It was only a summer job for Ken Lanzi in the summer of 1970, delivering prescriptions in a beat up old VW bug with a giant pill bottle on the roof. It was easy money and it was fun to drive around all day in a car that he enjoyed beating into the ground, but one day it became something totally different.
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Chapter One: Summer in the city.
It was going to be a scorcher today, that much I knew and I didn't need a weatherman to tell me that the heat and humidity was only only to get worse as the day went on. I opened the door of the VW bug that I would be spending much of the day in, and was greeted by a blast of heat that reminded me of opening the oven door at the pizzeria I worked at last summer.
No air conditioning in the little shit box, which meant the windows went down and were going to stay down all day, even if the humidity brought thunderstorms. I was glad that I had dressed for the occasion, even if the owner of the pharmacy had frowned when he saw me in my tank-top and white shorts.
At least the casual wear was neat and crisp looking, even though I expected that by the end of the day I was going to look like a drowned rat whether the thermometer actually hit 100 as expected, or not.
I arranged the orders in the box to give them some kind of geographical flow, but I wasn't adverse to driving a little extra, especially if the breeze would cool things off inside the bug.
One order caught my eye, and when I saw the name Agnes Crowley I winced like I had been stung by a bee. That old lady must live on prescriptions, because I delivered there at least a dozen times so far this summer, and it was only mid-July.
Not only was she talkative and tried to extend the visit by asking me to do little odd jobs around the house. "Sweetie, while you're here," was the the usual line that had me doing something like bringing a box from her cellar or fixing a clothesline.
Her only saving grace was that she usually slipped me a nice tip, but even the extra buck wasn't worth it sometimes. Not only that, but she had a habit of patting me on the shoulder, or the butt, along with the tip.
She was a widow, and had been for several years, and I did feel sorry for her. I wondered how old she was - had to be close to 70 - and while I liked older woman, and had been lusting after a friend's mother all of my life, this little gray haired grandma was a little too old for me.
I saved her order for last, figuring that if I got T-boned at some intersection, at least that would get me out of delivering to her. Eventually, the box of orders had been whittled from 19 to just one, Mrs. Crowley.
I slammed the bug into gear and raced down Sand Creek Road, going about 55 in a 30, and took the turn onto Mordella Drive on two wheels, trying to console myself that after this delivery I could take my lunch break before picking up the afternoon orders.
I jogged up the driveway to the side door and hopped up the three concrete steps to the door, rapping loudly. The familiar voice rang out from the other side of the screen, telling me to come right in.
Couldn't meet me at the door like most of the others, I thought as I entered the house. Mrs. Crowley was sitting at her kitchen table as usual, dressed in her house dress and slippers, her silver gray hair cut short.
"Oh Kenny," Mrs. Crowley chirped, rising from her perch and greeting me as I entered the kitchen. "My, you certainly dressed for the weather today. You look so cool and comfortable."
"Looks are deceiving," I assured Mrs. Crowley, handing her the little white bag and handing her my pen, hoping to make a quick exit.
"Here you go," she said, handing me the pen after signing her name in beautiful script. "Sweetie, while you're here..."
...
Chapter Two: Up the stepladder.
The assignment I had been given was to climb up the three steps of the stepladder and get a couple of vases off of the top of the kitchen cabinets. I dutifully slid the ladder over and climbed up the two steps, grabbing the first vase with no problem.
The second one was much tougher, and I was tempted to ask her how the hell she got it up there, but decided to just climb to the top step. Mrs. Crowley then decided to help me, and in doing so almost made me fall off the ladder.
"Don't fall sweetie," Mrs. Crowley said, putting her hand on my hip as she looked up at me.
"I won't," I told her, and feeling her hand on my hip was even weirder than getting patted on the ass.
"Oh my, you've got hairy legs, don't you?" she clucked. "My Walter had hairy legs too, but not as hairy as yours. Are you Greek?"
"Uh, Italian," I mumbled, not in the least bit interested in any of her long-winded stories about her late husband, but that was the least of my worries, because after she told me how hairy my legs were, her hand proceeded to slide down from my hip and rub my leg, from thigh to ankle and then back up.
"Jesus!" I said, having to catch myself before I fell into the sink.
"Don't take the Lord's name in vain, Kenny."
"Sorry, ma'am," I said, making a lurch to finally grab the elusive vase and climbed down the ladder fast, knowing that if I told the guys back at the drug store this story, they would never believe me.
"You're all flushed, Kenny," Mrs. Crowley said. "Let me get you a drink of water."
"That's okay," I said. "I'm fine."
"Well then sweetie, while you're here, would you mind doing me one more little favor?"
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Chapter Three: Putting away the ladder.
I followed Mrs. Crowley down the hall with the ladder, and when she ducked through the first doorway on the left I followed her, finding myself right in the middle of her bedroom.
It reminded me of being in the room my Grandma stayed in when she visited us, with everything all frilly and smelling like lavender. She wanted it over my the window, so that's where I went with it. After I turned around, I was startled to find Mrs. Crowley right behind me.
"You're such a nice young man," she said with a smile, but it was a tight-lipped smile, and her face seemed strained. "Always so good to me."
"No problem," I said, and was trying to figure out a way to side-step her when she stopped me.