Lost Daughters (12 page)

C
ATTY GAVE MAUREEN THE NURSING HOME DIRECTOR'S NAME AND A
telephone number to call her up to set up an interview.

Two days later, while on her lunch break at the lobster factory, Maureen went to the pay phone in the employee break room and called up the nursing home director. It was the strangest telephone conversation she had ever experienced in her life.

“When can you start?” Mrs. Larsen asked immediately after Maureen had identified herself and the reason for the call. “Catty has already told me so much about you and what a hard-working, dedicated, and capable girl you are! I can't wait to put you on the payroll.”

“Huh? You mean I got the job?” Maureen asked with an amused look on her face. Either the woman was kidding or she had Maureen confused with somebody else. “Don't I have to do an interview first?”

“An interview? This is the interview, sugar,” the woman said quickly. “Didn't I already say that?”

“Uh, no, ma'am, you didn't.”

“Well, it is.”

“Okay, but what about the application, ma'am? Shouldn't I fill that out first?”

“You can do that when you get here. We are so shorthanded, we need somebody in here right away. This place is like a madhouse. Now, Catty has told me all I need to know about you, and Catty is a straight-up Christian girl, so I know I can go by anything she tells me. When can you start? Today? Tomorrow?”

“Uh, I'm still employed and I can't just up and walk off this job today and start workin' for you tomorrow, ma'am,” Maureen said. For one thing, Maureen didn't want this prospective new employer, or any new employer for that matter, to think she was the kind of woman who would leave one job for another at the drop of a hat. Dependable workers didn't do that.

“Oh. I was under the impression that you really needed this job and were already available,” Mrs. Larsen said, obviously disappointed. “I can hold the position open until week after next. If you can't start before then, when can you start?”

Maureen could hear the desperation in the woman's voice, but she wasn't going to let that bother her. She had worked with white women before, so she knew how melodramatic and hysterical they could be sometimes. “I don't know right now,” Maureen said.

“I need to know for sure by close of business tomorrow. The other girl left without notice, and now Rhonda Sue, she's the girl who works the other four days in the week, has had to do double duty, and that's not easy for a girl in her sixties. So if we don't get her some help soon, she might end up a patient here herself.”

“All right. I am pretty sure I can start on Monday.” Maureen paused and tried to gather her thoughts. This was happening too fast for her. She didn't feel comfortable committing to a new job without even knowing what she would be required to do. “First I need to know exactly what it is that will I be doin'? I don't know much about what goes on in a nursin' home. Workwise, I mean. Would I be kept busy enough so I won't get bored?”

“Bored? Honey, the only people who have time to get bored around here are the dead ones—the patients, I mean. Speaking of dead folks, you wouldn't have a problem dealing with the dearly departed, I hope. This is a nursing home, so the death rate around here is pretty high.” Mrs. Larsen paused but not long enough for Maureen to respond. “You'll be performing all kinds of interesting duties, honey child!”

“Like what?” Maureen hoped she didn't sound like she really wasn't that interested. She was interested. But she was more interested in knowing why this woman was willing to hire her so quickly and without checking references, work history, attendance record, or anything else. For all this woman knew, Maureen could have a lengthy criminal record or even be some kind of maniac on the loose.

“Listen up, now. You'll need a pair of white shoes, like the ones nurses and women who work in school cafeterias wear. We'll supply two sets of scrubs, but you'll have to pay for additional sets. Once you get here and we get you settled and on the payroll, we will have you go through the required CPR training. Then we'll bring you up to speed on a few light nursing procedures, like dressing a minor wound or monitoring a scab or a bedsore. You don't have any serious allergies, do you? Do you catch things easily?”

“Not that I know of. Why?”

“Uh, accidents happen around here from time to time. One of the patients might accidentally sneeze in your face or dribble something on your hand and you might forget to wash it. If you have even an itty-bitty cut or scab, something getting in it might be a problem for you. You will help the patients with their grooming, and you will serve meals to the ones who are too fussy or unable to eat in the dining room. Now, let me think what else. Oh! You'll keep them occupied and entertained by reading to them or taking them for walks, and you'll help the less ambulatory ones in and out of bed or to the commode. You will be asked to assist with baths and bedpan procedures, and you'll have to help spoon-feed the ones who can no longer do it on their own. You'll do any and everything else that the nurses you assist don't do.”

Maureen gulped in some air and swallowed so hard she had to rub her neck to keep it from throbbing. “Well, if you don't mind me askin', if the nurses' aides do all of that, what do the nurses do all day?” It was a reasonable question, Maureen thought.

“Oh, they have more to do than you can imagine. They administer shots and any other serious medication. They maintain the charts. If a patient falls and breaks a bone, only the nurses or doctors on call are authorized to assist. My nurses are so overworked that when quitting time rolls around, they leave this place running every single day. Now tell me, my dear, do you have any more questions?”

Despite the fact that Mrs. Larsen sounded even more impatient now, Maureen didn't want to make a firm commitment until she had all of the necessary information she needed. “What about salary and benefits?” she asked.

“You'll start at the bottom, sugar. Then you'll have to work your way up. Our starting salary is commensurate with all the other homes in the South Florida area.”

“Well, I don't know what that is, ma'am.”

“I'll tell you what. When you get here Monday morning, we can negotiate your salary. Then we can discuss all of the other benefits that go with the job, plus a few that we don't show on the books, such as a fifty-dollar cash bonus for whoever makes employee of the month and a Christmas-gift exchange.... Oh! You're not Jewish, Muslim, or into one of those mysterious Eastern religions, are you?”

“No, ma'am. I'm a straight-up Baptist. I was raised in the church, and my late mama was a devout Christian woman,” Maureen said proudly. “So is my daughter and my husband.”

“You're a Baptist! So am I. Good! We had a Muslim woman working here last month. I declare, Jesus must have wept every time she showed up wearing that burnoose—or whatever they call those things—on her head. Everybody was glad she only lasted a week, but right after that unholy episode, we had a Buddhist woman working here.” Mrs. Larsen paused, sucking on her teeth and letting out a couple of loud sighs. “That woman just about scared the daylights out of everybody! She would chant all kinds of gibberish in the break room. It was a blessing when she left after just four days. Anyway, another bonus is that you can take home any leftover food at the end of your shift. Now, I hate to rush off, but I need to be in a meeting in five minutes. You need to be here no later than 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning. I normally work from nine to five, but until we get back on track, I'll be coming in at 6:00 a.m. If you get here before I do, go up to the girl at the front desk. As soon as I get in, I'll give you a brief orientation, go over salary and everything else, and then put you to work. It was nice talking with you, Maureen. Bye!”

Maureen listened to the dial tone and stared at the telephone for a few seconds before she returned to her workstation. She didn't know what to think now. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of place this nursing home really was for the director to be so anxious to hire somebody sight unseen. Her job at the lobster factory was about as loosey-goosey as a job could be, but even for that job she had been required to fill out an application, suffer through two interviews, and have her background checked!

Thanks to Mama Ruby cracking such a mean whip every day of Maureen's life, she was a responsible person. She didn't want to make Catty look bad for recommending her, and making her sound like some kind of super woman at that. Mrs. Larsen sounded so desperate that Maureen didn't want to disappoint her. The least she could do was try the job out on a trial basis, but she didn't plan on telling Catty and Mrs. Larsen that part. Or Loretta and Mel, for that matter. When she had mentioned changing jobs to them the night before, they seemed very supportive and had already begun to plan their schedules around her new one.

“Baby, it's time for a change,” Mel had told her, giving her an affectionate pat on the butt.

“I'm happy for you, Mama,” Loretta said with a smile. “Workin' in a nursin' home ain't a job I'd want, but somebody's got to do it,” she added with a grimace on her face.

“I'll be able to spend more time with you both,” Maureen was happy to announce.

Mel and Loretta gave each other a sly look.

 

It was not easy for Maureen to leave the security of the lobster factory. It had been one of her security blankets for more than ten years now.

It was a sad departure. One of Maureen's coworkers rushed out and bought a farewell card and had everybody sign it. Two of the older women actually shed a few tears during the farewell cake and coffee break that they held for Maureen that Friday morning. Steve Faulk, Maureen's sad sack of a supervisor, insisted on taking her to lunch, and he gave her the rest of the day off with pay. With the card and a bouquet of assorted flowers, and a box that contained her personal items, Maureen left the lobster factory almost in tears.

So far, Mel seemed supportive about Maureen changing jobs, but he also made comments that made her wonder just how supportive he really was. “If this nursing home thing is what you really want to do, I wish you all the luck in the world,” he told her, glancing at Loretta across the table as they ate dinner the following evening. He seemed to be more interested in the wineglass in his hand than he was in Maureen's new job. “I just hope you don't regret it.”

“I feel the same way,” Loretta volunteered.

“I will only have to work three days a week—Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Now you and I don't have to wait to go to the mall in the evenin' or on weekends. We can do it on a Thursday or a Friday,” Maureen told Loretta, squeezing her hand.

“You would rather be emptyin' smelly bedpans and wipin' old people's butts just so we can spend more time at the mall?” Loretta asked, wiggling her nose. “I liked visitin' you at the lobster factory after school, but I don't think I'll be visitin' you at that old folks' home. What were you thinkin'?”

The sudden shift in Mel's and Loretta's attitude and their comments worried Maureen, but she still managed to keep a smile on her face. “Lo'retta, I'm really doin' this more for you and Mel than me,” she replied. Then she turned to Mel. “I'm a married woman now, and I want to spend more time in my home takin' care of my family.”

Loretta stole a glance at Mel. He couldn't have looked more indifferent had he been attending a funeral for somebody he didn't like. However, when Maureen spoke again, he almost fell out of his chair.

“Virgil got on me about spendin' more time with you, Lo'retta,” she said, smiling and rubbing Loretta's hand. Then she turned back to Mel. “Him and Corrine keep worryin' about you and Loretta spendin' so much time together alone.”

The wine that Mel had just sipped almost spurted out of his mouth. He couldn't have looked more frightened if he had just been placed in front of a firing squad.

L
ORETTA'S BREATH CAUGHT IN HER THROAT, AND SHE ALMOST CHOKED
on the chunk of biscuit she had just chewed. She swallowed so hard, her neck felt like somebody had wrapped a noose around it. “Uncle Virgil and Aunt Corrine are so nosy!” she snapped, with biscuit crumbs on her lips. “Always up in my business.”

“They care about you,” Maureen said in a gentle voice, pouring herself some of the Merlot that Mel had brought home that evening.

“Well, I wish they didn't care so much about me that they keep sayin' all kinds of stupid stuff! Especially that frog-face Aunt Corrine—she ain't even a blood relative, and Uncle Virgil ain't my daddy. Mel is!”

Maureen gave Loretta a harsh look and then she turned to Mel. His lips were already moving. Loretta felt triumphant because she knew that no matter what she said, Mel would agree with her.

“Well, you can ask that meddlesome brother of yours and his wife how they expect Loretta and me to do the work we do if we don't spend a lot of time together? One ad could take half a day to shoot and then the client might decide that they want to reshoot it. That's another half a day! I thought they liked running around here bragging to everybody about how their niece was a model and all.” Mel didn't try to hide his disgust. Was there no end to those damn fools and their meddling? he wondered. He couldn't decide who irritated him more: Virgil and that battle-ax he was married to or that damn Catty and Fast Black.

“Uncle Virgil needs to stop drinkin' that cheap wine. It's startin' to pickle his brain,” Loretta decided.

“He just means that you're at the age where it's real important for you and me to have a good relationship,” Maureen said. “He wants you to start actin' more normal.”

“You and me already have a good relationship!” Loretta exploded. “I'm just as normal as he is! What in the world is he talkin' about? Besides, I am almost out of school and then I'll be on my own.”

“
Almost
out of school and on your own is right. Until you get to that point, you need to listen to people who care about you,” Maureen said sharply.

“Oh, is Uncle Virgil tryin' to say that Mel don't care about me?” Loretta asked.

“No, that's not what Uncle Virgil is tryin' to say. His concern is for you to be a teenager. You don't spend enough of your time with other kids your age. The more I think about it, and the more I hear about it from your uncle and your play aunties, Catty and Fast Black, I have to agree with them.” Maureen sniffed. She didn't like the look of disgust on Mel's face.

Mel was more than just disgusted now. He had been expecting Catty's and Fast Black's trifling names to come up in the conversation. Virgil and his wife took the cake, but Catty and Fast Black were the bitter black bile icing!

“Maureen, you need to tell those people that you can handle your own business,” Mel advised. His jaws were twitching so hard his molars ached.

“Those people love me. They love Lo'retta, too, so they want her to do the right thing. They want to see her happy, and I really think she'd act more like a teenager if she spent more time with other teenagers,” Maureen declared.

Loretta's mouth flew open so wide Maureen could see her tongue flapping like a fish out of water before she even said a word. When the words did come out, they sounded like the croaking of a frog. “What? I got a lot of friends my age. I spent the night with Mona just last Friday. I was plannin' to ask Warren to take me to the movies this weekend—since you always tellin' me about all the times he asks you about me.”

“I'm glad to hear that. I also understand where Virgil and Corrine are comin' from.” Maureen looked at Mel and blinked. “Baby, I appreciate you helpin' my daughter with her modelin' career, but since she's still in school and her grades are slippin', maybe you should turn down a few jobs from time to time. When she finishes school, she can model full-time.”

“That's fine with me, but she might miss out on the jobs that will help get her to the top,” Mel said with a shrug. “At this stage in her career, exposure is essential. She needs to be in the right place at the right time. The fewer jobs she accepts, the fewer chances she'll be able to do that.” Mel snatched his second biscuit out of the bowl on the table next to the platter of deep-fried prawns. “The thing is, I've been turning down new girls so I could keep my focus on Loretta.” Mel let out a deep breath and looked at Loretta, shaking his head. “I guess you should forget about that BMW auto show next Saturday, sweet pea.”

Loretta gasped. She reared back in her chair and glared at Maureen. “Mama, don't you dare do this to me. I've been waitin' all month for those BMW people to pick the girls for that auto show!”

“I didn't say you couldn't do
any
modelin'. Since you have other responsibilities, though, I think you should reorganize your priorities. I am proud of the fact that you can get work so easy. I want you to be just as successful and famous a model as that Brooke Shields. Like I said, though, you'll have plenty of time to do that when you finish school in a few months. The way it is now, you spend more time around adults than you do other teenagers. You don't want to be old before your time. That's the point your uncle and aunties keep tryin' to get across.”

Loretta's face was burning with anger.

Maureen gave Loretta a serious look. “Look, baby. You and me will be spendin' more time together and that's final. You used to love doin' things with me.” There was a hint of anger in Maureen's voice. She rose from the table clutching her wineglass. She took a long swallow and then stomped into the living room.

“Do you think she's gettin' suspicious?” Loretta whispered to Mel as soon as she heard Maureen turn on the TV.

“If she even thought there was something going on between you and me, she would have said something by now. Don't worry about her. She's still clueless.”

“Well, I hope she stays that way. We've come too far to let her ruin things for us.” Loretta glanced toward the living room and back to Mel with a puppy dog expression on her face. “Mel, I love you to death and I am not goin' to give you up so soon or so easy. We had a deal. We agreed to act normal until I finish school. Then we'll tell her about us and then go to New York so we can work on my modelin' career and get married.”

“That's still the plan, but we have to be careful. We can't do anything that might make her suspicious. This new job of hers is going to work in our favor, baby. She'll be going into that nursing home two hours earlier than she went to that lobster factory. You don't have to leave for school until seven-thirty, so we can spend all that time together now.”

Loretta's eyes got big. “Oh,
Daddy
! You're right. I hadn't thought about that,” she squealed. She was so excited she forgot to whisper.

“You hadn't thought about what, Loretta?” Maureen asked, walking back into the kitchen. This was the first time she'd heard Loretta refer to Mel as “Daddy” and it warmed her heart.