In
retrospect, it all seems like a dream now, but in the days when we
were living down on the corner of Central Avenue and Park Street, it
was very real. Never in your wildest dreams could you imagine
brushing the snow out of your cardboard bed before covering up with a
few of your newspaper blankets. It doesn’t matter how we ended up
there, my story is about how we got out.
My name is Simon Wilson, and once upon a time I was a big man around town, and I have a chance to be again, thanks to my guardian angel. There was a woman that passed by the corner every day on her way to and from wherever it was she went every day. She never once gave us a glance, but we watched her. She was always wiping her face as she walked, as if she were crying.
One day I took a chance and stopped her. She was a real classy dame, the type I used to chase when I was a big man around town. She was tall and blonde, a real peach. You could tell she didn’t sleep much, the big bags around her pretty blue eyes gave away a lot about her life. I invited her over to the barrel for some coffee, and to my surprise, she accepted.
Well, I introduced her to Joanie, my wife, and our eighteen-year-old boy, Wallace. She seemed to hit it right off with Joanie. I took Wallace and went to work down at the docks, the only place a man without an address could get work in the city. Daily pay in cash, you can't beat it.
When we returned at dusk, Joanie told us how the woman's parents and husband were in a car accident a few weeks before, and they were still in a touch and go condition. Her mother was crippled, but she was home. She and her husband had a lovely home in Woodlawn Place, and they'd just paid it off a week before the accident.
"What a shame." Joanie was telling Wallace and me. "What a shame that they should have finally paid off their house, but now they're moving into her parents house. She said her mother needed someone there twenty-four hours a day, and her husband and father would, too, if they survive."
The very next day Wallace and I came home from the docks to find Joanie in quite a flutter. The woman had taken her to lunch to chat. "In another time and another place, we'd be best friends." Joanie chattered. It did my heart good to see my wife in such a grand mood. She'd been a bit depressed since we'd lost everything.
That's the history. Now I'll tell you how this woman became my guardian angel. It was Christmas eve, and Joanie and this woman had been friends for a few weeks. We were just sitting down to eat the beans Joanie had heated when a big black SUV pulled up to the corner, and the woman got out of the driver's seat. She was very excited about something.
She and Joanie spoke privately for a few moments, then Joanie told Wallace and me we were getting in that SUV. We did reluctantly, disappointed that our beans would be frozen by the time we got to eat them. Wallace said so, and Joanie only laughed, pushing him into the back seat beside me.
The SUV pulled up in front of a quaint little house at Woodlawn Place. It was all decorated with lights and window candles and a giant snowman in the yard. The woman got out of the driver's seat and opened the door for us. She was ushering us toward the door, so I figure maybe we're invited to a party. I felt a little grimy, since we've been living on that corner, but I put on my best happy guest face and opened the door to the little house. It was lovely inside, and all decked out for Christmas, but it was empty. No party guests at all.
Once we were all inside, the woman stood in front of us and rubbed her hands together. "Uh, ma'am," I said, I didn't know her name, "what exactly are we doin' here?"
"Well, it's going to be quite some time before my husband and I can use this house." she said, "So, I've decided it would be nice if you all took care of the place for us. I've also arranged for the two of you," she indicated Wallace and me," to have interviews at my company on Monday. It's not a great job, just mail room clerk, but there's opportunity for advancement, and from what Joanie's told me, it would be a good place for you both. I just know you're going to love it here. And you don't have to feel as if it's charity, you're living here in return for taking care of it for me. When you're back on your feet and can get your own place, let me know. I'm sure you have friends who could look after it just as well, right?"
I nodded. I did have friends who could use the place. She went on, “The furniture, the towels, everything's yours. All you have to do is show up at the interviews, keep the pipes from freezing, and look after my poinsettias in the greenhouse out back." She took another deep breath. "I need to get going. My husband is coming home tonight and I need to have dinner ready." She hugged Joanie and took her leave as suddenly as she'd arrived.
"Joanie, there's just one thing I gotta know." I said. My wife turned to me, smiling. "What's her name?"
"Angeline." Joanie replied.
"Hmm. How fitting." I said.