And Good Will To All-6
957 Words
Things went on like this until two in the afternoon on Thursday. A customer came in, asking for help with a lock. She’d forgotten her key and desperately needed to get into her unit. After verifying that it was, in fact, her unit, she purchased a new lock from me, then I turned the sign on the door to ‘Back in Ten Minutes,’ locked it, and walked with her to take care of the problem. I used a bolt cutter to cut off the padlock so she could access her items. She was almost embarrassingly grateful.
I left her and was on my way back to the office when, on a whim, I decided to do a quick walk-around. It was brisk out, and I shivered beneath my wool jacket. I turned the corner to walk down the row where Lonnie’s unit was located and noticed his car was there. The door to his rental space was rolled up. I hadn’t seen him drive in, but then I’d been really busy up to this point, with only a chance to glance at the cameras a few times. I wasn’t too worried about problems during the day.
I walked behind the Honda and came face to face with a half-dressed Lonnie, naked from the waist up. As it was freezing outside, he was shivering and his n*****s were hard. I could see goose bumps on his skin. I was flabbergasted.
“What the hell’s going on here, Lonnie?”
“It’s nothing.” He quickly donned the sweater he’d been holding and ran his hands through his unruly hair. His eyes were red and a little crusty in the corners. “I just needed a change of clothes, and I, uh, forgot that there was a stack of sweaters in a box inside.” He turned and moved quickly toward the rollup door when I noticed what he had in the space.
Oh, God, no.
“What the f**k?”
Caught, Lonnie moved out of my way as I advanced toward him. He hung his head and stuck his hands in his pants pockets.
Before me, there was a bedroll, a couple of really flat pillows with mildew spots, a flashlight, folding chair, and some food wrappers. His cell phone was on the floor next to a bottle of water. From a plastic garment rack that leaned to the left, hung his winter jacket, the slacks I’d seen him wear a lot, and two Henleys.
I couldn’t believe it. “Are you…are you living here, Lonnie?”
Still not facing me, I saw him nod reluctantly. I hardly knew what to think or how to respond.
“It’s f*****g freezing out here. How the hell do you keep warm?”
“I sit in the car with the heater on.” He hunched his shoulders.
I looked at the car, uncertain how a man of his height could be comfortable in there over a long period of time. Words threatened to fail me. Now that I thought about it, I’d seen Lonnie’s vehicle on camera in front of his unit a few times, but the why of it never occurred to me.
I mean, why would it?
I rubbed my face a few times, then let my gloved hands fall away. “Why, Mack?” My nickname for him came out without conscious thought. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He rounded on me. “Why would I? The popular kid in school who left town to conquer the world is f*****g homeless? Brilliant, right? Must make you feel like saying ‘I told you so,’ huh?”
He was like a wounded bear, his anger vicious, a live thing. I reminded myself that we didn’t have the kind of relationship we used to, and we were essentially starting over. Lonnie needed careful handling, but more, he needed a friend and a place to stay.
I made the only decision I could to help a proud man, down on his luck. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. You can sleep on the futon in the back room of the office until it’s your time to work. Then you’ll do your shift, and in the morning, I’ll come get you and have Jenna work by herself for an hour or so while we get you situated at my place.”
His frank disbelief damn near broke my heart. “Why? Why would you do that, Charlie? After what I did, how I left you all those years ago?” Instead of making me uncomfortable, his use of my pet name told me how vulnerable he was.
“Mack.” I couldn’t think of him as Lonnie anymore, not after this. “We were friends once upon a time, and I’d do anything to help a friend. Let me do this for you, okay? In the spirit of the season, if that helps, though I usually don’t care much for that hogwash.” It had always irked me that people were so happy to remember those in need at Christmas time and ignored them the rest of the year. Drove me nuts.
After staring at me for a little while longer, he nodded. “Okay.”
“Good. Finish up here, then come on back to the office. Jenna’s already gone for the day, so I’m the only one working at the moment. Need to be around for customers. We good?”
He coughed. “Yeah. And thanks, Charles.”
I smiled. “Call me Charlie. And you’re welcome.” I walked quickly back to the office. Thankfully, no one was waiting at the door. He and I were gonna have a talk tomorrow morning, whether he liked it or not.
Ten minutes later, a sheepish-looking Mack shuffled into the office. I got up and led him to the small room behind the supply store. I had already pulled out the futon, and a blanket and pillows looked inviting. At least, I hoped they did.
“I’ll come get you when it’s time for your shift.”
Mack sat down.
“I have one more question, if you don’t mind,” I stated.
He swallowed and waited for me to continue.
“Where do you clean up?”
He looked at the floor. “Pilot. That truck stop ten miles north of here.” He yawned. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay.” I left him to sleep for a bit and got back to work.
- Writer
