Renewal; A Tale of Katrina's Kitchen

Settling In

     "C'mon, young man, let's go sit in the living room where I can be comfy." Missy led Jonah out of the kitchen. They walked through the dining room. Jonah gave the room a quick look, the dining table was large enough to seat ten or twelve people. The light wood glowed with polish and wear. Ten matching chairs were neatly pushed in, two more were against a wall on either side of a hutch of the same wood. The walls were a soft rose color with the scrolled woodwork painted in ivory enamel.

     Beyond the dining area they crossed the main foyer past a large staircase and into the small living room. She pointed to a love seat upholstered in a floral pattern, then settled herself in a rather plain but comfortable looking blue recliner. Jonah sat where directed and waited. Within a few moments, two large cats joined. Both were solid black, one had the expected green eyes, the other's eyes were a startling blue. "There you are! Jonah, meet Jesse and Frank."

     Jonah felt the corner of his mouth start to lift in a grin, "Ah, the James boys."

     "Well, Frank is a boy, Jesse, of the blue eyes, is a lady. Well a girl, anyway. Lady is questionable. But they're fixed so it don't matter anyway."

     Jesse sauntered over to Jonah. He held out a tentative hand, he didn't know if animals sensed his 'problem' or not. The cat sniffed his hand, then stepped into his lap uninvited and began to knead at his legs in attempt to reshape them to her needs.

     "Oh, and they do have their claws. They was made that way for a reason, I figure," Missy told him. "And, Jessie seems to think you're alright, so now, we can make an agreement. If Katie works you thirty hours a week, you shouldn't have any trouble making rent payment. I charge eighty a week. You get a room, share one of the two full baths upstairs with the others. The rooms are furnished, and each has it's own mini-fridge and a microwave."

     At Jonah's nod she continued. "I don't cook meals for my renters. You may use my kitchen for meals, but you will clean up after yourself or you're out. I have a cleaning lady in twice a week, but she ain't your maid. You take care of your room. There's a vacuum and supplies you can use." Missy paused only a moment to let him take in the information. "Questions? If you got 'em ask now."

     Jonah could think of nothing important, so indulged his curiousity, "How many other renters do you have?"

     "Right now, I got five others. One of 'em is Duff, the day cook at the Kitchen. The boy that didn't show up for dishes today was another, but he ain't slept here the last three days. So I guess he's back home. Another works and Portman's, and the other two work at the factory on south of here. You'll meet them eventually, they all keep to themselves pretty much."

     "It sounds like a good deal to me, Missy McKay. If I pass inspection with Frank now, I'll be ready to sign."

     "Frank makes up his mind slow. It'll be a week or so at least before he weighs in. But in the meantime, let me show you the room.

     Jonah gently removed the cat from his lap and followed Missy back to the l foyer and the open stairway opposite the front door. She climbed the stairs, Jonah and two cats behind her.

     The upper hall had four bedrooms and a bathroom, another doorway opened to a smaller staircase to the third floor. Missy opened a door on this floor, two away from the bath.

     The room was not large but adequate. There was a twin bed, dresser and nightstand along one wall. A chair and small table shared the opposite wall with the promised mini refrigerator and micro wave. The room was clean and the linens looked fresh. There was a free standing wardrobe next to the single window that gave Jonah a view of the old farmland behind the house.

     "This is really nice, Missy McKay. How far does your property go?" Jonah absently stroked the cat that had followed them into the room.

     "I got only twenty acres left from the original farm, half of that is woods. When I bought the place forty years ago, the farmer had already sold most of the land to other local farms. Hoping those farms keep goin'. I'd hate to have a shopping center in my back yard." Missy made a face at the thought.

     "Yeah, that'd be a shame. One thing I noticed in my journey, not enough open space like this left. Too much concrete sprouting up all over."

     "Sounds like leaving the Big Apple has been good for you, then. Most big city folk see an empty field, they want to build something big and useless on it." Missy then spoke to her cat, "come along Jesse, leave this fella to settle in. You can visit another time."

     Missy shut the door behind her, leaving Jonah to look further around the room. He opened his beat up bag that had once been a back pack, the straps long gone. He had a couple pair of jeans and four clean shirts. Not enough underwear, maybe the dollar store would have something. Otherwise he'd have to make a trip to the city north of Renewal.

     He put his few belongings in dresser, hung the shirt in the wardrobe. His only other possession was small ring, set with a perfect half carat diamond. He left it in the side pocket of the beat up bag.

***

     Katie was in the dining room visiting with her afternoon customers. Sheriff Denny Clark came in for a coffee to go and any local news that he didn't already know. Just like Missy McKay, he already knew about the Kitchen's new employee.

     "Katie, really, what do you know about this guy? You're way too trusting of people. Always hiring these strays that come along. Some day you will get hurt."

     "I understand your concern, sheriff, I do. But I have pretty good instincts about people, and my gram used to do the same thing." Katie wasn't about to let the sheriff know about the dreams. She already had a bit of a reputation for strange behavior. Of course, so had her grandmother. She just let folks believe it was a hereditary quirk.

     "Whatever. It's bad enough you put your self at risk. Then you send him off with Missy McKay. She's an old woman by herself out there." Denny Clark was scowling his disapproval at her now. He was a big man, used to intimidating people with his size.

     Katie threw her shoulders back not about to be intimidated. "Denny Clark, number one: I don't appreciate you talking to me like an addle headed teenager, especially not in front of my customers, in my own restaurant. Number two: I didn't 'send' him with Missy McKay. I asked if she had an room for rent. It is what she does. She is plenty old enough to make her own decisions. Number three: she is not alone out there, she has several people with her. And? Her instincts are pretty damn good too!"

     Denny realized the few customers had stopped eating and chatting to watch the confrontation. "Okay, Katie, relax. I'm not trying to tell you how to run your business, but.."

     "I believe that's exactly what you're doing Sheriff. And I'm not going to continue this discussion with you." Katie whirled away and stalked back to the kitchen leaving the sheriff with nothing to do but take his coffee and leave.

     But he would be checking out this new dish washer.