Claudia openly stared at the elderly woman who had just entered the office. She was the poster child of misery. She had a split lip, a black eye, an arm in a sling, and walked holding her body off to one side. It hurt just to look at her. Dismayed, Claudia asked, "What happened to you?"
"I was attacked," the woman answered. It was a more than an attack; she had been sexually assaulted after getting mugged.
Claudia pointed to the door and said, "Go right in. Magus will take care of you."
The woman shuffled into Magus' office. Magus immediately rose from his chair and helped the woman to a seat. He went around to his desk. She was about to introduce herself, but he held up a hand interrupting her. He said, "First things first. Before we address your problem, there is the matter of payment."
"How much?" the woman asked.
Magus answered, "The first solution is ten dollars and you'll owe me one favor. Each subsequent solution adds a zero to the price without requiring an additional favor."
"Ten dollars?"
"Yes," Magus answered.
"What can you do for ten dollars?"
Magus answered, "I can move mountains if necessary."
The woman dug in her purse and came out with a twenty dollar bill. She handed it over to him and said, "I don't have a ten."
"Stephen!"
Claudia stuck her head in the office and said, "He's busy."
"Send him in anyway," Magus said.
Claudia rolled her eyes and said, "Okay."
Stephen entered the office and said, "You bellowed oh great master of assigning impossible homework assignments."
"Yes. Give this twenty to Claudia and bring back a ten," Magus said holding out the twenty dollar bill to Stephen.
"She's right outside the door," Stephen said.
"Don't argue," Magus said.
Stephen walked out of the office and then returned thirty seconds later with a ten dollar bill. He handed it to Magus and said, "She doesn't bite."
"Let her keep her distance," Magus said. He handed the ten dollar bill to the elderly woman. Looking back at Stephen, he said, "Get back to your physics homework."
"I could use a little help on it," Stephen said.
"Nonsense, my boy. Just keep reading the book and working all of the problems. You'll get it in no time," Magus said.
"When have I heard that before?"
Magus asked, "Just one quick question before you go."
"What?"
"Are you bored?"
Stephen shook his head. "No, I'm frustrated."
"Excellent."
Stephen shook his head in disgust. He said, "I have a whole more year of this. He's going to kill me."
"I figure you'll graduate in a couple of more months," Magus said.
"Really?"
"Either that or die. Now run along and study," Magus said making a shooing gesture towards the door.
"Alright," Stephen said.
Magus turned to the elderly woman and said, "Tell me your problem."
"My name is Mary Sultemeir and I live in Chicago. The neighborhood where I live has gotten very violent over the past few years. It used to be a nice area to live. Now it isn't that way. Two days ago I was raped while entering my apartment. The man who did it stole my purse with all of my money inside it. I just don't know what to do."
"What are you doing in the land of multiple Millvilles?" Magus asked.
"My daughter brought me down here after I was released from the hospital," Mary answered.
"I assume that you can't stay with your daughter for an extended period of time," Magus said.
"That's right. She lives in a mobile home with her husband and two kids. The kids are sleeping on the couch while I'm visiting," Mary said.
"Do you want to stay in Chicago?" Magus asked.
"Not really. I just can't afford to move anywhere," Mary said.
"Well that simplifies things," Magus muttered. He rummaged around in his desk drawer for a minute before pulling out a sheet of paper. Handing it and a pen to her, he said, "Take this form out to the receptionist and have her help you fill it out."
She looked down at the form for a second. The title of the form was 'Lifestyle Survey Form for Retirees.' She read a couple of the questions and then said, "It sure asks a lot of personal questions."
"It is all information that is necessary for finding the best solution possible," Magus said.
"I suppose so," Mary said. She got up and made her way to the door. Magus helped her all of the way to the door and then stopped. She looked down at the form and then muttered, "I've got no idea why it wants to know if I play Bingo."
After retreating back into his office, Magus shouted, "Claudia, when she's done filling out the form give it to Stephen and have him bring it to me."
"I can bring it to you," Claudia said.
"Let Stephen do it," Magus shouted. He muttered, "I should have waited for an uglier receptionist."
Turning to the attractive woman seated at the receptionist desk, Mary asked, "What's the matter with him?"
"He's afraid of pretty women," Claudia answered.
"I'm not afraid of pretty women," Magus shouted.
"Yes you are," Claudia said.
"They just make me uncomfortable."
In that tone of voice that only a worldly wise elderly woman can achieve, Mary said, "A lot of men are uncomfortable when they get erections while wearing pants. It is particularly bad when they are well endowed."
Claudia broke out in laughter. When she finally recovered, she asked, "Is that your problem, Magus? Are you that well endowed?"
"Get to work!"
Half an hour later Stephen handed Magus the form. Magus said, "Stephen, take Claudia and Mary out to lunch. Tell Claudia to call Igor and have him escort you. Her husband still hasn't calmed down. You can have Claudia get the money for lunch out of petty cash. Oh and bring something back for me. Don't forget the receipt."
"Yes, sir," Stephen said shaking his head.
An hour later, the foursome had returned from lunch. Mary was seated in the chair in front of Magus. Phil stood behind her. Magus was eyeing the Caesar Salad hoping to wrap up this discussion fairly quickly. He said, "Igor."
"Yeth mather," Phil said.
"His name is Phil," Mary said. She had enjoyed lunch with Stephen, Phil, and Claudia. The two young men were remarkable conversationalists who had a broad grasp of a number of interesting topics. Talking to them had been a pleasure. Claudia was just a very nice pleasant woman.
"Take Mary to her daughter's place and get her luggage," Magus said.
"Then what?"
"Take her to the library," Magus said.
"The library?" Phil asked surprised by that particular destination.
Even more surprised by the destination than Phil, Mary asked, "What am I supposed to do at the library?"
"You will meet Wanda there. You'll be living in her home for the next few months," Magus said.
"I will?"
"Yes you will."
"I don't want to live with anyone," Mary said.
"Yes you do," Magus said.
"I know better than you whether I want to live with someone or not."
Magus said, "You wrote that you wanted to be useful. This is your chance."
"Well, I do want to be useful."
Magus said, "Here's the deal. Her husband is returning home soon. He's going to need some limited supervision during the day. You can provide that while Wanda is at work."
"Why does her husband need supervision?" Mary asked.
"He was injured in the war a couple of months ago. He's being released from Walter Reed in four days. He had some serious injuries to his legs and one of his arms. On the plus side, he didn't lose any limbs. On the down side, he still needs some rehab before he'll be completely self sufficient," Magus answered.
"I was a nurse before I retired," Mary said. She kind of liked the idea of helping a wounded veteran recover from his injuries. It was nice knowing that her skills would be helpful despite her age.
"I know," Magus said. He smiled at her surprised reaction. "I think that your experience in the psychiatric unit will be of some additional value in dealing with the emotional issues that Doug is facing. I'm sure that he has nightmares about getting wounded over there."
"You might be right. I did deal with quite a few veterans during my last few years as a nurse. It is so sad; the human mind isn't really equipped to deal with the violence of war," Mary said. For most of her career she had been a nurse in a medical unit of the hospital, but the last four years had been spent in the psychiatric unit of the hospital. She had chosen that job to increase her social security benefits since they had paid a premium for that duty.
"Considering the injuries you suffered in Chicago, I think your first few days with Doug will be the walking wounded helping the walking wounded. I believe that will actually be good for both of you," Magus said.
Mary said, "It does sound like attractive idea; I mean, me helping him like that."
Magus said, "Good. Give me the key to your apartment."
"Why?" Mary asked.
"So that I can get your possessions packed up and moved down here. I've found a nice place that will take you after you move out from Wanda's place," Magus said.
"Oh?" Mary wasn't too thrilled with the idea of getting moved to a 'nice place.' It sounded a lot like a retirement village to her.
Seeing her cool reaction, Magus said, "The advantages are that you'll save four months of rent and food while you are living with Wanda. You'll move into a place that is a little larger than what you had in Chicago. It is a lot cheaper than your old place. You'll be safe there since it is a gated community. Finally, you will be a very short distance from your daughter and grandchildren."
"It isn't a retirement place is it?" Mary asked. She really hated the idea of moving into a retirement village. "Sitting around all day surrounded by people growing old is the stuff of nightmares."
"No, it isn't a retirement village," Magus answered. "Based on the survey you filled out I understood that you like being around children. There are children there."
"That sounds better," Mary said relaxing a little more.
"When you can move around a little better, I'll have Igor take you by the place. I think you'll like it," Magus answered.
"His name is Phil," Mary said shaking a finger at Magus.
Phil said, "It is in my employment contract that he can call me Igor."
Mary looked at Phil and then at Magus. She said, "I don't mean to offend you Mr. Magus, but you are a very strange man."
"Thank you. Just call me Magus," Magus said. He eyed his salad hungrily. He slid an envelope across the desk and said, "All of the details are in this envelope. Read them at your leisure."
Mary slowly rose from her chair. She took the envelope and then paused. She said, "Magus, I have a question or two that I'd like to ask you."
"Okay," Magus said.
"Is Stephen's mother attractive?" Mary asked.
"She's very attractive," Magus said.
"Is she as attractive as Claudia?"
"I suppose she is. Claudia is beautiful in the manner of a cheerleader..."
"Thank you, Magus. I'm glad you noticed," Claudia shouted.
"Karen is beautiful in the way of the girl next door," Magus said ignoring Claudia's comment.
"Mom will be really pleased to hear that," Stephen said.
Magus shouted, "Get back to your physics homework, Stephen!"
Stephen said, "I can't wait to tell mom that you're hot for her body."
"I never said that!" Magus shouted. He glared at the door from which laughter could be heard.
Mary said, "I understand that you don't have any problems dealing with Stephen's mother. Is that right?"
"That's right," Magus said.
"Why is that?"
Confused, Magus asked, "Why is what?"
"You say that beautiful women make you uncomfortable. Why can you deal with Stephen's mother and not Claudia?"
Phil crossed his arms and said, "I want to hear the answer to that question."
Magus answered, "Stephen's mother has a husband and doesn't need a second one. Claudia will soon be looking for a husband. I want Claudia to keep her distance since I need a head start to get away. After all, my flight response is more like a waddle than a run."
Phil said, "In a sick way it almost makes sense."
"You are a very strange man," Mary said.
"Thank you," Magus said. By this time, the salad was calling his name. "Now if you don't mind, I would really like to eat my lunch."
When Mary reached Claudia's desk, she leaned over and said, "Magus says that he can't run very fast, but I'm not sure that he's worth chasing."
"You might be right," Claudia said with a big grin.
"Now Phil is a different story altogether," Mary said. "He's a hunk."