This is the ninth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII.
Sam gave me the rundown on what I could expect as we walked the few blocks to the school.
“Audrey is the one in charge of our janitorial staff, and we just had someone leave unexpectedly, so I’m going to hand you over to her once we get to the school. I assume janitorial is OK with you?”
“Anything is OK with me. If you have work for me, I’m willing to do it.” Beggars can’t be choosers and here I am, a literal beggar.
“Great.” She looked me up and down, and I knew she was taking in all the filth I couldn’t wash off in a drinking fountain. “We’ll provide you with a uniform, and …” she hesitated before continuing. “We have showers. You’re welcome to them, if you want.”
It had been so long since I had had a shower, just thinking about it made me want to cry with relief. “I would love to take a shower,” I said.
“Good.” She smiled with relief, and I realized she had been afraid of offending me by suggesting I take a shower. As if I didn’t know how badly I stank.
Sure enough, when we got to the school, I was introduced to Audrey, who looked me up and down, gave Sam a look that said, Really? This guy? before fixing her face and saying, “I think we have a uniform in your size. Would you like me to wash your clothes for you while you’re working so you can have clean clothes when you’re done?”
“I don’t want to put you through any trouble.”
“Not at all,” she said quickly. “We do hundreds of loads of laundry here every day. Another set of clothes added to one load of laundry won’t even be noticed.”
“I would greatly appreciate it, but only if you’re sure it won’t be too much trouble.”
“Of course, I’m sure,” she said, literally waving my concerns away with a flick of her wrist. “Let’s get you a uniform, and then I’ll show you where the showers are.”
That shower was, hands down, the best shower I’ve ever had in my entire life. And the fact that I got to step into clean clothes when I got out of the shower made me feel like a new man. I felt like I could do anything!
Then I spent eight hours cleaning up vomit, piss, food that had been dropped and beverages that had been spilled, and I felt like I needed another shower. Funny how you can spend years getting used to the grime and filth of homelessness, but one shower is all it takes to get you addicted to the feeling of being clean.
I did not take another shower before leaving for the day, but I did wash my hands for several minutes before changing into my own clothes and dropping my uniform in one of the giant hampers in the laundry room.
I checked in with Audrey to let her know I was leaving for the day, and to see if there was anything else she needed from me before I headed out.
Then I went to Sam’s office. Her door was open, but I knocked anyway to let her know I was there.
“Hi Charles. Everything OK?”
“Everything is great, Sam, I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity. I just wanted to thank you again and to let you know I’m clocking out for the day.”
“Excellent. I need to stay here and get some more work done, but I’ll see you tomorrow? Same time?”
“Same time,” I confirmed, and walked out of the building feeling like things were finally starting to go my way.
To be continued…