July (The Year of The Change Book 1) (33 page)

I didn’t blame her. I was creepy since this whole Change thing come along. Up here I would be out of her way.

“Plus, there’s no way anyone is going to get to this window.” Dad peered down at the yard below. The attic must be the twenty-first century equivalent of a tower, and I was the equivalent of Rapunzel. Only my hair’s too short.

Being up here would be a load off Dad’s mind. It might even forestall that heart attack he was close to having. I looked at the dark, dusty, cobwebby attic again. Was there any way to look at it through Sue’s eyes, because I didn’t see anything worth keeping? But ...it would be better than sharing a room with Tam. I walked around the open space and really looked at everything. The seventies bathroom with the baby blue sink and small gold print shower walls was ok. It did have a good sized medicine cabinet and linen closet. Next to the bathroom was a walk-in closet bigger than Dad and Sue’s. The one bare bulb in the middle of the room wasn’t appealing. With a little bit of paint and a whole lot of scrubbing, this could be useable. It was cleaner than the rest of the house.

It wasn’t easy to look past the fact that it was a creepy, old attic, so I agreed, with trepidation, that it had possibilities. It was as good a place as any for me to ride out the rest of this year. Dad was right, there wouldn't be any boys banging on my window at two in the morning. Being three stories high could have its advantages.

Okay, for Dad’s health
, “I’ll take it.”

Sue took out her pad of paper and made notes of what needed to be done. She continued her scribbling as she revisited each room through the entire monster, ending on the front porch. It was quite a list. When done she divided her list in two. One was for the grocery store, where we girls would shop, mostly for cleaning supplies. The other was for the hardware store where Dad and Tim would buy tools and supplies for the multitude of needed repairs. Each list was then categorized by project and which section of the store it would probably be in. Did I mention Sue was the queen of lists?

Dad dropped us off at the small, and surprisingly well-stocked, grocery store. As we entered, everyone turned to stare at us. Those who weren't in view peered around end displays to get a look. Being new in town was the pits and I’m not overly shy.

Sue shoved a cart at me before she took one for herself. We needed food, as well as cleaning supplies. My stomach was all for shopping for eatables. She gave me her food list and I set off with Tam.

Actually, you could also say this store was strangely stocked. It was fascinating to look over the shelves and see what they had in jars or in the freezer section. Who would’ve thought you could buy Rocky Mountain oysters in Alaska? I didn’t even know the Rocky Mountains had oysters. I always thought the crustaceans were only in the ocean. The moose jerky looked interesting enough to buy. I got a quarter pound and hoped Sue didn’t mind. We finished our short list and met up with my stepmother, who talked to Dad on the cell about whether to buy the buckets at the hardware store or the grocery store.

Sue sent Tam and me in different directions in search of the items left on her list. I looked and looked, and finally gave up. A stocker with light brown hair was on his knees straightening a bottom shelf of canned vegetables when I stumbled across him. His name tag said Daegan. That’s an unusual name. Is it his first or last? He looked as though he might still be in high school.

“Excuse me. Where are your mops?”

His light brown eyes flowed up my body to my blushing face. He smiled. “They’re in the back by dairy.” He leapt to his feet. “Are you new in town?” He was too friendly.

“Yes, we just got here Saturday.” I tried not to look directly in his eyes. I didn’t want to aggravate The Change.

He was my height and cute in a boyish sort of way. I wished I could date. Then I would’ve flirted, if I’d known how.

“Are you in high school?” He appeared hopeful as he led me to the back of the store.

“Yep, I’ll be a junior, and you?”

He lifted his chin and pulled his shoulders back. “Senior.”

We arrived at the mop and broom display, tucked so far back and around a corner that it would’ve taken me a month just to find it.
They need Sue to reorganize this place
.

“Thanks for your help.” I turned away and made it obvious I didn’t need him anymore.

“You’re welcome. Will I see you again, sometime?” He just stood there, smiling.

“You probably will. Yours
is
the
only
grocery store in town.” I shouldn’t have spoken. It only encouraged him and he didn’t leave.

He leaned closer as I studied their small selection. His smile grew bigger. It was time to leave. I picked out two brooms and two mops, under his affected, watchful eye, then went to find Sue.

Daegan followed for a couple of aisles. A woman, who looked a lot like him, probably his mother, grabbed him and put him back to work. She chewed him out for harassing all the girls. There wasn’t another girl around so I wondered where they kept them.

I found Tam and Sue staring in the freezer section. Sue had never seen Rocky Mountain oysters, either. Tam was asking what they were and Sue was ... blushing?

With our shopping completed, we went to the checkout. Daegan materialized and bagged for us. He wasn’t very good at it, or his staring at me made him very clumsy. Either way, it irritated Sue so much she helped him bag, nudging him aside when he got in her way.

The woman cashier smiled. “Are you traveling through?” Her brows lifted, as she glanced at Daegan, who gawked.

Sue huffed at the bagger. “No, we’ve just moved here. My husband took the manager job at-”

The woman squealed with delight. “So, you’re the family we’ve been expecting.” She ran around the counter and hugged Sue.

Sue stiffened, her eyes wide.

“My husband works at the water plant, too. He introduced me to your husband when he was up here for the two weeks.”

That had been the two stress filled weeks where we were waiting for the house to close. Sue was in manic organize mode which drove us kids to hiding at friend’s houses.

She skipped around to her cash register. “I’m Mandy, my husband’s name is Freddie. It’s so nice to get new people in town. I can’t wait to tell everyone you’ve arrived.”

I had no doubt the entire state of Alaska would know we were here by sundown.

“Thank you, we’re so glad to finally be here. Everyone has been very friendly.” Sue had regained her fake smile.

Mandy waved as Daegan insisted on taking our groceries out. I hurried away with him, and the cart he pushed hot on my heels, barely a step behind.

Dad waited in the parking lot and got out with Tim to help us quickly put everything in the van. He shooed Daegan away while I dove into my seat. With the twins right behind me, I locked the back doors. Dad handed him a tip instead of my phone number, which he begged for.

Back at the monster, we had the van unloaded and our assignments handed out. Sue insisted we all wear dust masks. We giggled at each other and Dad did his Darth Vader impersonation. His breathing hard and talking about the Force didn’t amuse Sue. We kids thought it was hilarious.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and repairing. The living room was first. Sue and the twins carried out all the garbage to the huge dumpster that had magically arrived while we were at the store. With the baseboards out of the way, Dad and I pulled up the carpet in two foot strips. It was so old it ripped easily. The dust was so thick I had to keep cleaning off my glasses. It was a good thing Sue made us wear the dorky dust masks. Although, a full face respirator would’ve been better. Even with all the windows open, the dust downstairs floated like a low lying cloud.

When we finished clearing out the living room Sue made lunch, which we ate outside in the driveway in the van with the doors open. It was good to breathe fresh air after all the dust and whatever else was floating around in there. While we enjoyed our food, Sue lit candles all over the living room so the dust would settle faster. In the back of my mind, I hoped the place would burn down. No such luck.

We devoured the food, not a crumb remained thanks to my stomach. No one moved, no one wanted to go inside. Sue, always the taskmaster, ordered us up and back to work.

Dad and Tim removed the carpet from the sitting room while the rest of us cleaned the living room. This is where my height came in handy. Although, even I had to use the ladder to reach the tall ceiling and upper walls with the mop. The candles from lunch helped. Though, no matter how hard we tried, the dust still wafted up and we had to re-clean the walls. Sue concentrated on the floor. It turned out the floors were in pretty good condition after they were scrubbed, twice. We would wait until another time to refinish them.

The carpet and trash were out of the sitting room, so we moved our attention across the hall. Dad and Tim went about fixing and filling holes, replacing baseboards and any other repair they could find, as well as carrying out the trash from the dining room.

Two yelps and pounding across the floor, amidst excited words had me curious. Sue wouldn’t let us go look. There could’ve been a vampire chasing them and Sue still held firm. After it quieted, Dad and Tim solemnly marched by with something big and hairy dangling from Dad’s fingers. Cringing away, I scrubbed harder at the fireplace.

We girls made a pretty good team and moved on to the dining room in no time. Hesitating at the doorway, Tam and I peeked around the corner. The rolls of old carpet were stacked in the corner and the rest of the floor was clear of debris. Nothing moved.

Just as I took a step …

“Growl!”

I jumped and shrieked. Dad and Tim stood behind us laughing their fool heads off. Tam and I held each other and tried to get our hearts to quit stampeding.

“That wasn’t funny.” I squeaked between pants.

“Yeah,” Tam whispered.

Sue came to the rescue and shooed the guys down the hall. They laughed and high-fived.

Grrr.
I whispered to Tam, “We’ll get them back.”

She nodded and took the broom her mother handed her.

I couldn’t imagine why anyone would put carpeting in a dining room. They probably didn’t have small children or males. Dad and Tim hauled the carpet away as we refilled our buckets. The wall paper came down amazingly easy. Only in a few places did we have to get out the putty knives and vinegar water.

Sue lit candles and I was up on the ladder cleaning the chandelier, while eating an apple, when Dad announced it was time to call it a night. While the others cleaned up the tools and supplies, I finished polishing the crystal.

As we walked out the front door I looked back and was surprised how different it looked after all our hard work. You could almost hear the monster sigh with relief. I smiled. Maybe this monstrosity could be made into a home … maybe.

Back at the motel, I collapsed on the lumpy bed, exhausted. Dad went to the diner and brought back an assortment of greasy stuff that we devoured. Even Sue was too tired to complain about how unhealthy it was. Tony sent along an apple pie so ‘
she wouldn’t starve.’
I really liked Tony.

Tuesday was more of the same. The kitchen, hallway, stairs and attic were on the agenda for today.

Everything came out of the kitchen that was moveable. Sue mumbled something about wishing the cabinets were moveable. If they had been at one time, they sure weren’t now because they were definitely cemented in place with a half an inch of paint.

Sue repeatedly complained about people who didn’t take care of what they owned. I was sure the comments were aimed at me, and dodged them as I chiseled away the grime around the stove and cabinets.

Dad and the twins worked on the breakfast nook. I liked the bright space. The four large windows were extremely grimy, but would shed a lot of light once clean. Two long, narrow windows looked out over the backyard, and two matching windows looked out over the side yard. There were two built-in corner china cabinets with dozens of paint layers, now dull lime green. It had almost as many layers of shelf paper. The most recent was faded yellow.

Sue looked through an old phone book we found in a drawer and located two places that might have a fridge. One was on the edge of town and the other was in a town called Willows. Hopefully, the one in town would have what Sue wanted, because Willows was an hour away.

We were finishing up cleaning the walls and ceiling in the kitchen when Dad and Sue left to find a new fridge. We had strict orders to finish what had been assigned. If we finished early we were to start on the bath and laundry room just off the kitchen.

Dad grinned at us. "It sure is nice to have so much slave labor to depend on."

I groaned and the twins did likewise. Slavery was what it took for me to stay here and wade through this gross room. It wouldn’t do me any good to complain, so I kept my mouth shut.

Dad promised to bring lunch home, and my stomach growled for him to hurry. Sue brought out a bag of apples as she and Dad left. It was doubtful the apples would last until they returned.

I munched an apple as I scrubbed behind where the old fridge had been. Dragging the antiquated Frigidaire away from the wall and maneuvering it out the door to the garage had taken all of us half an hour. I could’ve used some of that strength promised me when The Change was complete. It was a good thing Dad was strong. Right now, though, I was ankle deep in grime and wished for a bio-suit.

Whenever the twins played around, I had to call them back to focus on their tasks. Even with all the playing, they still got their walls done. They’d come a long way in the helping department since The Change wrecked our lives.

When Dad and Sue came home with three pizzas, we were done with the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room, and had just started the large closet off the kitchen. They did find a fridge and it would be delivered today. Dad was a good negotiator. My money was on Sue, though, who probably scared them into complying. Sue and Dad were grumpy so I stayed out of their way. From what little they said I could tell that even though they were successful, the hunt for the fridge hadn't gone well.

After scrubbing my hands and arms twice, I still didn’t feel clean enough to eat. I wasn’t going to pass up pizza, though. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t going to pass up food of any kind.

With lunch done, Sue forced us upstairs to do the bedrooms. The first order of business was getting rid of the trash while Dad and Tim removed the baseboards. Just like on the main floor, all the carpets had to come out. For the first hour, it was hard to see where we were going, the dust was even worse up there.

Gladly, I went around and took down all the drapes and curtains rods before they could fall on anyone’s head. The drapes went out to the dumpster I’d nicknamed Bubba, and the rods went to the garage in hopes of reusing them. Keeping myself busy kept me away from Sue. The afternoon went well.

Dad and I cleared the floor in the master bedroom. By the time we were done I didn't want to see another scrap of carpet for as long as I lived. The others toted in cleaning supplies as we moved on to tear up the carpet in the other two bedrooms. I was so glad the attic didn’t have any.

At half past four, I was elbow deep in the communal tub on the second floor when two guys showed up. My stomach made me go down to see the object of sustaining its food supply. From the main floor stairway, I could hear Sue trying to convince the two men the fridge would fit because her measurements were correct.

The two burly guys, who stood with their arms crossed over their hairy chests, didn’t believe her and weren’t budging. I didn’t understand, if it was the same size as the old fridge, why not try? The guys didn’t know how exact Sue was, nonetheless, why weren’t they moving?

Dad nudged me. “Hey, Sylv, if they can’t do it, you and I can.”

The guys looked as though they doubted his sanity as much I did. “There’s no way you and that little girl are going to get
that
fridge in
that
little space.” The one with the beer gut said.

Dad looked at Sue. “Are you sure about the measurements?” He was grinning.

Sue huffed and rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

He nudged me again. “Well, Sylv, since Sue is never wrong, shall we give it the old Kennin try?”

Even as tired as I was, a smile leapt to my face. “Yep.” Here was a chance for me to shine in front of my dad.

We did the reverse from this morning. Only now the area was clean and I didn’t fear for my life among the cobwebs and unknown stuff that had moved this morning. I stepped into the space for the fridge. Dad handed me a large piece of cardboard to slip under the edge so it would slide easily. I pulled and helped maneuver it back into place. When there was just a little space left, I yanked the cardboard out and passed it to Dad. Shimmying up onto the counter, Dad pulled me out. When I landed on my feet I swung my arms in a flourish of a bow. “Ta-dah!”

The guys finished pushing it back the few inches. “Whadda ya know, it fit.” I wasn't sure if Beer Belly was red in the face because of his small amount of exertion, or the embarrassment of being bested by a girl and her father.

Dad and I high-fived as we reveled in our success. And if truth be told, we were gloating a little bit. The guys left as quickly as they could. They were either too embarrassed to stick around, or afraid Sue would put them to work.

Sue opened the fridge and we admired all the shiny, clean features. My stomach growled, reminding me the best feature was that it would hold food.

I pulled my stomach away from the new fridge and went back upstairs to finish scrubbing the caked and grimy porcelain claw foot tub. The outside was as bad as the inside. What had they bathed in here, an oil slick?

When Dad got tired of cleaning, he decided it was time to paint. He grabbed me and we went down to the kitchen, where he’d stacked the cans of white satin.

By almost quitting time, the walls of the kitchen had their first coat of paint as well as the downstairs hall, dining room and sitting room.

The attic didn’t take long. With brooms and mops we cleared the cobwebs and dislodged the spiders. With a flashlight Dad and Tim probed behind the two walls and under the eaves. When they’d swept out the last of the dust bunnies and the bathroom was presentable, we were done. It was the only room in the monster that hadn’t been abused and neglected, and it was all mine.

With whispered thanks, I had to admit it was a good place to stick me, up in the eaves and out of the way.

Too tired to cook anything at the monster, we went out for burgers. Tony deemed us his favorite customers and spent time socializing as we ate.

The usual crowd was there. The young trucker was at the counter with a man I’d not seen before. This one was short with dark skin and big, expressive eyes. The two rough guys from Saturday and Sunday were in their cherished place, eyes glued on me.

It wasn't long before the three guys came in and claimed their booth next to us. The only ones missing were the construction crew. The redhead in the booth next to us looked agitated. I could see him in my peripheral. He kept trying to get my attention. I wouldn't look at him. The last thing I needed was to encourage him and make a problem for my dad and Tony.

Speaking of Tony, he was amazed once again as he watched me prepare to devour yet another Klondike meal. “Yesterday, I told those guys from the Village about you. They said they wouldn’t believe you really ate it all until they could see it themselves.”

We laughed.

Dad poured more ketchup. “You kinda have to see it to believe it.” He looked relieved and I guessed that he was glad the
big guys
from the village weren't here.

“Exactly, so I tried to get them to come back here tonight or tomorrow. When’s your last night at the motel?”

“Thursday.”

Tony looked disappointed. “I was afraid of that. They'd said they didn’t know if they’d be back before the weekend.” I could just see the gears mesh together as he tried to think of a way to show my eating ability. If he pulled out a camcorder, I was out of there. I didn't care how filling his food was.

Halfway through my burger, a boy about my age came walking in. He was long-legged and lanky, with dark brown hair to his shoulders. His light brown eyes were warm and friendly. Tony knew him and dragged him over.

“Hey, this is Johnny Herring. He’s from the Village.” We said hi. “Johnny knows the Beaver brothers that I’ve been telling you about. He’s going to witness you eating the Klondike.”

I blushed red. Sue looked as though she might crawl under the table. Johnny laughed, as red tinged his smooth, dark cheeks.

Tony pulled up a chair for him. “What do ya want, Johnny?”

Without looking at a menu he ordered. “I’ll take the next size down from the Klondike.”

The tall native Alaskan was very easygoing and I enjoyed talking with him. He told us about the fun places to go and stuff to do. He was handling being around me pretty well. He did have a stuffy nose from a cold he was getting over. Too bad all the guys didn’t have stuffy noses. They wouldn’t bother me and I wouldn’t want to go near them.

Johnny witness my finishing of a complete Klondike dinner, fries and all. Tony told him not to forget that I had a large piece of cherry pie and two scoops of ice cream on top. Johnny was impressed.

Tony gave him his meal for free since he was witnessing me being a pig. We left Johnny talking to Tony over an ice cream sundae.

I collapsed on my bed at the motel. Not even the twins wanted to watch television. Sleep was the only thing on everyone’s mind.