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Struggling to contain my excitement, I said, “Just let me know if you need anything else,” and then retreated to the kitchen.
It’s hard for me to express how great I felt having taken care of this. Maybe I wasn’t as helpless as everyone thought. Perhaps I could do this. It wasn’t like everyone else was smarter than me. It was just that no one had ever given me the opportunity. I had never had to. But if I did, might I rise to the occasion?
Waiting in the kitchen for the couples to leave, I reentered the dining area with a plan. The excitement of it made me tingle. It would be something that I couldn’t even imagine myself doing just days earlier. But I was sure I could do this.
Retrieving the plates and extra food, I put everything away and placed the dishes in the sink. Looking around to see what else I could do, I realized that the dishes weren’t going to wash themselves. The question was, though, how do you wash dishes?
Looking around, I spotted a bottle of dish soap. Wondering how it worked, I squeezed some of it onto the bowls. The florescent green lines just laid there. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting it to do.
Finding a sponge at the back of the sink, I came up with a new plan. It was just like taking a bath, right? Except with dishes? There wasn’t more to it than that. Right?
When that was done, I placed them in the draining rack and looked down at them pleased. I had just washed my first set of dishes. It really wasn’t that hard. More than that, I had a sense of accomplishment that I rarely felt. I really was capable of more than anyone gave me credit for.
With a newfound excitement, I left the kitchen for my room. I had to figure out what else I could do. There had to be something, right? It was then that I thought of Dillon. His mother had been our housekeeper. If there was anyone who would know, it would to be him.
“How does someone run a bed-and-breakfast?” I asked my friend.
“How am I supposed to know that? I’ve never even been to a bed-and-breakfast. Have you forgotten that I’ve never been further than New Jersey?”
“I know,” I said feeling bad about assuming. “It’s just that…”
“… my mother is a housekeeper?”
“No!”
“Seriously, Hil?”
“Okay. Is that bad?”
“It’s not great.”
“Sorry.”
“No, that’s fine. I guess I’m just being sensitive. Everyone at this school acts like they have money to burn. They keep inviting me to things that there’s no way I can afford.”
“If you need me to send you more money…” I told him feeling bad.
“That’s not why I said that, Hil. Please, just be my best friend right now.”
I swallowed, unsure of how many things I had said poorly. I wanted to be supportive. And wasn’t money the way my parents had shown me that they cared? Wait. Was I just acting like my parents? Yikes!
“You’re right, Dillon. And that sucks. But I know you. You’re probably the best guy there. You’re the best person I know.
“And if I wasn’t the only guy you knew, that would mean so much to me, Hil” Dillon said almost sounding sincere.
“Whatever,” I said with a laugh. “You know what I mean.”
“You mean that you love me. Yes, I understand. And I love you too.”
I took a second to think about how lucky I was to have Dillon in my life before my thoughts turned back to my brilliant plan.
“So, do you think your mother would know how to run one?”
As Dillon ran through the list of reasons why he wasn’t going to ask her, I came up with a list that answered my own question. Most of them could be summed up in two words: ‘ be awesome.’ How hard could that be?
For the next few hours, I chatted with Dillon. When he hung up to go to class, I walked through the house full of energy. That continued until Cali returned. Hearing the front door open, I rushed downstairs to greet him. He seemed startled by my presence as I descended the stairs. He stared at me with a tortured look. I froze.
“Is your mother alright?” I asked, feeling a sudden lump in my throat.
