PS01 - Tall, Dark & Lonely (5 page)

expectantly. She only continued to pout.

Madison gritted her teeth. She was tired of this game. “He goes to bed by eight,” she said.

Grandma nodded. “Sounds reasonable. If you’re a good boy and do your homework and get good grades then we can add a half

hour later on. How does that sound?”

Joshua eagerly nodded. Grandma turned her attention to Jill and looked over her outfit and sighed, “You are expected to be in

bed by nine. No curfew yet. If you want one you earn it. Understood?” she said firmly.

Jill snorted and looked at Candy. “Candy, do something!” Candy only pouted and looked wounded.

Grandma cleared her throat. “You will refer to her as ‘mom’ or ‘mother’ she is not your friend. She is your mother and her

name is Emma,” she said this last part looking at Candy. Candy had enough sense to keep her mouth shut at least.

“Madison.” She looked back to see her grandmother studying her. She looked so different than her brother and sister. Joshua

had light brown hair and green eyes and Jill had wild red hair and blue eyes, two different fathers of course. Grandma smiled

warmly at her. “You turned out beautifully, Madison. You look so much like your father,” she said proudly. Madison wanted to

ask her about her father, but not in front of Candy.

“Thank you, Grandma,” she said. It was weird saying Grandma, but this woman fit somehow. If anyone should be her

grandmother it was this woman.

“You’re welcome. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want, sweetheart. All I ask for is the occasional hand and to

keep your bedroom and the bathroom you share with one other boarder clean. Does that sound okay?”

“I like to earn my keep, Grandma. How much per week for me and the kids?”

Grandma waved it off. “The kids are in my custody, therefore my responsibility. As for you, you are my granddaughter and I’ve

missed you. I’m glad to have you. Just do as I ask and we’re settled. But since we’re on the subject of pay I found you a job.

You start tomorrow.”

Madison forced a smile. Another menial job. After nine years of working the worst possible jobs by the worst possible people

she thought she escaped, apparently not.

“I talked to Professor O’Shea who had some connections with the local high school. You have a position as a teacher in the

history department at Rascal High School.”

That was not what Madison expected. She was out of her chair and hugging Grandma before she knew it. “Oh thank you, thank

you!” she said.

Grandma laughed and hugged her back. She whispered fiercely in Madison’s ear. “I’m proud of you, kiddo. I’m sorry you had

to do it on your own for all these years.”

Madison nodded and wiped a tear away. She sat back down. “Now, as for you, Emma, you’re welcome to stay as long as you

follow the rules. You start at seven in the morning and stop at four in the afternoon. Room and board are included. I’ll pay you

five dollars an hour.” Candy opened her mouth to interrupt but Grandma kept going. “I’ve already filed the papers and it’s legal

so you don’t have to worry about the kids.” It was a threat and a promise and Candy knew it. She wasn’t going to hide behind

the kids any longer.

“There are no drugs, no drinking, and no men in your room. Also, we have three male guests. You are not to become involved

with any of them. Am I understood?”

The pout was gone. It was replaced by the bitch look. Her eyes were narrowed, her arms were folded over her chest and her

jaw was set. “And if I don’t agree?”

Grandma smiled. “Then don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

Candy ground her jaw once again. There was nowhere for her to go and no money. She was trapped. She nodded slowly.

“Good.” She turned to look at Madison. “I almost forgot, if you give your mother any money I will throw you out. You’re not

doing her any favors by letting her take advantage of you and you’re not helping yourself. You’ve done enough and you don’t

owe her anything. Am I understood?”

Madison could only stare and nod. “Good. Well, let’s get you to your rooms.”

Chapter 2

She ran her fingers over the quilt that covered her queen size bed and looked around her new room. It was very large, beautiful,

spacious and all hers. It overlooked a large backyard. Their old trailer overlooked a tire factory and smelled horribly. This

room overlooked an apple orchard and swimming pool. This was like the Ritz for her. Even sharing an adjoining bathroom

with a strange man didn’t dampen her good mood.

Grandma swore the man was nice, clean and hardly ever home. He was only home to shower, which Grandma admitted he did

two or three times a day. The man was a shower addict as she liked to put it. He was also a detective for the state police and

was assigned locally.

For the past two years the detective rented his room and her room, but had lived here for three. He couldn’t tolerate sharing the

bathroom with anyone and hated having anyone close by. He needed peace and quiet. The three people that rented the room

before he took over it were anything but quiet. As soon as the last one moved out he informed Grandma that he was paying for

it so that it would remain empty.

A week ago Grandma asked the man for a favor. She needed the room for her granddaughter. The man knew about the situation

and was sympathetic. After promising that Madison was a quiet, respectful woman he agreed. He seemed to think that any

woman who raised her siblings and put herself through college deserved a chance. His only stipulation, everyone leave him

alone. He was a loner.

Grandma said he was nice and helped her out, but didn’t talk to anyone and didn’t join the rest of the house for meals. Grandma

liked the detective. He helped take care of troublesome renters in the past and as a thank you Grandma made sure that everyone

left the detective alone.

It was more than fine with Madison. Their rooms were on the back addition of the house above the large storage room her

Grandmother used to store everything from her old motorcycles to extra tables. They were well away from the rest of the

rooms which meant peace and quiet. They also had their own entrance off their short hallway that connected their rooms to the

main house. Her grandmother was really going out of her way for her.

There was a room near her mother that was open, but Grandma was trying to give her some freedom and a much needed break.

The kids were forbidden to come to this section of the house out of respect for the detective. That’s what Grandma said. In

truth, it was probably for her as well. She understood that Madison came here not out of desperation, but out of love for her

brother and sister. One which she hoped that she could save.

She walked back to her laptop computer and scrolled down. “Finally,” she mumbled.

Last week she discovered that her mother memorized her account number and password. She transferred two hundred of

Madison’s hard earned dollars to her own account. She had a feeling Jill helped her, seeing how both of them came home later

that night in matching outfits. If her grandmother hadn’t stepped in she would have pressed charges.

This was probably why her grandmother made the statement about her money in the living room. Madison asked her

grandmother without giving too many details to open an account for her at the local bank. She did and thankfully set up online

access for the account. Grandma thought of everything. Now she just had to make sure that Jill and Candy didn’t get their hands

on her new debit card or account information.

It was still midmorning by the time she was done bringing her things up. She liked having her own entrance. She didn’t have to

haul her meager possessions through the house and up the stairs and down the hall like everyone else.

She took another look around her room. Not surprising that it was dusty since no one had used this room in two years. Their

small hallway could use a bit of a cleanup as well, she decided. Both areas smelled dusty. Her neighbor as she liked to think of

him asked Grandma not to allow anyone in this part of the house. Her Grandmother readily agreed. She felt a man should have

his privacy. Well, a police detective should at least. Madison had a feeling that Grandma didn’t feel the same way about her

other renters. There were five in total counting her neighbor, two women and three men.

“Damn it.” She forgot to find out her neighbor’s name. She had no plans of bothering him. He wanted to be left alone and she

wanted to feel alone. She sighed on the next breath. “Oh well.” She got over things easily. It was the only way to tolerate

Candy and raise two children.

“Now let’s see, she said the vacuum cleaner was in the closet.” She opened her closet and nodded. Sure enough it was there.

“And the cleaning supplies are in the bathroom.” It still felt weird that she was sharing a bathroom with a strange man, but

beggars couldn’t be choosy. It was a new experience, she told herself.

She opened the bathroom door and gagged. It was a new experience all right. The bathroom looked as though it hadn’t been

cleaned in years, two probably. She pulled the top of her shirt over her mouth so that she could breathe while she made her

way to the window above the toilet. She yanked it open, desperate for fresh air.

With that done she slowly turned around and took in the horror. This was a massacre on hygiene. The room smelled of mold,

mildew, body odor, dirty clothes, public toilet and dozens of stale cardboard air car fresheners. The combined odor was vomit

inducing. She looked around the room. Hanging off every available surface was an air freshener. Some looked pale and old

while others looked bright green. That explained the car smell.

In the corner a large pile of damp mold covered towels took up residence. The pile came up to her hips. This would not do at

all. She kicked the pile and gagged when the top of the pile dumped over onto the ground, leaving a rotten pile of black slimy

fabric. This was the perfect setting for a horror movie.

She moved her attention to the toilet and quickly away. The rings in the toilet were a dark red tint, strange. The toilet was

covered with grime and smelled bad. The sink was covered in hard soap scum, dirt, and upon closer inspection she discovered

beard trimmings were trapped against the counter in some weird street grunge mosaic. Old rusty razors covered the counter

with other discarded trash. Madison looked down at the trash can and laughed. The small trash can was brand new. Well, it

had a small layer of dust, but other than that it was the cleanest thing in the bathroom.

She dreaded turning around and seeing the tub. She already knew the floor needed scrubbing, desperately. The tub as she

dreaded was an equal match for the sink. There was no trash here. Instead there were several high piles of discarded soap bits.

It was scary. She would have nightmares for years after this experience.

Her grandmother said the cleaning supplies were under the sink. She swore up and down that she stocked the small cabinet

right after the last renter moved out. Madison had a sneaking suspicion about what she was going to find. Sure enough the

cabinet was filled from top to bottom with brand new cleaning supplies. She had to laugh. This really would be a new

experience. Not one she was willing to repeat.

Donning the one size fits all rubber gloves she got started. She threw the dirty towels into trash bags. It took four large trash

bags to get rid of them all. She had a feeling that her mysterious neighbor used his towels until they were beyond use and then

threw them onto the pile. That theory was confirmed by the towel hanging by the shower. It was wearing away in some places

and smelled bad. She threw that one away as well, might as well do a thorough job, she decided.

She spent the next four hours scrubbing, scraping, gagging, pleading, and polishing. By the time she was done it was passable

even by her strict standards. Every surface shined and the room smelled of fresh lemon. She unloaded her things and left the

room. She had too much to do to stand around and admire her work. She could only hope that her neighbor wouldn’t take the

cleaning job as a challenge. She didn’t want to do this every week.

********

Madison feigned a horrified look. She looked down at her oversized sweatshirt, which covered four other layers. It was

freezing. Dear god the outside thermometer read seventy, seventy! Where she lived cold was eighty. This was hell backwards.

She wiped her grease covered hands on her baggy jeans that covered leggings and adjusted her baseball cap and pony tail.

“What?”

He giggled some more. She did a little model walk, swinging her hips in exaggeration and pursing her lips. “I think I look

fabulous darling,” she purred. Joshua cracked up even louder.

“You have oil on your face!” He laughed.

She waved it off. “The oil simply adds texture and illusion, darling,” she said in a snooty voice. Joshua giggled some more as

he returned to his bouncing.

Madison returned to the task at hand, making her engine run for another day. Tomorrow she would trade it in and buy a new car