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“You’re nothing to me, if you want to know the truth.” He didn’t bother telling her that she was wrong, but he did look at his son, who was laughing at the situation. “I’m not a prostitute, you moronic fuck. I’m his wife.”
“Wife? When the hell did that come about? You didn’t even invite your old man to the wedding? Did you get anything nice for wedding presents? I can take a few of those things off your hands if you want.” Shaking his head, he put out his hand for Bryson to help him up. “Well? You being married don’t make it so you can be a shit to me. Help me up.”
“If you so much as pretend to get up off the sidewalk, I’m going to put you in traction.” Curt believed her. He wasn’t normally so afraid of women, but this one scared him to the depths of his soul. “Now, you’re going to tell me that you’re sorry for calling me a prostitute, then you’re going to go away.”
“Go away? You can’t be telling me to go away. I’m not a dog. Help me up from here and I’ll show you just what I mean.”
He held out his hand, but neither of them moved to take it. When they turned to leave him there, he wanted to scream at them to get their asses back here. He called for his son. This shit was getting old, and he was frankly sick of people treating him like he was nothing at all.
“What is it you want, Dad? Money? No, I don’t have any that I want to lend you. A place to stay? So you can rob Clara and me of all the things we worked hard to get back? Then that answer is no as well.” Bryson put his arm around the woman and smiled back at him. “She’ll do just what she said she would, Dad. And you’ll be lucky if she only puts you in traction. Just leave us alone, or so help me, I’m going to help her put you in a world of hurt.”
This was not the welcome that he had hoped for. He knew that his kids would be pissed off at him, but not to the point of threatening him. Another pretty woman walked by him, and he knew better than to open his mouth. For some reason Curt had a feeling that she was baiting him into saying something. When she went into the same building his son had, he thought about following them, but decided that he’d look for Clara. She’d no doubt be around close. Her and Bryson were always like two peas on a corn cob.
~*~
Bryson couldn’t stop laughing. Every time he thought of his dad sitting on the sidewalk with a bloodied lip, he would laugh all the harder. Then Curt had put out his hand, as if anyone was going to trust him doing that. Trust of his father had long since faded away.
“Are you quite through braying like a jackass?” He laughed more, but only a little. Mercy didn’t seem to be in the best of humor today. “I’m sorry. I have a splitting headache, and I was hoping that your dad would try something with me so I could take it out on him.”
“He’s stupid, not suicidal.” She smiled at him. “What’s really wrong? I didn’t think you guys could get ill or anything. You having a bad day is normal from what I’ve been told, so this has to be something more.”
“Blaze got to buy out the building before I could.” Bryson asked if she was serious. The turned out lip and the way she looked pissed and sad at the same time got him. “Yes. It irks me when I can’t be the savior of a good company. And she slipped right in there and bought it right up. I don’t have a lot to do lately, and that would have made my day.”
“I see. Well, I don’t, but that’s fine too. If it’ll make you feel any better, there is a business that you could help out.” That perked her up, and he nearly laughed again, but decided that he’d be in less pain if he didn’t. “The one right across the street from here used to get donated coats for children and adults that couldn’t afford one. The man that was running it would start collecting the day after it started to warm up, and would have a great many to give away by the time the first cold snap was here.”
“What happened to him?” Bryson said that he had died, and he thought that his son had been stealing from him and selling the coats instead of giving them away. “Damned kids. They’re the ruination of the world, I think.”
“Aren’t you going to have a baby soon?” She said that her child would be perfect. “Ah. I don?
?t know what to say about that, except to tell you good luck. Anyway, that kind of thing is needed just about everywhere nowadays. Not just kids, but adults too could use a sturdy warm coat and some gloves.”
“Where did he get the coats from, do you know?” He told her what he knew. “So at the end of the season, while they were putting out spring stuff, he’d go around using his own money to buy up coats that were on clearance What else? I’m sure he wasn’t a rich man.”
“No, he and his wife weren’t. But they did work extra when possible to buy what they could. She, his wife, knitted mittens and hats to give away as well. The two of them would pick up things cheap, sell them for a little more, and use that money too. They were very enterprising.” Mercy asked why they stopped doing it. “This is going to sound hokey, but it’s the truth. His heart was broken when he wasn’t able to get a good deal on the coats anymore because of his son, and he died from it. His wife, I don’t remember either of their names, tried to do it for a while, but she ended up in a nursing home when her son wanted the family home for himself. Now him, I remember. His name was Nathan Raglan.”
“So, this Raglan person messes things up for not just his parents, but for a lot of people in need. He sounds like he could be related to your father.” Bryson just nodded. There was no point in him denying it. His father was a bastard. “If I can swing this, can you help me out with it? I’m sort of scary to a lot of people.”
“Just a lot of people? I would have thought the numbers would have been much bigger.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “I’ll do whatever I can do to help you. I even have a truck to haul things with. It’s old, but works well.”
“A storage unit.” He nodded, unsure what she was talking about. “No. I mean, we’ve been meaning to get rid of the things that are still in storage in town. Oh my gosh, Bryson, my mind just went into overload in thinking of ways that you and I can make this work. We’ll get rid of the stuff in the warehouse by auction or something, and fill the place up with walls and shelves. Then we’ll somehow get businesses to donate or sell us cheap things like coats and hats. After we have those, we can branch out to food and other things that could be used in the winter. Hell, all year round.”
When she pulled out her cell phone and started talking to people, Bryson went to find Blaze. He found her talking to one of the workers about what they were doing to the room the desks had been in. She asked him his opinion as soon as she saw him.
“I think this room is much too small.” She looked around while he continued. “The desks that we had weren’t efficient either. They were too small to spread out to work, and most of them were so old that there wasn’t a flat place on them to make a straight line to work with. Especially when cutting.”
“Yes, you’re right. I don’t think I could work in this room either.” She looked at the builder. “There are larger spaces on the second and third floor you were asking me about. I decided that they need more windows, both floors, and the desks that are being delivered need to be put up there. Yes, that’s perfect.”
“This room would make a great break area, wouldn’t it?” She told him that was going in on the main level. “Okay, then what would you use this for?”
“I was thinking for supplies. Printers, and the 3D printers too. I got a really good deal on those. There will need to be enough supplies so that whoever is working here won’t have to wait on them to be delivered. What do you think?” He could see it too. The wide shelves filled with papers. Colors that they could blend to make the product look good. “You like it.”
“Yes. And since you’ve already told me that we’d be making prototypes here that you’ll be using, the availability of colored papers will help as well. I love it.” She nodded as they walked around the second and the third floor of the building to sketch out were the desks were going to go. “Under each window. That way we have something to look at other than the four walls that we’re in. When I was on a deadline, I’d find a place, even if it was to go out of doors, to expand my view for a few minutes. It helped clear the mind and come up with designs.”
Bryson was so excited that he wanted to have the builders working every day and night to get it completed. When he was staring at the building next to theirs, he had a sudden thought. Pulling Blaze to the windows that were facing the building, he asked her what she saw.
“Nothing but brick.” He nodded. “What is it you have in mind? I’m game for whatever it is. With the way this place is going to be, I think we’ll have more business than we can handle.”
“Good. Can you buy that building?” Blaze asked him what he had in mind. “Buy that building and make a walkway to it. Put in exercise equipment. Plants, lots and lots of plants. Some books that the employees can read. A nurse, as well as someone on staff that can help with finances. Someplace that they can hit up on their lunch hour and get their own business done. Maybe an ATM, or even a bank teller from a bank that the company uses for payroll.”
