Charlene looks over at Tonya as she sat at Henry’s desk working on her homework. Henry didn’t mind Tonya using his desk to do her homework. Sometimes he came into the office to see how she was doing, while Charlene was busy with paperwork.

She had so much paperwork that has piled up. The garage was busy with inspections and repair jobs. The motorcycle shop was busy as well.
They had to hire two more part-time people to work on the motorcycles. One of the local motorcycle clubs has been recommending their
members bring their motorcycles to the garage.

The local police department didn’t have anyone that knew much about motorcycles, so they had a contract with Ralph and Terry. She had to make room to establish a secure area in the compound for the police motorcycles that were in for repair to be kept. It had to be a dry area where the electronics on the motorcycles didn’t get wet. So, Charlene, Ralph, Terry, and Henry came in on a Sunday, when the shop was closed and built an enclosed area for the motorcycles.

Henry’s wife Mary looked after Tonya while they were at the garage working. Henry’s wife Mary was like a mother to Charlene. She was the one that helped her when she first got her period. She was the one who taught her about the birds and the bees and how to protect herself. She was also the one that taught her how to wear makeup. She was the mother she never had.

So, there was no one else she trusted more to look after Tonya when she needed a babysitter.

Henry walks into the office and noticed Tonya doing her homework and Charlene working on paperwork. A smile appears on his face as a memory surfaces of when Charlene would come in and do her homework at her father’s desk. He walks over and grabs a cold bottle of water from the mini-frig they had in the office. There was a full-size one in the employee’s breakroom.

Charlene looks up from the receipt she just entered into their new accounting software. She loved the new software because it made everything easier.

“I’m glad we invested in this new software?” Charlene loved it.

“Oh? What is so special about it?” Henry didn’t trust computers or software.

“Let’s just say, it makes everything easier in seeing how much we are spending and how much we have coming in.” Charlene loved that the
software was making it easier.

“That’s good. Now, tell me the bad news?” Henry knew there was always bad news.

“The bad news is, our utilities are killing us. According to the software, it’s been going up for the past five years.”

“How did you manage to figure this out?” Henry was curious about this info.

“I managed to input all the Excel spreadsheets files dad made. I only entered the last five years into the program and had it check the figures.”

“And it managed to forecast or sum up how much we are spending on utilities?” Henry was surprised at the software.

“Yep, dad included every bill you guys got. He put everything in the spreadsheet.” Charlene was glad her father kept detailed files.”

“Your dad always was detailed in what he did. He didn’t use to be, but after we got audited by the IRS, he started making sure we had everything recorded.”

“I’m glad as well.”

“Is there anything we can do about our utilities?” Henry wonders if they could save money.

“Turn the air compressor off when we shut down, and make sure all the lights we aren’t using are turned off. Power down any equipment we aren’t using when we close. Other than that, I don’t know what else we can do.”

“I’ll pass the word to the guys.” Henry looks over towards the security monitors they installed for the police motorcycles.

“I can’t believe how clear the images are on the security monitors.”

“I know. It’s also a good thing that the system backs itself up in the cloud as well. The security person from A&P Security installed a good system.” Charlene had to upgrade their security systems when they got the police contract.

“I hope the contract pays for itself, after all the upgrades we did.” Henry was worried about the cost.

“Speaking of contracts. I was contacted this morning by a rep from Alpha Plumbing Service and they want to hire us to do repair services to their service vehicles. The thing is, the owner is one of those old fashion guys that won’t talk with someone like me. So, I was hoping you would be willing to talk to him.” Charlene looks at Henry to see if he’ll do it.

“Is it because you’re a girl?” Henry didn’t like guys that were like that.

“No, it's because I’m a teenager and he think I don’t know what I’m doing. I know his secretary and she informed me that he would like us as his service provider, but he doesn’t trust someone so young.”

“And since I’m part owner, you think he’ll talk with me.” Henry already knew how Charlene thought.

A smile appears on Charlene’s face as she looks at Henry. Her father was smart to add Henry as a partner.

“How did you guess?”

“You, young lady have been taking lessons from my wife.” Henry points his finger at Charlene.

Tonya looks up from her homework when she hears Henry accuse Charlene. She liked Mary and was learning so much from her.

“She’s fun to be with.” Tonya smiles at Henry.

Charlene smirks when Tonya makes that statement. She knew Tonya liked Mary as well.

Henry turns to look at Tonya and just shakes his head. He was outnumbered in the office with Charlene and Tonya.

“Look, just take the owner of Alpha Plumbing to a steakhouse or something for lunch. He’ll respect you and we can land the contract. Plus, I can write it off as a business expense.” Charlene had done some research and found out she could write a lunch business meeting like these off as a business expense.

“Alright, give me his number.” Henry figures it wouldn’t hurt to meet with the guy.

“Here you go.” Charlene hands the business card she had over to Henry.

Henry accepts the card. He pulls his cellphone out and calls the number printed on it. He walks out of the office and talks with the owner of Alpha Plumbing.

“Charlene, can I have a soda, please?” Tonya looks at Charlene.

“Sure, here get yourself a snack as well.” Charlene hands Tonya some quarters from her desk drawer.

“Thanks.” Tonya gets up and walks out of the office to the waiting area for the customers.

The machines in the waiting area were owned by the shop, just as the ones in the break area for the employees. Charlene goes back to work and a few minutes later, Tonya comes walking back into the office with a soda and a bag of chips. Charlene looks up and smiles at Tonya as she watches her sit back down and goes back to work on her homework.

Henry sticks his into the office “I’m having lunch with him tomorrow at The Steak House.”

“Alright, bring me the receipt and I’ll reimburse you for it.” Charlene looks up at Henry.

Henry winks at Charlene and goes back into the garage to inspect a car.

“Charlene, what are we having for dinner?” Tonya looks at Charlene.

“I was thinking about going to the diner tonight. Unless you want something different.” Charlene knew Tonya liked to help her when she cooked.

“I was kind of hoping we would have sloppy joes tonight.” Tonya liked hamburgers, chicken, and sloppy joes.

“Okay, we can have sloppy joes tonight. I’ll stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

“Thanks, sis.” Tonya was happy.

“You’re welcome.”

A few hours later Charlene finishes up all the paperwork she had to do. She and Tonya stopped at the grocery store to do some shopping. She loved watching Tonya do the shopping. She answered one time why Tonya liked the grocery store so much. Tonya told her, that her mother never let her do the shopping. She always locked her in her bedroom when she left the house.

Charlene watches as Tonya stops to look at some coloring books the store had on sale. She picks one up and looks at it.

“Go ahead and choose six, Tonya.”

Tonya looks at Charlene “are you sure? I don’t want to be a problem.” Tonya knew how her mother would never buy her anything.

“I’m sure, Tonya.” Charlene smiles at her to reassure her.

Tonya chooses six coloring books she liked. There was a smile on her face as she helped Charlene shop. They originally came in to buy what they needed to make sloppy joes. Instead, they were walking out of the store with several bags of groceries.

When Tonya and Charlene get home. Tonya helps put everything away. Once everything was put away.

“Go upstairs and change out of your school clothes.”

“Yes ma’am.” Tonya rushes out of the kitchen and upstairs to Charlene’s old bedroom.

Charlene hears Tonya race up the stairs and wonders if she was that loud when she did it. She digs around under the sink and finds the cast iron frying pan she likes using. She puts that up on the stove and starts chopping up some veggies for the sloppy joe. She liked using fresh veggies to cook. She knew the fresh veggies would do Tonya some good.

Tonya comes walking back into the kitchen. She had put on a hello kitty shirt and a pair of shorts.

“You didn’t start, did you?” Tonya wanted to do the cooking.

“No, all I did is cut up the veggies for you.” Charlene looks at Tonya wearing an old hello kitty t-shirt her father gave her.

“Goodie.” Tonya pulls over the step stool and starts fixing dinner.

Charlene stands nearby and lets Tonya do the cooking. She watches her and helps Tonya out where she can. A smile appears on her face when Tonya adds the ketchup to the cooked ground beef.

Charlene pulls two plates down from the cabinet and toast some hamburger buns.

The two of them sit down at the dining room table and eat dinner. Charlene looks at Tonya after taking a bite of her sloppy joe “did your mother teach you how to make these?”

Tonya nods her head yes and takes another bite of hers.

“Well, you did a good job on making these.”

“Thanks.”

After dinner, Tonya sits with Charlene and watches a movie she has been wanting to watch, but never did. Tonya had her head resting on Charlene’s lap and was covered up by the throw blanket that was kept on the sofa.

Charlene strokes Tonya’s hair as she lays on her lap. Something her mother uses to do before she ran off, abandoning her and her father. She feels Tonya slowly fall asleep.

A smile appears on her face, as she grabs a pillow and put it under Tonya’s head. She gets up and tucks Tonya in.

“Sleep tight, Tonya.” Charlene places a kiss on Tonya’s forehead and turns the television off.

She dims the light and heads upstairs to her bedroom.