Second Chances Chapter 23 La Vie en Rose
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A Second Chance - Chapter 23 free porn video
INTERLUDE
On Saturday morning, Gary Sovey woke up feeling better than he had in
years. His mind was not clouded in an alcoholic haze, and his hands no
longer trembled. He looked around his hidey-hole. It was in a culvert
under the street where the power transmission easement passed, leading
from one side of the road to the other to provide drainage for the area.
The drainage ditch below him had less than a foot of water in it,
although in the spring the water had been as high as a foot away from
the ledge of concrete that he slept on. He had a bundle of blankets
stacked there. At this time of the year he slept on top of most of them,
with just a light sheet over top. In the winter he had slept on the
concrete, under all of them. He had still been cold, but it was much
warmer under the road than it was out in the open.
In a pile there were his winter clothes: a massive army surplus coat,
and a heavy pair of snowmobile boots. There were two apples next to
them, and when Gary looked at them he smiled. The angel had given them
to him. She said he should eat them if he couldn't get any other food.
That was good, because he knew there were no soup kitchens open on
Saturdays. He probably would go hungry, if the angel hadn't left him the
apples.
He thought about his meeting with the glowing angel. She was beautiful
and tall in his memory, all dressed in white. He recounted every word
she had said. Then he started thinking about what she had not said. What
did she want him to do? Why had she appeared to him?
He finally came to the conclusion that she wanted him to help people.
For years he had been nothing but a drunken burden on society. She would
want him to reverse that, and become useful. But what could he do?
He looked at the old broom that he used to sweep out his hidey-hole. It
was the only tool he had left. He vaguely remembered a time when he had
a lot of tools, but now there was just the broom. He picked it up and
wended his way out of the hidey-hole, making sure that no one saw him
come out onto the easement.
This was where he had met the angel. She had come from the shops over
there. There was one shop that was still empty, and it had a faucet on
the side. Gary went over to that faucet, and turned it on. First he
washed his face, getting his neck and arms clean as well. He couldn't
remember the last time he had washed. Now, with clean hands, he cupped
them and brought water to his mouth. It was delicious. The angel had
told him it would be. He drank deeply several more times, filling his
stomach with the delicious water.
Then he took his broom and went to the shops. He started to sweep the
sidewalks in the early dawn light. It took about a half hour to clean in
front of all of them, including the empty store. There was a book place,
a fruit and vegetable store, a bakery, and the two new places. He didn't
know what they were for.
Gary went back to the easement and sat on a stone near where he had seen
the angel yesterday. She had said she wouldn't come back today, so he
just waited to see what would happen. Eventually a man came and started
putting fruit and vegetables out in front of his store. Then a pretty
blonde lady came by and went into the bakery. Gary was intrigued to see
her walking down the street. She reminded him of the angel, although
less beautiful.
Anthony DaSilva finished his outside display. It was one of the key
lures the shop had to get customers into the store. He looked about, and
saw that the sidewalk had already been swept. Tony was on the ball this
morning, he thought. He walked back into the store, where his son was
setting up some of the internal displays.
"Good job on the sidewalk," Anthony told his son in Italian. "Very nice.
Very clean."
"What?" Tony answered in the same language. "I haven't been outside yet.
I will get the sidewalk swept when I finish in here. I know you like it
clean."
"It is clean already," the father said. "I wonder who swept it?"
In the bakery Geoff came out during a gap between mixing sweets for the
store, he had learned to time it so he could spend five minutes giving
the storefront a quick sweep each day while goods were baking. He did it
early, because if he did it later someone would come by, and want to
chat. That meant the baking might burn. When he first opened, sweeping
wasn't part of his routine, and the store quickly started to look shabby
without a morning sweep.
He stepped quickly back into the shop. "Maria, you shouldn't sweep the
sidewalk," he said. "There is more than enough to do in here in the
morning."
"I didn't sweep it," she said as she sliced the fresh bread. "I noticed
it was swept when I came in. I assumed you had done it earlier."
"I wonder who swept it," the baker said, mimicking the words of his
neighbor, although in a different language.
Gary sat on his stone, disgusted at what he saw as the morning went on.
People were constantly throwing rubbish on his sidewalk. If it was
something big, like litter, he would get up, go and pick it up, and
carry it to the big bin behind the fruit market.
Smokers were the worst, he decided. They would just flick their ashes,
and even cigarette butts anywhere. Once it left their hands, it was
gone, to their minds. But it was not gone. It was on his clean sidewalk,
cluttering it and offending the angel, he was sure.
At about 10 a.m. he got the broom and went back, sweeping the sidewalk
again. He was noticed by the woman in the bakery, but not by anyone in
the market.
"The sweeping mystery is solved," Maria mentioned to Geoff as they
passed in their duties. "There is an old hobo out there with a broom
right now. I wonder if he is hungry?"
"Well, if he does it again, give him a couple stale rolls," Geoff
suggested. "I hope it won't make him loiter around though. He might
scare off the customers."
Gary went back to his stone, and sat again, watching passersby continue
to throw their filth around without a care. He decided to sweep again in
mid afternoon. His angel would want the sidewalk clean, he was sure.
This time the Italian lady in the market noticed him, and she was about
to come out and shoo him away until she saw what he was doing. She went
back into her shop, a little confused.
Further down, as Gary was finishing up in front of the bakery, the lady
who reminded him of his angel came out. She handed him two large fresh
rolls, and said she would appreciate it if he didn't eat them in front
of the store. He popped one in each pocket, and then continued to sweep
the other storefronts.
It was three when Gary decided to make another clean sweep. The rolls
had been filling, and he was still a little hungry. This meant he
wouldn't eat the angel's apples, since she said they were for a day when
he had no other food.
This time when he swept, the Italian lady came out, with three over-ripe
bananas. They wouldn't be salable on Monday, and she had enough for her
Sunday baking without them, so she decided to give them to the sweeper,
instead of throwing them in the bin out back. He accepted them politely,
and then continued to sweep.
The pretty lady in the bakery saw him, and smiled at him. Gary felt
pleasure. He couldn't remember the last time a pretty woman had smiled
at him. Usually he only saw looks of revulsion and disgust. He held his
head a little higher as he went back to his stone, where he sat and ate
the bananas. He felt full for the first time in a long while.
He did his last sweep in the late evening, just before dark. The bakery
was closed, as was the market. He could hear music from upstairs at the
market, a radio or television, perhaps. The upstairs of the bakery, and
all the other shops, was dark and quiet. When he was done, he took his
broom down into his hidey-hole. He felt proud of himself. He had kept
the sidewalk clean all day long. He felt sure that his angel would
approve.
Sunday morning he awoke to the same routine. Today none of the shops
were open, although he could hear sounds above the market again. He
didn't care. He swept up at dawn, and twice more again in the morning.
Not so many cars went by, throwing trash from their windows, but those
that did he picked up after.
Just after noon he went out again, but was dismayed to see a woman with
odd-looking hair painting the window to her shop. He couldn't sweep with
someone painting. The dust would ruin the work.
Not that the painting was going well. The woman was clearly not used to
painting, and was pretty much making a mess of it.
"Can I show you how to do it?" he asked.
The frustrated, but pretty woman looked at him and smiled. This made
Gary feel happy. He took the brush from her hand, and showed her how to
do it. "Like this, with long flowing strokes, not short stubby ones. You
need to let the paint do the work, not the brush."
"You are a painter?" the woman asked.
"I was, once. A long time ago," Gary said, remembering into his cloudy
past. "Among other things."
"Could you paint this?" the woman held out a computer printout of the
window, with a wild-looking design on it. "It was so easy on the
computer, but I just don't have the talent. I want to paint over the
entire picture window. Ladies in a salon don't like people looking in on
them, and I thought this would be better than just a curtain. Besides, I
can't afford to buy a big sign yet. I will pay you for it."
"The angel wants me to help people," Gary said. "I will paint it for
you. But you need blue paint. You have yellow and red, and I think that
will be enough black. You won't have enough yellow though. You need
another pint I think. And two quarts of the blue."
"Thank God Home Depot is open on Sunday," she said. "Can I go get paint
while you try to salvage this mess?"
It was nearly an hour later when Ariel returned with the paint, along
with a selection of brushes, paint thinner to clean them, and painter's
tape. Gary accepted all of it politely, but refused the painter's tape.
He said it was easier to just paint carefully rather than mess with
tape.
Ariel was amazed at what he had done in a short time. The sign was about
a third done, and she watched with amazement as he copied the printed
plan, drawing the curves of the font perfectly by eye.
She then heard car brakes slam on the road behind them. She turned, and
the car that had stopped backed up, and then pulled into a parking
space. A woman and her daughter got out.
"See Mom," the girl said. "This is the new shop I was telling you about.
Are you opening soon?"
"Tomorrow, I hope. Now that I have the sign being done for me,
everything is ready for then. I want to start at 9 a.m. and will be open
until 6."
"Can I make an appointment for, like 4?" the girl said. "I get out of
school then. Unless I can skip school and come in earlier?" She looked
hopefully at her mother.
"Not a chance," the mother said. "You can book for 4, if that time is
open."
"It is all open," Ariel said. "The appointment book is empty right now.
In fact, if you want I could take you right now. It would give me a
chance to test out all my equipment and how it is arranged."
"Oh, Mom, can I?" the girl gushed.
"Well, I have some shopping to do at the mall," the mother said. "But if
you would rather be here I'll come back and pick you up in what? A half
hour?"
"Give me an hour," Ariel said. "I'd like to try a few things with her,
if she is interested."
As the mother drove off, Ariel led the girl into the shop. "My name is
Carly Henderson," the girl said.
An hour later Mrs. Henderson returned. She was amazed at Carly's hair.
The once long locks had been cut into a radical looking style. For a
minute she wasn't sure about it, but then she realized that it was
perfect for the shape of her face. Her daughter looked awesome.
"What is this going to cost me?" Mrs. Henderson said. "It looks like a
million dollars."
"Well, it won't cost that much," Ariel joked. "How about $40? It would
normally be more like $60, for a full hour, but I was taking my time and
such."
"That is a bargain," Mrs. Henderson said, pulling out two twenties. "Do
you like it sweetheart?"
"I love it," Carly gushed. "Wait till the girls at school see it."
All three women walked out of the shop together, and turned around to
look at the sign, which was nearly done. It was amazing. The cutting
edge design that Ariel had made on the computer was duplicated almost
perfectly on the window. Paint obscured the view in, and made an eye-
catching display that was far better than any sign.
"You are a genius, Gary," Ariel said. "What do I owe you for it? Would
$200 be enough? You've worked on it all afternoon. Maybe $300."
"No money," Gary insisted. "My angel wants me to help people. I helped
you."
Ariel was aghast. How could this impoverished looking man not want any
money?"
"How can I not pay you?" she said. "I have to give you something."
"I am hungry. If you have a little food, that would be nice," Gary
admitted.
"I'm on it. If you finish before I get back, wait here for me," Ariel
said getting into her car and driving off.
A half hour later she was back, and Gary was cleaning the brushes. The
sign was finished, and Ariel thought it was spectacular. And the take
out meals she had in the bags had only cost her $30. She had two bags.
One was for her to take upstairs to her little apartment for her supper.
But the other one, with a double order was for Gary. What a wonderful
bargain. She knew she owed the man more, but didn't know how to get him
to accept it. She would let everyone she met know who had done the sign.
Maybe he would get more work. But if he refused to take money ?? She was
stumped.
"Here Gary, this is for you," Ariel said, handing him the takeout bag.
"That smells wonderful," Gary said. "Thank you so much. I have cleaned
all the brushes, and sealed all the paint cans. The black one was empty,
so I threw it in the bin. Keep the others in case we need to touch it
up."
"You are a doll, Gary, thank you so much."
"It is all I can do for my angel," the man said, walking towards the
easement. "She wants me to help people."
"Well you certainly helped me," Ariel told him before he was around the
edge of the buildings.
Gary went to his hidey-hole. It was getting late, and he couldn't sweep
again without disturbing the paint. It would be dry enough in the
morning, he hoped. He sat in his hole, and took out the meal. To him, it
was a feast: a double order of open-faced beef sandwich, with the gravy
still hot. There was a coffee there, but he drained that into the
stream. He only could drink water. There were mashed potatoes, and mixed
vegetables, also in double portions. He saved the two rolls, smaller and
not as good smelling as the ones the bakery lady had given him. They
would be breakfast.
The meal filled Gary completely, meaning the apples would sit on the pad
for another day. His angel was changing his life completely. He was well
fed, and he would feel pride every time he walked past Ariel's window.
It was all due to the angel, he decided.
Monday he was up early again. He gently touched the paint on the last
part of the window he had done, and found it completely dry, so he made
his first sweep of the street.
Later, the woman from the bakery gave him two buns. They were much
tastier than the ones he had for breakfast from the dinner Ariel had
bought. In the afternoon he only got two bananas, but they were bigger
ones, and fresh too.
That afternoon he was dismayed to see a large group of girls
congregating outside his window. He couldn't sweep with them there, and
some of them were littering his sidewalk. He just sat and fumed.
Then he saw her. It was his angel. She looked over and saw him sitting
on his stone, and came towards him. She reached into her bag, and pulled
out another of those delicious sandwiches, and another bottle of water.
"Are you hungry, Gary," she asked. She remembered his name. He felt
honored.
"A little," he said. "I have been doing good. I keep the street clean,
and I painted a window for the nice lady in that store."
"You painted the window?" she said. "It is beautiful. I really, really
like it. God has given you special talents."
"Have you been drinking," she then asked seriously.
"Yes ma'am," he said. "But only water. Water is delicious."
"Good," the angel said. "Then I will bring you another sandwich tomorrow
after school."
Angels go to school, Gary thought? He didn't care. He was ecstatic. The
angel liked his window. She said God was happy. He didn't think of
anyway his life could get better as the angel walked back to the store
with his window.
He turned and went to his hidey-hole. It would be another day without
the apples.
Gigi
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