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Karen (Al & Karen) Thursday, 4:00 p.m.
I hadn’t seen Marlene for a few days, so I peeled away from Alice and Julie to stop at the office. It was closing time, but she shot me a raised-brow look that signaled she had something to tell me. Taking a seat, I paged through an old magazine while she dealt with questions and complaints from various residents. I wondered how many of them were here every day, or at least several times a week, to ask questions and air grievances. In many cases it was probably a case of wanting someone to listen to their concerns. Marlene was a patient woman, and I guessed that quality was important in her job.
A tiny woman I’d seen around the park approached the desk, checkbook in hand. “I need to pay my rent.”
“You don’t have to, Mrs. Dunn. Your rent is already paid.”
I saw her only in profile, but I read irritation in her posture. “There’s no check stub here in my book.”
“We set up automatic withdrawals, remember? You, um, you forgot to pay a few times, and I suggested we could withdraw the money out of your bank account every month. That way you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“You take the money?”
“Yes.”
“Out of my account.”
Marlene cleared her throat. “You signed a form so we can do that.”
“I would never let someone take my money without my say-so.”
“You wanted it that way, so you don’t have to remember to pay it.”
Her white head shook, and I heard a sound of disgust. “What’s to stop you from taking money from me to buy yourself something nice?”
“We wouldn’t do that.”
“But what’s to stop you?”
Marlene paused, and I imagined what she might say: Ethics. Rules. Decency. Fear of prison.
Instead she said, “Dan said this was the best way.”
The woman’s manner did a one-eighty. “Danny said that?”
“Yes.” Digging in a file cabinet, Marlene found a single sheet of paper. “Here’s the agreement.”
Mrs. Dunn read it over and touched the signature lovingly. “My boy looks out for me,” she said. “He’s busy at work—vice president at his company, you know—but he takes care of his mother.” She picked up her checkbook and put the pen back into the mug on the counter. “So I don’t need to pay the rent? Danny’s taken care of it?”
“He has. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
As she left, Marlene shot me a look of amusement, and I wondered if the scene I’d witnessed was repeated monthly. When the office cleared out, Marlene asked me to lock the door and turn the sign to “Closed” while she put things away. “Ray’s taking me out to dinner tonight,” she announced. “He says we have things to discuss.”
“What things would those be?”
“He wasn’t specific, but he did ask how far away I’m willing to live from work.”
“And you said...?”
Her cheeks turned pink. “I didn’t know what to say. Do you think he meant we might move in together?”
“I thought you’d talked about it already.”
She sighed. “When I kind of hinted we should, he didn’t say no, but he changed the subject pretty quickly.” Marlene’s dark eyes widened. “I’ve been afraid to mention it again, but now Boom! Out of the blue he wants to talk about our future.”
“Something must have given him a push.” I picked up my phone and keys. “The funny thing with men is, you might never figure out where that push came from.”
