Hard to believe but I had just signed a purchase agreement and gave all my savings to a lady for a house that was far above my means. The sweet little old lady, Nettie Baugh and I left her attorney's office and drove back to her house. This was really close to lots of service businesses and shopping.
When we pulled up to the house, Nettie said to use the driveway and pull back to the garage. I hadn't even seen a garage. When we pulled around the house, there was a two story, three car garage with a large bricked parking area separated from the house by tons of foliage.
"The upstairs was Herb's private office area and there is an apartment up there that Herb thought might be good for one of the kids but they never needed it. It's pretty empty now as I sold most of the furniture out of the office. Let's look in the garage." Nettie said pulling a garage door remote from her purse. A door lifted showing a recent issue of a four-door Ford Taurus. The second door lifted showing an older Ford pickup truck. Then the third door opened and oh my, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird.
"What do you think Chuck, you'll have to get rid of something to put your car in the garage.""
"You mean you are going to leave these here? You're going to leave the T-bird?" I was dumbstruck.
"Yep they're yours." She said wistfully. "The truck hasn't been anywhere but the gas station or used by one of the neighbors for about five years. I take the T-bird to the store every once in a while. I bring them all out here and wash them then put them back. I won't need a car in Hawaii. The house there is on the beach in a small village that has everything we need."
She pushed the remote shutting the doors then turned to the house next door, to right rear of her house. "Let's meet the neighbors." She walked into the back yard of the house there then up the stairs to the back porch and knocked on the door. "Alice, you in there? Come out and meet your new neighbor."
A very nice looking lady probably in her late forties or early fifties came to the door trying to brush her hair down. She was a lot taller than the diminutive Nettie, actually taller than me and somewhat heavier too. Not fat but full figured. She was in a plain shift style dress so you couldn't tell how she was built except that her top was very large and was enough to hold her dress out far enough to keep from telling whether she had a belly or not. The dress was covered with a smock streaked and dotted with multiple colors of paint. Her darker brown hair streaked with gray was frizzed and stuck straight out... She had a warm smile with an expression that she was always curious.
"Alice, meet Chuck Johnson. He just bought my house." Nettie said. "Chuck this is Alice Fisher. She is a strange bird, an artist. She sits around all day making pottery or painting or chipping away at a rock. She's always busy doing something. But you have to watch her, she smokes to much. Some times there is the funny smell coming from her house that probably isn't tobacco burning."
"Nettie would you stop, nice to meet you Mr. Johnson. Nettie is always telling tales out of school. She probably smells the cigars my husband smokes." This was all said with her frowning and wagging a finger at Nettie.
"I'll try to be a good neighbor Mrs. Fisher. If you are an artist, I would enjoy seeing what you create sometime in the future." I said. Smoothing things out a little.
"I'm sure we'll have lots of chances to visit." She said then turned to Nettie. "You finally found a sucker for your place huh Nettie? Finally getting to go to your beloved Hawaii. When do you think you'll be able to go?"
"Tuesday." Nettie stated. "We close Tuesday morning and I'll be on a plane Tuesday afternoon. I'm calling the airlines and shipping company as soon as we meet June next door."
"Wow, Tuesday is fast Nettie. Jack and I will miss you. You've always been fun to be around." Alice said.
"Chuck will be fun to be around as well, I'm sure. He's young, single and will probably be throwing wild parties all the time." Nettie said prodding me with a finger.
"Go meet June. She's the one you better warn about the parties. She's home, saw her and Sunshine in the yard a few minutes ago." Alice said.
Nettie took my hand and started toward her yard saying, "See ya later Alice, I'll come over and chat some this evening."
We went straight through Nettie's back yard across a driveway into the next yard, passing a large swimming pool and up the stairs to the back porch. Nettie walked in just like it was her own house, right through the porch into the kitchen. A very attractive lady was standing at the kitchen sink. There was a young lady at the table eating. The lady at the sink turned. The young lady at the table looked up. The kitchen wasn't very bright but the young lady had sunglasses on.
"Hey June, Sunshine, I want you to meet your new neighbor, Charles Johnson. He says to call him Chuck." Nettie waved at them and said, "Chuck this is June Johnson and her daughter Sunshine."
Sunshine partially raised from her chair and stuck out her hand in my direction. I took her hand and said "Glad to meet you." Then turned to June and said "Nice to meet you Mrs. Johnson."
June was about 5'4'- 5'5' average build, with a full chest, but hard to tell while wearing a full apron over a dress. June had light brown hair worn in a ponytail making her look young. She was probably late thirties, early forties. Her bright eyes and warm smile had a mischievous slant to her mouth.
Sunshine who was listening to a portable CD player with headsets had on a tank top that was filled nicely giving some cleavage to view. Because she was sitting, I couldn't really tell much of her build. She looked to be in her twenties but hard to tell with sunglasses. Her shoulder length hair was the same light brown as June's but pulled to the sides and pinned to stay out of her face.
"So you're finally on your way to Hawaii. I'm going to miss you Nettie, we've been neighbors for a long time, over twenty years now." June said all this wiping her hands on her apron then sticking her hand out to me.
"Yep, I'll be leaving next Tuesday but before then, I'll come over to visit some. We need to get back to the house so I can show Chuck around some more." Nettie said this then turned back toward the door.
"Nice to have met you both, Mrs. Johnson and Sunshine." I said turning to leave.
June then said. "Don't be a stranger Chuck, come visit and call me June, okay?"
"Alright June, see you again soon." I said following Nettie out the door.
When we got to Nettie's back door she didn't pull a key out or anything, she just opened the door and walked in. I must have had a strange look on my face as Nettie said. "Haven't ever locked the doors. Probably should but never have. If a neighbor needs something and I'm not here, it's open, same for them. This is a quiet neighborhood. No one ever bothers us here."
"That's really nice. Good that you have good friends as neighbors to watch out for each other." I said.
"Let me show you the basement." Nettie said leading me to the alcove with the stairs going up and the door with the stairs leading down.
The main area of the basement was one large room with a couple of leather couches and some big leather chairs pushed back against the walls. There was a table with four chairs there as well. On one side of the room was a pool table almost completely surrounded by boxes from floor to ceiling.
"That's the stuff I'm keeping and shipping to Hawaii. It'll be gone by tomorrow. Here, let me show you the furnace room and the laundry room." Nettie said.
We looked into the furnace room to see a hot water heater and a modern furnace and air conditioner. The next door over was a room with a washer, dryer, a table stacked with towels and a fixed ironing board. There was a laundry basket on the floor under a large vent coming from the ceiling.
Nettie pointed to the vent and said there were small doors in each bathroom so you could just put dirty clothes or towels into the door and they would slide down to the basket. Pretty neat.
We went back up to the kitchen where Nettie sat down at the counter. "In a way, I'm glad to get rid of this huge place. When all the kids were here and Herb was alive, it didn't seem so big. Now it's just too much for me. I want to go to Hawaii, but I also needed to have this home go to someone who will enjoy it."
"I don't know how I'll take care of such a huge place." I said. "Guess I'll have to look for a part time house keeper to help out. I would probably need someone once or twice a week. I think I could swing that."
"You're in luck." Nettie exclaimed. "You have the answer right next door. June does some light housekeeping for a couple of people in the neighborhood. One of the people she worked for just moved out so she needs another customer. I'll tell her so you can make arrangements with her."
"That's a stroke of luck all right. This has been my lucky day." I said thinking that this has been a busy day.
I looked at my watch and was surprised to see it was almost five o'clock. "No wonder I'm hungry. Nettie, we missed lunch, how about I take you out for supper? Kind of a bonus, seal the deal meal, okay?"
"You know, that sounds nice. Let's do it and I know just the place. Come on." She grabbed her purse and went out the back door.
Nettie directed me to a small restaurant in an old house in the opposite direction from the mall. When we went in the only sign that it was a restaurant was a small sign that said "Vincents." Inside was a very small bar then a larger room with about four tables. Adjoining was another room with about three more tables. There was a couple at the bar and two tables with people. A very large, tall lady seated us and asked for a drink order. Nettie surprised me and asked for a whiskey sour. I asked for my favorite, a Beefeater martini.
"Herb used to drink martini's here." Nettie said. "He didn't drink much but when he did it was here. When he would come up here in the evenings sometime he would drink scotch with his buddies at the bar. Sometimes, Vince or Georgia would call me to come for him if he was having to good a time. Funny how those friends all passed away about the same time, but then, they were all older."
"Nettie, I know this isn't proper but how old are you?" I asked.
"Don't mind telling you at all. I'm seventy-six going on seventy-seven next month. But don't let age fool you. I'm feeling great and have a lot of living to do yet. My family all lived pretty long. I have an aunt who is ninety-eight this year and still drives. Can you imagine." Nettie said all this with a calmness that made you think she would live forever.
"I would never have guessed. You look like, maybe sixty, sixty-five at the oldest. Hope I'll look as good." I said.
"Oh you flatterer. You know just what to say to a lady. Note that I did not say old lady." She actually giggled.
We had a great dinner, I took Nettie home then I went back to my small apartment and crashed.
The next day I went to work and asked the boss for some time off next week. I told him I bought a house and needed some time to move into it and get settled down. Jeff, my boss, told me to take at least two weeks. He said it was the first vacation time I had asked for in the eight years I've worked there. He said I had two weeks a year for five years plus three weeks a year for the last three so I had a total of nineteen weeks saved if I needed them. Besides, he said, everything is caught up and that I was far, far ahead on the latest Disney deal.
I had not ever thought about a vacation before since I love what I do. This was my first job right out of school. I graduated a little over a year early from high school and then almost a full year early from the University. Amazing how many people don't take summer classes or full loads during the regular semesters. But, I did and it paid off. I'm an electrical engineer. And I am almost finished with my Masters that I have been working on during the evenings. I design electronic control circuits for our customers. We do a lot of control work for people like Johnson controls, some for the military, and now a lot for Disney. The Disney parks are jammed with special control circuits. I get to design them and do the mock ups in our lab area. Neat stuff. We are working on some really unique robotics that General Motors and Ford asked for too. The easy part is dreaming up the circuit and using the computer for the design. The hard part is putting it together and trying to make it work. Wonder why a designed electronic control product hardly ever works straight off the originals design. Anyway I would usually rather work than sit around my apartment.
At twenty-eight my only vices are shooting pool, golfing, exercising, music and reading. I shoot pool once a week in a league and sometimes on Saturday nights. I golf once or twice a month with some of the other guys from the office or with customers. I work out almost everyday or at a minimum four times a week. Music of all kinds surrounds me twenty-four seven and reading is a passion left over from my youth. I kind of think I'm fairly well rounded.
The rest of the week found me packing up my stuff. I gave notice for the apartment as the lease had been up for over a year and they hadn't bothered to make me sign a new lease. I called Nettie and asked if she thought the pickup would run well enough that I could use it to move my stuff. She said she thought so and for me to come get the truck anytime since I would be leaving my cute little T-bird for her to drive. I laughed at that and went straight over to the house.
Nettie answered the door as soon as I pulled up. "Go take the truck out and park your car in the garage. But, you have to leave the keys and show me how to get the top down. Here," She said handing me a remote. "Here's one of the remotes. The door buttons are just like you see them. The three buttons are in the same order as the doors."
I went out the back door and pushed the middle button to get at the pickup. While walking to the garage I saw Sunshine from next door in a halter and shorts and sunglasses washing their car. She was using a big spunge and the hose going slowly over each part of the car. I yelled out. "Hi Sunshine, how's it going?"
She lifted her head my way and waved. "Fine Chuck, how are you."
"Just getting the pickup so I can move some stuff. See you later." I said as I went to the truck.
Sure enough, the keys were in the ignition. As a thought, I went to the '57 Bird and looked at the ignition. Again, keys just setting there. Damn Nettie sure was trusting. I went back to the pickup and it started immediately. I backed out and turned around then drove out of the driveway and parked on the street. I started up my car and drove it back to the garage then backed into the slot where the pickup had been. I started to pull the keys out of it but just took my house and work key off the ring and left them in the ignition. You know how it is, when in Rome.
I went back into the house where tiny Nettie was coming down the stairs in a short culottes skirt and T-shirt. She even had her hair in a ponytail. She sure didn't look like she was in her seventies.
"Come on Chuck, show me how to put the top down." Nettie said on the way out the back door.
I showed her the button to push and said the only thing you had to do was to release the two catches on the windshield before you put the top down and put them back to lock after you put the top up. She said she would see me later and went next door to Alice's. By the time I got back to the pick up, Alice and Nettie were out to my Bird putting the top down. I had just started the truck when my car came down the driveway and turned onto the street. Nettie gunned the car and both ladies waved as they went down the street. Those two were up to no good I thought.
I went to my apartment and loaded up a bunch of boxes then went back to the house. Nettie wasn't there so I just took the boxes down stairs to the basement. The basement was now empty of all the boxes that had been there and the furniture was arranged in front of a large older projection TV. Nice place to watch a football game I thought. I stacked my stuff in a corner then went back to my apartment for more. I looked at my furniture which was early American yard sale and thrift store junk. The best piece I had was a newer double bed mattress I had bought several years ago. I looked through the kitchen and found absolutely zero that was of any value. Wonder how I had lived here for so long and had accumulated hardly anything. I called the Salvation Army and asked if they wanted it to come and get it. They said they would be there Monday. That was good for me. I could just get a motel room for Monday night.
Nettie called me on Sunday and asked if I wanted to come for supper. I'm no fool so I said I'd be there in twenty minutes. She told me to pick up some red wine, any kind.
"Oh Chuck, I've had such a great time driving your car. It's like the '57 was when it was new. I just don't like to drive it any more but your car is perfect to run around in. Sure wish I had gotten one of those instead of that Taurus beast out there." Nettie said all this while filling dishes to serve from.
Nettie went to the phone and called Alice then June and told them to come over. As soon as Nettie hung up the phone with June, Alice, with her hair nicely brushed hanging almost to her shoulders, came through the door followed by a giant. This guy was huge, six seven, six eight, probably near three hundred pounds. Alice said "Hi Chuck, this is my husband Jack, Jack this is Chuck Johnson, our new neighbor."
"Hi Alice good to see you again, and nice to meet you Jack." I stuck my hand into his huge paw and was surprised how gentle he was.
Jack had a perpetual grin on his face. One of those "I just got away with something" looks that make you always wonder. "Glad to see I'm gonna have another guy in the neighborhood that I can talk sports to. You play golf?"
"Try to play a couple of times a month. I'm not very good but I sure have fun trying." I said.
Jack reached out and put his arm around my shoulder and turned me to the open door for the back porch. We walked out to the porch then he pointed through the screen door to the woods at the back of the property. "Right through there is the Wilson Country Club. You now live in the Wilson Country Club subdivision. Most of the subdivision is on the other side of the main club grounds. There is just this one street with eight houses on this side. You have to pay for it anyway, so you might as well plan on going right through the path in the woods to get to the golf course. You and me buddy, we're gonna play some golf."
Nettie had followed us out and said, "Oh my, I forgot about that. I'm sorry Chuck, I forgot all about the membership fees. You won't have to pay initiation as you will get Herb and my membership but there is an annual fee. We'll have to work that out."
Jack said, "We're on the poor side of the club. They other side is all huge homes, all mansions. You're lucky, your house is the smallest on our block so your tax bill is probably the least. I think Herb made the house look really small from the front so the tax appraiser wouldn't even bother to look at it. Ha, ha. Herb was always good at figuring out how to outsmart people."
At that moment, June came onto the porch. "Hi Chuck, good to see you again. Hi Jack. Hi Alice."
"Where's Sunshine?" Asked Alice.
"She has a meeting tonight and hates to miss them. There is supposed to be a special reading tonight and she loves those." June said.
"Well tell her hi for me." Jack said.
"Oh I will, she always loves to hear from you Jack. She still calls you the giant." June grinned.
Nettie had us all sit at the table that was set and filled with pasta, sauce, veggies, and bread. We ate, drank wine and talked about what was going on in the neighborhood. Nettie told me to ask June about her helping me out.
"June," I asked, "Nettie said you help out with housekeeping for a few of the neighbors?"
"I sure do, are you going to need some help?" She replied.
"There's no way I can do everything in this huge place. Just dusting it will take more time than I have. Do you think you could keep up with it if you came over a couple of day's a week?" I asked.
"No problem, probably only a day and a half. I should be able to the cleaning, washing and ironing in that time." She said.
"Washing and ironing?" I asked.
"Sure, I guy like you don't have time to do all that stuff. I can take care of it quickly and you don't have to worry about it and I get a couple of extra hours out of it." June said seeming happy to have the work.
"Well, if you're going to do all of that, just plan on two days a week, if it takes less, that's up to you." I said happy that another chore was taken care of.
Nettie told everyone that this was her going away dinner. She wanted them to get to know me better before she left and this was her way of taking care of it. Nettie looked at me and asked, "If I come back for a visit, which I will often, do you think I could stay here?"
"Please do Nettie. That would be great to have you come. This will always be your home. Even if it is a home away from home." I said with emotion.
"Thanks Chuck." She said. "I know I'm leaving this house in good hands. I'll miss you all but I'm gonna have a great time in Hawaii. Oh, by the way Chuck, I told my Sister to go buy me a T-bird just like yours so we can drive around with the top down. We won't be able to go as fast there as you can only go like forty-five miles an hour there and we won't be able to go very far as out island is one of the smaller ones. But it will be fun to have a car like yours."