“Here, have a seat,” Gina said as she stood up. “Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich?”
My stomach began to rumble with the mention of food, and I’d realized I hadn’t eaten a whole lot that day.
“Oh, sure,” I said with wide eyes. “That’s so nice of you!”
Gina stood up and made her way to the kitchen. She returned several minutes later with a tuna salad sandwich with a side of plain potato chips.
“Slim pickings my dear,” she said. “Hope you like tuna.”
“Well if someone would go to the grocery store like they’re supposed to,” Candy teased. “We wouldn’t have such slim pickings.”
“Well if someone’s Old Man wouldn’t eat us out of house and home, we wouldn’t have to go to the grocery store twenty times a week,” Gina razzed her back.
The women had a playful, friendly relationship it seemed. I liked them a lot in the short few minutes I’d known them.
I hated tuna, but I was so hungry I was willing to eat it. I took a bite of the cool tuna and mayo on white concoction and let the flavors fill my mouth. It felt good not to eat something covered in oils and grease, and since I was so hungry it actually didn’t taste that bad.
“Oh, shoot,” Gina said as she slapped her knee. “I didn’t grab you anything to drink.”
“I got it,” Candy said as she stood up, he knees cracking in the process. She was an old mare but she could hold her own.
She returned with a can of grape soda.
“Sorry,” she said. “It was either this or expired milk.”
She glanced over at Gina.
“Put milk on your list for the store, please?” Candy instructed. She shook her head in frustration, but she didn’t seem that upset.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile as I took the cool, wet can from her hands.
I cracked the top and took a big swig, the sugary, purple liquid almost burning the back of my throat as it went down. It felt good in my belly though, and only helped make me feel fuller.
Before I knew it, my sandwich was completely gone. I worked on the chips, trying to chew and crunch as quietly as possible. Before long, those were gone too. I swigged down the last of my grape soda and stood up to take everything to the kitchen.
“Wow, the girl’s got manners!” Gina said as I came back. “I like that. Too bad you’re not sticking around. We need more women like you in the club.”
“Oh,” I said. I didn’t know what to say. How do you tell a group of women who are being entirely too hospitable to you that you’re not like them at all and could never make it in their world? I didn’t want to offend them.
“What do you do for a living?” Tiffany asked. It was the first thing she’d said all night.
“I do hair,” I said with a sheepish grin.
“Can you do anything to this hot mess?” Gina asked as she pulled tendrils of her frizzy red hair.
“If I had my tools, I could,” I replied. “I need the right tools and the right products.”
“Pfft,” Gina laughed. “Good luck with that.”
“If you’re ever in St. Louis, please, come to my shop,” I said. “I’ll do your hair for free. It’s the least I can do for you guys.”
“Aw, well isn’t that sweet?” Candy said. She was beaming from ear to ear, and I loved that about her. She was so genuine. She reminded me of someone’s mom, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she had any kids.
I let out a yawn. It was getting late, but I knew to them it wasn’t late at all. Ten or eleven on a Saturday night was nothing to those party animals.
“Are you tired, sweetie?” Candy asked.
“I’m getting there,” I said, trying to be polite.
“Do you have any clothes or anything?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said. “Just what’s on my back. I couldn’t bring anything or Blaze was going to get suspicious.”
“Of course,” she said as she rolled her eyes at Blaze. “Let me see if I can find you something.”
She got up and crept up the squeaky wooden stairs, returning a few minutes later with an armful of clothes.
“A t-shirt and pajama bottoms,” she said as she gave them to me. “They’re clean. I promise. Might be a bit big on you.”
“Thank you, Candy,” I said. I wanted to hug her, but it didn’t seem appropriate given the fact that we really were still strangers.
“You’re going to sleep in one of the extra bedrooms up there,” she said. “Bed’s all made up for you.”
“Oh, okay,” I said. “Where is it?”