House Guest

“Hello, baby,” the septuagenarian smiled.
“Hi, Misses Pearson. I was just calling to say hi and tell you I got that job in Brennan!”
“That’s wonderful,” she mused. “Bill!”
“Huh,” the woman’s husband grunted.
“Jenna got the job!”
“That’s good,” he coughed and went back to watching his favorite throwback western series.
“We’re just so proud of you! You know you can stay here until you find a place.”
“Thank you so much,” Jenna teared up. “I gotta run.”

The leggy, pecan-brown woman with tight, springy, frosted-end coils skipped a bit as she headed off to the administration building of the large, private historically Black college. She was elated to be graduating with her Master of Social Work degree and taking her first job in the rural county where she did a huge portion of her field experience.

While there, she’d met the Pearsons, a retired carpenter and schoolteacher, and even spent a few nights at their cozy, ranch-style home.

Jenna moved in on Wednesday afternoon and Melva Pearson announced that evening over a dinner of grilled pork chops, new potatoes and green beans that she and Bill would be heading out for a four-day weekend in the morning.

“What,” gasped Jenna. “Is it okay for me to stay here?”
“Of course,” the gray-haired man said.
“Wow! Thank you! I’ll take good care of the place.”
“Oh! We know!”

Jenna woke up to see them off as they pulled out shortly before six. She dozed off a bit before getting up for work.

Friday night rolled around and Jenna decided to order a pizza and watch a couple movies at home. She tried desperately not to think of Ty. The ensemble comedy did a decent job of distracting her from her major league outfielder ex. She always knew deep down it was only temporary, but they had fallen in love. In the end, Ty was not ready to be committed to someone like her forever. He wanted a family.

She woke up a little after eight and went to handle her morning hygiene ritual. She meandered into the kitchen to toast a bagel and have some juice. She studied her phone screen while she waited for the toaster. She screamed and jumped a little when she heard the door open.