CHAPTER 1

Aaron

November 1

Mrs. White sat in my passenger seat, she was humming the tune to an old hymn. I knew she'd been at church yesterday, the Baptist church within walking distance from her small condo.

She never liked small talk, didn't seem to like me very much either, but she put up with me because I was the only person that showed up to take her to her appointments. It was my job to help take care of her in her old age. She was ninety-four turning ninety-five just before Christmas, she'd lost her husband twenty years ago to colon cancer and her one son died from liver failure five years prior. She had a strong heart the doctor told me, but her will power to live was not as strong.

"Just drop me off at the door, Aaron."

"Lois, I will, but I need to get your walker out first and make sure you're able to get through the doors."

"Oh, shoot, I've been doing a lot better since my hip replacement, just drop me off here," Mrs. White began to open her door, I quickly put the child locks on, and she looked at me with distain.

I slowed the car to a stop and quickly retrieved her walker, as I opened her door she sprung up, grabbed her walker and tried to walk off as fast as she could, I smiled at her and opened the doors to the doctor's office. She scowled and waved me off. I waited for her in the lobby. I had two other clients to drive to appointments that day with Mr. Edwards and Ms. Ida, they were in their nineties as well. I enjoyed my job, working as a social worker, specifically with elderly folks. I never saw myself behind a desk or in business of some sort, working with people made me happy. It gave me a sense of purpose.

"Mrs. White is all done with her appointment." The doctor came out to the lobby. “She's complaining of some pain when she urinates, so we are going to make sure she doesn't have a UTI. I will send her out, but if she's extra cranky, I mean more than usual, that may be the reason as to why, other than that she's looking pretty good for her age."

I nodded and helped Mrs. White into my car, she was silent the rest of the ride home and she hated when I played my own music, so I always obliged to keep it off. Her condo had five steps up to the front door, she quietly allowed me to help her and as I opened her front door, she looked at me, one eyebrow raised higher than the other.

"You need a nice girl in your life Aaron, that's the problem with you-"

"Mrs. White, I hope you get some rest. Do you need me to heat up your lunch?"

"No, no, I can walk from my freezer to my microwave."

I walked into her apartment, all the curtains were closed and it was so dark I couldn't make out the art on the wall. It smelled awful and as I walked through to the kitchen I noticed a sink full of dirty dishes.

"Mrs. White, do you need help keeping this place up?"

"Not at all, I was just tired this week, what sink full of dirty dishes scare you?" She grabbed her frozen dinner from the freezer and shoved it into the microwave for two minutes,."Sit down, if you're going to stay."

"No, I have another appointment," I said as I looked around. “Have a good day."