CONTINUING... sorprises and changes (Part 139d)

CONTINUING... surprises & changes (Part 139d)

It was about 4:30pm when Joanie told me that she was needed upstairs. I was hoping that it was Lena that had called. She returned just before 5pm and when she did she gave me a funny look. That didn’t make me feel all that good and I immediately thought that I’d gone too far. She was gathering her things up to leave when I decided to approach her on the clothing subject. As soon as I opened my mouth I could see her cheeks flush. At that point I decided to push on and asked if Lena had spoken to her. At first she didn’t answer and was looking down at the open drawer in the desk. Concerned, my next words were to apologize to her and that got her to look up. When she did she blurted out a ”Thank you... but...“ I apologized again and this time she said that she knew I was trying to help her but that her father would never let her do it. I didn’t see Lena walk up so when she spoke it surprised me.

I don’t know how to describe my reaction when she told Joanie that she would like the opportunity to speak to her father. What was really a shock was that she told Joanie that she as willing to loan her the money to buy some appropriate clothes for work. I started to say something but Lena indicated for me to keep quiet. Lena then offered to drive Joanie home. I was taken right out of the equation. It didn’t really matter to me because my whole intent was to help Joanie and if this was the way then I was all for it.

If it was apparent that I would be home by 6pm I would usually stop at the post office to get the mail. In our small town there were two places you could catch up on the latest rumors... the post office and the hardware store. I’d known the post master since I was a little boy and as I grew up I considered him to be a friend in spite of the age difference. On this night he was just about to lock the doors when I approached so he called out to me to hurry on up. Once inside I headed to my box but as I did he started talking to me asking if I’d ”heard the latest“. With him, the ”latest“ could be on any number of subjects so the safest answer was to say ”No“ and let him tell me what was the hot topic. In this case it was about the school, school board and all the changes that were coming. He was still at the door when I got there and for the next ten minutes I got an ear full.

According to him the big news was that the school board was going to have an open meeting for the public on Thursday night. That was fact. The rest of what I heard was rumor and conjecture but the gist of it was that there were to be some major changes on how the school was to be run... and that it was going to cost a lot of money which, in turn, would mean our property taxes would be going up... not good news.

As soon as I got home I asked if Elle had heard anything about an upcoming open school board meeting. She seemed surprised at the question and said she hadn’t. I asked if she’d seen Ginger, Phyl or Nanci (from the ”Group“) recently and she, again, nodded her head in a negative way. Before I headed upstairs to change my clothes I picked up the phone to call Bob, Phyl’s husband and a board member. We’d become really good friends due to his involvement at the sailing club so I felt that I had an ‘in’ with him and could get some definitive answers. Not so. He said that he wished he could but that they would all be answered at the open meeting on Thursday. I told him of the rumors and his answer was something along the lines of ”Well, it is a small town“.

After hanging up Elle told me that some lady from the bank had called and left a message ”that the situation at the bank had been resolved“.  I was first puzzled by who the lady might’ve been and then by what ”situation” she was referring to. Of course, Elle wanted to know as well. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t know. I was eating my dinner when it came to me. It had to have been Lena that called and the ”situation“ was Joanie. Now, the question was just how was it resolved.

I was a bit apprehensive on the way to work and concerned that Joanie might be upset and that it might reflect on her performance that day. I was pleased to see her walk in with Lena. I ‘played dumb’ and didn’t say anything about the situation from the previous afternoon hoping that Joanie would say something. But it was a call from Lena that put it all together for me.

When she'd spoken to Joanie’s father he said he wouldn’t allow her to borrow money for clothes. Lena said he was highly indignant that anyone would think that he couldn’t provide for his family. But Lena said she almost had to plead with him that that wasn’t her intent and that it was for Joanie’s well being at work. She said she finally got him to relent and that she, Lena, would also help Joanie pick out appropriate clothes. At that point she told me she was willing to put $20 towards the project and that the two of them were going shopping during their lunch break. I thanked her and told her that I’d been thinking about a budget of $50. She said she’d do her best. I then told her to take the clothes they chose to the customer service desk and that I’d stop after work to pay for the. After hanging up I leaned back and gave a sigh of relief.

I watched the two of them leave at noon time and, naturally, wondered what they'd end up with. Before they left I managed to suggest to Lena that they start their shopping at the 'Krazy Korner' at the new department store and she acknowledged that it was probably a good idea. Bret was just returning from his lunch break when Joanie reappeared. The look on his face was one of shock. I hadn't yet seen her so when she made the turn thru the gate I understood why.

To be continued...