Page 2 of Ruby

Looking back, there were signs that she should have seen. The late-night visitors showing up at their home. Her father coming and going all hours of the night. Her ‘uncles’, who she’d always loved, who weren’t really family but were always hanging around their home, who drove her, her mother, and brother to wherever they had to go. She should have realized that wasn’t normal, but others she knew had drivers. She now knew that was because their family was also in the mob. She never wanted to think hard about the things that were right under her nose. Her mother had always had an explanation for everything and she’d trusted her. She was her mother after all.

Evelyn had made Ruby, well Mary, into a sheltered princess. One who was happy to not question anything. She’d gone about her life, oblivious to the terrible things going on around her. The “business deals” her father made to provide the lifestyle they were accustomed to having. She understands why Tony had pulled away from her. He knew about the family business, and at her mother’s request, he’d kept it from her, too. Hell, Tony works for the family business. He is heavily involved in the innerworkings of it. Ruby’s heart clinches as she briefly allows herself to think about what Tony has done for “the family”.

Ruby’s life changed dramatically after Evelyn died. In the beginning, Ruby had been told Evelyn had been the victim of a random drive-by shooting. Her father and brother, along with many members of their extended family, had gathered together at their home on Staten Island to grieve their loss. Ruby had been in a fog in the days following her mother’s death. She can hardly remember any details of the funeral or meal following.

Shortly after Evelyn’s funeral, Ruby’s father had come home one night to find her sitting on her bed staring at her mother’s picture…

* * *

“Mary!”Antonio calls from her bedroom door. Mary lifts her tear-stained face to look at him. His face set in a hard, stern look. “Stop that crying. It won’t bring her back. Come down to my office, we need to talk.” He turns and walks away, expecting her to follow his command. Mary grabs another tissue from the box sitting beside her on her bed and dabs her eyes. She obediently gets up and makes her way downstairs to her father’s office. As she enters his opulent domain, she takes in the large mahogany desk, the thick plush navy-blue carpeting covering the floor, and the large leather sofa along the wall on the right side of the room. There are two matching leather seats placed in front of his desk. Tony is seated in one of them. She notes the lingering scent of the cigars he loves to smoke when his business partners stop by for a drink while discussing business. She hadn’t realized they’d had guests today. She should have taken her mother’s place as hostess, but she’s been so lost in her grief, she’s hardly managed to bathe herself and change clothes the last few days.

“Have a seat Mary,” her father commands. “There are things we need to discuss.” Mary makes her way to the leather chair on the left sitting next to Tony. She glances at him, but he keeps his eyes averted, not bothering to spare her a moment’s notice. He seems agitated. One leg bouncing up and down. Once she’s taken her seat, her father lays it all out to her in shocking detail.

“Mary, it’s time for you to learn about the family,” Antonio begins, “There’s a lot you don’t know, or if you do, you’ve never let on that you know.” He gives her a pointed stare. She frowns at him in confusion. What’s there for her to know? He’s a businessman. Her expression answers his unasked question. “Your mother didn’t want you to be aware of the finer details of the family. She felt you were a sensitive soul. An artist. She wanted you to be focused on your singing and entertaining talents. Being as she’s…no longer with us, we don’t have the luxury for you to be in denial. It’s time you understand your role in this family.”

His statement only confuses her even more. Mary looks over at Tony wondering if he’s as confused as she’s feeling. What does her mother’s death have to do with her father’s business and Mary’s role in their family? Had her mother been helping her father with the books or something? She looks back at her father. His face hardens as he stares at her. A shiver runs down her spine. Instinct tells her the next words out of his mouth are going to change her life forever.

Ruby shakes herself out of the memory as the water cools. She isn’t going to allow herself to go down that rabbit hole. She needs to get going. She doesn’t want to be late today of all days. Jolene Carter, the manager of a homeless shelter in Jacksonville has asked Ruby to help her with a project. Some volunteers are coming together to organize a fundraiser for the shelter. Ruby has stayed at it frequently over the few years, whenever she’s in town. Jolene has been so kind to her. She couldn’t say no when Jolene asked her to join the meeting.

Ruby stays on the go, moving from town to town frequently. She really shouldn’t even be in Jacksonville again, not so soon, but she’s come to love Jolene and the staff at the shelter, including Abigail who began working at the shelter a few months ago. This shelter is one of the nicer places she’s stayed in over the years.

Ruby shuts off the shower, drying herself and dressing quickly. She doesn’t bother to use one of the hair dryers provided as the light rain falling outside will only have her hair soaked in a matter of a few minutes. She doesn’t want to waste money on a cab, and she’ll be late if she waits on the city bus. The only option is to walk the eight blocks between the two locations.

Ruby arrives at the shelter “A Place to Call Home” with about ten minutes to spare before the planning meeting is set to begin. She hasn’t stayed at the shelter in a while. She wants to be able to enter this meeting as the rest of the volunteers, not as a resident. Ruby has asked Jolene not to mention to the volunteers that she is homeless. She isn’t ashamed of her situation, but she hates it when people look at her with pity or worse, disdain, just because she stays there. Ruby grasps that many people think that only drug addicts, unemployed bums, or mentally ill people stay at homeless shelters. While that is the case for some people, it’s not the case for everyone. Many of the people in shelters are there because of a string of bad luck or poor decisions. In many cases, the person has a job but can’t make enough to cover all their living expenses. She’s seen many single mothers with small children at the places she’s stayed. They can’t afford to pay rent, day care, health insurance, and buy food and clothes. They have to choose which necessity they spend their hard-earned dollars on. Why pay rent if you can’t keep the lights and water hooked up? Ruby has known a few mothers who’ve had to choose between buying food to feed their children instead of paying the electric bill. What many people don’t understand is life is really hard for the working poor. They make too much money to qualify for assistance but not enough to cover the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, and safety. That’s why helping with this fundraiser is so important to Ruby, not for herself but for those who are needing it so desperately.

The shelter relies on donations and fundraisers to keep the doors open so those in need can have a warm, soft bed to sleep in at night. They also provide two meals a day when funds allow. A meager breakfast on most days, but they try very hard to have a good meal for supper. It helps the patrons sleep better when their belly is full. There are full time staffers on hand, but the patrons are expected to participate in keeping the place clean and running smoothly. Especially those who stay more than a night or two in a row. There are a few old timers that stay most every night. They have jobs in the community and pay a small amount to have their same bed night after night. The sleeping portion of the shelter is divided into three sections: women, men, and those with children.

This particular fundraiser is one of their bigger events of the year. Ruby has heard about past events and is eager to help out. Jolene mentioned having live entertainment, an auction, a talent show for kids, and a carnival like set up with rides, booths, and food trucks. All proceeds will help aid in the funding of the shelter over next year. The cost to run a place like this is staggering well over a million dollars a year. Most of the funding comes in the form of private donations, tax write offs for people who have more money than they know what to do with, but at least they are willing to part with some. The fundraiser is only a drop in the bucket to meeting the needs of the shelter, but every dollar counts to make sure someone in need has a good night’s sleep and food in their stomach.

Ruby enters the shelter and heads to the office to look for Jolene. She notices Abigail isn’t in her office as she passes by the dark room. When she knocks on the door, Jolene looks up from her computer and motions Ruby to come in.

“I’ll just be another minute Ruby.” Jolene turns back to the computer. Her fingers fly across the keyboard as she types. Ruby wanders around the office looking at the pictures on the walls while she waits. There are several of Jolene accepting donations or awards for excellence in service for her work at the shelter. Ruby notices one picture in particular where Jolene and a group of very confident looking women are smiling happily at the camera. They are holding a large cardboard check for $190,000. The notation under the picture reads, Spring Carnival Fundraiser 2020.

“Good morning, Ruby are you ready for the meeting?” Jolene asks when she has finished on her computer. Ruby nods in answer. “The volunteers are here already. I sent them to the cafeteria. We should have enough room in there for us to discuss the plans for the upcoming year’s Spring Carnival. This group was so helpful last year. I’m sure we will have another successful event this time as well.”

Ruby and Jolene leave the small office and head down the hallway to the large cafeteria on the back side of the building. Jolene opens the door to the cafeteria, and Ruby follows her inside. A squeal of delight from across the room causes Ruby to jump in surprise. She looks up to see several women clustered around one of the tables. One of the women is hurrying over to them as they enter the room.

“Jolene! It’s so good to see you. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to come by much lately,” states a woman with shoulder length, brown, curly hair. She is about 5’4” and has a curvy figure. Ruby can tell the woman is older than her own twenty-six years, but she’s still a very beautiful woman. If Ruby had to guess, she thinks the woman is maybe in her forties. The woman wraps Jolene in a tight embrace, and the two women begin chatting right away as they head over to the other women gathered around a table near the kitchen part of the cafeteria.

“It’s not surprising you don’t have much time with all the little ones at home, Charlotte,” Jolene is telling the woman as they near the group. Ruby notices Abigail is among the group, and she’s happy to see her. Abigail turns to greet her with a smile.

Ruby eyes the group of women. They all seem so happy and enjoying being with one another. They are all engaged in conversation. Ruby is a little hesitant to join them. She doesn’t know any of them except Jolene and Abigail, who she’s only known for the last couple of months. Ruby doesn’t want to interfere, and she feels like the odd man out for some reason. Jolene notices that she isn’t joining the group and calls out to her.

“Come on, Ruby. Let me introduce you to everyone.” Jolene is waving her hand to indicate she wants Ruby to join them. Taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, Ruby heads over to the table. When she arrives, Jolene begins to make introductions.

“Everyone this is Ruby Cox. She will be helping us with the fundraiser this year,” Jolene informs the group as she lays her arm across Ruby’s shoulders. “Ruby, I would like to introduce you to an amazing group of women. These women and their men helped me last year with this event, and I know this year will be just as amazing.” Ruby feels nervous and swallows hard. She hopes she will make a good impression and that these women will like her.

“Ruby, this is Charlotte Jackson, Elise Vickers, Daisy Gibson, Emma Weston, and you’ve met Abigail Miller.” A chorus of nice to meet-you and hello echoes around the room. Ruby is shocked when Charlotte wraps her arms around her in a tight embrace. Ruby isn’t used to being welcomed so readily and is a little taken aback. Charlotte seems to sense Ruby’s unease and pulls back smiling at her.

“Sorry, Ruby. I’m a hugger. I hope you will get used to it as we are working together. If I make you uncomfortable just tell me. Sometimes I forget not everyone is as affectionate as I am.” The beautiful brown-haired woman smiles warmly. Ruby is instantly at ease and returns her smile. “No problem. I just wasn’t expecting such a heartfelt reception.” The women chuckle and eye one another knowingly.

“You are in for a rude awakening, my friend,” Daisy comments. “Charlotte and Emma will have you smothered in hugs and kisses before you know what is happening.” She looks at the other women, and they all nod in agreement with big smiles on their faces.

“Charlotte, will Hawk and his men be joining us?” Jolene asks. Leave it to Jolene to intervene before they veer off topic too much. She turns to Ruby. “Charlotte’s husband is a commanding officer for a group of men at the Marine base, Camp Le Jejune. All of these women are the wives or girlfriend of one of his men.”

“They will be here later after they finish on base,” Charlotte answers.

“Okay let’s get this meeting started,” Jolene starts, “I know you all have other obligations to attend to as well.” The women all take seats around the table. They begin by discussing what events were successful last year and which ones were a flop. This helps them narrow down what they want to do for this year’s event. They don’t want to do exactly the same events every year as people will get bored, but there are some things that event goers expect, like the carnival rides, games for the kids, and live entertainment.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com