Aries Jones

Aries

“Co…could I ask y-y-you something, Jo…Jones?” Kenny and I walked ahead of the Joes in our squad. I’d become more protective of him once I realized the others had given him a harder time because of his stutter.

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

“My m-m-mother sent me a letter t-t-telling me that m-m-my wife is seeing s-s-somebody else. I g-g-go home in f-f-four months. What do I d-d-do?” Kenny turned around and walked backward. We were heading into the village of Jurm. Its location on the left bank of the Kokcha River was now my hell on earth.

“I’d give her a chance to explain, Kenny. You must remember, the ones we left behind are just as lonely as we are.”

I saw the young woman approach us on the dirt road. She looked like she was tortured and probably raped; the rags she wore were torn and bloodied. I watched her raise her arm, and from that point on everything moved in slow motion. I screamed for Kenny to watch out as I covered my ears to prepare for the blast. Suddenly, the face I peered into changed into that of my wife, Faith. I tried to run into the road to save her from the blue sports car barreling toward her. Instead, I felt the shower of warm body parts as my friend, and the girl on the path were both blown to pieces just a few feet in front of me.

I sat up in bed screaming, “Get out of the way!” I’d had the same dream off and on since returning from the Fight for Freedom in Afghanistan. My nightmares had become much worse after I witnessed my wife’s death when she was run over by a speeding car. The driver, a twenty-four-year-old boy was two times the legal limit. He was now serving fifteen years in prison for vehicular homicide. He’d destroyed his life, and mine, on the night that was nearly a year ago.

I needed to get out of bed. I had a few more days to get the remodel project finished for Stirling. I knew I should be grateful that he had remembered me when we’d met at the gym a few months back, but it had been hard for me to make that commitment to him.

I jumped out of bed and put the song on that was my inspiration. “Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven; the extended piano version kept me motivated. My mother had played it often on the piano when I was a small boy; it both touched and warmed my heart. I found it also removed the lingering shades of a bad dream.

Faith, I need you to give me a little sign. You do want me to finish the house early, don’t you? I don’t know what you’ve got coming for me, but I appreciate your help. Oh, by the way, the heated floors and towel rack in the bathroom are brilliant.

I woke every morning and spoke to my wife to thank her for her inspiration and guidance. She had been the one to help me come up with the idea for the bathroom, and Stirling had loved it.

I wish I could have given you those floors, Faith. I remember every year in the wintertime you always complained about walking across the cold tile floors in the bathroom. It could have been such a simple fix if I had thought of it at the time.

I left my bedroom and hurried into the kitchen to start my coffee. While the pod was brewing, I climbed into the shower and washed as quickly as I could. I couldn’t be late today. I’d almost finished the house for Stirling. He was coming by to do the final walk through with me later.

I finished dressing, then went back to my small kitchen to get my coffee. I took a cup out of the cupboard and found a white feather inside. I knew this was a gift from Faith; I’d had more feathers recently and fleetingly wondered the reason why. Out loud I asked, “The feathers have got to stop; would you send money instead?”

I blew the feather out of the cup and poured me a cup of the strong coffee. Then I sat down at the table and pulled out my planner to go over the list of things that still needed to be finished on the house before Stirling arrived. He had mentioned to me, he might be by to check on the progress either today or tomorrow afternoon. I wanted everything to be perfect. I’d pushed my guys hard on the remodel. They all deserved a bonus for completing it quickly. Christmas for them would be in a few short months. They needed the work, and Stirling said something about having another project for me to start on if I was interested in it. I’d do it for him and for the men I employed. He had been very generous to me.

I finished my coffee and grabbed my phone before I ran out to my truck.

I went over the entire property with Steven. Everything was almost perfect, we still had a few little touch-up items, and I had to play with the kitchen sink; it leaked. “Shut off the water to the house, and I’ll go over everything else with you in the morning.”

“Sounds good, I tried, but I can’t get that piece of crap sink drain to quit dripping.”

“I’ll show you the easiest way to fix a sink once the faucet and sink arrive.” I glanced up to see the dark sedan pull into the driveway. Stirling Dexter had arrived in his usual style. I almost envied the guy.

I waited for my old friend to approach me. “Aries, you’ve done a fantastic job. You should have things finished up here in what, a day or two?”

“Yes, the cleanup has already started in the backyard. I’m still waiting for a few more items; they should be here this afternoon. Just a little finishing work and the backsplash in the kitchen. I’m going to say everything should be finished by tomorrow afternoon.”

We shook hands. “I’m impressed, my friend. Tomorrow I’d like to take you to this great little restaurant and buy you lunch or dinner.”

I smiled. “Sounds good, Stirling. I will see you tomorrow!”

Brenna Faith Douglas

“Get dressed, Jojo. I’ve got to go to work earlier today. The hostess without the mostest called in sick again. Please? Pretty please with sugar donuts on it?”

“Faithy, can we go to the park later and take some sugar donuts with us to feed the squirrels?” she asked me in her sweetest voice.

I looked at the eager face of my little sister. She loved any type of animal, and a chance to feed them might lead to holding them. “Jojo, we can but only if you promise me that you won’t try to pick one of them up again. I can’t afford rabies shots for you and…don’t interrupt me. Squirrels could carry rabies; ask Lisa if you don’t believe me. Get dressed, and if you hurry, we will have time for Sugar Pops for breakfast. If you don’t, you will have to eat oatmeal at Lisa’s house.” Jojo clapped her hands together then ran off to her bedroom to get dressed.

I thanked my lucky stars that Lenny had kept me working during his remodel. He had laid many of the other servers off. He knew how much I needed the work. I was raising my little sister after my mother had abandoned us both to run off with one of her many boyfriends. We’d been on our own for a year and a half now. Jojo had just turned four, and I was almost twenty-three. But if anyone came around to ask, I told them Jojo was my child. I didn’t want her taken away from me. She was my life, and I was hers. We only had each other now.

We still lived in the basement apartment below Lisa West, who had rented the apartment to my mother right after she had discovered she was pregnant with Jojo. We didn’t have much, but Jojo and I had a warm place to live, and Lisa watched her for me when I went to work.

I poured us both cereal from the rest of the box of my favorite kind. There was just enough milk for both bowls. “Jojo, we might have to skip the park today and get groceries instead. Hurry, you don’t want your cereal to get too squishy. I hate the squishies, and I know you do too.”

“Can we put purple in my hair today? You told me we could match, but I don’t like pink.” She made me smile. She was so similar to how I was. Girly and sensitive; she cried when I killed an ant the other day on the top of the counter, after it tried to haul off a piece of donut she had left for it.

“Why not? You liked pink last week. Sit down and eat your cereal.”

“Pink stinks, that’s what Lisa’s new friend, Brad, said.”

“How old is Lisa’s friend, and why did I not know about him? I will speak to him right away. Stink is not a nice word.”

“He’s not really Lisa’s friend, but I think he is her boyfriend’s kid. He was wearing red, and I told him red stinks after he told me pink did.”

“Jojo, I don’t like that word. Say poopy instead.”

She giggled. “You are silly, Faithy. I like that word better. Poopy, poopy, poopy.”

“So, you want your hair purple then? I’m not changing mine to purple, and we won’t be twins any longer.”

“Never minds. I do like pink, just not Lisa’s poopy friend.”

“Just don’t call him poopy out loud, okay? Don’t forget to put your bowl in the sink. I will rinse it out before we leave so we don’t come home to an army of ants. You don’t want to find ants in your pants, they bite.”

Jojo dropped her bowl into the sink and went squealing off into her bedroom. “Ants in my pants, ants in my pants.”

“Grab your jacket; it’s time for you to go upstairs and for me to catch the bus.”

Aries

We had most of the debris around the yard picked up before Stirling arrived again. We followed behind the limo, all the way to a small café. It wasn’t much of a restaurant, and it was in shambles. “Oh boy, that looks like a lot of work. I hope the food inside is good.”

“Aries, that guy must have a shitload of money, why would he bring us here if the food wasn’t any good?”

“You’re right; most dives have the best burgers. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving. Anything would taste good after the day we had.” My men had worked hard to finish up today. Another half day and we would be all done.

“Thanks, guys. I’m impressed by your work. I certainly picked the right group for the project.”

They chuckled from the back seat. Then Steven replied, “Do you have another crew somewhere else that we don’t know about? I hope they don’t get paid before we do. My wife keeps asking ‘Where’s the money, show me the money.’ He’s paying us, soon right?”

“I’m sure we will get a check either tomorrow or the next day. I hope he finds more work for us soon.”

“Aries, I brought you and your crew here for lunch to ask if you would like to finish up the remodel that was already started. Lenny’s a great guy who needs a break. He’s also the employer of the girl who you just did the remodel for. I didn’t want to make any promises to him until you had a chance to see the place for yourself. I don’t know what plans you have after you finish Lexi’s house. Look around the outside before we go inside, if you are interested. You would have to work on someone else’s mess, and that could take a little longer.”

I didn’t know what to say to him. Stirling had already done so much for me. “I already know I am interested. I’m sure my crew would like the work as well.” I turned to include my crew. “Would you guys like to look at it first?” They all nodded at me. “We will be right back, Stirling.”

We walked into the café, and a frazzled-looking man approached us. “Mr. Dexter, it’s great to see you. As you can see, we still have quite a mess. I think my contractor up and quit on me; I haven’t seen him since Monday.”

“You are in luck. I want you to meet, Aries Jones. Aries, this is Lenny Barnes. After we have lunch, I want you to take Aries around the rest of your place and show him what has already been done, and what still needs to be done. I’m sure with Aries working on it, your restaurant will be completed much sooner, and the quality of the finished product will be better. He may have to redo some of the things that have already been started, but in the long run, I’m sure he will save you time and money by having him and his crew working on it.”

Lenny reached out and grabbed onto my hand. “Aries, I can’t wait for you to begin. To make things even better for me, my hostess called off today; I’ll have Brenna seat you all in her station. I’m going over a few things with the cook in the kitchen. Then I’ll be over to visit with you.”

“Sounds good, Lenny. It sounds as if you could use more help.”

“Construction isn’t good for business or employees.” Lenny disappeared from our sight, and we waited for his server to seat us.

I sensed her before I ever saw her. The hairs on the back of my arm stood on end as soon as I heard her husky voice. She stopped in front of us, and I almost didn’t want to see what she looked like. She was very young, and her wild pink and blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail at the base of her neck adding to her youth. She glanced at me, before focusing on Stirling.

“How many will there be for lunch?”

“We have six, but Lenny will be joining us when he gets a free moment.”

“Awesome, gentlemen, follow me.” I studied her more closely as she led us to a large table in the corner. It had a better view of the construction mess outside, and I purposely mulled over that to avoid looking at her.

She cleared her throat before she asked, “What can I get you all to drink?”

The huskiness of her voice reminded me of my wife’s. My heart pounded in my chest. I heard the others speak but didn’t understand what they were saying. I only heard her voice.

“Did you want a soda or something else to drink?”

“Ju…just a large ice water with lemon.” I couldn’t believe it when I stuttered.

I caught the tail end of her wink before she replied, “You got it, Soldier.” She walked away from the table, and I couldn’t stop staring at the girl who had turned my day upside down in a matter of minutes.

Stirling asked, “Are you all right, Aries?”

“I will be. Sorry, she looked familiar.” I stared out the window and pondered over what had just happened. She had sounded like Faith. Especially when she called me ‘Soldier.’ My thoughts were still on Brenna, and I didn’t notice the owner approach us; he sat down at the table next to us.

“Gentlemen, order whatever you want, my treat. Aries Jones, I can’t wait for you to get started. Have you ever done construction on a restaurant before?”

“I haven’t, this will be my first, but we can go over everything together, and you can tell me what is most important for you. I’d like to see the kitchen area, also the place where the servers do whatever they do in the restaurant. I’d like some ideas from both of them that would make their work easier and more efficient.”

“That sounds fantastic. After you are finished eating, I’ll have, Brenna Faith, show you the server station, then she can introduce you to the cook. I’ve got to go to the store and pick up a few more items before the dinner crowd gets here.”

Faith? Had I heard him, right? “Did you say F-f-faith? Is there someone else who can show me around the place?”

Then that same sexy husky voice asked, “Do you have something against me, Soldier?”