Blanche Monroe was the owner of Economy Furniture, a store located between two ghettos; the run-down part of the city where many of the low-income people lived, and the student ghetto which was rapidly becoming just as decrepit because it was primarily multi-family houses rented out by landlords who mostly cashed the checks and did the minimum of repairs needed to keep the property in code.
Economy Furniture was in the ideal location because Blanche Monroe sold what people needed, cheap furniture that the buyers hoped would last until they could afford better or in the case of many of the students, items that would last though the school year. Then most of the kids abandoned the furniture as they headed home.
Blanche made no great claims about the merchandise she sold, although she did attempt to give people a fair shake because the clientele were usually down on their luck and they were often very aggressive in their attitudes towards the store owner. Blanche however, was as tough as she looked and only took so much before she would heave people out the door. Blanche was skinny but surprisingly strong because she did just as much physical work as her staff, so anyone who took the middle-aged woman for a pushover were sadly mistaken.
The 47 year old self-made woman would be the first to admit that while she was not the warmest person in the world, she did have a weakness for the shy and meek of the world, especially females. She never had children but enjoyed helping young ladies when she could. When that 'helping' ended up making Blanche happy as well, all the better.
So on one weekday afternoon just before Labor Day, shoppers drifted into Economy Furniture and Blanche was patrolling the store, making sure that people who needed help were taken care of, when one customer caught her eye. One of Blanche's salespeople started to approach the girl but Blanche waved her off, and since they didn't work on commission the clerk was just as happy to go elsewhere.
As was her custom Blanche looked the girl over, checking her out as the young woman looked at the mattresses. Blanche's years of observing was uncannily accurate, so she figured that the girl was in her late teens. She was a student at SUNY, as the purple and gold t-shirt with the school logo explained, and Blanche figured her for a freshman or sophomore.
A farm girl, or from someplace rural, as she had a fresh and naive look about her that the city would have removed long ago. Shoulder length light brown hair that could use some work, although judging by the low end mattresses she was checking out, hair stylists were not in her budget. About 5'4" and while not really overweight, had a little baby fat on her. The most obviously feature on the kid was her crestfallen face. She looked like somebody who lost their puppy.
Modestly cut shorts that revealed slightly thick but shapely calves but were loose enough to make Blanche have to wonder about what her butt was like. The baggy t-shirt revealed little but it was clear the girl had a nice pair of breasts on her, and while her outfit was not revealing at all Blanche could see no tattoos on her, a definite plus. With all this in mind Blanche moved in to offer assistance.
"Good morning," Blanche chirped in as feminine a tone as her deep voice allowed. "In the market for some bedding?"
"Yes ma'am," the girl replied, the kid getting points for politeness in addition to a nice smile. "Is this the set you advertise for $99?"
"It is, and one thing I can assure you is you don't want this," Blanche told her as she reached down and grabbed the top mattress by the strap on the side, lifting the bulky thing with little effort, her wiry forearm bulging with veins and muscles. "Lift it. There's nothing to it. Hay inside or something like it. It's called a loss leader designed to get people in the store. There you go... sorry... what's your name?"
"I'm Amy," the girl replied and then added, "I go to SUNY."
"So I see," Blanche answered while nodding at the girl's shirt, and then added with a nod to the name patch on her blue shirt, "I'm Blanche. What I just gave you was a lesson in retailing that SUNY probably doesn't teach. Did you look at the set next to it?"
Blanche glanced down and saw the despite wearing a sports bra under the shirt, her erect nipples were still visible, sticking out like monuments on her barren chest. If the girl noticed she said nothing but looked at the more expensive set and frowned.
"A little more expensive but well worth it," Blanche explained.
"I'm sure it is but..."
"Short on dough?"
"Yeah," Amy admitted. "I don't know if I even have enough money for the cheap one, because I would have to have it delivered, and then there's the sales tax, and..."
"What are you sleeping on now?"
"The floor, or a lumpy love seat that came with the apartment," Amy said. "We had a bed but over the summer it disappeared from the apartment when I was away. Michelle - she was my roommate - said she didn't take it."
"You don't believe her?" Blanche asked.
"We had an argument when I went back home for the summer so - but no, I don't think she took it. The neighborhood is so bad if you have anything decent it disappears."
"Where do you live?" Blanche asked, and when Amy told her the older woman made a face. "That's a rough area. Probably nothing like where you're from. I figure you for a farm girl from out in the sticks in Central New York."
"Omigod. Is it that obvious still?" Amy said as she scrunched up her face, making the little cluster of freckles around her nose even more appealing. "You're right. Ever hear of Grand Gorge, New York?"
"Sure. Out on Route 23. Believe it or not somebody bought furniture here a long time ago and I delivered it," Blanche recalled. "As I remember there was nothing Grand about it. Nice drive though, and it is beautiful country."
"I guess."
"So what do you think about the nicer set?"
"I really..."
"We can work something out," Blanche said as she grabbed her pad and started writing down numbers. "You work?"
"Couple nights a week at McDonald's," Amy said with a shrug. "Overnight shift. Custodial work from 11 to 7. Even worse than asking whether you want fries with that, but it's something."
"Nothing in this place I haven't cleaned a dozen times, from the toilets on up. When the boss does it too the staff has a tough time arguing when it's their turn," Blanche told her, and after she was done said, "How about you pay for the cheap one and when you come up with $50 more before you graduate, come back and pay me. That better mattress set includes a frame too, which you probably don't have."
"Wow. Delivery is how much?"
"Don't worry about it," Blanche said and then lied, "Kind of quiet now so the guys would just be laying around anyway."
"This is awesome Blanche."
"Hey, it's not the best there is but you'll be able to sleep on it."
"You aren't going to get in trouble for this, are you?" Amy whispered.
"I know the owner," Blanche responded. "It's me."
"You own this place? That's awesome. I can't believe you're doing this for me."
"Hey, I was young and in college once too believe it or not," Blanche smiled as she waved an arm around the showroom and added. "Let this dump be a lesson to you. Stay in school. Now let's get your information so we can deliver it. Tomorrow okay?"
"Sure!" the jubilant farm girl gushed, and after Amy left Blanche looked at the figures on the pad and made a face.
"Have to sell some merchandise to be able to afford to do business like that," Blanche said to herself before looking for another customer.
***
Blanche Monroe made sure her car doors were locked before she crossed the street on her way to one of the more sketchy houses on the block, her memory of having to live in places like this not faded with time, and as she climbed the steps she chuckled at her crew needing to climb not only these shaky stairs leading to the front door but also having to navigate the narrow stairwell to the second floor with a mattress, box spring and frame.
Blanche glanced at the row of doorbells with names crudely written in making tape below the button, noticing that there was no Amy Tucker there, forcing her to check the copy of the invoice to see that 2B still had the name of her former roommate on it. Blanche looked in the dusty door window to make sure her close cropped jet black hair was in place and then climbed the stairs.
She hesitated before knocking, because although she was reasonably certain the girl wouldn't mind a surprise visit from the woman who sold her a bed, there was always the chance that this plan would blow up in her face, but the more she thought about that pudgy face and the freckles the more she decided Amy was worth the risk.
Blanche's concerns left the minute the door opened and Amy, once she got over the shock of who was at the door, greeted her like a long lost friend and ushered Blanche into her place. The apartment, a studio that was as bleak as the outside, had little in the way of furniture but the new queen size bed in the corner was easily the nicest thing in the place.
"The guys didn't leave a mess behind, did they?" Blanche asked as she looked at Amy out of the corner of her eye.
Amy was wearing a pink tank-top that showed a little skin but she was wearing a bra under it. Nice arms, Blanche mused to herself. Perhaps a little fleshy but nicely shaped, and the light down on her forearms made the store owner smile.
"They were super nice," Amy exclaimed. "They just left a little while ago. Haven't had time to make the bed yet but I did lay on it. It's so comfortable!"
"Glad you like it."
"Do you always check back with customers after they buy things?"
"Just the nice ones," Blanche replied as she handed the teen the bag she had brought with her. "See if you like these."
Blanche watched Amy's confused expression as she took the bag, and when she opened it she squealed with delight when she saw the sheet set in the package.
"I love it," she said of the light blue bedding. "I can't believe you've done all this for me. When I came into your store yesterday I was so depressed, and I felt so low counting out my money and realizing how much my life was sucking, but then you appeared."
"They are nothing fancy. We were overstocked and I wasn't sure whether your bedding had disappeared too," Blanche exclaimed.
"No, but look at it," Amy said as she picked up the folded things on the mattress. "Pillowcases - sheets - they're all mismatched. Not that I'm Martha Stewart or anything."
"Here, let me help you make the bed," Blanche offered as she went to the other side, and as she grabbed the fitted sheet that the teen had billowed over towards her the older woman's eyes gravitated to Amy's blouse where the top and bowed down to reveal much of what Blanche thought were magnificent breasts that looked to be the size of honeydew melons.
The two of them made quick work of making the bed, and they got a good laugh out of what passed for pillows as they put them in the cases because they were flattened by age.
"I think when I go home for the holidays I'll bring back one of my pillows," Amy declared. "These are sad."
