Feeling a little conflicted, Bette bit the inside of her lip. Was she supposed to go in there? Maybe she should check with Kerrie. "Maybe I should ask Kerrie first."
"Ask Kerrie what?" Kerrie poked her head in the office. Bette hadn't even heard her approaching.
"I want to take her to Sparrow to get the tour and chore list."
Kerrie shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I'm going to The Main to update Tyler on the weekend incident. I've got my walkie-talkie on me. Do you have yours?"
Bette frowned and looked at the large, ancient yellow walkie-talkie sitting by the phone. "That thing? Can't I just text you?"
"You can, but you can't communicate with Luke or the house advisers without the walkie. Honestly, once you get in the habit of using it, it won't feel so weird."
"I can show her how to use it and the different channels," Luke offered, turning to Bette. "The Church and Sparrow are channel 6. That's our line, and the front desk knows to use it to get in touch with us."
"Sounds good. I won't be long." Kerrie left with that.
After a quick tutorial of the yellow walkie-monstrosity, she followed him to Sparrow. It was the clients’ lunch break. For two hours, they had their midday meal and some downtime before starting the next class.
They exited The Church through the back and walked across the short, covered walking bridge to the concrete path that snaked out, leading to the residential houses and The Main and admin buildings. The summer heat was sneaking its way in, and she wished she hadn't worn a long-sleeve blouse, even though it was made of light material. A mist of sweat was already forming on her lower back.
"Hey, new lady," one of three men sitting on the back porch called out. He didn't look much older than Zoe. His grin was infectious, and she found herself returning it with her own.
"I don't think I've been formally introduced to everyone. I'm Bette."
"Ms. Bette will be doing the admin side of The Church. She's getting the chore list together and hasn't seen Sparrow before."
"Well, let's give Ms. Bette a tour," said a shaggy redhead covered in freckles. His name tag read Toby and had Kerrie's initials on the corner, indicating he was on her caseload.
Toby jumped on the rickety porch with two feet, causing it to bow in the middle. He flung the door open with gusto and yelled, "Lady coming in!"
"This porch looks like it's about to fall in," commented Bette as she gingerly placed her high-heeled feet on the weathered boards.
"It's been like that for years. I'm Robin," an older man introduced himself. He held out his hand, which Bette shook. His grip was firm, and his calm demeanor put her at ease.
"It's nice to meet you, Robin."
She carefully navigated the few feet to the back door, walking into what appeared to be the living room. A living room with two mismatched couches and one loveseat crammed in it. It took Bette a moment to realize there was a gutted kitchen behind one of the couches, only evidenced by the white cabinets clinging to the pale yellow walls. There were no appliances, no items one would expect to see on the counter. Just some coloring pages and a chessboard.
"Hey," nodded a man about Bette's age, sitting on the fluffier of the two couches, maroon and aged, but comfortable and inviting. A television sitting on an old glass coffee table was across from it. "Welcome to Sparrow."
"Thank you," she smiled, feeling a little self-conscious as more heads poked out from door frames, greeting her. Some were in their beds, blankets pulled over their heads, or were reading, legs crossed and laid out lounging comfortably.
Each room had two twin-sized beds, two white wooden wardrobes with no doors, and a garbage can. Every room except the living room area was converted into rooms.
"This is the bathroom," instructed Luke, motioning for her to duck into a small room. A vintage blue vanity stuck out in the cramped bathroom. The white frosted shower curtain was in dire need of replacing, and the toilet could use a good scrubbing. Beside the shower, partially hidden by the door when open, was a relatively new washer and dryer set. Another thing that hadn't occurred to her: the men would need to wash their clothing during their stay.
"This isn't very clean at all," observed Bette as she tentatively pinched the edge of the shower curtain to peek in. It was in the same shape as the toilet. "I thought they had chores to keep it clean."
He shrugged, grimacing slightly. "Ms. K hasn't really had time to come over and check as much lately because she's gotten behind."
Frowning, Bette cast another look around the dirty bathroom. It would have been a nice but simple space had the men taken better care of it. "That seems to be a running theme. Was she actually supposed to do all of this on her own?"
"Honestly, I think she realizes that she doesn't have to do everything. From what I've heard, there used to be a woman in your position who retired about a year ago. This place is never in a hurry to pay for anything, so they dragged their feet about replacing her. Cue Ms. K and her codependent need to do everything herself. Now she doesn't want to give up the control."
"Well, I'm here now. We can get things back on track. Starting with this filthy house. People feel better when they're living in a clean home."
Lower Sparrow was in much the same shape as Upper, but instead of individual rooms, it was one long dorm room. Beds with attached cubby holes that acted as dividers ran two rows of the wide space, and in the center was a living area of sorts with a couple of couches and a washing machine and dryer. A TV hung high on a wall in view of the sitting area. The bathroom was the only room, and it was a little sectioned-off room up two small steps. The men in both sections were kind to her. Some ignored her, but for the most part, by the time she had left, she was feeling much more relaxed about interacting with them. Being in a large group of men had initially sounded intimidating, but it wasn't bad at all.
Slowly, Bette was beginning to understand the need for an extra set of hands more and more. After going back over the contents of the cleaning section, she realized they didn't have any floor cleaner, the window cleaner appeared to be mostly water, theywere almost completely out of toilet paper, and the mop looked like it was about one more use away from growing legs and walking out.
