"She's so taciturn these days," Justine sighed.
"Hm?" Inez asked absently, engrossed in sorting the cash from the register.
Everyone else had gone home for the weekend, so Inez was closing up. Justine had kindly offered to stay and help.
Inez suspected this was because Justine wanted to know more about what was going on in Tamra's life.
Unfortunately for Justine, despite renting Tamra a room, Inez and Tamra didn't exchange a lot of personal details, so Inez had a feeling she'd only disappoint. To be honest, Inez found that when Tamra wasn't on the phone (usually with Justine, now that Inez thought about it) Tamra was playing a computer game or watching a series or on her phone.
Different generation, Inez thought. Andersen was Tamra's age and he also spent a lot of time texting and gaming.
Justine repeated. "Tamra's taciturn, I said."
"Sometimes," Inez opted for diplomacy.
Re-counting the store income for the last few days, Inez was pretty sure she was one of only a few customers at the store that week, despite the online ads that her boss had used a not insignificant amount of their budget to fund. Inez wondered who saw the ads. Maybe I can ask Tamra or Andersen if they ever seen any ads for the Faith Brigade Consignment shop when they're doing stuff online?
Justine finished sweeping and put the broom down. "Yes, Tamra can be secretive and taciturn these days for some reason..."
Inez frowned. She really needed to get through to Larry before he spent all their funding on something other than their people.
Justine leaned on a shelf and watched Inez.
More loudly, Justine said, "One might even say Tamra was being a bit cagey about what's on her mind..."
Donations are all well and good, Inez continued thinking to herself, not really paying attention as she mentally reviewed her budget. But most of our cases, er clients, need money for housing and food and healthcare or childcare, not old clothes. It would be nice if the store made more money so we could expand our services...
"I don't know what's got into Tamra. She seems to spend a lot of weekends away but she doesn't share why with me..." Justine started dusting the cash desk, but she watched Inez.
"Mm-mm." Inez nodded again, distractedly. Technically, Inez didn't work Saturday, but given it was the infamously unreachable Amy's job to oversee the store on the weekends, Inez had a feeling no one would notice if she came in and opened the store. Inez had paperwork to catch up on anyways, and she thought to herself, I could easily do that while working the cash register and restocking...more people do their shopping on Saturdays anyways. Plus, Andersen is here this weekend, and he'll need a good distraction and we can't spend the whole weekend in bed...
"Meanwhile, my eldest is testy," Justine met Inez's glazed eyes with a significant look.
"Oh, how is Adrianne?" Inez asked quickly, tapping the small stack of dollar bills from the register into a pile and sliding the pile into an envelope to lock up in the cash box for tomorrow.
Justine's eldest daughter Adrianne had been a few years behind Inez in school - a physical duplicate of her mother but quite different in personality.
"Adrianne is fine. Just working a lot. Has Tamra got plans tonight aside from running?" Justine gave up hinting and got straight to the point.
"Tamra didn't share any plans with me," Inez said sympathetically.
Justine looked disappointed as she went back to picking up the front desk and dusting the cash register.
Inez didn't quite understand why Tamra kept her mother so poorly informed - Inez's own mother was hardly interested in Inez's life, which, to be honest, sometimes stung a little bit. But Inez tried to respect Tamra's relationship with Justine - including the implicit boundaries.
When Justine looked up again, Inez gave a benign smile and said, "Anyways, Tamra is a very responsible young lady. She must have a fabulous mom."
Justine looked mollified.
Responsible young lady? Inez castigated herself internally - Tamra was a grown woman. Tamra was the same age as Inez's boyfriend Andersen. Younger yes, possibly much younger depending on context. Inez wondered if either Tamra or Andersen remembered dial-up.
But still, both were technically adults, thank God.
"Well, then! I'm off to Avie Lee's party!" Inez hoisted up the impromptu gift basket she'd put together earlier.
Inez had purchased a mix of clothes and baby stuff from the second-hand store. As a bonus, she'd included one of the pink terracotta angels.
"Have fun. Hope she likes the angel." Justine looked skeptical. "I've got to pick up my pie and get to Book Club." 'Book Club' was Justine's nickname for a group of first-time moms that she tutored in child development.
Avie Lee had been invited several times to Book Club, but she never showed. Inez maintained that Avie Lee just forgot.
Justine was less circumspect.
After both women parted in the parking lot, Inez started her car and asked her phone to call Andersen.
"How are you doing, darling?" Inez asked kindly when Andersen finally picked up
"I'm okay. Packing up to head back your way. The...funeral is Monday. Anita worked out the details," Andersen said in a wobbly voice.
Inez clucked sympathetically. "That was nice of her. JJ is lucky to have Anita for his wife. Was it Anita who called and told you?"
Andersen sniffed, "uh-huh. Well, she made JJ call."
Inez made a kiss sound in the direction of the phone. "Oh, mi amor, I wish I could be there to give you a hug..."
"Me too," Andersen said with what sounded like a sob.
Inez's heart broke a little, but as she turned into the public housing complex in which Avie Lee lived, something tickled in the back of her brain.
Inez hadn't heard anything from Claire since this morning, and Leona O'Malley had died several hours ago....Claire's mother's death would no doubt have earned at least a text from Vikram if not a phone call from Claire.
"I mean...I knew it was going to happen soon...but it still feels so sudden, you know?" Andersen cried softly into the phone - he'd been his mother's baby and he'd been away at war when she'd had her first few strokes and her mind had begun to wander. In fact, Inez often thought that Andersen's mother's condition had been harder for him than losing a part of his leg to that IED.
Inez cleared her throat. "Andersen, my angel, I know this is extremely hard for you, and I want you to know that I am always here for you...um...do you know if anyone has told Claire that her - your - all of yours - mother has died?" Inez found a parking spot and pulled in.
Andersen sniffed loudly and sighed. "I dunno, Inez...maybe Anita did? Claire usually checks in with the nursing facility once a week. Maybe they told her?"
Inez took a deep breath before she turned off the car and brought the phone to her ear. "Andersen, my love, I want you to know that I am so sorry and I am here for you, whatever you need....Maybe, and I know it's not easy, but I think it could be good, maybe you could just call JJ and check to see if he's phoned Claire? He's with Anita and your dad now, I assume?"
Andersen hiccuped. "Prob...Probably. Sounds like...the...the sort of thing Anita would insist on...sniff..." He paused and asked plaintively, "I guess we should let Liam know, too?"
Yes, one should normally tell all the children when the mother has died, but...Inez remembered now was not the time to lecture anyone. She loved this man, after all, and he had just lost his mother. "Yes, that would be a good idea, mi amor. And you come straight to my place after you see to that, and I'll see to you. Okay, Andersen?"
"Yes, Inez," Andersen blew his nose. "I can't wait to see you."
"Me neither. Just remember: after we hang up, phone JJ and Anita to ask if they've told everyone including Liam and Claire - all the siblings should know," Inez reminded Andersen firmly before murmuring some more platitudes about how he was sad, and that was okay, and she would sit with him as soon as he got back to town.
When Andersen finally felt stable enough to hang up, Inez unbuckled her seat belt.
Inez paused before getting out of her car. Training dictated that she check in with her own emotions before offering advice to others. Okay, Inez thought to herself, so Leona O'Malley was dead, really dead. Mrs. O'Malley had been mentally out of it for more than a few years, but now, that was over. A new grieving process needed to begin for Andersen and, Inez realized, Claire.
Inez wondered if she could talk Andersen into putting off their living together for another couple of months. Claire did not handle surprises well, and, for Claire, her best friend having regular sex with her littlest brother - even if it was in the context of a relationship, in fact, particularly if it was in the context a relationship - would qualify as a surprise.
Andersen could live with JJ and Anita for a little while. Anita is too polite to kick Andersen out. Or Andersen could also live with his father, Inez thought doubtfully.
Inez shook her head and told herself to grow up. She loved Andersen and Claire would get over it...eventually.
Inez had never been close to Claire's mother, but Mrs. O'Malley had always been nice to her. To be honest, at least in Inez's eyes, Claire's mother had been a lot like Inez's own mother, only older and blonder and way more Catholic. Inez's mother had worn religion as lightly as she'd worn everything else - including motherhood.
Claire's mother, Mrs. O'Malley, had been very...traditional...hierarchical...the kind of woman who never disagreed with somebody in public, particularly if that somebody was male.
Inez finally decided that she was feeling sorrowful but oddly detached, a bit melancholy.
Inez closed her eyes and reminded herself that emotions were constructed in reaction to selected events. In other words, emotions could change and Inez could change her emotions if she wanted to. It would just take time and effort and a purposeful shift in perspective.
We are not responsible for our first thought, but we are responsible for our second thought. Inez smiled - okay, it was a cliché but it was also a classic.
Inez then took a moment to focus on her plans for the evening, on Avie Lee, and build on Inez's sense of pride in all Avie Lee had managed to accomplish in this past year or so, sure, with Inez's help, but still, Inez had made sure Avie Lee took each step herself.
After all, Avie Lee had openly acknowledged and appreciated Inez just this morning, which was a far cry from when the girl had first appeared at Inez's desk asking for a place to stay, surly and sarcastic, claiming her mother had kicked her out of the house and that her health teacher had referred her to Justine who had referred her to Inez after Avie Lee had been caught trying to steal turpentine from the janitor's closet.
Immediately, Inez had known.
When working with teenagers, which seemed to be all the time these days, Inez tried to regularly remind herself that their brains were going through a second developmental phase parallel to what toddlers experience, only teens were experimenting and learning the rules of their social environment while toddler development focused more on acquiring language and learning how to verbally communicate.
Inez often reminded her colleagues and herself that teens as much as toddlers needed the adults around them to model appropriate engagement behavior, especially in heated moments. Teens, like toddlers, learned more from repeated experience than from lectures.
The point is, Inez knew that she needed to be patient.
"Here we go..." Inez said to herself as she knocked on the apartment door where Avie Lee and her mother, currently reconciled, lived with baby Jeremiah and Jeremiah's father, whom Inez's colleague Maria referred to as "the elusive Mr. Jackson Beaufort."
Inez had a vague notion that Jackson was a big deal in the local sports scene but as none amongst the Faith Brigade staff had teenagers themselves, they'd never seen him. Ana-Louise and Maria suspected that Jackson might be responsible for more than just Avie Lee's situation, but Inez discouraged conjecture that failed to give people, particularly children (Inez again always insisted teenagers were essentially overgrown toddlers with regard to their neural development) the benefit of a doubt.
Avie Lee's door was scratched and dented but a nice plastic wreath with the words "Bless this mess" hung over the peephole. Inez sighed as she recognized the wreath was from the Dollar Store - locally, the biggest rival of the Faith Brigade's secondhand shop. Ironically, a lot of the Dollar Store's 'new' stock ended up at the Faith Brigade - Inez could almost swear that the Dollar Store carried the same pink terra cotta angel that Inez was now giving to Avie Lee.
Oh well, Inez told herself, knocking loudly, appreciate the sentiment if not the source.
Avie Lee pulled open the door seconds later - she'd obviously been waiting for someone.
"Hi!" Avie Lee rolled her eyes to indicate Jeremiah, happily munching something from his spot on her hip. "Mom said she'd take Jeremiah, but she's not off work yet, so I still got him. Jackson's not answering his texts, the asshole."
"Hello," Inez said brightly, holding up her gift basket full of diapers and sheets and the angel to better display its contents to Avie Lee. "Thanks for inviting me! Congratulations on...everything..."
"Thanks." Avie Lee cracked the gum in her mouth and waved around the apartment. "Well. You're the first one here. Want to help me pick up a bit? I gotta make snacks too. I tried to get wine but you know how my mom is, 'I'm not buying wine for you and your friends, you suck up enough of my cash already, blah, blah, blah...' Did you bring wine?" Avie Lee asked hopefully.
"I don't drink," Inez used the same lie with all her clients.
"Yeah, sure, neither do I," Avie Lee smirked. She went back into the cluttered living room and put Jeremiah in his playpen before she threw herself across the sofa in front of the TV. Inez recognized a reality TV show starring a lot of bickering rich women, but she couldn't place which reality show.
Claire would know, Inez mused to herself.
"Okay..." Inez said, shutting the door and placing her gift basket on the floor by the sofa. The pink angel toppled out of the basket and Inez bent to set it upright.
"Okay..." Inez repeated, turning to Avie Lee on the sofa.
Avie Lee munched a few chips and then snorted at something on the TV.
Inez surveyed the messy room. "Shall I go to the kitchen and get some snacks together then?"
"Yeah, sure, that'd be great!" Avie Lee waved behind her. "Kitchen's there. My mom is such a bitch, she probably didn't buy anything for us, but I'm sure the girls'll bring stuff..." Avie Lee broke into another snort as two women on the TV started to fight over what looked like a purse covered in rhinestones.
"Okay, then," Inez went to the kitchen. While she investigated the somewhat bare refrigerator - Inez was relieved to see that at least one shelf was stocked with baby food - she heard some more knocks on the door and some squeals and shouts.
Oh good, Avie Lee's friends DID come, Inez thought with relief. Isolation sent too many teen moms into a spiral of depression that Inez found she did not always have the resources to address.
Defeated by the empty cabinets, Inez pulled out her phone and ordered a couple of pizzas and a bottle of Coke to the apartment.
Inez started toward the living room but paused as her eyes skirted a smiling candid photograph of Jeremiah, Avie Lee and Avie Lee's mother. Taking her phone back out, Inez scrolled through her contacts and called her mom.
"Inez?" Inez's mother sounded surprised when she picked up on the fifth ring.
"Hey, Mom," Inez said. "What's up? Where, um, where are you?"
"At the most lovely little beach not too far from Costa Linda. I'm with Paul," Inez's mother replied. "Oh Inez, he surprised me with champagne this afternoon, so I'm a little tipsy."
"How nice," Inez murmured. Was Paul the latest boyfriend or was he new? Inez couldn't remember if she'd been introduced to a Paul or a Perry the last time she saw her mother. He'd been young, whoever he was - closer to Inez's age than her mother's, she thought.
I'm such a hypocrite, Inez told herself, thinking of Andersen.
"Yes, Paul is such a sweetheart. He loves to shower me with little gifts and experiences. Like just yesterday, we went on a horseback ride on the beach followed by the most amazing massage - you wouldn't believe it! And guess what? The masseuse, I knew him! Do you remember when I went on the cruise with Carlos...or was it Bernard? Anyways, that's not the important part - " Her mother launched into one of her many stories.
Inez half-listened with a smile on her face. Inez's mother currently lived a life of romance not unlike the sort of story that would have heavily interested Avie Lee's mom. Inez's father had died unexpectedly when Inez was barely out of her teens, and her mother, a still very young, very attractive woman, had wasted no time in taking advantage of her single status. Inez didn't begrudge her mother's explorations - Rosa Hernandez had been married quite young to an older man who had lacked Rosa's enthusiasm for seeking out new experiences. Throughout Inez's childhood, Rosa had frequently if laughingly referred to her husband as the family's 'parole officer.'
Inez waited for a break in her mother's story to ask, "Say, Mom, you remember Claire O'Malley?"
Inez's mother whistled. "Oh, yes, Claire! Your little friend with all the brothers. How is she? She had a baby recently? Boy or girl?"
"That was almost three years ago - you know what, never mind. Boy. Ben," Inez said.
"I never had a boy, just you girls. Have you heard from your sister by the way?" Rosa giggled. "Stop that, Paul. I'm on the phone with my baby girl. Go outside. I'll be there in a minute." She waited before she whispered to Inez, "Paul says hello. He says that he hopes his tips on your mortgage deductibles helped with your taxes last spring?"
Inez frowned. Now she remembered - Paul was a bespectacled and retired tax attorney well into his seventies. He was not her mother's favorite lover, but he was consistently in the top three.
"Yes, I talked to Nathalie on her birthday. She's doing well, got a nice face lift. Looks younger than me now." Inez said.
Inez heard her mother call to someone on her end, presumably Paul, "My eldest girl had her birthday recently - I have to call her!"
Inez raised her voice, "Mom! I wanted to tell you -"
"Inez, don't shout, I'm right here. What's going on?" her mother answered.
"My friend, Claire, her mom died, and I wanted to ask you -"
"Died? Oh my goodness! She was much older than me, I remember. You spent a lot of time at their house. I am so sorry, please tell your little friend I am so sorry for her loss." Her mother said sincerely.
Inez nodded, "Yes, I'm planning on sending some flowers and I thought you'd maybe..."
"Yes, yes, sign my name, too. Inez, this is why you have to go out and live your life. It passes so quickly. Your father never understood that. Always working, never going out, he didn't appreciate life. That's why he died so young - I mean, he was only in his fifties. If you don't enjoy every moment, your body just shuts down. That's a fact, a scientific fact. Paul and I woke up this morning, did some yoga, took a walk, went swimming, breakfast. Don't waste a minute, Inez! You can put that on the card. Don't waste a minute!" Inez heard the tears in her mother's voice. Inez's mother cried almost any time the idea of time came up.
"On the card honoring the dead lady?" Inez raised on eyebrow.
Her mother's voice stopped trembling. "Well, she's not going to read it, Inez! Her children are. She had a lot of them, as I recall. And wanted more, God knows why."
"Mom," Inez rolled her eyes.
"What? Your little friend - her daughter - agreed with me. In fact, as I remember it, your little friend Claire was pretty good at enjoying life. Isn't she the one who drank all your father's good liquor and replaced it with water? Your grandparents were so surprised at your quinceañera. They wanted to be polite so they didn't say anything but your father was livid! It was so funny. They never did have any sense of humor on that side of the family. I remember when we first got married - "
"Yes, yes, Mom," Inez said, anxious to skip the trip down memory lane. Her parents had been very different people who had married too quickly and under a lot of social and religious pressure, Inez reminded herself. "Will I see you and Paul for Christmas, Mom? Nathalie has plans - she's going Scuba diving off the Costa del Sol."
"What fun! Nathalie understands how to live her life! You should go with her Inez. Is it just too expensive? I am sure we can help pay! Maybe we could all go! Paul, do you want to go Scuba Diving off - where was it, Inez?" Her mother asked.
"Costa del Sol. No, thanks, I am not a beach person," Inez said. Plus, she and Andersen would probably have plans this Christmas. "I'll add your name to the card. You and Paul go have fun!"
"I will dance until I die," Inez's mother promised solemnly. "I must make up for lost time! Bezos!" With that, she hung up.
Inez shrugged and slid her phone back into her purse before going back out to sit on the sofa beside Avie Lee and a couple of other teen girls. The TV had been turned down, and Jeremiah was in Avie Lee's lap as the girls cooed over him and told Avie Lee how beautiful he was. Inez smiled and reached over to rub his curls. It was true, Jeremiah was a beautiful baby, she thought.
"Yeah," Avie Lee drawled. "He looks a lot like Jackson. We're gettin' married now, you know. If you want, you guys can be bridesmaids."
"Ooh, we can do one of our routines! Maybe it'll go viral," one of the girls squealed.
"Ain't you too young to get married?" One of the other girls started cleaning her nails with a piece of bright pink notebook paper she'd folded into a tight square.
Avie Lee shook her head. "No...Though to tell you the truth, Jackson annoys me so much, I'm thinking of telling him to get lost." She sighed. "But I want him to babysit some. Bein' a mom is so exhausting you have no idea."
"Yeah?" the girl cleaning her nails was obviously unimpressed. "Have you heard about Mandy and Drew? They were all hot and heavy until she streamed her last house party and Drew wasn't there!"
All of the girls gasped. A blonde one squeaked, "I know, I know! He was invited but he didn't show! He didn't even comment on any of the pictures she posted!"
"Who are Mandy and Drew again?" Avie Lee looked tired suddenly. Jeremiah reached for one of the girls' bags and started to pull out paper and eat it. Avie Lee watched him and yawned.
The other girls ignored her. "Where was he? Did you hear?"
As they compared gossip and phone messages, Inez heard the door again and went to let in the pizza delivery guy. She paid the delivery boy who peeked over her shoulder at the group of girls. "Hey, Heather," he said very softly, his eyes on a raven-haired beauty in full-make up and a tight green fuzzy sweater. The girl didn't look up.
"Be more bold," Inez advised him with a smile. "She'd be lucky to have you - you're employed."
The delivery boy looked at the ground. "Thanks for the tip."
Inez almost shut the door on a tall, tan, beautiful boy who bowled over the much smaller pizza delivery boy as he bounded into the apartment. "Pizza! Cool! I had such a day you would not believe!" The boy, whom Inez recognized from a photo that she'd seen once on Avie Lee's phone, grabbed the pizza boxes and ran to sit amongst the girls, who parted to make room for him with a cascade of feminine giggles. The boy, still in his bright red basketball sweats emblazoned with the local mascot, awarded the group a blinding smile.
Only Avie Lee looked at him accusingly. "Jackson! Tonight is my night with the girls! You or my mom's supposed to watch Jeremiah!"
Jeremiah was munching his way through a series of what looked like math notes.
Jackson stuffed a slice of pizza into his mouth and gave a dramatic sigh. "I had school all day. I'm beat. Coach had us do extra sprints after practice. I can't be expected to watch a kid right this minute."
Avie Lee glared at him. "You think your day was exhausting? I've been up since dawn with a baby - your baby - and I have barely had time to eat!"
"You don't look it - just kiddin'!" Jackson made a silly face. The girls around him twittered uncontrollably.
Avie Lee's eyes filled with tears for a moment. Then she grabbed Jeremiah and stormed out of the room. "Excuse me! I"m going to put our baby to bed." She paused in the bedroom doorway and glanced back at the group. "Don't eat all the pizza!"
Inez suppressed the urge to check the time on her phone.
"Can you get us cups?" Jackson asked Inez, holding up the bottle of Coke. "Please?"