He walked across the parking lot after work, the late afternoon heat shimmering from the asphalt as the sun started ducking behind the elm trees that bordered the parking spaces, filtering through the branches, momentarily blinding him for a step or two at a time. It was a walk he'd done many times, a walk he could do with his eyes closed, with little risk of bumping into anything, unless a car was driven through the lot at the same time. The chances of this were slim, as he liked to start work early, put in his 8 hours, and leave the office early, thus missing the bulk of rush hour traffic both ways. The company he was subcontracting for didn't mind his start-early and leave-early schedule. He played a key role in the company's profitable run of recent success, and his role didn't call for a lot of office interaction with other employees. He did his work thing, shared the results with key stakeholders, and went on to the next prioritized task.
The man was in Information Technology, a talented software developer, and although strikingly handsome and gregarious when the situation called for ripe communication, he kept mostly to himself, and preferred it that way. He was about producing results and letting them do the speaking for him. He didn't need to talk his way up, his work did the talking.
The man, Joseph, although he preferred to be known as Seth, shielded his eyes from the momentarily blinding sunlight. A light sheen of sweat showed on his forehead and cheeks. It was a very large parking lot, and even though Seth was one of the first people to arrive every morning, he parked in the slot that was furthest from the building entrance. Some people felt that was odd and talked about it a little behind his back, but Seth liked to start and end each workday with a brisk walk. He sat in his cubicle almost all day, getting up for the occasional meeting, cup of hot tea, or walk to the men's room in the middle of his floor. He liked to feel invisible in the office, underrated, almost a forgotten fixture, except by the leadership and executive teams who relied on his skills to help them forecast their future market moves. He'd been approached numerous times by Human Resources to join their team and company, to be an employee of high standing. Seth preferred the much higher rates derived from contracting, even if it was a little risky, and continually rebuffed the offers. One day, they would give him the ultimatum -- join us or be released. When that day came, Seth would walk, and be happy to look for the next company he could contract for. He didn't fear being unemployed. New challenges were welcome changes. Well, most challenges were.
Seth's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Wiping away the sweat threatening to drip down his forehead towards his nose, he fished the phone from his pocket with his free hand, seeing that the incoming call was from his wife's work number. They spoke every lunch hour. Seth was faithful in calling her on workdays, without fail. He was a creature of habit and enjoyed the break in the day that chatting with his wife provided. She almost never called him from work, other than sometimes at lunch, and only if Seth was tardy in calling her first.
Seth had reached his car. Using his key fob to unlock the doors, he answered her call as he slid his briefcase and lunch carrier into the back seat.
"Hi honey, I'm just about to leave. What's up?"
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Melinda and Matt will be at the house when you get there," his wife responded. This was unusual, as they lived over an hour away and weren't prone to surprise visits. Melinda was his 25 year old step-daughter, his wife Julie's youngest child. Matt was Melinda's 4 year old son, Seth and Julie's only grandchild. He was a handful.
"Is something wrong?" Seth inquired, knowing that something must indeed be wrong.
"Melinda and Rob broke up. Again. She has nowhere else to go so I told her she could stay with us for a while." Seth could hear the hesitancy in Julie's voice as she broke this news. Like Seth, Julie was happy with their empty nest home life. Quiet. Peaceful and quiet. Serene. But life wasn't always like that. Julie's 2 children, Melinda and her older brother James, were not exactly easy to live with. Both were prone to extremely vocal and occasionally violent outbreaks, mixed with frequent drug and alcohol episodes that fueled their angst. Melinda was 15 and James was 18 when Julie and Seth married. During the next 2 years the local police made 7 visits to their house to defuse escalating situations between mother and child, while Seth tried his best and often failed to keep things civil. By the time the following year ended, both James and Melinda were out of the house. James was asked to leave. Melinda ran away the day of her high school graduation. She got caught up in the wrong crowd, was heavily involved in drinking and drugs, performed as a stripper to support herself, and withdrew from her mom completely. Melinda eventually hooked up with Rob, who became the father of Seth and Julie's grandchild, Matt.
Rob was a small step up from the scumbags that Melinda associated with. He had a factory job and owned a small house 75 miles away from his in-laws. That was the good part. He was also 14 years older than Melinda, frequented strip joints, which was how he met Melinda, used drugs, and his overbearing mom lived with him. Melinda tolerated Rob's mom but wouldn't let her manage her life, which is what she tried to continuously do. Melinda wouldn't put up with Julie, her own mom, no way would she put up with a domineering mother in law. The dynamic had a few good moments but mostly not so good. From what Melinda had told us over the past 4 years, there were frequent arguments with verbal and occasionally physical abuse. Rob didn't abuse Matt, his son, but he also didn't shield Matt from the abuse he heaped on his baby momma, Melinda. Melinda and Matt had fled to Seth and Julie a couple of times but went back to Rob within a couple of days. This time would prove to be different.
"How long do you think this might last?" Seth asked Julie.
