Pizza & Boss Ladies
Rayanne was just finishing hanging some spring decorations around the large calendar on the wall in the lobby, when the door to the main office opened up beside her. Thomas, one of their maintenance men, appeared in the doorway and leaned against it.
“You know, some boss ladies give her staff pizza parties.” The man exclaimed with a lopsided smile. Rayanne frowned, trying to hide her smile. “What makes you think you deserve a pizza party anyway?” She asked him, as she looked up at him.
Thomas’s smile grew. “And some boss ladies are nice,” he added with a chuckle. “Hey, I’m nice!” Rayanne defended herself. “You weren’t when I first met you.” Thomas reminded her. “Oh my God, you’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” She asked with a scoff. “Hell no,” He replied with a chuckle.
Rayanne rolled her eyes. “Then no pizza party!” Rayanne exclaimed. Blue, Rayanne’s pit bull, sat quietly watching the two. He licked his chops, who knew what pizza was. Thomas reached up to finger the decorations.
“You’re just gonna have to take these down when spring ends.” Thomas noted, as he tapped the banner that said, Spring Is Here! “I was planning on just having you do it.” Rayanne exclaimed, watching the man for a reaction.
Thomas straightened and started to walk around her. “Figures, you’re always working us to death.” He joked. He had to jump out of the way to keep from her swatting at him with her hand. “And stop calling me boss lady!”
Rayanne exclaimed, though the smile was plastered to her face. “Whatever you say, boss lady.” Thomas mocked and then disappeared through a door, heading towards the maintenance shop.
Rayanne shook her head and looked back up at the calendar. She was so glad she had found the giant dry erase board with lines already on it for a calendar at a thrift shop. It was perfect to write in the slots events and reminders.
Rayanne had just celebrated her twenty-first birthday, the shelter was thriving, they currently had fourteen homeless and runaway teenagers who regularly visited the shelter everyday.
A majority of them would spend the night as well. Rayanne worked at the shelter during the day Tuesday through Thursday. And then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, she and Tyler stayed overnight at the shelter.
Sometimes kids would come in during the night, so someone had to be there to greet them. Blue was a big help with the kids. His ability to read their emotions and know the best way to go about helping them was remarkable in a dog who wasn’t even trained.
It was something he seemed to always possess. They had noticed it when Rayanne was younger and he was able to help her through her depression and anxiety. Many times in the middle of the night when the dog would go missing, Rayanne would find him cuddled up with a kid on their bed.
Sometimes the teens had trouble sleeping, or tormented by nightmares. Blue would lay with them and offer comfort and love. Tyler, Rayanne’s long time best friend, had graduated college with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Shortly after he graduated he got a job as a mechanic at a shop nearby. He had only been there for a few months. Tyler was working there during the week. And then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night he would be at the shelter.
His coworkers had readily accepted him once they found out what a good mechanic he was. Tyler got along well with them, and they often would invite him to go out drinking with them after work.
Tyler sometimes found it hard to say no. He wanted to be on good terms with his coworkers and he enjoyed being around them. But he feared the temptation to drink might be too much for him to resist.
Cindy and Grace, Rayanne and Tyler’s moms still worked at the shelter during the week. Even though Grace was retired from the police force she still sometimes helped them out in cases involving kids.
Cindy was no longer working for the New York Times, now she was the writer for the shelter. She had a website for the shelter, which she kept up to date on news and what was going on at the shelter.
The website even had a way for teens to reach out to them if they were unable to get to the shelter on their own. She would post blogs regularly for the shelter as well. Their online community through their website was steadily growing as well.
They often got messages about donations for them, and even messages from people who would report homeless teens. That way they could try and talk the teen into coming and staying at the shelter.
Pappy and Thomas, their two maintenance men, kept the shelter in good working condition. It had been a lot of work in the beginning to get the place up and running. But it was well worth it.
Kelly and Linda, two former employees from the juvenile detention center that Rayanne and Tyler attended for a short time when they were younger, were also working at the shelter. Linda was their receptionist, and mainly worked at the front desk in the lobby.
She handled phone calls, and she also kept records of every kid that came to the shelter. When they had first opened the shelter, Rayanne thought it would be a good idea to keep a record on each kid at the shelter.
Each file contained the child’s name, age, and any background information and the date when first came to the shelter. That way, in case a parent or the police ever came looking for a child, they could just check their files.
Kelly assisted Linda and also helped their cook Sonja in the kitchen. It was a big kitchen, and the cafeteria was big as well. Kelly helped Sonja cook and keep everything clean. Alex, Cinidy’s brother’s daughter, handled their finances.
Alex was in school studying to be a financial advisor. She was attending a school near the shelter and visited regularly. Rayanne was in college getting her master’s in psychology.
She was taking online classes so she could be at the shelter. Lisa, their therapist, also worked at the shelter. She was there in case any kids wanted to talk to her. She was also mentoring Rayanne.
Rayanne would often sit in on therapy sessions that Lisa had with kids. Rayanne was hoping to start providing more for the kids. She had already spoken to Lisa about the possibility of starting classes for any kids who needed schooling.
Lisa was excited about the prospect of teaching. Besides being a psychologist she was also a school teacher. And Kelly, had also gone to school to be a nurse, so she was available if they ever needed a nurse.
They took in kids from the ages of thirteen to nineteen. But if a child younger than thirteen, came to them hungry they would feed the child. But they didn’t let kids under thirteen actually live there.
Whenever kids under thirteen came in they fed them and then a social worker came and picked them up and they determined where the child should go. Things seemed to be going just about perfect in Rayanne’s mind.
She loved being at the shelter and being able to help kids. She wanted to be able to help kids just like Cindy helped her. She wanted to offer support, and love to kids who felt like they were unwanted and not loved.
Rayanne even named the shelter Home, because a lot of the kids that came to them just wanted a place to call home where they felt love and felt protected. And that’s what they provided for the kids that came through their doors.
An unlikely friendship had sprouted between Thomas and Rayanne. A friendship that Rayanne didn’t welcome at first. Because of her past trauma she had never trusted men, her only friend that was a man was Tyler.
But she had practically grown up with Tyler, so she was used to him. But there was just something about Thomas that she had felt drawn to. Maybe it was their love for grunge music. Thomas had also started giving Rayanne guitar lessons.
For her twenty-first birthday, Cindy and Grace had gotten her a purple fender jaguar guitar. She had been ecstatic to receive the beautiful instrument. It started out that she and Thomas would get together one night a week and practice.
But it had grown to three nights a week. Though, they were finding that they didn’t practice the whole time. They found themselves just enjoying each other’s company. They talked about life, and their dreams for the future.
Thomas didn’t know the extent of Rayanne’s trauma, but he knew that she had been abused. He learned quickly that Rayanne had many triggers. He couldn’t move quickly around her, and she didn’t like to be touched, or for him to be too close to her.
But over the past year, she had started getting used to him being near since he was helping her practice playing the guitar. Practicing seemed to help distract her from her fear of a man being near her.
And Thomas was so patient with her, and laid back that he made it easy for her to be comfortable with him. Rayanne had decided that maybe not all men were bad. Whenever Rayanne had anything that she needed fixing, Thomas would be quick to fix it for her.
It was a little difficult for Tyler to accept the fact that Rayanne had another friend besides him. For so many years it had just been the two of them. He had felt some jealousy when he first noticed them spending time together.
He had always loved Rayanne, and they even dated for a few months, but they discovered that they were better off as friends. Rayanne never showed any interest in Thomas though.
Which secretly, Tyler admitted to himself that he was happy about. Thomas was a very likeable guy, and made friends wherever he was. All the staff at the shelter liked him, he had a great personality, very friendly and eager to help out in any way he could.
Though, it was during the times that he and Rayanne were alone together that she found out that he also had a troubled past. But he kept it well hidden from the world. Though, he noticed that when he was with Rayanne his mask would tend to slip.
She had a way of making him feel so comfortable and safe around her. And that was something he wasn’t used to feeling. That afternoon Rayanne was in her office working on her school work when a knock came from her door.
She glanced up to see Cindy in the doorway. “What’s up?” Rayanne asked her. “I just wanted to let you know that Grace and I will be heading home in a bit.” Cindy announced. “Okay, I’ll probably be home around ten like usual.” Rayanne replied.
“Are you and Thomas practicing tonight?” Cindy inquired. “Uh huh, he says I’m getting really good.” Rayanne exclaimed. “Well, from what Grace and I hear at all hours of the night when we’re trying to sleep, you do sound good.” Cindy replied with a grin.
“Hey, I don’t play all night.” Rayanne protested. “Damn near.” Cindy exclaimed with a chuckle. “If it bothers you guys I could just get my own place.” Rayanne suggested. “That’s not necessary.” Cindy interjected quickly.
“You could just play in the garage.” Cindy added. “But Grace’s car is in there.” Rayanne reminded her. “You could drive it out while you’re practicing.” Cindy suggested. “Um no ma’am, Rayanne isn’t allowed behind the wheel of my car ever again.”
Grace interrupted, coming up beside Cindy. “I made one little mistake and that was years ago.” Rayanne exclaimed. “Little mistake? I recall what you consider a little mistake that cost me out the ass to fix.” Grace reminded her.
“Which by the way, you told me you’d pay me back for it. I still haven’t seen any of that money.” Grace added, a smile playing on her lips. “We agreed I could pay you back by helping you fix the garage door and your car.” Rayanne reminded.
“She’s got you there.” Cindy exclaimed, gazing at her girlfriend. “Are you sure I said that?” Grace asked, acting confused. “Positive. Besides, you forgave me for that. You couldn’t stay mad at me. Because I’m a sweet angel.” Rayanne replied.
Cindy and Grace laughed out loud. “You know, you didn’t have to laugh so hard.” Rayanne muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. But there was a smile playing on her lips. Cindy laughed again and strolled over to Rayanne.
She stopped in front of Rayanne’s chair and placed a kiss on her head. “We shall see you tonight. Please don’t be too late, it gets lonely there without you kids there a lot.” Cindy exclaimed, gazing lovingly down at her daughter.
“I won’t be too late,” Rayanne promised. “Good, be careful driving home.” Cindy responded and placed another kiss on the girl’s head. “Ugh, you already kissed me once. That’s enough,” Rayanne complained, pulling back. “See you at home, kiddo.” Grace exclaimed.
“See ya,” Rayanne replied. A few minutes later, Rayanne heard the two women walk out of the front door. She went back to her school work then. She loved having Cindy and Grace at the shelter with her.
Though, when they weren’t there Rayanne always felt like she was in complete charge of everything. Which she liked. A few minutes later, Sonja popped her head into the office. “Ms. Rayanne, would you like some dinner before I leave?” The woman asked, politely.
“What did you make?” Rayanne asked her. “Beef stew and cornbread ma’am. The kids didn’t finish it all so there is plenty for you.” Sonja informed her. Rayanne inwardly groaned, it wasn’t that Sonja was a bad cook, she was actually a very good cook.
After years of eating whatever she and Tyler wanted, which was mainly fast food, she tended to not be a big fan of home cooked food. “Sure, I’ll get some once I finish up my work.” Rayanne replied, she didn’t have the heart to hurt the woman’s feelings.
“Yes ma’am, I’ll leave it in the warming oven for you.” Sonja informed her. “Thank you Sonja, I appreciate it.” Rayanne thanked her. “You’re most welcome Ms. Rayanne, I will see you tomorrow.” Sonja replied.
A couple hours later, Rayanne closed her laptop and leaned back in her seat. She finally finished the paper she was writing for one of her classes. She enjoyed her classes, but some of the classes involved a lot of writing.
“Hey boss lady,” Thomas replied, coming into the doorway. Rayanne smiled in spite of being tired from writing her paper. “Why can’t you just call me by my name?” Rayanne asked him.
The man came into the office and dropped down onto the couch and stretched his legs out in front of him. “Because, I get a reaction out of you when I call you boss lady.” Thomas replied, good naturedly.
Rayanne shook her head. “You feel like practicing tonight?” Thomas asked her after a few moments of silence. Rayanne thought for a few moments, and realised she had a slight headache.
Then she remembered that she had only eaten a small bag of potato chips on the way to work that day. She often would forget to eat. “Actually, I’m kinda drained from my school work and I have a headache. I think I’m hungry.”
“Sonja made beef stew, but I’m really not a big fan of it. But she saved me some.” Rayanne explained to him. “How about this, what if we go out and get burgers or something.” Thomas suggested.
Rayanne’s stomach responded quickly. “That sounds great, but I already told her I’d eat some of the beef stew.” Rayanne replied. Thomas thought for a few moments before responding.
“I know, Pappy was telling me today how good it was and said he was going to see if he could take some home if there was any left. We could just give it to him, and we can go out and get something to eat.” Thomas suggested.
“I guess we could,” Rayanne answered slowly. She had never gone out to eat with Thomas before. She had only been around him at the shelter and at her house for birthday parties.
Rayanne was so deep in thought she didn’t hear Thomas call her name. “Rayanne?” He said a little louder. Startled, Rayanne turned her head to look at him. “Huh?” She blurted out, confused.
“I had said you’re going to have to drive us.” Thomas replied. “Oh, right. No problem.” Rayanne exclaimed. “We’re just going out to eat, no big deal.” Rayanne said to herself. Thomas left the office to take the food to Pappy, while Rayanne tidied up her desk.
Thirty minutes later, they were at a restaurant, eating and talking. There never seemed to be a dull moment in their conversations. They could always find something to talk about. And they normally talked about music.
The evening flew by, and before they knew it, it was almost nine thirty. When they pulled back up at the shelter, a bus had just driven away from the bus stop up the road. “Was that the bus you normally take home?” Rayanne asked, peering over at the man.
“Yup,” Thomas muttered. “It’s going to be at least an hour before another bus comes.” Rayanne observed. “It’s okay, I can find something to do while I wait.” Thomas replied, and started to undo his seatbelt.
“I could always just take you home.” Rayanne found herself suggesting. Thomas had his hand on the door, when he turned to look at her. “You uh, you wouldn’t mind?” He asked her. “Not at all, I just have to run in and get Blue.” Rayanne explained to him.
She had left the dog with Linda while they had gone out to eat. “Okay,” Thomas agreed. Rayanne ran in and got Blue and thanked Linda for keeping an eye on him for her. Then she was back out to her car and she and Blue got in.
Blue normally rode in the passenger seat, so he was confused when Rayanne opened the backdoor for him. He reluctantly hopped in. “Is he not ready to leave?” Thomas asked her. “I think it’s because he normally rides up front.”
Rayanne explained with a chuckle. Blue stared at him resentfully. “I’m sorry bud, it won’t be for long.” Thomas replied, and patted the dog on the head. It didn’t take long before they reached the apartment building where Thomas lived.
The building was in bad shape and in a poor neighborhood. She pulled up in front of the building and put the car in park. Rayanne noticed a few men standing outside of the apartment building.
She knew they were gang members, and glanced nervously over at Thomas. “Be careful.” She said before she could stop herself. Thomas looked at her confused. “What do you mean?” He questioned her.
“Those are gang members,” Rayanne explained, nodding her head towards the men. Thomas peered out the windshield and saw them. “How can you tell?” He asked with a frown. “I just know,” Rayanne replied simply.
“Keep your head down and don’t look them in the eyes.” Rayanne explained to him. Thomas chuckled. “I watched Kung Fu Panda before, I can take them.” Thomas joked, as he took his seatbelt off.
“Thanks for the ride.” He said and started to reach for the doorknob when Rayanne grabbed his arm. He turned and looked at her then. “I’m serious, I know what the fuck I’m talking about.” She said sternly, staring at him.
Thomas hesitated before answering, she never touched him. He could feel her anxiety, and he swallowed hard. “Okay, I’ll be careful.” Thomas replied quietly. Rayanne nodded and finally let go of him.
Thomas got out of the car and hurried into the apartment building without looking at the men. Rayanne waited until he disappeared before driving off. Nothing was said after that day again about the men, Thomas could still see the fear in her eyes when he would think about it.
