A Penny's Worth (5 page)

Penny bit her lower lip. She already knew
what was coming next.

“Yes you do, for Charlene, right? I’m
just desperate for a babysitter this Saturday. For every Saturday come to think
of it. My girl moved back to Guatemala.” She stretched her painted-on mouth
into a grotesque pout. “I was so disappointed.” She took a sip of her Café
Latte, leaving a thick smear of lipstick on her cup. Beaming, she asked, “So
what do you say?”

“You drink coffee before sushi?” was
about all Penny could manage. She didn’t have any plans this Saturday night or
any thereafter. She scrambled for some sort of an excuse.

Checking her watch, Beth laughed easily.
“I’m killing time before dinner. The kids are both at home with my mother. I
needed to get out of the house.” She shrugged and added with a shake of her
head, “You know how that goes.”

“No,” Penny deadpanned with a smile, “I
really don’t.”

“Anyway,” Beth continued, unaware that
Penny was acutely uncomfortable. “So, can you watch my kids this Saturday
night?” She clasped her hands together as in prayer. “Oh please say yes, I need
you.”

Penny blurted out, “No, I absolutely
cannot watch your kids at all, ever.”

Beth stepped back with a surprised look.
Penny felt the blood drain from her face. An uncomfortable silence chewed at
the air between them. Finally Beth recovered her composure and asked in a meek
voice, “May I ask why?”

“Why?” she parroted back. “I’ll tell you
why.” She calmly stabbed her fork into her omelet. “I have a life and I’m very
busy.”

Taking two steps back Beth stammered,
“Well, uh, I guess that’s as good a reason as any.”

“Yes, I think it’s a very good reason.”

Beth peered down at her watch and
exclaimed, “Oh, I’m so late for my dinner date. I’m so sorry, but I must be
going. Enjoy your meal.” Blowing a kiss, she backpedalled out of the coffee
shop.

“Hope you enjoy your sushi,” Penny called
out after her.

She realized with a stab of longing that
she wished she was busy. She also realized she would never, ever babysit for anyone’s
children again, unless of course they happened to be her own. Penny knew she
was worth so much more than that. She calmly finished her omelet and completed
her resume as best as she could. She knew it was time to go home: dinnertime
for Bob and Winston.

Barely a week after completing her resume, she sat fretting
in a hallway at Wayside Hospital waiting for an interview with Chief of Staff
Dr Kittles. Should the interview go well, she would meet with the head nurse.
The anxiety had turned her breath shallow, making her feel amost faint. She
tried to compensate with deep breaths, but nothing seemed to be working. She
knew her resume was lacking but she also knew Wayside Hospital was lacking in
nurses. She could only cross her fingers and hope she interviewed well. She was
proud to have gotten this far.

As much as she tried not to, her mind
returned to the last visit with her family on Sunday. Her brothers and Aunt
Bess were visiting and she decided it was as good a time as any to take the
plunge and tell them she had an interview at Wayside. There was utter,
contemptuous silence. The evening had gone downhill from there. But of course,
Penny had expected that.

“You are making a huge mistake,” Dolores
insisted with a look of astonishment. “You would throw away a wonderful career
at Fernfair to take care of really ill people? You are crazier than I thought.”

She felt the anger well up. “You call
what I do a career?” She threw down her slice of pizza. Tomato sauce sprayed
all over her white shirt. She dabbed at it with her napkin. “You’ve got to be
kidding me. Let’s see,” she put her forefinger on her chin, “what did I do this
week? Ah, yes. I had to call six mothers to bring in clothes for their kids. At
recess, eight boys decided to have a free-for-all mud fight.”

Standing up from the table, she said with
sarcasm filling her voice, “Oh, and let’s not forget, I also helped Lindsey
Leopold find the chapstick in her backpack because she had dry cracked lips.
Well, I think that’s it,” she added in a clipped voice. “I guess that sums up
my week.”

Dolores huffed, “Again with the sarcasm,
I can’t stand it any more.”

Perched on a solitary stool in the middle
of the kitchen, Aunt Bess, exasperated, put her hands up in the air. “Leave her
alone already Dolores. Let her do what she wants. It’s her life.”

Whirling around, Dolores snapped, “Don’t
get involved, Bess, it has nothing to do with you. She’s not your daughter and
you don’t know how she can be.”

“How can I be Mom?” Penny asked in a
steely voice.

“Stubborn.”

Penny’s father Ron finally piped in.
“Penny, you’re getting to an age where maybe you shouldn’t be thinking of a
career change. Before you know it, you’ll be wanting to plan a nice nest egg
for your retirement.”

Feeling her stomach clench, she took a
sip of seltzer. Right Dad, never form an opinion on your own, just parrot Mom
like you always do. It felt like two fists were slamming into each other in the
pit of her stomach. Both of her sisters-in-law were watching her, waiting to
see her reaction. This made her literally bite her tongue so she wouldn’t lose
her temper. As calmly as possible she addressed her father. “I’m not planning
on retiring for a long time Dad. I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet.”
She looked around at her family. “I thought you all would be happy for me.
Don’t you think I’m too young to close up shop so early? Why do you have such
low expectations, and why for God’s sake do you expect life to offer me nothing
but frozen dinners and Fernfair elementary school?” She turned around and
stalked to the front door. She slammed it and walked toward her car with tears
streaming down her face.

With a smile, she remembered Aunt Bess
following her with a sausage and cheese calzone in her left hand. “Don’t let
that woman get to you Penny,” she had declared. “She’s like one of those cats
who sits on your chest and sucks the air out of you. Go for it, I’m proud of
you.”

As she sat in the front office reliving
this awful memory, Penny knew this was not the time to be thinking about it.
She already felt a compelling urge to bolt from the room. She pressed her hand
down on her left knee to stop her foot from shaking. Her foot went steady until
she took her hand away. The chair was creaking from the rapid little movements.

She knew her family would never support
her in any attempt to create a better life. She had already learned this from
past experience, but now that she had taken a step toward changing her life,
her family’s reaction made her all the more certain that they would not be
supportive.

Breaking into Penny’s dismal thoughts,
the receptionist called out cheerfully, “Dr Kittles will see you now.”

The knots in her stomach clenched even
tighter. Briskly, she walked into the doctor’s office.

She worried that her attempt at a smile
would turn into an anxious frown as she eyed Dr Kittles. He was a burly fellow
with a kind smile. He had a big head, a big beard, big eyebrows, and a thick
lion’s mane of salt and pepper hair. She pictured Neanderthal Man, but quelled
that thought as she shook his hand. His eyes held warmth, and intelligence. She
immediately felt at ease.

“Hello Ms Marins,” Dr Kittles said
amiably as he took a seat behind his desk. “I understand you’re looking for a
position here as a nurse?”

She tried again with the smile. She was
so nervous, she wanted to jump out of her chair and dash out of the office
never to be seen or heard from again. What the hell am I doing here? she
thought, as the panic welled up.

Roaming over Penny’s resume, Dr Kittles
cleared his voice. “I understand you’re a registered nurse.”

“Yes I am.”

“You took a position at Fernfair
Elementary and have been there for quite a number of years.”

“Yes I have.”

“Now you would like to work at a
hospital?” He looked up from her resume with a penetrating stare.

“Yes I do.”

“It’s been a while since you ran an IV or
took blood pressure, checked vitals or gave an enema.” He smiled as he stated
the last procedure. “Shall I continue with all the other requirements?”

She knew she had to speak now or forever
hold her peace. “I think my grades in nursing school will reflect on how well I
mastered those procedures, Dr Kittles. You don’t forget how to do them, it’s
just like riding a bike.” Without thinking, she blurted out, “You would never
forget how to perform surgery even if you hadn’t done it for a while, right?”

He put his head back and laughed. “Well I
do think I would be a bit rusty, but eventually it would come back to me. And
in your case things have changed since you last did your clinical training.
Many of the procedures are done differently now. You would have to take
refresher classes and seminars on how to perform even the most basic of
clinical procedures.”

Again without thinking, she blurted out,
“Of course I would do that, I really want this job. I’m a good nurse and I want
to help people. Maybe that sounds corny, but it’s true and I’m committed to
being as good as I was when I came out of nursing school.” She sat back in her
chair and added, “I’m aware that there’s a nurse shortage here. All you have to
do is give me a chance. You’ll know in one day if I’m up to muster or not. I’ll
attend all the lectures here and I would be able to specialize in any area you
want me to.”

Dr Kittles laughed again. “You’re quite
ambitious aren’t you?” His expression changed and he didn’t say anything for a
long moment. Eventually he looked up and smiled. “I’m giving my recommendations
to the nursing department for you to work alongside Nurse Reins. If your
interview goes well with her then we will be able to see what you’re made of.”

Penny wanted to jump up and down with
happiness. Luckily her social filter just stopped her in time: a little voice
calmly informed her that she’s still in the interview and it can all still go
wrong, even in these last few seconds. Concentrating hard, she clasped her
hands together, stood up and said, “Dr Kittles you won’t be sorry thank-you so
much for this opportunity.”

Skipping toward her car, Penny was so
excited that she wanted to scream out he liked me, he really, really, did.

Penny felt something land on her left
shoulder. She looked down to discover that a bird had just dropped a huge pile
of bird crap on her new navy blazer. She had always heard that it was a sign of
good luck to have a bird poop on you, and she felt this sign was telling her
that she was worth so much more than that. She looked up at the sky with a huge
smile on her face and said a soft thank-you.

New job and new career: Check (or very nearly, anyway).

Reach out and transform social life:
Definitely next on her to-do list.

A few days after her interview, Penny
took Winston to the new doggy park that had just opened up a few blocks over.
The park should be a perfect place to meet new people. Strangers with dogs always
stop to chat, and surely (Penny thought) they’ll have a strong commonality
right from the start.

Stepping outdoors, she thought the day
looked picture perfect. She was happy to have a destination. She was antsy sitting
around the house. The day after next she was to have her second interview with
nurse Reins. The anticipation of this meeting was unbearable. She knew if it
did not go well she’d have no shot of working at Wayside Hospital.

Strolling down the street, she thought of
the Recital at Fernfair and the handsome doctor. It was his face that drifted
into her mind when she was alone in the dark trying to fall asleep. She
couldn’t help thinking of the brief encounter she had with him.

Winston’s excited bark brought her back
to reality. “Calm down Winston,” she said softly. “We’re almost there and you
can play to your heart’s content.”

Staring up, the floppy-eared Beagle
seemed to have understood. But he tugged at his leash as they approached the entrance
to the doggie playground. The park was jam packed with owners and their canine
friends.

She immediately spotted two Labrador retrievers, a miniature collie, a German Shepherd, two pugs, three bull dogs, and
a huge assortment of mutts. As she approached the middle of the fenced-in area
she noticed a miniature toy poodle, shaking uncontrollably, pressed up close
against its owner. The lady must be insane to bring such a little dog into a
park with all these big intimidating dogs.

Penny had a strong urge to point out to
the owner that she should put her dog in the smaller fenced-in area with the
other smaller dogs. She examined the woman more closely. She looked tough. A
small black tattoo of a snake on her left wrist warded Penny away like the
colourful blotches on a poisonous toad.

Better to leave people with snake tattoos
alone, she told herself, just to be on the safe side.

Off his leash, Winston bounded joyfully
into the folds of the other dogs. His arrival set off a commotion: she could
just picture their doggie conversation: “Ah, some new blood to join our play,
eh Major?” They all ran around in circles vying to get a sniff of the new
doggie on the block. Penny grinned: they were just like children. She loved
watching dogs at play. How adorable they are, she thought fondly with a quick
jolt of happiness.