Brian thought to himself very deeply while standing in his kitchen looking out at his front lawn. He thought about how he was going to do things with Kristina. She needed a whole lot from him and he was surprised to find her so willing to just do whatever he said. She went with all of it without a word other than agreement.
She was to move into his home, a house on the Northside of town that he owned. It was a cheap neighborhood because it was far away from the university as well as the other various trade schools and colleges. It was also an old neighborhood with red brick sidewalks jutting up at awkward angles with houses neglected by their tenants. A slumlord owned all of the houses on the other side of the street and his neighbors to the left and right of him were all white trash high school drop outs in their 40s and 50s trying to make ends meet. The most notable one was a happy drunk that kept things quiet now. A few years ago he had finally stopped partying after a man died from alcohol poisoning in his living room. He made Brian think of a gray haired Ozzy Osborne, but more humble.
Kristina had no job and the only money she had to her name was the hundred dollars he had given her a couple of hours ago at the coffee shop. He had given her strict instructions on how to spend the money; she was to fill up her friend's gas tank, she was borrowing the car she was driving. Then she was to buy a few little groceries to give back to her friend's fridge because she had been staying there for free. Kristina had been a grade A mooch for a little while now but not because she wanted to be. She just couldn't seem to keep a job and the only thing she knew was fast food right now.
"I need a real solid break," She had said to him, hoping. He had known she did too, had known it a long time, but you can't force people to do things, they had to learn on their own. At least she had the final wisdom to know she couldn't do it on her own no matter what she did. Somehow he was glad that she had come to him.
Was he arrogant? The thought flittered through his mind before he dismissed it. He was arrogant but humility wasn't out of reach of him either, it was plainly obvious he could make better life choices than her, but he still wasn't any better than she was. He was human too, and made mistakes.
An ambulance screamed past on the street, going twice the speed limit. Watching it turn a corner he hoped it didn't kill anybody while navigating to save someone else's life. He imagine Kris being an EMT for a moment, thinking of a career he could point her towards. She wouldn't be able to handle the pressure without a ton of training and he didn't think she would enjoy that. She needed something very low pressure. A few more career choices came to mind, but he pushed them away for now.
He remembered the final instruction he had given her. She was to call him after she had fathered up all of her stuff and cleaned the room she had been staying in, and he would come pick her up. At that thought, his phone rang out with Happy by Mudvayne, the metal rock ringtone always reminding him to question what made him happy, and if he was actually doing it. He smiled as he realized that he was very happy and excited to be able to do what he was about to do for Kris.
"Hello," he stated his answer, waiting for her to speak.
"Hey, I'm done." She answered brightly.
"Did you do everything I told you too?" he asked. He knew she had, she wasn't lazy.
"Yes, her car is full on gas and I bought groceries like you said and I even made cookies after I cleaned my room up. I mean, they aren't from scratch but everyone like Pillsbury cookies right?" She laughed a couple of times. Good, she felt good about herself.
"I'm proud of you Kristina, good job. Okay what's the address?"
"2701 Parker Avenue," she said. It was a run-down area much like his own but built in the 80s instead of the 50s. His own house was built in '57 and he imagined a Chevy in the garage that had a walnut tree overhanging it. His own front lawn had a beautiful maple that overshadowed but he hated the walnut tree for its green rotting nuts that it dropped every year.
"Okay, I'll be over in about an hour, is all of your stuff ready?"
Kristina was standing on the curb of cull de sac, brown duplexes circling the block like deposited turds with grey and yellow garage doors. Kernels of decoration. There weren't any trees or even a sidewalk, just brown houses. Brian hated this part of town because of how out of touch with reality it felt. His Durango rumbled quietly as he put it in park.
The sun had come out through the clouds as it began to set, the lightning and rain abating for now. Brian hoped it would come back later but the weather here was finicky.
"Thanks," Kristina said as he loaded a black trash bag of clothes into the rear cargo area. A heel spike strained behind stretched plastic and Brian wondered if she was going to have enough room in his home.
"No problem," he said, waiting for her to go inside and get more stuff. When she didn't, he asked, "Any more stuff?"
She shook her head, "Nope, this is it. My whole life lumped into two black trash bags and a purse." Kristina laughed nervously and gave him an odd smile.
Brian smiled back at her, confidently and she turned her eyes down. She ran her fingers through her black hair, now down and resting on her shoulders. Her sweater still strained against her body and Brian couldn't wait to get it off of her.
