The Gift Read online

  Right at the last step, I heard, “Hold on!” I almost didn’t turn around. But something made me. I stopped in my tracks and swept around to look up the stairs, and saw that she was signaling for me to come back. “I don’t want to yell!” she stated. “Can you please come back for just a second?”

  -3-

  Silas

  I followed her inside, reluctantly closing the door behind me. But I didn’t proceed all the way in. I stopped where I was and looked around. Her layout appeared to be similar to my daughter’s, with a modest-sized living room. The only furniture inside of that room was a large brown leather sofa and an area rug. Connected to the living room was a dining area with a small chandelier hanging over the spot where a dining table should’ve been. A bar height countertop separated the kitchen from that area, with a small entrance around a corner near the refrigerator. To the right of the kitchen, was a pair of glass doors leading out to an 8x5 balcony. Near the balcony, I spotted what I believed to be the broken glass that had been hurled earlier.

  She stood several feet ahead of me, closer to her dining room, her head down and the piece of mail I’d brought to her, still in her hand.

  “I’d like to apologize for my actions. I had no right speaking to you like that.” She released a heavy sigh and then looked across the room at me. “I guess if you didn’t bring this, I’d be in the dark come Sunday, right?” She nodded, before looking down again. “So, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m sorry that things seem to be in a state of urgency for you right now.”

  I looked around the semi-empty space again.

  “Yeah. Urgency would be an understatement,” she said in a low tone.

  “Not that it’s my business, but . . . and please don’t shoot me for asking. But are you . . . going to be able to pay the bill? I mean, before the 48 hours?”

  I saw the immediate heave in her chest. Her body tensed, from her shoulders, to the hands that were now clasped together gripping the envelope. The tension was so thick that it didn’t surprise me in the least when she started to cry again.

  “I’m sorry,” she said sniffling. “I didn’t call you back up here so that you could see me bawling. I just really wanted to apologize.”

  “Apology accepted.”

  She made her way to where I stood, and then opened the door. “I appreciate you hearing me out, though.”

  “Can I see that?” I asked her, reaching for the envelope in her hand.

  She looked up at me. “See what?”

  “The bill in your hand. The notice.”

  “But, why?” she whispered.

  “I want to take care of it for you.”

  She looked at me for a few seconds, processing, then asked, “What? Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, I am. Very serious. Give it to me, please.” After she handed it over to me, I lifted the seal and removed the thin piece of paper. “Is it okay if we sit for a few minutes?” I asked, gesturing toward her sofa.

  Her head twitched side to side, in what I perceived to be disbelief. Her eyes narrowed. While I made my way over to her sofa, she stood at the door for a bit before closing it back.

  “You sure?” she asked, with a slight crack in her voice.

  I nodded, as I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number at the top of the paper.

  “Here,” I stated handing her my cell phone. “It needs you to enter the phone number on the account, to proceed.”

  She sat down on the sofa next to me and slowly reached for the phone.

  “You’re really doing this?” she asked once again.

  “I’m really doing this. When you get to the part about payment, you can just hand me the phone.”

  She listened intently as the automated system prompted her. “It’s asking if I want to do the past due amount or—”

  “Is there an option to pay ‘another amount’?” I asked.

  “Yes . . .” she stated hesitantly.

  “Select that,” I advised her.

  “Really?” she gasped, in shock. “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she spoke softly, before returning the phone to me.

  “Okay,” I told her, after the $300 bill had been paid. “It’s done. I paid $60 over the amount.”

  “Noo, really?” She shook her head slowly. “I can’t thank you enough,” she said, looking at me.

  She looked relaxed for the first time since our initial encounter. Her big, doe-shaped eyes, showed appreciation inside of them. Even bare-faced, she was a pretty woman. You could just tell that life had really tried to fuck her in the worst way.

  “Now, with a 5-day notice to vacate on your front door, paying the utilities doesn’t really do much. I realize that.”

  “Yeah, but . . . I’m going to figure something out,” she remarked, rising from the sofa to walk toward her kitchen. “I’ve been interviewing quite a bit. I’m hoping that I hear back from somewhere soon.”

  “What kind of work do you do?”

  “My last position was with a General Contractor. I did Project Administrator work. So basically, I supported senior project managers working on projects for the City of Las Vegas, as well as MGM Resorts. Change orders, submittals, RFI’s and certified payroll. All that stuff.”

  “What happened with that job, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  She lowered her head and started to make a ticking noise with her mouth. I knew immediately that the situation wasn’t something she wanted to share.

  “You won’t judge, right?” she asked, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her sweats.

  “Not at all.”

  “Well, so . . . there was an incident.”

  “Physical?”

  “No, but I wanted to hit her.” She shrugged. “That’s just me being honest.”

  I laughed out loud at her candor. Couldn’t help myself. The more she loosened up, the more I saw who I perceived she was as a person.

  “So, it was a clash with another woman.”

  “Sure was. I was under a lot of pressure to finish a closeout for City of Las Vegas. CLV hated the company because during the course of the project, the project manager and the superintendent delivered poorly. I mean horrible. So I was trying to finish strong on the backend with the paperwork, in hopes that it would redeem our reputation. Well, two particular individuals wanted to keep interrupting what I only had two hours to produce, and I told them that it wasn’t a good time. That they needed to give me at least half an hour and I would be right there. Didn’t work. The insistence that I stop everything right now, while I was crunching numbers for the final change order was too much.” She quieted. “And then I snapped. Said a cuss word, and the girl acted like it was the end of the world, went crying to HR. In short, it was either I quit or they were going to fire me. And here I am. Sold off most of my furniture, got my car repo’d last night, an eviction notice, and almost without gas or electric.”

  “All before Christmas,” I said, completing her thought.

  “Yep,” she stated sadly. “All before Christmas.”

  “But you’re still standing. That’s to be applauded. Because it’s clear that you’ve gone through some shit.”

  “Hey!” she exclaimed catching me off guard. She pulled her hand from her pocket and wagged her finger at me. “That’s the word I said to get me fired! Better be careful. Apparently, it’s not just a bad word. It’s a really bad word.”

  We both fell into laughter at the same time.

  “I mean what a crime to say a cuss word in a male-dominated construction environment,” I cosigned, bringing more comedy to the situation. “How dare they punish you for being passionate and thorough about your work? Such a damn crime, right!”

  Kayla suddenly stopped laughing and was staring at me oddly.

  “What’s your name?” she asked. “We’ve been getting all familiar with each other, and I don’t even know your name.”

  “It’s Silas. Silas Daniels.”

  “Well, Silas Daniels. You just
made a comment that made my heart warm, and I am so thankful. You said, ‘How dare they punish you for being passionate and thorough about your work?’ That was the whole reason for my actions. It was all about finishing strong. And representing the company all while doing that. I want to thank you for saying those words, and recognizing the situation for what it was. Because neither HR, nor the company’s owner, saw my side. I would be lying if I said it didn’t sting. And then to put the nail in my coffin, they turned around and denied my unemployment.”

  Damn, I wanted to say out loud for all that she’d suffered.

  I didn’t know how I was going to make this woman’s life better, but she needed my help. I couldn’t abandon her. I was glad, in that moment, that I didn’t disregard her call-out to me when I was at the bottom of her stairs, preparing to leave.

  “I’ll tell you what, Kayla. You have a new friend in me. I think things will turn around for you in ways you wouldn’t believe.” I stood from her sofa and looked down at my watch. I pulled my wallet from my pocket and produced a personal 3x5 with my name and number on it. “I want you to meet me at RC Willey tomorrow morning at ten o’clock. Call me at this number and let me know you’re on your way.”

  She looked at me for a few seconds before taking the card.

  “RC Willey?”

  “Yep.”

  “Umm…okay. I’ll see you tomorrow at ten o’clock. Umm…”

  “You sound doubtful.”

  She squinted her eyes at me, obviously filled with questions.

  “Not at all. I’ll be there for sure. Thank you so much, Silas for listening to my gloom. For accepting my apology, all of it. It’s appreciated more than you know. I’ll also text you so that you can have my number in case you change your mind.”

  I coughed out a chuckle. “If that makes you feel better, go ahead. But I can assure you, I won’t be changing my mind.”

  -4-

  Kayla

  Did that really just happen?

  Did a perfectly beautiful—tall, caramel-coated, and handsome, stranger—just pay my utility bill to keep me from getting cut the fuck off? And did he sit in my living room and just . . . listen to my side of things? Nobody had done that. Since I lost my job I had felt alone, like I was a fuck-up, a horrible person. The way that whole situation went down at the company hurt like hell. It was almost like they deliberately agitated me just so they could take me out of my element, make me act a fool. Just so that they could get the outcome that they got. Honestly, the moment I cussed at the dumb bitch, I felt remorseful. It was only because of her reaction that I went a step further with my mouth. I wanted to put that bitch on her back! Wanted to lay her the fuck out! She was seconds away from being snatched by her blonde locks and dragged! Luckily, I kept enough of my cool to not put hands on her.

  But the fact that my new friend, Silas, recognized the situation for what it was, felt validating, for some reason. Lifted a weight of guilt from my shoulders. I did nothing wrong. If anything leaving her intact was the biggest mistake in it all.

  Hours after Silas had left, I turned on my television for the first time since The Originals got interrupted. I was about to make another attempt at watching the missed episode, but then my thoughts were at it again! As relieved as I was that my electricity was paid, that relief was short-lived.

  Not that I wasn’t appreciative of the gesture, but now I was back to being a nervous wreck. There were still so many issues to resolve with my mess. I wanted to take a pull of some good Sativa, but that was out of the question. I couldn’t risk it. Vegas companies were serious about testing. All I needed was to get a job offer and have to go and be tested. That whole offer would be off the table. But I did need something to take the edge off. Something that would relax my mental state.

  I debated and debated for the duration of the episode playing in the background. I tried to talk myself out of it. However, in the end, self-medicating won the debate. Within seconds of the credits rolling, I was off the sofa and in my bathroom cabinet popping one of the Norco, prescribed to me by my OB/GYN.

  After I took my pill, I returned to the kitchen to put a salmon burger in the oven. Once that was done, I headed to my room where I stripped down for my shower. A piece of peace would do me good. And peace was always what a relaxing hot shower brought to me.

  In the shower, my mind wandered to that intrusive sign on my door. There was no sense in removing it because they’d just put it right back up. So, not only did I know, any other tenant walking past would as well. I was on the verge of tears, but decided to reel them in. Better to pray and believe that something good was going to happen.

  Shit, it already had. And it was something that I would never in a million years have thought could happen. I mean, how often does somebody show up at your damn door playing Santa Claus with your utility bill?!

  Not ever.

  It had happened today, though. Proof was the smell of Santa’s cologne still in the air of my living room. Silas saved me and didn’t even know to what extent. I’d been on my own for the past ten years, estranged from family and from any friends I had in my old life. It just got to be too much trying to be the only one holding those relationships together. I found that it was draining me more than it was fueling me.

  But it appeared that I had a new friend in Silas, and he seemed to be a really nice guy.

  By the time I exited the shower, I felt the effects of my pill beginning to mellow me out. It was just what I needed. I was rising from the pit, settling somewhere at a nice median. In my now-calmer state, my hunger levels increased. I quickly cut up some potatoes and put them in a fryer, while my salmon burger was on its last few minutes in the oven.

  While I waited for my food to be done, I logged on to the computer and opened all of the job sites that I used and went to work applying. I couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow was going to bring. I even thought back to Silas’s words of encouragement: “I think things will turn around for you in ways you wouldn’t believe . . .” I hoped with everything in me that it was true.

  I also hoped that it could happen in the next five days.

  “Yeah, girl, wishful thinking,” I mumbled to myself as I dozed off somewhere around 2AM.

  -5-

  Kayla

  The next day . . .

  I was so anxious to see what today held that I had only slept for 2.5 hours total. I watched 4 movies, applied for about 15 jobs, wrote 3 cover letters, and sent several follow-up emails for jobs that I had previously applied and interviewed for. But the lack of rest wasn’t a bad thing because I had more energy than I’d had in a long time.

  The last few weeks I had been getting up and barely existing. Anger filled me, and doubt was close behind it. I had no idea what I was going to do. And that might still be the case, but knowing that I could possibly come back home today with some source of income, made me feel good. Though my background was more administrative in nature, sales would have to do if that’s what the hookup from Silas was. The more I thought about it, the more I got used to the idea. Sales might be a good change for a bit, while I waited for something more in line with my skill set, to come through.

  And just to make sure that I made the best impression possible, I was going to take the time to dress the part.

  I turned to Ice Cube’s playlist on Pandora to keep me company, and then went into the bathroom. Last night I had slapped a shower cap on a tangled mop disguised as a ponytail, and washed my body. But today, I had to face the music. I sighed as soon as I stood in the mirror, anticipating what I was about to be met with. When I took my scarf off, I laughed out loud at the madness across my head.

  “Ohh girl! But no!” I yelled out. It was a damn mess!

  I thought back to that nice-looking Silas Daniels, with the bald head. He gave me Stephen Bishop vibes. Dipped in caramel, smooth personality, tight, inquisitive eyes and a nice physique. He was very casual in a Nike zip-up and black sweats. That cologne I couldn’t identify, but it lingered for hours aft
er he left.

  I was glad that today would allow me the opportunity to show him that I cleaned up nicely, and wasn’t a bugaboo all the time. That what he encountered was just a sign of the times—of my life.

  I set about detangling my hair with my fingers, and then with my wide-toothed comb. When Don King stood before me, I was ready to soak and shampoo. However, because I was too lazy to go in the kitchen and wash my hair, I got in the shower again.

  Call me crazy, I know.

  This time I washed everything, including the crop.

  When cleanse #2 was over, and I had lotioned my body, I doctored my hair with an amazing brush and some good ole Eco Styler. Got it real slick! I pulled the thickness high up on my head, and joined it together in a knot. When it was molded to perfection, I clipped on a bang and added extra hair for a thicker bun. It was perfect. I was a ponytail girl through and through. High up at the top, at the nape, whatever. It was always the go-to style since it was so easy to manipulate, and out of my way. I tied my silk scarf around it so that the mold could fully settle.

  I pulled a red pant suit from my closet that I had gotten from an online boutique last year. I chose a white mesh tank to wear underneath, and a nude pump. My earrings were super thin, four-inch hoops and I was ready. The look that I pulled off was chic-professional. As crazy as it was, I was excited to have to dress up for something. Because all I had seen lately were leggings, sweatpants and hoodies. On the occasions where I actually left the house, a pair of Uggs or tennis shoes completed the ensemble.

  Lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara were all applied in the back of the uber that arrived to get me at exactly 9:40.

  At 10 AM sharp, I strutted into RC Willey. I looked around for Silas, but didn’t immediately spot him. I was about to call him when my phone rang in my hand.

  “Hello?”

  “What’s up, lady. It’s Silas. You here yet?”