couldn't leave Sloan in charge even though he was mature enough to handle what little his father needed help with because case worker thought that was neglectful.
"I'll stay with them." Randie offered meekly.
"You?" Matt about laughed. "You want to babysit?"
"I think it's a great idea." His father said. "She's staying with her aunt and uncle for a little while."
"You know we can't pay you." Matt spat.
"I don't mind helping." Randie whispered, her eyes on her lap.
"Fine. Whatever makes everyone happy. That still doesn't help me figure out what to do when summer is over."
Matt slammed around the pots and pans in the kitchen. He felt like everything was on him. He didn't have much help and the state was making it even harder on him. They were on him about the condition of the house, the things that needed to be fixed and brought up to code. It wasn't clean enough and they needed more food in the house. They needed healthier food in the house. They threatened to put his brothers in a state run children's home and send his father to a nursing home. He didn't know what to do.
Not one of those case workers offered him any kind of financial help and he was working seven days a week. He kept a constant headache. He'd been working his whole life to take care of his family and now it seemed it wasn't good enough and the government wanted to tear his family apart. It wasn't fair. They didn't have much. All they had was each other and they had all always been thankful for that. Who the hell did these people think they were coming in and taking that all away?
Randie was waiting on his porch step when he opened the door to head out for work.
"You could have knocked?" He spat. It wasn't just Randie that irritated him. It was everyone like her. Everyone who didn't know what it was like to have a hard time. People who didn't know what it was like to barely scrape by.
"I didn't want to wake everyone up." She always spoke so damn soft. Like she was terrified to speak.
"Well, go in." he urged. "Jeff will fill you in on what Dad needs. Dad can pretty much tell you when he needs help, but Jeff will tell you the stuff Dad won't tell you. There are few meds he tries to skip, but he has to have them. The twins will be up any minute. Marty will get up and take off to the treehouse and Sloan. Hell I have no idea what that kid does. He stays in his own little world. I got to go, Jeff will tell you the rest." She stood up, slung a backpack over her shoulder and picked up a large basket that had been sitting beside her. Something in it made a sound and that's when her realized that that basket was an infant's car seat.
"You have a kid now?"
"Yeah." She whispered staring up at him with terrified eyes.
He groaned. Yeah, she was gonna be a big help and he was sure her kid's screaming was going to irritate his father, but he didn't' have time to worry about how long she would stay.
He rushed to his truck. It wasn't his business. He knew she hadn't been pregnant before she left. He'd seen her. All of her. He didn't want to ask any questions. Didn't want to know who the father was. He wouldn't ask a complete stranger and when he talked to her it felt like he was talking to a stranger. Hell, she pretty much was. All they ever really had was few quick screws.
He worked a double shift that day. It was hard choice to make because he knew so much needed to be done at home, but they needed the money just as bad. He hoped everything was taken care of and that Randie at least stayed until Jeff got home from his job.
It was after midnight before he finally collapsed on the sofa. The house was quiet and his dad was sitting up watching television.
"How was everything today?" He asked his father.
"Fine." His father stated as he flipped the channels on the new television Matt had given him for his birthday the week before. It was something he really couldn't afford, but he thought his father deserved it, especially since the man couldn't do much more those days than watch television. "Supper was real good."
"I haven't eaten all day." Matt had stopped spending money on lunch for himself, going all day sometimes. "I'm too tired to fix anything so I'll just wait until morning." Just as the words were out of his mouth a plate appeared in front of him. He lifted his head up and opened his eyes. Shocked to see a plate of hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and gravy in front of him. And he was even more shocked to see Randie was still there.
"Um – didn't Jeff come home?" He took the plate and the glass of tea she handed him.
"He went on a date." Randie told him as she bent over to pick up her tiny, baby who had just begun to stir out of a playpen she had set up in the living room. She sat down beside him. She seemed uncomfortable sitting so close, but there was a pile of folded laundry sitting on the third cushion.
"He what?"
"He wasn't going to, but I told him I didn't mind staying." She looked like she was a bit scared she had done something wrong. "Was that okay?"
"No, it's fine." Matt waved it off. It seemed like everything had been okay with Randie there. No one was hurt and he didn't come home to find the cops taking his family away.
"I'm going to bed." His father rolled across the room. "Thank you for a wonderful day Miss Randie. I hope to see you tomorrow." He took her hand and gave it a kiss, gently stroked the child's hair, then handed Matt the remote. "Get some sleep kid, you look like shit." He gave him a wink and big grin, then rolled himself into his room.
"You need help?" Matt asked knowing that some days he wasn't able to stand up and transfer himself.
"No. It's a good day."
"Night."
"Night."
Matt took a bite of the food that Randie had cooked and rolled it around on his tongue, savoring the flavor. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten something that tasted so good. Or maybe it was because he was so hungry. He barely ate most days. Usually no more than quick sandwich before going to bed after a long shift. And Jeff's dinners were horrible, always overcooked if not burnt and his own cooking tasted like cardboard.
"Well – I'll see you tomorrow – maybe." She said softly after there had been a long moment of silence. She gathered her things and headed out the door with the baby on her shoulder and the car seat in her hand. It didn't occur to him to help her or give her a ride down the long driveway until she had left.
He wasn't trying to be rude to her, he was just busy shoveling the food into his mouth. When he was done he actually got up and hunted for more and ate another plate full.
The next day, he came home just as late.
"Randie left you a plate in the fridge." Matt dragged himself into the kitchen, which he normally wouldn't do for Jeff's cooking and pulled out a foil covered plate. He lifted it to find a big helping of lasagna. His favorite food in the world and it tasted better than he remembered. "What time did she leave?" He was a little upset that she was gone and Jeff wasn't home, but he wasn't paying her so he knew he should be thankful for whatever she did give, knowing that she would get bored and quit anytime.
Then he heard the faint cries of the baby and watched his roll over to the playpen, lift himself to his feet and pick the baby up. He rolled back with it in his arms.
"She's a cute thing isn't she?"
"It's a girl."
"Yeah." His father said softly as he gently bounced her. "Reminds me of you when you were this little. You had just as much hair and it was just as dark."
"She's still here, huh?"
"Yeah. She's helping Jeff in the barn. The evening shift bagger got sick and Jeff took the hours. Now's he's tending to the animals, but that damn rotten rafter finally broke. It's blocking all the feed. They're trying to dig it out."
"Shit." Matt put down the plate and headed out the door. "Sloan!" he yelled for the oldest child in the house who always came immediately. He felt bad for waking him, but he didn't want his father left completely alone with an infant. He seemed fine that night, but an episode could hit him unexpectantly at any given time. "Sit with Dad."
"Damn it," He cursed as he rushed to the barn. He'd been trying to get to that rafter for a long time, but life just got in the way. He rushed out to the barn. Randie was using a pitch fork to move some of the hay from the loft off of the large food containers and bags but the beam was still in the way. Jeff was trying to lift the large beam, but his skinny frame wasn't strong enough.
"Head to the house Jeff." Matt ordered. "I'll feed them." He didn't want his brother worn out like he was. "And this is the last double you pull until you're out of school. Got me? You already got a full time job at home. You're normal hours are too much as it is."
Jeff didn't argue. He could tell he was tired. Matt lifted the beam with one blunt move even though he was exhausted from his own double shift. Maybe it was an adrenilne rush from anger or maybe frustration and stress. He wasn't sure. When he turned around he caught Randie staring in awe.
"You should probably head home too." He spat. He figured she was sick of playing in the barn with the dirty, wet hay. He jerked the barrels from under the hay, found the buckets he needed and began to fill them with feed.
"I don't mind helping." Randie told him, coming closer.
"I don't need help. I do this every day." He snapped a little too harshly.
"Matt." She touched his arm. "Let me help." She took the pail out of his hand and together they walked to the pins and poured out the feed to the livestock. When he returned to put the buckets away he collapsed onto a hay bail. His back ached and he thought seriously about spending the night in the barn so he didn't have to walk all the way back to the house. He didn't notice Randie behind him until her hands touched his shoulders and gently massaged. His body seemed to relax without his consent, his shoulder hunching over as he enjoyed Randie's kneading. Then she moved to his back. Rubbing and pressing as if she knew exactly what was hurting.
"Damn, woman, if you weren't too good for me, I would marry you." He laughed at his own joke, but Randie wasn't laughing. She stopped rubbing abruptly.
He stood and stretched, knowing he had to get to the house before his father sent Jeff back out to hunt him down. The sickness and the pain didn't stop the parental worrying. He'd experienced it and he'd yet to have kids of his own. He gazed at Randie. She was looking at her feet with her hands twisting in front of her.
"Can you come one more day this week? I'm off the weekend, so we won't need you those days." he asked with a matter of fact voice, like he was speaking to an employee. "Um – here." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a twenty. "It's not much, but I worked at a lot this week. I just wanted you to know we're grateful for your help. It's a lot of work and I don't expect you to do it for free." He put the bill in her hand. "If it's not enough, I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement." He added quickly when she stared at the money in her hand. She just stared at it. She didn't look up and she didn't say anything. "I'm sure I can make it work if it's reasonable."
"I don't want your money." She whispered.
"What? My money's not good enough?" he snapped at her. "Oh, wait. I bet you've never seen a twenty dollar bill before. I guess anything lower than a hundred is an insult." He turned around and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I mean all you did was a little dusting and cooking." He was angry. He felt like she had slapped him in the face when all he was trying to do was show her that he appreciated her help. "You know what. Forget it. I don't need you."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Randie took off out of the barn. She ran out of the barn actually and when he looked down he found the twenty dollar bill on the floor.
