Chapter 46

Austin

If you ask an old person how they’re doing, you have to be prepared to listen to the answer. I made that mistake with Mrs. Gelman and heard about her sciatica for five minutes. It could have been worse. Mr. Kowalski has hemorrhoids.

“I think everyone’s here,” Louise says. We’ve got enough chairs and Artie is guarding the food. Charlie just called. He’s on his way.”

“Where was he?” I ask.

“At some building site a few blocks away. Said he’d be here in ten minutes.”

My palms are sweaty waiting for Grandpa. Mrs. Fradette and Maggie come in with Harvey. He makes the rounds, greeting everyone who calls him over. He especially loves Mrs. O’Brien, but that’s probably because she slips him baking when no one’s looking. Maggie doesn’t look as bummed out as she did when she got here, so maybe the visit with Mrs. Fradette cheered her up.

Louise passes me the stack of letters from all the old people. “After we yell ‘surprise,’ you can call people up to read their letters.”

Things are going according to plan until I hear Mr. Santos shouting in the hallway. “Wait! Phillip! We were only on Zambia! I still have all of Zimbabwe to show you.”

“Oh no! Places everyone!” I whisper-yell. No one moves. They can’t hear me above the chatter. I catch Maggie’s eye across the room. “He’s coming!” I say more loudly.

But half the people can’t hear well, and the other half can’t move well, so watching everyone try to find a chair is like watching a slow-motion game of musical chairs. The plan was for Louise to turn off the lights, but I can see now there’s no way a dark room with a bunch of old people is a good idea. Finally, Louise takes control. “Stay where you are!” she shouts. “He’s coming!”

When the door to the games room opens, it’s not exactly how I pictured it. We didn’t practice the yelling-surprise part, so no one does. Instead, we stare at Grandpa, who looks more uncomfortable than surprised.

“Sorry, Austin. I did my best,” Mr. Santos puffs from behind him. His straggly comb-over is flopping onto the wrong side of his head.

Mary Rose shouts, “Three, two, one—” And then everyone yells, “Surprise!” sort of at the same time.

Grandpa looks confused. “Is it my birthday?” he asks.

“It’s your work-iversary. You’ve been working here for seventeen years,” Mary Rose tells him. She brings over a golden crown and places it on his head.

“Have I?” he says with a chuckle. “Feels like just yesterday.” That gets a laugh from the other old people.

“We wanted to throw you a party. Make sure you knew how much we appreciate what you do around here,” Louise says.

Grandpa waves the compliment away. “Just doing my job.” Mr. Santos nudges Grandpa inside and behind them Charlie appears. “Sorry I’m late,” he says. “Did I miss the surprise part?”

Louise purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest. “Mm-hmm,” she says, unimpressed.

“You knew about this?” Grandpa asks Charlie.

“I found out about it yesterday,” he says.

“Come on, Grandpa. Now that Charlie’s here, we can get started.” I grab Grandpa’s hand and pull him to a chair at the front. Mary Rose put some streamers on it so the guests would know it was reserved. “Hi, everyone,” I say from the front. I sort of yell-speak because Mr. Kowalski won’t be able to hear me otherwise. “To celebrate my grandpa’s years of working at Brayside, everyone here wanted to tell him how important he is to this place.” I look right at Charlie when I say these words. “First is Miss Lin.”

Miss Lin is so tiny that when she gets to the front, instead of asking if everyone can hear her, she says, “Can everyone see me?” and laughs.

“Some of you will remember my sister, Patty. She and I spoke every day at three o’clock. When she passed away, I didn’t have my three o’clock phone call to look forward to. But Phillip started coming by. Some days, I didn’t even talk, but he stayed, just sitting with me. And some days I needed to cry and he let me do that too. I found out later from one of the nurses that he waited until three o’clock to take his lunch break so he could spend it with me.” Miss Lin pauses. She’s got tears in her eyes. “That’s what I have to tell you, Phillip. Thank you for not letting me feel alone. You were there when I needed you the most.” Miss Lin goes back to her seat and on the way gives Grandpa a hug.

A few more people get up to talk and then it’s Mrs. Kowalski. She straightens her stretchy floral shirt and clears her throat. “I’d like to tell you about the day we moved in. Bob didn’t want to come here. He hated giving up the house, but it was time.” There are a few understanding nods from the crowd. “Phillip came by and he could tell right away that Bob wasn’t happy. Soon as he found out that Bob was a carpenter, he let him set up a shop in the basement here. Well, Bob had all his tools over here lickety-split. Phillip had him building bookshelves and shoe racks. It kept him busy and out of my hair. Thank you for getting to know us, Phillip. You’re a special man.”

I peek at Grandpa. He’s looking around like he can’t believe all this is for him.

Then Mrs. O’Brien gets up to read her letter. “Most of you know this story already, but it bears repeating. Here goes.” She takes a big breath. “Five years ago, I had a heart attack. It was Phillip who found me. He said he just had a feeling as he was walking by my room. When he knocked and I didn’t answer right away, he called for a nurse. The doctors said if it had been a few more minutes, I’d be gone.

“I don’t know what kind of an angel you are, Phillip, but you saved my life. I think you save everyone’s life at Brayside in one way or another, in little ways. Knowing when we need a smile or a visit. You’re a skilled custodian, but it’s your compassion that makes you a perfect fit for Brayside.”

Louise had warned me that some of the letters were touching, but I wasn’t prepared for Mrs. O’Brien words. She didn’t even read from a sheet of paper —all her words came straight from her heart. She looks right at Grandpa and says, “Phillip, you know how much you mean to me. If it hadn’t been for you, I might not be here.”

Grandpa waves a hand at her, like it’s all no big deal, but his chin is trembling and then he puts his hand to his mouth.

“And you know what they say,” Mrs. O’Brien continues. “The proof is in the pudding. Look who organized this whole thing—your grandson! All the kindness you’ve shown to others is coming back to you. Brayside wouldn’t be the same without you, Phillip.”

Everyone claps and that gives me a minute to pull myself together. A bunch of other people are dabbing their eyes too. “Thanks, Mrs. O’Brien,” I say. I look at Charlie across the room. He’s got a puzzled look on his face. I bet he’s regretting his decision to post Grandpa’s job.

Finally, when all the letters have been read, Grandpa stands up. He blows his nose into his hankie and stuffs it in the pocket of his coveralls. “I can’t believe you all did this,” he says. “I never expected—well, I guess I didn’t realize how much a part of this place I really am.” He looks at me and blinks back tears. “That’s why saying what I have to say is so difficult.”

There’s a hush in the room like everyone’s holding their breath at the exact same moment.

“Charlie and I, well, we decided it was time—”

“You can’t fire him!” I shout. All the emotion bottled up in me from listening to how much the residents love Grandpa comes gushing out at once. “You can’t! Didn’t you hear what everyone said?” I glare at Charlie.

“Austin!” Grandpa says my name so sharply, I turn, startled. “No one’s firing me! I got a promotion!”

A promotion?

Grandpa shakes his head at me. “The owners of Brayside are building a new complex. Like Brayside, only bigger. They need a head custodian with experience. I’ve taken the job.”

There’s a long, awkward pause. A few of the residents clap for Grandpa and others want to know where the new building is, but everyone is smiling. They’re happy for him.

I’m still standing at the front trying to make sense of what he said. “A promotion?”

He nods.

“So the job posting…?”

“Was for me to hire my replacement. The pickings have been slim, to tell you the truth. I’m going to have to work at both places unless we get a good candidate. Or any candidate.”

Louise and I look at each other across the room. Her eyes go wide and my cheeks turn red. “Uh, Grandpa.” While I explain, Louise puts on some music and Artie cuts the cake. Grandpa shakes his head at what happened when Isaac tried to apply, then starts chuckling, and finally is belly-laughing. The kind that you can’t not laugh with.

“You did that all for me?” he says when he can breathe. “And then put together this party?”

I shrug, still embarrassed. His face gets all thoughtful and he pulls me against him. He opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out. I can feel the tremor in his chest and I know that it’s not laughing that’s doing that.

“I’d do anything for you, Grandpa,” I whisper. And even if my voice was too quiet, he heard me. Loud and clear.