"Come on, I'll show you the room." Then he led her down the hall and opened the door to the former office/storage room. It had an empty desk in one corner and a small pile of boxes in the other. Seeing the boxes, Jack was reminded that he still needed to take Fran's things and donate them to the woman's shelter. While we wanted to just go to his room and dive into his soul space, he also didn't want to leave Madison alone. Still, he needed to go get her an air mattress, and he might as well make the donation trip while he was at it.
"So...I was thinking," he paused, "since I have to go out to buy an air mattress, I figured I might as well take care of donating Fran's things as well."
She nodded. "That makes sense." Then she pointed at the small pile of boxes in the corner, "are those it?"
"Yeah, that's most of it. But I still have a few of Fran's things I need to pack. I...was not looking forward to it. So, I've been putting it off."
"Do you want help?"
"Yes!" he blurted. He really didn't want to deal with the emotions that would almost certainly get dredged up as he was packing her remaining clothes. "Do you mind if you do it by yourself?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't mind."
"Great, let me grab a box. The sooner you're done, the sooner I can get going and get back."
Jack loaded the last of the boxes into the Gray Nissan Sentra he had inherited from Fran, then closed the passenger door. He'd filled the trunk, back seats, and the front passenger seat, managing to cram everything he planned to donate into the car. The car was so full that he could barely see out the back window through the rearview mirror, but at least he would only have to make one trip. He found the thought of giving away any of Fran's things unpleasant, but he intended to carry out her last wishes, and this was one of them.
He turned to Madison, who had helped load the boxes, "Are you sure you're okay to be here by yourself? It feels kinda rude to leave so soon after you just got here."
She sighed, "It's fine Jack. Really. Besides, it will be nice for once to be able to take a shower wi...in peace and quiet."
It sounded like she was going to say something else, then changed her mind. With? Without? Without what? Without her uncle or cousin creeping on her? He really wanted to know what was going on there that caused her to flee, but he wasn't going to ask. If she wanted him to know,
she'd tell him.
"Okay, I don't think I'll be able to avoid evening rush hour, so It will probably take me at least three, maybe four hours."
"It's fine Jack. And thanks for letting me stay."
"Hey. What are friends for?"
He got in the driver's seat and pressed the button on the garage door opener. As he backed out of the garage, Madison waved once, then turned and walked back into the house. Pushing the button to closed the garage door, he backed out onto the street. He hoped he could avoid the worst of rush hour. He was tempted to try and activate Parallel Self, so he could play with snapshots while he drove, but he wasn't certain how it worked and didn't want risk crashing.
The women's shelter was a small three story building that had originally been a hotel. When Jack walked into the lobby, he noticed an older woman behind the reception desk and two women standing in front of the desk. One was a younger woman that couldn't be older than twenty, and the other was of indeterminate age, not young, not old, with shoulders hunched.
As Jack approached the desk, he noticed that the woman with hunched shoulders turned to hide her face and hunched her shoulders even further. He wasn't certain, but figured the woman with hunched shoulders was staying at the shelter and the younger woman was a volunteer.
Stopping at the desk, he said tentatively, "Hi, I'm Jack. I talked to Melody about donating some stuff. She said I could drop it off with you?"
The older woman behind the desk frowned slightly before saying, "Melody didn't mention anything to me about receiving a donation." She paused, then started, "Let me-"
But before she could continue, the young woman interjected disdainfully, "Well, don't you just feel special, swaggering in here like you're god's gift to woman? Like we should be grateful to you for gracing us with your largess." Then she hmphed and continued, "We don't need your man things. Get lost!"
Still emotionally raw from his loss and not entirely comfortable parting with Fran's possessions, he felt rage building inside him. This girl, he'd subconsciously downgraded her from woman, was shitting all over his memory of Fran, over her choices, over her possessions.
The woman behind the desk gave the girl a look of admonishment. At the same time, Jack turned to the girl and said, "They are not my things. They are my mother's things, and one of her dying wishes was for her possessions to be donated to this shelter. So, please, by all means, continue shitting on my dead mother." He thought about making a template of her, so he could...he squashed the thought.
The girl looked like she would rather double down than admit she overstepped, but before she could mouth off, the woman behind the desk said, "Fran? Is your mother Fran?"
"Yes," he replied, turning back to look at the older woman. "Yes, she is...was my mother."
She turned to the girl and, while pointing at the woman with hunched shoulders, said, "Take her to room five and help her get settled." Then turning to Jack, she said, "I'm so sorry for your loss." Then she then continued, "Melody did call. She failed to mention your name, but did tell me a bit about Fran and the help she has provided this shelter in the past."