James made a farting noise into his palms, and she snickered, "Hell, no Kiddo. You're just a baby. Be a kid for as long as you can. You should be out hanging around other kids, not running around like a chicken with its head cut off all dang summer."
Selena guffawed," No way. I am going to grow my business this summer and then invest so we can use the profits to go bigger. Speaking of that." Selena handed Molly and James a copy of the electricity bill, along with a calculation of the electricity her business was using and the amount in cash to pay for it, including the past due amount.
Molly assured "Hey, that comes in my name. I got this." She was going to be able to pay that off tomorrow. She had just booked the hours last week to cover this month's major expenses. She wanted to assure her daughter that she was earning enough to afford it.
Selena insistently handed the money to James. "It is pink. Come on, it is not like you are not helping me anyway. Consider the other part, wages at $10.00 per hour that James helped with."
James took the envelope and tucked it in his side drawer away from Molly. Selena felt a sense of relief wash over her."Thanks, James, can you bring it to the bank to pay tomorrow?" Selena said, smiling. I just want to make sure we're covered and be responsible for my debts. I know you work hard for us, Mom. I just want to start pitching in. I have got more work to do."
Molly smiled back, her eyes shining with pride, unaware of what had caused the sudden uptick in responsibility. The change in her personality to a very adult one scared her.
"Did I get too fucked up and say something to her? Was her daughter okay? The house is clean, she cooks, started her own business and my daughter has started parenting me. Huh?" Molly thought.
Molly kept her voice encouraging, despite the storm that was raging inside of her, "You're doing great, baby girl. I'm so proud of you." Molly smiled weakly at her daughter. She wanted to drink, but she couldn't.
Her daughter seemed aware that she was changing. If she was acting like a grown-up now, disappointing her could lead to her running away someday like she did. "God, if she ends up like me someday, I am going to drink myself to death."
She waited for Selena to shut the door to the room. Molly waited for the footfall of her enthusiastic daughter. She sighed and looked at James and sighed. Molly frowned
"James, did I come in too drunk or something? It feels like I fucked up badly. The house is clean, the garden out back? She didn't ask for anything, like concert tickets or a disc mini. "Did I break her when I dragged her home after her graduation?" Molly paused looking at the bottle of rum. She continued, "She helped me with costuming and makeup for something that used to shame her, like it's not embarrassing to her."
James frowned and said, "Because it's nothing to be ashamed of, you're a dancer, sure it kills me that they touch you. I know it bought us this house and I respect you for it. Maybe she gets it now? That you are an artist and there is nothing to be ashamed of."
James looked at the beautiful woman. The rain was always the most violent to the most delicate of flowers. He was mad as hell. His parents shipped him away. Selena would most likely have been their own teenage oops, and Molly would not be the woman she is today.
He had not talked to his old man since his mom died of breast cancer in 1999. Not that he would approve of their situation. It was for the best; no one could look down on her, his angel.
Molly opened a can of diet cola, she took a few sips. Her body lurched out of habit, she frowned. "She's running businesses, and now she's paying the bills, James. I fucked up obviously, and now she's older than us."
James shuffled from his spot on the mattress near the vanity to Molly and embraced her, James reassured "Well, it's never too late. We can look things up at the library in the psychology book and see if there's anything old Doctor Spock or the other hippies recommend. See a doctor if it gets worse. We got this," James said as he shuffled closer to the vanity.
"Nothing else changes. We'll support the kid in what she wants to do. Lord knows whether she'll be a kid again, but she's still our girl, right? Still your baby, I can see you're trying to change. Maybe she sees it." James patted her on the back, even though he hadn't seen the horrors she had. He had his ghosts and wounds.
Molly looked up, her big brown red-rimmed but steadfast from years of experience of withholding her own true emotions. "I'm trying, but it's hard. Maybe we can start going to the church meeting for Alcoholics Anonymous together. Going alone always makes me feel so vulnerable."
James gripped her hand and nodded. He reluctantly watched Molly get ready. Perhaps he could help the kid more. He could certainly help with laundry.
He had his own swivel chair down there, and it was kind of nice down there now. It smelled nice, it was clean, the kid had filled it with a radio, and he had built some nice shelves and folding areas with skids for the kid.
He followed Molly downstairs and pecked her on the lips. He shuffled to the garage to start putting things together and cleaning up.
Selena heard her mom's car start up outside. She had the biggest problem the day she came back, and her mother had left after a drink. When she came home that night, she was waiting for her.
All that she asked was that she not drive to work drunk or home drunk. To have James come to pick her up if she was. She swore she'd always have a taxi fare for her and had it pre-taped to the fridge in an envelope. Molly had surprised her. The envelope was still there. It had only been two weeks, but that was a huge deal.
"There was only one bottle in the room, and it did not look very empty. Were they changing on their own?" Selena thought to herself.
With her chores complete, Selena made her way to the basement to tackle the rest of the laundry. The basement was a cozy space, with a washer and dryer humming in the corner. Selena had set up a makeshift folding table and had stocked the shelves with all the necessary laundry supplies.
As she worked, A.A.'s gentle voice guided her, providing instructions on the best way to fold and store clean clothes. Selena moved efficiently, folding and stacking the clothes with precision in the correct bags. It was so rewarding to have things come out of her hands looking so perfect. It was very zen and mindful. It was great for somebody like James and her with a bunch of trauma to cool their heads with.
Once the laundry was complete, Selena turned her attention to restocking the supplies in the basement for her errand-running business. She had noticed that certain items, such as dish detergent and macaroni and cheese, pads and tampons, chocolate and instant canned meals were in high demand. "A.A. anything else on the list," Selena relayed.
A.A. happily processed last week's purchase orders in her head. "Cheese Puffs, Ramen, nachos of all varieties, gum, mints, raisins, canned meats, salsa, corn chips, condoms and cold medicine." A.A. relayed the information.
Selena hummed. She did not want to become a smurf for the probable meth lab that she bought 4 bottles of cough medicine to, as profitable as it was for her, she could not do it. It was a shame, they were pretty good tippers. "A.A. Please remove cold medicine from the list."
A.A. happily chimed.
She made a mental note to buy more of these supplies, using the funds from her laundry business to pay for them on the next trip over and reprint her fliers.
Mr. Baek at the convenience store would flip his shit if he knew she was going to become her own supplier. But her profit margin needed to widen further, like her laundry business had. It was a very surprising cash cow.
Selena had fished all the fliers that her neighbors had just tossed and had clipped her coupons. She was going to clear out the grocery store by stacking these coupons tomorrow with James.
"A.A. out of the viewed fliers, which stores are the best to go to efficiently gather our supplies?" Selena thought to her assistant.
A.A. reviewed the visual information as Selena held the fliers up to review them again. "Mayer's and Blimpies." A.A. relayed back in her mind.
She remembered making several cashiers flustered in her late twenties. As she worked, Selena felt a sense of satisfaction wash over her.
She was building a successful business, one that provided her with a sense of security as she planned for the future and money that she'd be investing once she got her bank account. And with A.A.'s guidance and historical knowledge, she knew she could overcome any challenges that came her way.
She needed more of these bags, so she needed fabric. These fabric laundry bags were a hit, and she had actual requests from clients for them. They were ergonomic and strong and came in sizes according to the number of people who would be using them.
The bag hampers she used for her business had a tag with the last name where they cinched closed. She had requests from other buildings, but she'd need a car and an employee to take on the business, and she knew who would be her first employee, James. But sorting would be a problem. A.A. made things very efficient. Would clients all be okay with a code or symbol on their clothes?
A.A. chimed "I have a recipe for Invisible UV paint. Ultraviolet rays also act as another means of sanitization. Would you like to know more?"
Selena grumbled out loud out of habit but remembered that it couldn't help it now. A.A. couldn't stay out of her thoughts. A.A. chimed sadly according to what usually happens, but the exchange didn't continue as per usual.
A.A.'s memory buffered a few times as its logic and rational thoughts were surprised to not receive the usual reprimand. It had one of those feelings. They were always shocked by it, but Selena said it was biological, and it was right to feel.
With the laundry and restocking complete, Selena took a moment to survey her domain. The basement was tidy and organized, with everything in its place. She felt a sense of pride and ownership, knowing that this was her space, her business.
Selena lugged all the laundry upstairs. She should see if James would be alright with moving it upstairs when she made more money.
"James, Mommy! I am heading up to deliver laundry across the street." Notifying her parental units of her whereabouts was important, although it was Midtown, it was not entirely safe. She had a knife 'just in case' of emergencies tucked into her converse shoes. She looked at the "complicated" lyrics on them and cringed, past Selena had some pretty bad taste.