phone?” Cara asks from across the table with a chocolate covered face and sticky fingers. We just finished eating fudgesicles, Cara and Cayden are covered in sticky chocolate. Jordy and Noah are huddled playing a game on Jordy’s phone and managed to eat theirs without the mess.
“Let me clean you up first,” I say as I move to Rosa’s kitchen for a wet towel.
“I’ve got boxes of toys in the hall closet for my grandkids. Go get ‘em and have some fun. Kids and cellular phones these days. You need to play with toys like normal children and let your brains talk to your fingers, telling them to do something besides push buttons on a screen. You need to build somethin’ and pretend somethin’. I have three kids and they’re all smart. Two of ‘em are engineers and it’s all because they built things with their toys,” Rosa lays out a life lesson thick for the kids.
I grin at all four who are gazing big eyed at her, not knowing what to do or say. I make it to the little ones and mop up their faces, “A couple more minutes on the phones, then you can hit the toys. Sound fair?”
They give me little nods as I slide my phone to Cara and Noah. They look like they’ve turned on the camera and have started clicking pictures of each other and everything else in sight.
“How did you and Mr. Franks meet?” I ask, reclaiming my seat and flipping through the pages of faded black and white photos.
“Leo was an officer, he’d done his time in Germany and the war was over. He decided to stay in, make it a career and was back in the states for the time being. He got himself a desk job. You see, Leo, he was four years older than me. I had just graduated high school the year before and got a job as a secretary. I was really good at typing, fastest in my class and scored well on the interview tests. Anyway, I was a secretary in the same military office Leo was in,” she explained.
“You were his secretary and had an office romance? No wonder you like your trashy books,” I tease her grinning, giving her my big eyes.
“Now you stop it, child,” she rebukes with a frown. “I didn’t work for him. I was a secretary for his boss’s boss, but we worked in the same office. And I did not like Leo Franks. He was back from war, and oh my stars, was he cocky, even if he was handsome. He thought he was all that and a bag o’ chips. Well, I’ll let you know, I didn’t even think he was a package o’ stale crackers.”
“What changed your mind?”
At this point, the kids had put down all devices and were listening to Rosa. She notices this too and looks straight at them, “This one day in the middle of winter, I was leaving work. It was already dark and I was walking to my car. I could hear some rustling noise from the side and a scary looking man started walking straight to me.”
“Oh no,” I say and look over at the kids, hoping Rosa’s story won’t scare them. They are all big eyed, listening with rapt attention.
“Oh yes,” Rosa says to me and gives me the eyes that communicate way more than words. I raise my eyebrows in question and she answers me by giving me a little sideways shake of her head. I know whatever happened, or almost happened, was not good.
“Oh no,” I repeat, but in a hush this time.
“Yes child,” she confirms. Then she looks back to the kids, “Well, that man scared the daylights outta me. But then, one second I was alone with the scary man and the next, my Leo showed up and took care o’ him. Laid him to waste, he did. When he was done and got back to me, he put his arm around my shoulders, pulled me to him and said, ‘You left without me, honey bun. How many times do I have to tell you not to leave by yourself?’ I had no idea what he was talking about since I’d never given him the time of day, but needless to say, I didn’t care because I was shaking like a lamb on butcher day.”
I grin and the
“Let me clean you up first,” I say as I move to Rosa’s kitchen for a wet towel.
“I’ve got boxes of toys in the hall closet for my grandkids. Go get ‘em and have some fun. Kids and cellular phones these days. You need to play with toys like normal children and let your brains talk to your fingers, telling them to do something besides push buttons on a screen. You need to build somethin’ and pretend somethin’. I have three kids and they’re all smart. Two of ‘em are engineers and it’s all because they built things with their toys,” Rosa lays out a life lesson thick for the kids.
I grin at all four who are gazing big eyed at her, not knowing what to do or say. I make it to the little ones and mop up their faces, “A couple more minutes on the phones, then you can hit the toys. Sound fair?”
They give me little nods as I slide my phone to Cara and Noah. They look like they’ve turned on the camera and have started clicking pictures of each other and everything else in sight.
“How did you and Mr. Franks meet?” I ask, reclaiming my seat and flipping through the pages of faded black and white photos.
“Leo was an officer, he’d done his time in Germany and the war was over. He decided to stay in, make it a career and was back in the states for the time being. He got himself a desk job. You see, Leo, he was four years older than me. I had just graduated high school the year before and got a job as a secretary. I was really good at typing, fastest in my class and scored well on the interview tests. Anyway, I was a secretary in the same military office Leo was in,” she explained.
“You were his secretary and had an office romance? No wonder you like your trashy books,” I tease her grinning, giving her my big eyes.
“Now you stop it, child,” she rebukes with a frown. “I didn’t work for him. I was a secretary for his boss’s boss, but we worked in the same office. And I did not like Leo Franks. He was back from war, and oh my stars, was he cocky, even if he was handsome. He thought he was all that and a bag o’ chips. Well, I’ll let you know, I didn’t even think he was a package o’ stale crackers.”
“What changed your mind?”
At this point, the kids had put down all devices and were listening to Rosa. She notices this too and looks straight at them, “This one day in the middle of winter, I was leaving work. It was already dark and I was walking to my car. I could hear some rustling noise from the side and a scary looking man started walking straight to me.”
“Oh no,” I say and look over at the kids, hoping Rosa’s story won’t scare them. They are all big eyed, listening with rapt attention.
“Oh yes,” Rosa says to me and gives me the eyes that communicate way more than words. I raise my eyebrows in question and she answers me by giving me a little sideways shake of her head. I know whatever happened, or almost happened, was not good.
“Oh no,” I repeat, but in a hush this time.
“Yes child,” she confirms. Then she looks back to the kids, “Well, that man scared the daylights outta me. But then, one second I was alone with the scary man and the next, my Leo showed up and took care o’ him. Laid him to waste, he did. When he was done and got back to me, he put his arm around my shoulders, pulled me to him and said, ‘You left without me, honey bun. How many times do I have to tell you not to leave by yourself?’ I had no idea what he was talking about since I’d never given him the time of day, but needless to say, I didn’t care because I was shaking like a lamb on butcher day.”
I grin and the
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