Tami had everything from aspirin to jock-itch cream. She explained that with the hot, humid weather, I needed to be prepared.
I gave her a hug and thanked her. She would be home next weekend after her finals were done, so I would see her before I left.
◊◊◊
After everyone left, Dad and I drove to meet with Caryn and Megan. When we tried to pull into the parking lot, it was blocked off.
“Looks like they resurfaced it and painted new lines,” I observed.
We parked on the street. As we walked up, I could see they had power-washed the sidewalks. It looked like twenty years of dirt and grime had been removed. With the new paint, the building looked almost new. Caryn had done an excellent job.
We walked upstairs and found Megan spinning in her chair. When she saw us, she jerked to a stop. I just ignored her. I sometimes did that too, so I was in no position to give her a hard time. Besides, I needed her to watch Coby and Little David for another week during finals.
We stepped into the conference room, where we found new cell phones in boxes.
“What are these for?” I asked.
“Cell phones that will work internationally,” Caryn said.
“His current one won’t?” Dad asked.
“This one offers unlimited international texting with data that’s pay-as-you-go. David’s getting one because of international calling,” Caryn told me.
“This new phone works in both Cuba and Japan?” I asked.
“Yes, and it’s cheaper than setting up an international calling plan with your current carrier,” Megan explained. “As it turns out, your current carrier doesn’t even offer service in Cuba. This isn’t cheap, though, so don’t overdo it. It’s twenty cents per minute. Another carrier charged a monthly fee for their plan, and it was still fifty cents per minute.”
Megan took my current phone and hooked it to my new phone to transfer all my contacts and apps.
“What do you plan to do with this phone once I get back from Japan?” I asked.
“You can keep it for whenever you travel, or we could use it as a corporate phone for someone who only uses it as a phone,” Caryn said.
“You mean like my dad or grandma. Better yet, the recruiting phone,” I suggested.
Dad had been listening. I could tell he liked the idea of saving money on his monthly phone bill. This new phone would never work for my mom or me since we used way too much data.
Now that my phone for Cuba was set up, we could talk about other stuff.
“You couldn’t miss the front parking lot,” Caryn said, and we nodded. “We had them do it this weekend. They also did the Quickie Mart. We’ll walk down there before you leave. The owner was willing to shut down for the weekend while we made the improvements.”
“How’s the food going?” I asked.
We’d started to hand out food to people that needed it.
“We gave out three bags this week. They were also given information about the food programs available. One of the employees at the Quickie Mart had a good idea: she suggested that we add bags of dried beans and rice,” Caryn said.
“It’s inexpensive and filling. I remember when you were a kid, we ate a lot of that sort of thing,” Dad said.
I smiled because cornbread and beans was one of my favorite meals. Mom always complained that Greg and I could eat for an army, and she had to find something that would fill us up.
“Don’t ask me about what to give them. I think you can figure it out,” I said.
“Okay. Field trip time,” Caryn announced.
She took us down to the restaurant. Mary Dole was there, talking to a bunch of people sitting in the new chairs which were lined up in a couple of rows facing her. She smiled and waved at us as we came through the doors.
These folks were obviously the people Mary had hired to form the waitstaff, cooks, and so on. I was surprised to see Jan’s serious, interested face among them.
We walked back towards the kitchen and setup areas, not wanting to disturb Mary. I turned to Caryn.
“Jan Duke?”
“Yuri’s grandma came in with her when we were taking applications, and your grandmother happened to be there. Mrs. Antakov asked if Jan could apply for a waitress-slash-hostess job. She took your grandma aside and explained that she wanted Jan to learn about work, but she wanted her to be supervised by women Jan looked up to. Your mom, Mrs. Dole, and your grandma all fit that category.”
I was bemused.
“My grandma? How does Jan even know her?” I asked.
“Oh, your grandma and Yuri’s have become thick as thieves since they met each other. I think it’s a ‘kindred spirits finding each other’ kind of thing. You just weren’t around enough to notice.
“Anyway, Mrs. Dole was concerned that this was all Yuri’s grandma’s doing, and that Jan would be resentful. It turns out it was Jan who suggested it in the first place when their family was talking about plans for the summer and beyond. Yuri’s grandma just … facilitated.
“And Jan’s qualified. They were looking for a smart, pretty girl from the high school, who was motivated, to work as a waitress and fill-in hostess. Jan fits the bill to a T,” Caryn said.
I nodded, still a bit puzzled, as we continued the tour. You just never knew …
The place looked great. They’d gotten ninety percent of the downstairs done. It looked like an updated version of Granny’s. I was impressed.
“How long until they open?” Dad asked.
“They want to do a test run next week and only open a couple of hours in the mornings to work the bugs out. The grand opening will be either next Friday or Saturday. They’re going to hold an invitation-only event to get the word out, and it’ll be free. Then they’ll open the following Monday,” Caryn said.
I was glad Caryn, my dad, and Megan were taking care of all this because I had no time for it right now. I was proud of what they’d done with Mary and Granny and was sure it would be a success.
◊◊◊
It was a gorgeous day outside, and I really wanted to go see Zoe, as had become my Sunday routine, but I also needed to study. I’d never wanted to sign up for AP classes. Uncle John was right about many things, one of which was that you didn’t need to grow up too fast. Taking AP, or Advanced Placement, classes gave you college equivalency. This meant that I would have college credit towards my graduation.
Something I figured out by reading the college websites was that I was taking way too many AP classes. Students only received credit for two AP classes per subject. That meant that only two of my three AP math classes counted for college credit.
I hadn’t bitched too much, though, because the classes were more of a challenge. My inner nerd got bored if he wasn’t pushed.
Additionally, and more importantly to me, AP classes boosted your class standing. Our grade point average (GPA) was calculated on a 4.0 scale, with each AP course receiving a .22225 bonus added to the grade earned. Currently, I was in third place in our class behind Gina and Alan. I had faith that Alan would do something stupid and knock himself out of the running. I just had to hope that Gina faltered.
That was why I stayed in instead of going horseback riding with Zoe.
◊◊◊ Thursday May 12
Finals had been hard, but I’d been up to the task. With Alan banned from the school computers, Lily had to do more work. She’d sent all the coaches reports on how their charges had done. Once again, the athletes involved in the study program had done better than the previous average. I was heartened to see that over half the school had joined us this semester.
Coach Hope and Moose had identified a couple of junior football and baseball players who were not on track to meet NCAA academic guidelines. With the new system in place, they could nip any problems in the bud, before it was too late. There were also six sophomore boys who were borderline. Cassidy told me that her dad planned to have all the guys who were having academic issues meet with Ms. Jaroslav, our guidance counselor. And they had to bring a parent to the meeting. That didn’t sound like much fun.