Page 19 of Breathless
“Why are you dressed like that?” she asked.
“Hank Patterson called to inform me that I’ll be working at The Village in a security position,” he said. “The Brotherhood Protectors are installing a security system to the living quarters for them, but it won’t arrive until next week. Until then I’ll be doing whatever the director needs me to do while you are volunteering. I hope that won’t be a problem for you?”
“No. Not at all,” she said, her heart skipping a beat. She liked the idea that she’d be getting to see him while at The Village. “I’d been wondering what you’d be doing with your time while I volunteered. This works out perfectly.”
“Good. Let’s go. I’m eager to drive my new wheels.”
Chaney smiled, tucked her cellphone in her jeans’ pocket and followed him out the door, locking up behind her.
They drove to The Village. The ride was a dream. The car’s seat hugged her body like a glove, and she relaxed as Rawlins maneuvered the streets across town.
“Is it driving as smooth as if feels?” she asked.
“More than smooth,” he said. “It’s like velvet. And the steering suspension turns on a dime.”
Chaney sighed. “I can’t wait to have my own car someday.”
“What kind do you want?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it recently,” she said. “In high school I wanted a Mustang. But living in Colorado I might want something more practical, that will travel in all kinds of weather. A jeep or something all-wheel drive.”
“This is,” he said. “It might look sporty, but I looked it up and it is classified as an all-wheel drive vehicle.”
“Sweet,” she said.
By the time they reached downtown Colorado Springs, Rawlins pulled over on a side street and they got out to pick up lunch at a deli to take with them.
“I should have thought to pack a lunch,” Chaney apologized when they got back in the car. “I don’t know where my head was at this morning.”
“I’m sure you were nervous about your first day,” he said. “I didn’t think either. It only crossed my mind when I saw that fast food billboard and it got me thinking about what we were going to do. Did Hannah mention where the volunteers and staff eat?”
Chaney shrugged. “Maybe the staff eats on site?”
“They might, but if they don’t, we’ll at least be prepared.”
They rode in silence the rest of the way and when they got there, the staff was breaking up from a meeting.
Hannah and another woman named Lydia met them and introduced themselves. “Perfect timing,” Hannah greeted. “Tomorrow you should report at eight like everyone else, but I wanted you here at ten today because of the meeting. Let’s get you both set up in the system. Staff swipes in with coded badges.”
She led them down the hall to a room with a computer system that was connected to a camera and a special printer. “We’ll just snap photos of you. It won’t take but a moment to process these. If you’ll stand back against the wall there.”
They did as she instructed, smiling, while she snapped their pictures. A few seconds later their name badges with photo identification printed out and she gave them each a clip-on badge.
“Chaney, you will be shadowing Lydia today. She will show you what you will be doing. Rawlins, you’ll come with me, please.”
“I see you brought lunch. Let me show you the staff break room first,” Lydia said. “Then we’ll go to our first session. I run a teen support group at ten fifteen. We never know who will show up. But all are welcome to share.”
They walked down the hallway to a nice size room with a small kitchen area with refrigerator, sink, counter, upper and lower cupboards. A round table with six chairs sat in the center of the room and on the far wall was a sofa. A television hung from a bracket on the wall.
Chaney opened the refrigerator and found a place for the bag on the bottom shelf and put it there. Then she followed Lydia back down the hall to another room where there was a circle of chairs set up. A counter along the wall held refreshments for the session. Bottles of water in a plastic tub of ice, a bowl of apples and oranges, as well as a platter with individually wrapped granola bars.
“Help yourself to a bottle of water if you like,” Lydia said. “Or a piece of fruit. We try to make sure these teens get a balance meal any way we can.”
Chaney nodded. “Thank you, but we ate before we came this morning.” She took a seat beside Lydia.
Two girls came in and helped themselves to items from the counter before taking a seat in the circle. Next a girl and a guy a few years older than her entered. They looked like they had been arguing and she didn’t appear to want to be anywhere near the guy, but he sat beside her in the circle anyway.
A minute later two more boys came in and then another girl before Lydia began talking.
