THE RUDOLPH VALENTINO CRUMPTON STORY Part 8

The only question bothering Rudolph at this particular moment was whether he would ever collect the money for his work and more important right now whether he would ever get the new clothes he had just given Tommy back in his beautiful closet. This was not the world of every fifteen year old, but to Rudolph the bar was not all that high. The same as a lot of kids looking forward to graduation of some sort and the life ahead, Rudolph now knew he could make it in his world and to a kid like Rudolph that meant a lot.

It was nearly four a.m. before Rudolph finally dozed off lying on top of the old chenille bedspread on his new bed. Shortly after falling asleep he heard one of the girls from the kitchen calling everyone to breakfast in the dining room. Exhausted and sleeping so well at this point Rudolph ignored the call and continued to sleep until almost 10:30. Finally waking from the best sleep he had enjoyed since leaving Pikeville and his uncle’s house, Rudolph quickly found the bath cloth, towel and soap Tommy used the night before and hurried to the bathroom to get himself cleaned up for ‘dinner’. Tommy had not taken a shower since leaving Pikeville so he stood under the hot water until the water actually started to cool. He brushed his teeth, applied a generous helping of Right Guard under both arms and splashed some of his new aftershave on his face. He hurried back to his room and selected a new pair of jeans, still on the original hanger from the store, and a new button up shirt still folded and pinned just as it was when they bought it the day before. He pulled the shirt from his new dresser in exactly the same spot he placed it yesterday afternoon when he and Tommy returned from the store. By the time Rudolph finished dressing he was smiling from ear to ear. He made one last pass by the mirror to admire this new person he found inside his old body before he heard the call from the kitchen announcing the ‘dinner’ meal was to be served in five minutes. As he made his way down the back stairs, he had been shown yesterday afternoon, his hunger nearly overcame him. Rudolph had only eaten one meal in this house but it was enough to hook him forever. He emerged from the stairway into the kitchen and for a moment thought he was in heaven. The stove top was covered with pots and pans, steam pouring from under the lids covering them at that moment. He spied a large pan, full of steaming biscuits, sitting next to what looked like another bowl of the banana pudding he enjoyed so much the night before. As he entered the kitchen one of the girls, Roxy he thought, looked up and motioned him on into the dining room. “Get in there child, once we set it on the table them human trash cans gonna start grapping like they ain’t ever eat before, and you gonna get hind tit”. The woman was as serious as she could be, causing Rudolph to move on through the kitchen and into the dining room quickly and to the seat he held the night before. Each place setting had a large glass of water and an equally large glass of ice tea sitting just in front of a fork that rested on a neatly folded napkin. Rudolph drained both glasses, first the ice tea and then the water as soon as he sat down and quickly refilled both from the two large pitchers resting in the middle of the table. Everyone, other than the two men Rudolph did not know the night before, was in the same seat as earlier except Miss Maxine. Just when Rudolph thought he could not wait one more minute longer Miss Maxine came through the doors that led to the front of the house and took her seat at the head of the table. As if on queue the door to the kitchen opened and the two angels from the kitchen came into the dining area carrying more food that Rudolph ever knew existed. In one hand the first angel carried a plate of bright red and neatly sliced tomatoes along with thinly sliced onions. In her other hand she carried a large bowl of slaw, covered in a bright orange colored sauce and generously sprinkled with black pepper. The second angel carried a plate of sliced ham and a large bowl of a yellow tinted potato salad filled with olives and some kind of small red vegetable pieces he did not recognize. As soon as all this was set on the table and before the folks started filling their plates, the two disappeared and almost instantly returned. This time with more bowls and trays loaded with butter beans, green beans, a Jell-O dish and the huge bowl of the cat head biscuits Rudolph had seen earlier. The food kept coming and coming until the last bite was eaten and the banana pudding bowl was once again empty. Rudolph ate until he thought he was about to burst.

Both the night before and now at ‘dinner’ there had been very little conversation between anyone at the table. The two old guys from the front porch tried to engage Rudolph by asking about his and Tommy’s foray the night before, but Rudolph had no intention of telling anyone about what had happened. The efforts to talk with Rudolph soon faded into the same two talking with each other once again about the Pirates, repeating most of everything they talked about the night before. As everyone finished and begin to wander out of the dining room and to wherever they were going, Miss Maxine caught Rudolph’s eye and motion for him to wait until the room cleared. Rudolph was scared to death at the thought of Miss Maxine telling him it was time for him to move on. Rudolph was afraid Tommy called her or talked with her in person to get her to tell him the deal was off. It would be like Tommy, Rudolph thought, that Maxine should be the one to break it to Rudolph instead of Tommy having to face him. Rudolph moved to the seat just to the right of Miss Maxine as she finished her coffee. Rudolph notice the night before Miss Maxine finished her meal with coffee, served in a silver pitcher by one of the angels, it must be something rich people do he thought to himself. “Rudolph, honey, I got a call from Tommy this morning and he wanted me to give you a message,” Miss Maxine was being so nice and it had Rudolph shaking from fear. “Yes Mam, is he all right,” Rudolph was hoping Tommy had gotten home without running into trouble. “Oh yes, he’s fine I suppose. He just wanted me to tell you that he was going to be tied up for a few days and not to worry about him,” Miss Maxine did not seem the least upset, which allowed Rudolph to breathe a little easier. “He said he did not remember to give you any cash to live on while he was busy and ask if I would tell you he’d be in touch in a few days and to give you some money to get you by while he’s gone,” Rudolph’s whole body almost shook with relief. “Yes mam, I thought he would be by here today, I’m glad you told me,” Rudolph had not even heard the part about the money. “Do you think a hundred dollars will get you by, I don’t think it will be long before he’ll be back to see you,” Miss Maxine was trying to get by with as little as she could since she had no idea whether Tommy would ever be back. Tommy had already paid for Rudolph’s room and board through next week but now with the hundred she was fronting the kid, Tommy had her upside-down again. “Yes mam, unless he’s gone a long time I can get by on that,” Rudolph could hardly stay still in his chair. With the $20 he had from yesterday this would give him $120 cash money in his pocket, more money than he ever dreamed he would have in any pocket at one time, he was rich. Maxine pulled five twenty-dollar bills from a pocket on the front of her dress and handed it to Rudolph. “Thank you Miss Maxine, and if there is anything I can do around the house let me know, I ain’t got nothing to do until Mr. Tommy comes back and I don’t mind work.” “I will tell Agnes and Roxy and I’m sure they will be calling on you for something, that’s mighty nice of you Tommy.”

Rudolph stood up and neatly folded the five bills Miss Maxine handed him on top of the lone twenty that was already in his pocket. Leaving Miss Maxine sitting at the table finishing her coffee he walked out of the dining room through the door leading to the front of the house. He walked through the foyer and onto the porch where the two older men had resumed their duties of anchoring the two chairs they seemed to always be sitting in.

Rudolph sat on a waist high brick wall that surrounded the porch. He breathed deeply from the fresh air that complimented the bright warm early fall day. What a life he thought. The pressure of working a job that required him to be some place for eight hours doing hard labor was a thing of the past. He learned early on men were expected to work under someone else’s supervision for eight to twelve hours a day, five and in some instances six days a week. Work was supposed to be for meager pay. Pay just enough to almost support a wife and a child or two. Dirty work he knew could result in hardship and sickness like the black lung that killed his father. Rudolph knew some folks had figured a way to avoid the kind of work he had always known, now he was one of those people and it felt pretty good. A kid who one day before would have been happy to find the kind of job he now knew was now beneath him.

Rudolph spent the weekend and the following Monday just hanging out around the boarding house. The meals continued as good as the first two and at breakfast Rudolph learn to like smoked sausage, Canadian bacon and pan fried potatoes, all dishes he had never experienced. Occasionally Roxy and Agnes, who by now he learned to recognize, would ask for help in moving some furniture for cleaning purposes or for help in bring in groceries from the old station wagon Miss Maxine furnished them for trips to the grocery store and K-Mart for supplies. Rudolph was beginning to get concerned about hearing from Tommy when on Tuesday morning he showed up at Maxine’s just before 10:00 o’clock. Rudolph was in the kitchen peeling potatoes for the angels when Tommy burst through the door that led from the front of the house. It was all Rudolph could do to keep from laughing out loud. Agnes and Roxy did not have as much control over their emotions as Rudolph; they both stopped dead in their tracks and broke out in uncontrollable laughter. Tommy looked like some type of freak one would pay a couple of dollars at a county fair to gawk at for a minute or two. For some reason, or maybe just out of ignorance, Tommy decided to wear a short sleeve shirt. The hair from the front part of his head, his eyebrows, eye lashes and hair from his arms was completely gone. Tommy’s skin, that hair once covered, was the whitest white Rudolph had ever seen and he literally looked like a freak of some kind. “Tommy,” Roxy screamed, “what has happened to you child.” Agnes, who was closest to Tommy was gently rubbing his head and arms and steaming tears of laughter. Agnes was speechless at the sight of this freakish human standing in her kitchen. “Thanks girls, I knew I could get a lot of sympathy from you two. Can’t you see I’m injured and need a lot of love and affection?” “What happen,” repeated Roxy, “you done burnt yo’self up honey, you look terrible.”
“Standing too close to my grill while I was lighting it Saturday night. Yea, I was grilling the biggest steaks you’ve ever seen for one of my lady friends and the damn thing blew up on me”, Tommy was using the story Rudolph had given him early last Friday morning. “Did you go to a Doctor?” Roxy asked. “Hell no, it didn’t really burn me it just singed me good, I damn sure won’t use that much lighter fluid again,” Tommy replied.

Tommy was not anxious to spend much time with the two women who were having so much fun at his expense. “I need your boy,” he said and motioned for Rudolph to follow him back through the door he just entered. Rudolph followed as directed by Tommy all the way out the front door and to his car parked on the street. The two front porch guardians were not in their usual place and the two made it to the car without Tommy catching any more ridicule for the way he looked. “Get in kid,” Tommy ordered as they reached the car. Rudolph waited for Tommy to pop the door lock on his side of the car and quickly slid in as Tommy started the Seville and put into gear to drive off. “Where are we going,” Rudolph asked as they pulled into the street. “To teach you to drive,” Tommy shot back, “we nearly got into a mess the other night because you can’t drive, why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t drive?” “You never asked,” Rudolph answered, “I’ve never even thought about it, my dad did all the driving at our house. My mom did not know how to drive until after my dad got sick and then she never got a license, she just drove to the store every now and then.” “Hell son, everybody knows how to drive, we’ve got to get you trained before we try something that important again.” Rudolph was excited he was about to learn how to drive a car but he was thinking more about how stupid Tommy was to put himself in that situation with a fifteen year old kid he did not know more about.

Tommy took Rudolph to an old airfield that was now used partially as a small industrial park. The old runway extended far beyond the metal buildings that once served as hangers but were now body shops and window tinting businesses. That afternoon, on the old runway Rudolph learned to drive. By two thirty in the afternoon Tommy was satisfied his pupil knew the fundamentals of driving and could handle a car if they were ever in a tight again like last Thursday night. With Rudolph still behind the wheel Tommy pronounced him road ready and formally matriculated him from driving school by saying, “let’s get the hell out of here and get some lunch.”

Following Tommy’s directions Rudolph drove to a McDonalds a few blocks back toward town and through the drive thru window. The two ordered the .85 cheeseburgers with fries and a drink and pulled into the parking lot of a small strip center nearby to eat their meal. Rudolph had become so accustomed to the meals back at Miss Maxine’s that this little sandwich was a real letdown. After they were parked and begun to eat Tommy casually asked Rudolph what he thought about the events of the previous Thursday night. “It was all right,” Rudolph responded, “how do you think I did”? “You were great, if it had not been for you I probably would have never pulled that truck out of the building and I would have blown myself and the truck all the way to hell,” Tommy had gotten quite serious by this time. “Can I help you again? Rudolph asked as he finished his last French fry. “Hell yes boy, you’re the man I need,” Tommy quickly replied, “I was hoping you would want to go on. There is more business out there than you and I could ever do, and I need someone like you I can depend on”. “When can we do another one?” Rudolph asked. “I’m working on a couple of things so we just sit tight until I get the go ahead. “Your o.k. with everything at Maxine’s aren’t you?” “Oh yes, Miss Maxine and the girls are great and I have never seen so much food in my life. I’ve got to make some money to pay her, how do I do that?” Rudolph wanted to know what Tommy’s real intentions were. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Maxine until we get you on your feet. Once the money starts coming in that will all take care of itself but for now I’ll take care of her. Do you need anything else in the meantime? Rudolph could see Tommy really wanted to keep him around and he for sure wanted to stay. He wanted to ask about the shirts Tommy had taken from his closet but thought that might seem ungrateful.

Rudolph continued to drive, following Tommy’s directions until he pulled up in front of Maxine’s at 4:30 on the nose. “I’ll be in touch kid,” Tommy said as Rudolph stopped the Seville and eased gearshift into the P position. Tommy exited from the passenger side and met Rudolph as he walked around the front of the car. “Take this kid,” Tommy handed Rudolph an envelop that was sealed. “This is for all you did the other night. There’s enough in there to pay Maxine back for what she fronted you while I was out of service, be sure she gets it and give her an extra twenty. She’ll want to know about me so just tell her I’m all right and that I’ll see her before the end of the week.” Rudolph took the envelope and thanked Tommy as he watched him get back into the car on the driver’s side and drive away. Rudolph did not want to open the envelope outside his room since the two porch guardians were back in their place. He knew Tommy promised him $100 for helping him last Thursday night and he was working the numbers in his mind. If the envelope had the $100 Tommy agreed to pay and if he repaid Miss Maxine $120 then he would have to take the money he was getting today and add $20 from his pocket stash and would only have $100 left. It was still more money than he ever held at one time in his life but he did not like the idea of paying money out of his pocket, even though Miss Maxine had been so nice to him. Tommy might be just like the old company store that plagued his family for so long. All this would have to be worked out in the future but first he needed to learn the business. Working for anyone was all the same, as long as you had to depend on anyone you were in trouble.

Rudolph went straight to his room, closed the door and opened the envelope. The envelope was stuffed with money as far as Rudolph was concerned. He counted it and re-counted it four, no five times. The bills were lying across his bed; he counted it one more time. $770.00, one more time he counted it, seven hundred $100 bills, six $20 bills and a lone $10. Had Tommy gotten this envelope mixed with another one he was carrying? Was he going to come back and exchange the one he gave Rudolph for another one with a lot less cash enclosed? He looked at the envelope again and examined the front. No name anywhere on the outside, nothing on the inside except cash money, more money than he could even dream about. What was the deal? Rudolph sat in his chair and stared at the cash spread across his bed. Agnes was calling everyone to supper and he had not moved from his chair in nearly two hours. Rudolph got up and pulled all the money together for the first time since he had opened the envelope Tommy had given him. He took one $100 bill and a twenty from the stack, folded it together and pushed it into the front pocket of his jeans on the side opposite where he was carrying the $120 he had since Friday when Miss Maxine had given him the five twenties. The rest of the money, $650 he slipped back into the envelope he had taken it from and wedged it between two pieces of frame on the back of the dresser near his bed. He stopped by the bathroom on his way to the back stairs, washed his hands and headed down the stairs and toward the dining room to eat.