"Good morning, Johnny."
"Good morning, Jack."
"I guess it is cereal for breakfast," Jack said looking at the bowls on the table.
"Yes. There's coffee over in the pot," Johnny said. He appreciated having breakfast laid out like this in the morning.
Jack grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. He grabbed a bowl and filled it with cereal. He said, "It is kind of nice to have company for breakfast."
"I know what you mean. I'm used to eating buffet breakfasts when I'm on the road. Lukewarm scrambled eggs, rubbery pancakes, and stale Danishes," Johnny said.
"This is just cereal," Jack said.
Raising an eyebrow, Johnny said, "You try to eat cereal knowing that it is costing twelve bucks."
"That's horrible," Jack said thinking he'd get sick if he had to pay twelve dollars for a bowl of cereal.
Johnny looked over at Jack with a smile on his face and said, "My grandmother packed us lunch."
"That's nice of her," Jack said absently.
Pointing to the counter, Johnny said, "Yours is over there on the counter."
"You've got to be kidding me?" Jack said looking at the lunch box. It was an old lunch box like he used to carry to elementary school. There was a comic book figure decorating the outside.
"I thought you'd like that," Johnny said with a laugh.
"That's probably worth a fortune," Jack said staring at the lunch box. He figured that it had to be forty years old.
"Her feelings will be hurt if you don't take it to work," Johnny said.
"What about you?" Jack asked wondering if he had been singled out for some particular reason.
"Mine is the pink one with Cinderella on it," Johnny said pointing at the other lunchbox.
"Are you actually taking that into work?" Jack asked unable to believe that anyone would expect a man to show up at work carrying a lunch box like that.
"I'm eating in my car," Johnny answered with a smile.
Thinking that he would end up doing the same thing, Jack said, "Smart man."
Looking fresh and alert, Mary came in and grabbed a cup of coffee. She smiled at the pair of men seated at the table and said, "Breakfast time for the working crowd."
"Yes," Johnny said just before shoveling a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.
She sat down at the table and grabbed a bowl. She said, "Ella came over last night. She asked me if I'd take care of you two."
"In what way?" Johnny asked confused by the subject.
"Don't tell me," Jack said getting irritated.
"Well, get your mind in the gutter and think about it," Mary said with a laugh. She had never been so surprised by a proposition in her life. It wasn't only the content of the proposition, but the source as well.
"This is really beginning to make me mad," Jack said dropping his spoon in the cereal. It seemed to him that the little old ladies were bound and determined to get him fixed up with one of the single women.
"Don't get mad. Claire warned me that it was coming," Mary said lightly. She wished that she had that kind of support when she had been going through her divorce. It seemed to her that no one cared about the quality of life she was living. Her married friends had avoided her like divorce was a contagious disease. Single men hovered around hoping to get laid. Single friends had viewed her as competition. She said, "I think it is kind of funny. You've got eight old ladies all plotting to get you laid."
"Wait until they decide that it is your turn," Jack said halfway convinced that day would come.
Not sure that it would be all that bad, Mary said, "They figured that I was a whole lot closer to your age then any of them."
"So what did you tell her?" Johnny asked.
"I said okay," Mary answered. She burst out laughing at the expressions on their faces.
Abby came in and poured a cup of coffee. She asked, "What's so funny?"
"I was just telling them that Ella came to me to ask me if I would start taking care of our two young bachelors here," Mary answered.
"What did you tell her?" Abby asked shaking her head.
"No," Mary said. She noticed the looks of relief on faces of the two men.
Disgusted at the efforts to get Jack laid, Abby said, "We're going to have to tell them that we're lesbians."
"Frau Shultz came to that conclusion about you already," Mary said.
"That bitch!"
"Hey, don't get so angry. She means well," Mary said. She wondered if it was because Frau Shultz was in her eighties that she had so little patience for the mating dance of the young.
Jack finished his cereal and took the bowl over to the sink. He said, "I better head off to work before I say something that gets me in trouble."
"Don't forget your lunch," Johnny said with a smirk.
Abby saw Jack pick up his lunch box and burst out laughing. She said, "You've got to be kidding."
"Hey, Gail means well," Jack said shrugging his shoulders.
Johnny pointed to the other lunch box and said, "The Cinderella one is mine."
"You poor man," Mary said. She would look up the prices on the internet. She figured that she could probably get whoever owned them to sell them for a good price.
"Grandmother means well," Johnny said with a grin.
"I'll see what they are selling for on the internet," Mary said.
"I've got a stack of porno magazines. Maybe you can see what they are selling for," Jack said.
When Mary looked at him, Abby said, "Frau Shultz and the other little old ladies brought them by for him. They thought he would enjoy reading them."
"Figures," Mary said. She watched the two men leave. Once they were gone, she said, "You know something. I was half tempted when Ella mentioned taking care of them."
"No?"
"It has been a long time," Mary said with a sigh.
Understanding what Mary meant, Abby said, "It has been a long time for me too."
Jack returned home after another day at work. He carried the lunchbox into the community house. Holding it up for Gail to see, he said, "Thanks for packing me a lunch. It was great."
The reminder of the lunchbox, prompted Mary to say, "I looked that up on the internet. That lunchbox is worth two hundred and fifty dollars. The one that Johnny had is worth four hundred."
Surprised that those two old pieces of junk were worth so much, Gail said, "Really?"
"That's right. I suggest that you consider selling them," Mary said. She had a feeling that the elderly woman would have a hard time passing up six hundred and fifty dollars.
Gail said, "What will they carry their lunches in?"
"I'm sure with that money you could afford to buy them new lunch boxes," Mary said trying hard not to laugh. She said, "Why don't you and Abby go get two lunch boxes for them tonight? You know how young men are. They are rough on things. I'd hate to see them break those valuable lunch boxes before you can sell them."
"That's a good idea," Gail said looking over to see where Abby was hiding. She realized that she should probably get one for Mary as well.
Appreciating what Mary had done, Jack nodded at her. She winked and turned to talk to someone else. He looked around the house. The house was basically bursting at the seams with people. Everyone was there except for Bev. He asked, "Where's Bev?"
"She's entertaining Dave's friend," Sally answered grumpily.
"Oh," Jack said. He looked over at Dave and got a wink in reply. He figured that tensions just might be easing around the community.
"She didn't waste any time. He wasn't here five minutes and she was leading him off to show off her house," Sally said. She was half tempted to go over there and get a little attention from their guest.
"I guess not," Jack said hoping that it would get some attention off of him.
"Our turn is coming," Liz said tapping a finger on the table.
"You're worse than a bunch of teenagers," Jack said shaking his head.
"You go a decade without it and tell me how much you enjoy it," Sally said looking over at Jack.
"You get used to having something all of the time and you miss it when it is gone," Liz said. What she really wanted more than the sex was to feel a man's arms around her. It had been years since anyone hugged her.
Jack asked, "Who is cooking dinner?"
"Frau Shultz," Liz answered.
"Sausages, cabbage, and potatoes," Jack said. He had to speak a little loudly because Abby and Claire were laughing about something, Cheryl was directing the boys to stay out of trouble, and Laura was telling a story that involved Dave's friend. It was a friendly warm background noise of people enjoying themselves.
"That's right," Sally said. She grinned at Jack and said, "Prepare for two helpings. You're a growing boy and need to eat."
Mike chirped in, "I'm a growing boy too."
"Me too," Chuck said tugging on his brother's arm.
"That's right. We're all just growing boys," Jack said rubbing Mike on the head affectionately.
Rich laughed at how Mike ducked out from under Jack's hand and said, "Dave and I are just two old married men."
"Who are you to complain?" Cheryl asked looking across the table.
Dave grinned at seeing Rich in trouble and said, "He's not complaining. He's just stating a fact."
Jack sat back and listened to the easy banter flowing around the room. Topics were touched upon and abandoned with ease. There were little teasing remarks thrown in amongst serious topics. He realized that this was the first time in his life that he had ever experienced so many people interacting on such a friendly level. It was something that had been missing from his life. It was a fact that everyone there worried about money, their health, and the future, but they were giving and accepting support from each other. It was a real sense of community and he discovered that he liked it.
Noticing that Jack had a thoughtful expression on his face, Johnny nudged him and said, "A penny for your thoughts."
"I was just thinking that this is nice," Jack said gesturing to the room around him.
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone here has problems, but we're all helping each other get through them as a community," Jack answered giving the elevator speech version of his thoughts.
Although he had not given it much thought, Johnny understood what Jack was saying about the atmosphere there in the community house. He smiled and said, "You're right. You should spend a night or two in a hotel on a business trip. You'd give your left nut to have a minute of this."
Hearing the comment about giving a left nut, Sally asked, "Is someone talking sex?"
"No," Jack said shaking his head.
"I think I'm going to take Bev and Dave's friend a little supper," Sally said thinking Bev might be willing to share.
"See what I mean about helping each other," Jack said winking at Johnny.
Johnny laughed, but didn't make a comment. He watched his grandmother puttering around in the kitchen area. He knew that after his grandfather had passed away that she had been very depressed. It made him happy to watch her smile and interact with people for a change. He said, "My grandmother is happy."
"Yes, she is," Jack said looking over at Gail. Having Johnny pay her a little rent had eased her financial concerns significantly without injuring her pride. He had noticed that she was much more relaxed ever since Johnny had moved in with her. It was like she felt more secure or something. It didn't matter that he traveled so much.
Seeing people laughing and enjoying themselves, Johnny said, "This commune idea really seems to be working."
"Yes, it does," Jack said. Claire, Gail, Sally, and Emily were doing much better financially now. Some of the other members of the commune were still struggling. He looked over at Rich and Ella Shultz thinking that their situation wouldn't improve much without some minor miracle. He looked over at Johnny and asked, "Would you have joined something like this if your grandmother hadn't been involved?"
"No," Johnny said. "I know everyone joined because of money worries. I wasn't really worried about money. I make a good living."
"I understand," Jack said. The only one there that didn't need to be a member of the commune was Johnny. It was nice that Johnny never lorded it over everyone that he had plenty of money.
"I'm lucky in a way," Johnny said looking over at Jack.
"In what way?" Jack asked wondering if Johnny was going to talk about his money.
"Because she was involved, I was motivated to join. I never realized what was missing in my life," Johnny said. "Humans are social animals, but our society seems to be working against our instincts. I used to spend nearly a hundred percent of my time alone or surrounded by strangers. I lived alone, I traveled with strangers, I ate alone, and I worked with strangers. The time I get to spend here is like chicken soup for my soul."
"I didn't realize," Jack said. It was easy to think that traveling was an exciting life.
Johnny said, "I'm sure that everyone occasionally gets on the nerves of everyone else, but you ought to try being truly alone. It is horrible."
"I don't think any of us are strangers to being alone," Jack said thinking of what his life had been like before the commune was started. Two years of worrying about money and knowing that he would get no help from anyone had worn him down.
Realizing that Jack was probably right, Johnny said, "I'll carry a Cinderella lunch box to work knowing that it was packed by someone who cares."
"Same here," Jack said with a laugh.
Mary sat down at the table with the two young men and asked, "What's so serious?"
"Nothing," Jack said.
"I want to go over the magazines with you," Mary said watching Jack's uncomfortable reaction.
"Why?" Jack asked.
"They might be worth something," Mary answered. She had spent some time looking up the values of old magazines. She figured that these old folks probably had a fortune in junk stuck away here and there in their old houses.
"I know that the first couple of playboys are worth a bit of money, but I'm pretty sure that we don't have any of them," Jack said.
"They add up. Ten magazines that sell for twenty dollars each gets you two hundred dollars," Mary said. The garage sale had netted the commune fifteen hundred dollars and that had barely scratched the surface of what was stored in those houses.
Not exactly thrilled at the idea of going through pornographic magazines with Mary, Jack said, "Why don't you go through them with Abby?"
"I'd rather go through them with you," Mary said winking at him.
"Why me?" Jack asked noticing that Johnny was laughing at him.
"You blush," Mary said. When she saw the look on his face, she burst out in laughter.
Frau Shultz deposited a plate filled with sausages, cabbage, and mashed potatoes in front on Jack. She said, "Essen Sie oben. Es bigt mehr."
Jack knew that she was telling him to eat up and that there was more food where that had come from. He said, "Danke. Er schaut kostlich."
"Jemand muss um Ihnen sich kummern," Frau Shultz said giving Abby a dirty look.
Not understanding all of the words, he knew by the look she gave Abby that she was saying that Abby should be taking better care of him. He had asked Ella for the word that meant roommates and hoped that he had it correct. Jack said, "Wir sind Zimmergenossen."
"Bah!" Frau Shultz said provoking a laugh from Johnny. She turned to look at Johnny and said, "Sie mussen mehr essen. Sie sind zu dunn."
Jack laughed and said, "You're in trouble now, Johnny."
"What did she say?" Johnny asked afraid that Frau Shultz was going to start worrying about his sex life.
"She wants to fatten you up. She says that you are too skinny," Jack said.
Grinning, Johnny said, "Tell her I need to stay skinny. How else will I get all of the pretty women to offer me food?"
"Er wunscht gross Unhullungen," Jack said.
"Gut," Frau Shultz said scuttling back to the kitchen.
"What did you tell her?" Johnny asked worried by the happy expression on Frau Shultz's face.
"I told her you want two helpings," Jack answered with a grin.
Johnny said, "Well, I don't get this kind of food on the road. I might as well enjoy it while I can."
Jack sliced off a piece of the sausage and said, "She does a great job in the kitchen."
When Frau Shultz put a loaded platter in front of Johnny, he said, "Danke."
"Sie sind willkommen," Frau Shultz said with a smile.
Johnny tasted a bit of the sausage and smiled. He looked up at Frau Shultz and said, "Very good."
"Gut," Frau Shultz said pleased to be feeding another young man.
Jack watched Frau Shultz walk away and said, "She's been lonely for a long time."
"I guess not speaking English isolates her even in the commune," Johnny said looking over at the elderly woman. He noticed that she talked in German to everyone and they talked back to her in English. It wasn't that they actually understood the words, but the context gave a certain amount of meaning to what they said.
"You can say that again," Jack said shoveling some mashed potatoes onto his fork. He wished that there was a little gravy on them.
"You seem to manage the German pretty well," Johnny said.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and said, "I just pick up a word here and there. I use it enough to remember the little bit I pick up."
"I'm impressed," Johnny said wondering if Jack understood how rare it was for anyone to make that much effort for another. He asked, "Do you speak any other languages?"
"Just a little Spanish," Jack answered. Knowing a little Spanish was almost a job requirement in the construction industry.
"I took a little French in college and can't speak a word of it today," Johnny said.
"You should have taken German," Jack said with a wink.
"You're probably right," Johnny said thinking that he would pick up a copy of that computer program for learning languages. There wasn't much to do in his hotel room at night and learning a little German wouldn't be a bad idea.
Mary said, "It is nice that you two think about how it makes Frau Shultz feel to have someone else to talk with."
"She's a member of the commune," Jack said dismissively. He didn't think he was doing anything special by learning enough to chat with the elderly woman.
"Maybe Frau Shultz is right," Mary said with a smile.
"About what?"
"Maybe I should take an evening to take care of you," Mary answered. She burst out laughing at the look on Jack's face. "Abby was right. You do blush easily."
"My dinner is getting cold," Jack said hoping to end the current subject of conversation.
Changing the subject to something a little more neutral, Mary said, "Thanksgiving is approaching."
"I guess it is," Jack said. It was still three weeks away.
"Claire mentioned to me earlier that her daughter was hoping to come here and celebrate Thanksgiving with her," Mary said.
"That would be nice. I bet Claire is looking forward to it," Jack said.
Nodding his head in agreement, Johnny said, "I bet."
"Not really," Mary said realizing that the two young men were unaware of a potential problem looming on the horizon.
"Why?" Jack asked. In his conversations with Claire there weren't any hints of problems between Claire and her daughter.
"Claire is concerned that her daughter is going to feel like we are taking advantage of her," Mary said. She had a feeling that Claire's daughter wasn't going to be the only one who felt like their mother was a victim of unscrupulous people.
"Why would she feel that way?" Johnny asked.
"Because they are becoming economically involved with other people," Jack said knowing that this was another of life's kicks headed towards them. He wondered whose child would start the legal proceedings to protect their parent.
"Some people will only see that the money is going out and not see the support coming in," Mary said in full agreement with Jack.
"We have books showing how the money is being spent," Johnny said puzzled by that assertion.
"You're talking logically. People aren't logical. They are suspicious of everyone and everything," Jack said. "I can't blame them."
"With everyone else out to take advantage of the elderly, why should we been seen as an exception?" Mary asked.
"I guess that makes sense," Johnny said with a frown. He was well aware that Jack tended to view things from a rather negative perspective, but he wasn't aware that Mary shared his views.
"Who do you trust?" Jack asked Johnny.
Considering the kinds of things he had seen auditing books of a number of companies, Johnny answered, "I guess I don't trust many people."
"Did you trust us when Emily mentioned the commune?" Jack asked knowing that Johnny had been watching them carefully. He had actually been pleased to learn that Johnny had shown such concern for his grandmother without expecting anything in return.
"Not really," Johnny answered realizing that he shouldn't have been surprised that others wouldn't trust them. He had talked to her throughout the early days of the commune. He had seen how it started and had seen for himself that it was benign. He sat back in his chair and said, "You're right. This could be a problem."
Mary said, "It will be a problem."
"It is a problem," Jack said earning a nod of agreement from Mary.