Amy Lynn, page 23
“Daddy says I have to get a job.”
“Well, welcome to the real world honey. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Uncle Jack has taught me a lot about guns and knives; maybe the sporting goods store? I’ve learned some things about cars. The auto parts store might need someone. And there’s always the Food King.”
”Anything else interest you?” asked Carla Jo.
“Well, I occasionally get lost in that Gray’s Anatomy book of yours. It’s pretty interesting.”
“Would you like to work with us?”
“Really? That would be great.”
Carla Jo warned, “We work our butts off, honey. Some of it isn’t very pleasant.”
“What exactly do you do?”
“Other than the doctors’ offices we have in-home care for the disabled and elderly. We bathe them, make sure they have their medications, and when necessary, we educate their families on how to care for them. It’s hard work. I have a little pull with the nursing supervisor, so I think I can put you with a nurse as an assistant. You would learn a lot.”
Amy thought for a few minutes. “You know, I think I would like that kind of work. That would be great. Ok, who do I see about getting started?”
Carla Jo smiled. “Let’s go see Junie.”
Jack and Carla Jo: Part 2
Annette lay on her pillow facing Jack and watched him sleep. He snored and drool ran out of the corner of his mouth. He was the most beautiful thing she thought she had ever seen. Then his eyes opened and he saw her watching him. She was smiling. “Good morning.”
Carla Jo whispered, “Good morning to you. How did you sleep?”
“Like the dead. You are pretty amazing. You wore me out” Jack reached for her and pulled her close.
It was the first night they had spent together. Annette hugged him and stroked his hair. He has beautiful hair she thought. Jack smiled at her and said, “You know, we are going to have to pick a day when we stop calling you Annette.”
“Today is as good a day as any.”
“Okay, Carla Jo it is.”
They lay in each other’s arms for hours, both believing that they had found the one person that loved them no matter what may come. They were both right. They got up a little later and made breakfast together. Jack reached across the small kitchen table and took her hand. “Well, if we are goin’ to do this, you need to know a few things. I don’t care about money. I have no need to be wealthy. I’m never leaving this house or this land. I was born here and I will die here. There has never been anythin’ fancy bout’ me and there is never going to be.”
Carla Jo shrugged. “Okay.”
Jack looked a little surprised. “That’s it, just, okay?”
“Yes, that’s it. I lived the big city life. It didn’t treat me very well. Just curious, what are you going to do with that?” Carla Jo pointed to the black case on the floor.
“That’s not mine, that’s yours. Do whatever you want with it.”
That could be a life changing amount, thought Carla Jo. While at Johns Hopkins University she had taken finance classes. She understood the stock market and how money worked. She also learned personal finance from her mom. Nancy was a very frugal woman even though she always made sure she had what she wanted.
Carla Jo had a lot of catching up to do when it came to the rest of the world. She went to the library and poured over the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Fortune, and every other current financial periodical she could get her hands on. After a couple weeks of studying, her research pointed her in one direction, technology stocks. She counted out the money in the case, which came to $171,000. She knew she could never take it to a bank as there would be too many questions. Stockbrokers, on the other hand, were not so curious. She split it up among three different brokerage houses, invested it, and left it alone.
Carla Jo’s addiction to drugs and alcohol nagged at her. Even though she was happy, the cravings wouldn’t leave her alone, so she did the smart thing and confided in Jack and Katherine. She told them how she felt and what was happening inside of her. Jack liked to have a drink now and then, but Carla Jo was way more important to him. He removed all of the alcohol from his house and took her to AA meetings that were held at the VFW for veterans.
Katherine took another direction and through friendship, conversation, sweet tea, and cobbler, she kept Carla Jo’s mind off of her cravings. After a while, Carla Jo began to live without the daily pangs of addiction. She was, however, getting chubby. Jack didn’t care but Carla Jo did. As much as she adored Jack and her new-found lifestyle, she was getting bored. Wanting a life, a purpose, something that would get her out of bed in the morning, she talked to Jack about getting a job. She only knew how to do one thing, but under her new name, her nursing license was no good. Jack went to see Doc Henderson to see if he needed help.
Doc Henderson was a simple country doctor who had worked out of his home for almost thirty years. He was divorced because his wife thought she was marrying money. Doc didn’t care about money. He would take a chicken and a couple dozen eggs, or handyman services as payment. He loved the people of Jackson County and they loved him. Jack asked him if he could use the help. He said he really couldn’t pay very much, but he could always use a little help. He had an office assistant, Robin, but she was relatively useless. All she did was sit at a desk and answer the phone. Carla Jo didn’t care about the money, she was happy to have something to do. Carla Jo cleaned his office, put away his supplies, and whatever else he needed. During Carla Jo’s fourth day at work, that would change.
A woman ran in the office carrying a little boy of about five or six years of age. He had been playing with a gun and shot himself in the leg. Doc wasn’t there so his office assistant called the ambulance. They were twenty minutes away. Carla Jo took one look. “He’s bleeding out, the femoral artery must be damaged.” She went into action, but Robin tried to stop her.
“You can’t do that.” She warned.
Carla Jo looked at his mother. “If I don’t stop this bleeding, he’s dead.”
The little boy’s mother responded in a panic. “Do it, do whatever you have to do.”
Carla Jo worked like a machine. She gave him a local, opened him up, found the artery, and clamped it off. She had Robin call Lewistown and tell them to get a vascular surgeon on standby. Just then, Doc Henderson walked in. He took one look at the boy’s leg and stepped aside. Carla Jo put a temporary dressing on his leg just as the ambulance arrived and took him away.
Robin shouted at Doc Henderson. “I told her not to do that.”
“Thanks, Robin. You can go now.”
Robin shot Carla Jo a dirty look and left. Doc Henderson gave Carla Jo a curious look. “I think we need to talk.”
Doc and Carla Jo sat down. She started to speak. He held up his hand. “Look, ah, I know three things about you. First, you’re a heroin addict. I was there when you detoxed. Second, your name is not Carla Jo. I was holding Carla Jo when she died. Third, you just saved that little boy’s life. So, Doctor, where did you go to school?”
Carla Jo took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure what she should tell him, but he knew quite a bit already. “I’m not a doctor. I was a surgical nurse in Vietnam. Sometimes we got busy and I did what I had to do to save lives.”
Doc shook his head. “So where did you go to school?”
“Johns Hopkins.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. I got a Johns Hopkins-prepared surgical nurse with combat trauma experience sweeping my floors.”
Carla Jo bowed her head in shame. “I’m sorry; I’ll go.”
“Go?” Doc said incredulously. “You’re not going anywhere. I need help. I got elderly shut-ins all over this county that won’t leave their homes. I got little communities of poor children that have never even seen a doctor. They need check-ups and inoculations. I got so much to do I can’t keep up. No, young lady, you’re not going anywhere.”
Carla Jo went home at the end of the day and told Jack what had happened.
Jack eyes went wide. “Sounds like an exciting day. Who was the little boy?”
“I’m not sure. I was busy trying to save his life.”
Two days later a big Chevy truck pulling a trailer parked in front of Jack’s garage. On the trailer was a brand new red Z-28 Camaro. The driver of the truck unloaded the car and asked, “Is Carla Jo Brown here?”
“Nope.”
“This is hers. Please make sure she gets this envelope.”
“Okay.”
Later that night, Carla Jo pulled into the driveway after a long day and saw the pretty red car sitting there. She got out of her car and walked around it, liking what she saw. Jack came out of the garage. “Nice car.”
Carla Jo nodded. “Yes, it is. Whose is it?”
“Yours.” Jack handed her the envelope.
Carla Jo opened the envelope and read the heartfelt thank you note. She looked up at Jack. “Who is Audra Spencer?”
“Junior Gossett’s daughter. Why?”
“The little boy I had to cut on the other day; his name is Earl.”
Jack laughed and said, “No shit, Earl Spencer. Junior Gossett’s pride and joy. Well, honey, you’ll never want for anything in this town.”
As Carla Jo became more acquainted with the practice, Doc took her to the black communities because, well, she was sort of black. He introduced her to the families and community leaders. Carla Jo was not prepared for the poverty. There was poverty in the city, but there were also free clinics, welfare, food stamps, and other means of help. Out here there was nothing. Doc gave her very few rules and turned her loose.
Doc’s financial situation was bleak. Every spare dollar that came into the clinic was used to buy medicine and supplies. They both lived lean and Carla Jo made about enough money to keep her old Buick in gas. The clinics in the city always had money; not a lot, but they had what they needed. Patience wasn’t something Carla Jo had a lot of, however, and she was growing impatient with their inability to serve the community.
After a trip to the city and talking to some of the staff at the free clinics, it was clear what Carla Jo needed to do. She turned Doc Henderson’s operation into a free clinic so they could be eligible for state and federal funds. She also went to night school and studied computerized medical billing systems. She bought a computer with her own money, fired Robin, then hired Junie, a single mom that went to school with her.
After signing the indigent, elderly, and children up for Medicaid or Medicare, the dollars began to flow into the clinic. Expanding the reach of their services, she hired more nurses and home care specialists. They expanded into other communities with satellite offices and hired young doctors just out of school to staff them. Carla Jo made connections with all the local businesses including the mines. Within three years, medical services were available where none had ever been. Carla Jo found herself CEO of Henderson Medical.
Every morning before work, Carla Jo stopped by Katherine’s and had coffee with her. Carla Jo offered her a job, but Katherine would hug Amy and say, “No, thanks, I have a job.” Katherine had just had another baby and they named him Joseph. A year and a half later, Carla Jo and Katherine were having coffee when she began to cough. She pulled her hand away and it was spattered with blood.
The cancer hit Katherine hard and fast. Carla Jo took her to the city and the doctors threw everything they had at her trying to save her, but it was not to be. Katherine wanted to die at home so Carla Jo set up a virtual hospital room in her house. While sitting next to the bed talking to her best friend, Katherine took a deep breath. “Carla Jo, I know how this ends, I have seen it before. I don’t want Leon and my children to see me like that. I need you to do something for me.”
Carla Jo knew what was coming, she looked at Katherine with fear in her eyes. “Katherine, I don’t know—”
Katherine interrupted her. “Yes, you do. I have made my peace here on earth. Jesus is waiting for me. When it’s time I want you to end it.”
After all Katherine had done for her, Carla Jo didn’t feel like she was in any position to tell her no. Carla Jo started to cry while nodding slowly. “I’ll ah, I’ll try. For you, I’ll try.”
One evening Katherine hugged and kissed Leon and her children and they went to Granny Patches for dinner. Katherine’s former stout 5’10” 140 lbs frame has deteriorated to 85 Lbs. and she began to lose control of her bodily functions. Carla Jo sat down beside her to enjoy a little conversation when Katherine smiled, looked up, and said, “It’s time.”
There was really no preparing for that moment. Tears rolled down Carla Jo’s face as she took out the needle and injected it into the IV. As Katherine slipped away, Carla Jo felt a part of herself die. They held hands tightly as Katherine began a new journey.
Chapter 43
Amy had the best summer of her life. She and Kelly were attached like Siamese twins. Saturday nights at the A&W became a regular event along with trips to the beach on the river. Amy even allowed Kelly to set her up on a couple of double dates. The boys were nice enough, even though on one occasion she had to use a little non-lethal force to stop the advances of an overzealous young man. Amy gave her sexuality a lot of thought. She’d had the relationship with Summer and it was deeply emotional and exciting. While alone in her room, as she enjoyed some, well, personal time, it was always a boy; a nameless, faceless boy. Her sexual urges didn’t lead her around like they sometimes seemed to with Kelly, but they were certainly there.
She spent the summer working for Henderson Medical. Carla Jo placed her with one of her best home health care nurses and paid her a decent wage, probably a little more than she should have. Carla Jo received regular reports about how she was doing. The nurse said Amy worked hard and learned fast. Amy began to think about a career as she realized that she really liked that kind of work, especially her work with children. When Amy started school she chose classes that would benefit a medical career.
Amy was tired of the football players leering at her while she worked out. She talked to Principal Nolan to see if she could get a weight- training elective for the girls. Principal Nolan told her that if she could get twenty students to sign up, she could have one fifth period. Amy signed up most of the swim team and a few softball players and got her elective. Amy ran the class like a general. There would be no slacking or girly banter. Coach Ramsey was present to teach, but mostly he just stayed out of Amy’s way. The Lewistown Girls swim team would win state if it killed her.
There was also a new kid in school. His name was Andy Evans. He was in most of Amy’s advanced placement classes. Amy would find herself looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Andy was really smart, smarter than Amy. He wasn’t much to look at, a little taller than Amy and kind of thin with a mop of dishwater blonde hair and a nose that was little too big for his face. His clothes weren’t fancy, but they were neat and clean. But there was something else, something about the way he carried himself. It was like the pettiness of high school was beneath him. He was almost regal.
Amy sat at lunch looking across the cafeteria at Andy. He had his feet up reading a book. Kelly caught her looking at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“What?”
Kelly had a playful accusing tone. “Andy Evans? Really?”
“What?” Amy couldn’t hide the half smile, knowing she had been caught.
Kelly grinned. “Oh my God, I know that look. I’ve just never seen it on you.”
“I think I’m gonna go talk to him.”
Without another thought she picked up her tray, walked over to his table, and sat down across from Andy.
“Hi. My name’s Amy.”
Andy looked up over the top of his book. “Yeah, I know who you are.”
“Watcha readin’?”
“Asimov.”
“Oh, is that one of the Foundation books?”
Andy tilted his head and stared at her. “How do you know about that?”
“I like to read. I read I, Robot. Sci-Fi isn’t my thing, but it was interesting.”
Andy nodded and kept reading his book.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“You’re kidding, right? Is this the part where you invite me to a party? All the pretty girls have a contest to see who can bring the biggest geek? This isn’t the first time I’ve been the new kid in school.” Andy tried to put an end to what he thought was a ridiculous conversation.
Amy reached across the table and pulled down his book. “I would never do that. I would find that insulting if I didn’t know how cruel people can be.”
Andy mused under his breath. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
“That was rhetorical.”
Amy had a mischievous smile. “Oh no, if I can tell you something you don’t know you have to start having lunch with me and my friend.” Andy shook his head and thought This girl is beautiful, this can’t be happening. “Fine, shoot.”
“Do you know why Fritz Freleng chose the coyote over every other animal as the foil for Roadrunner?”
Andy smiled. He had a beautiful smile with perfect teeth. “I give up. Tell me.”
Amy flashed him the cutest smile Andy had ever seen. “Because Mark Twain wrote in one of his books that the coyote is the perfect allegory of want. He needed an animal that wouldn’t quit.”
The bell rang. “Come on, I’ll let you walk me to my locker.”
“Oh? Is that some sort of honor?”
Amy arched her brow, tilted her head and gave him a little nod. “You gosh darn right it is.”
Andy never had a girlfriend before and Amy never had a boyfriend. Neither one really knew how to behave. It was an awkward dance. In Andy’s wildest dreams he could have never imagined a girl so over-the-top smart and beautiful; probably one of, if not the most, beautiful girls in the school falling for him. He was afraid to even touch her. Amy didn’t know what she would do if he did touch her. They spent weeks walking together, talking and laughing. Andy was witty. He had a sense of humor and used references that only the intelligent and well-read would understand. He was intellectually much older than his age. Amy understood him perfectly and she hung on his every word.
