5 Word Challenge - Wake Up Call

Andy and Doug picked me up in Doug's car at around ten in the morning.  Andy was a surfer dude from New Jersey, tall, tawny and sophomoric.  His idea of a good time was to go to the diner, and tell crude jokes in front of waitresses who had heard it all before.  Doug was the product of an abusive family, covering up his pain with humor, and afraid to look inside.  They had been sober for only a few months, and I was worried about them.

"Where are we going?", Doug asked.  "No questions.  Turn right here, go over to Lombard, and drive over the South Street bridge.  I'll let you know what to do then."  Andy and Doug glanced over at each other, nervous, but didn't say anything else.

As the blocks flowed by, I thought about Katie.  She had been a teenager when she first came to work for me.  But even then, she was stunningly beautiful.  As is always the case in a work setting, I ignored her beauty, and set about teaching her how to get the work done.  It wasn't hard; she picked things up quickly.  Over time, as appropriate, I came to learn a little more about her.

Katie was Canadian, but her mother had been born in Philadelphia, and her father was from Brazil.  She had moved to Philadelphia to help her elderly grandfather, with whom she lived.  She was such a nice person, I doubt it ever occured to her that she had picked up a burden many teenagers would never consider shouldering.

Katie spoke five languages, and clearly could do whatever she desired, if she put her mind to it.  At some point, in context, I complimented her beauty.  Katie demurred.  She told me that she had worked as a "face model" but didn't think she had what it took to make it on the runway.  She talked of having been in Paris, and of meeting the supermodel Laetitia Casta, who was so nice, and loved her young sister so much.

Over time, Katie started missing work.  When she was there, her work was exemplary.  But she took long lunches, sometimes only coming back after a couple of hours.  Some of the other guys she worked with started complaining.

I called Katie into the office one day, and asked her to sit down.  "Katie", I said, "have you thought about going to college?"  She looked down at her shoes, and didn't say anything.  "You're wasting your time here, Katie", I continued.  "You are a brilliant young woman, and could do anything you wanted.  Please consider going to college."  Katie was, as ever, unfailingly courteous, and thanked me for taking the time to speak with her.  Not long after, she announced her resignation, and enrolled in a local university.

"OK, go over to Springfield, and follow it until we get outside the city.  I'll tell you what to do then,"  Doug glanced in the mirror at me, and Andy squirmed a little in his seat.

After she left, more of the brokers started gossipping about Katie.  Apparently her "recreational" activities had been more extensive that I had known.  Lots of pot and cocaine during working hours.  Drinking after work.  I was just a little surprised, but figured she had been bored, and didn't think much of it.

It was a little over a year laater when I heard about Katie next.  She had stayed in school, and had a 4.0 GPA in a pre-law major.  She still had an adventurous side, and had gotten engaged to a heavily tattooed guy from South Philly, who ran DJ parties around town.  Knowing Katie, she must have glimpsed the light inside of him that truly kind and loving people see.  Katie was head over heels in love, and her parents were coming to town to meet their future son-in-law.  When I met her parents, they were touched that someone from her former job had taken the time.

"Turn right at the entrance, and go to the bottom of the hill."  It was a cloudy day, with a little breeze in the air.  We parked on the dirt, near a tired and grimy willow.

I walked over to the grave with them, and turned around.  "This is the grave of my secretary Katie.  She was murdered by two colleagues of her fiance, who was an ecstasy dealer, after an argument involving money.  She was twenty-two years old.  It was two years ago today.  This is not a game.  You guys need to start taking sobriety seriously."  I kneeled down, and cleaned the stone.  Then I closed my eyes, and told Katie that I was sorry I had not seen the signs.  I would have reached out to help her if I had.

Doug and Andy are still sober today.  I think Katie would be happy to know that she had helped them.  She was that kind of girl.