The Empty Chair

Last week I took one day off, drove my car another day, and got a ride home from The Boyfriend on ANOTHER day, so by Friday I was feeling very lost not having spent an afternoon since Monday being entertained by my afternoon route Leader--  the fabulous woman who speaks her mind and tells it like it is--  loudly.  From what I've read of Coco Chanel, she and The Leader would be best friends.  Or would rip each other apart for sport.  Or both.

I made it through the workday, even got to the bus stop earlier than usual, with an unmistakeable spring in my step.  I inhaled deeply, then bounded the stairs onto the bus, looked anound and...  she was not there. 

There were the fast food workers, the Remington College students, the people I never saw and would likely never see again, the highly accessorized girl getting a ride to the mall, the mom with her little boy...  and they were completely leaderless.  I exhaled, deflated.  I felt cheated in a way.

A million thoughts ran through my mind--  was she sick, was she ok, would she be back on Monday...  Then, I remembered.  I overheard her complaining one Friday before that it was too hard to get to the bank on Fridays to cash her check, so she was just gonna get a ride from a friend from now on.

It was a long ride, indeed.  I've gotten so interested in her stories.  Because she always wears scrubs, and the bus route originates from Providence Hospital, I asked once if she worked there.  "No," she said, "I work for a private family."  When she told me her employer's neighborhood I was beyond impressed.  I had only visited that neighborhood a handful of times to attend parties given by my classmates at St. Paul's way back in high school.  She's been with the same family for over 20 years.  "I started out raisin' the kids and now I'm takin' care of they daddy!"  She had a gleam in her eye when she told me that, and it seemed she sat up a bit straighter in her chair, as well.  Further down the road on that same ride the conversation turned to haunted mansions in midtown and downtown Mobile, and as she pointed to homes lining Governement St., she dropped so many names that it was clear she knew some of the most important families in town. 

I am so impressed.  Not with the names, or the family she works for, but that she has stayed with the same job in the same place for all this time.  And, she clearly enjoys what she does!  How many people do I know that can say that?  

Just when I started waxing sentimental she caught a glimpse of some woman walking down the sidewalk whose hair was a "HOT mess!" and whose "Hootchie coochie clothes shoulda STAYED at da house!..."

As I walk to the bus stop this afternoon one thought keeps running through my mind...  Thank God it's NOT Friday...