26The next morning, I had a simple bagel and yogurt breakfast before getting cleaned up and heading for a nearby park. As I half expected, there were a bunch of kids on the soccer field running around. I decided to sit down on the grass near the field and watch the kids. As I was watching I heard a voice.
"So, where downtown do you work?" the voice asked me.
I turned and saw the woman from the bus. As was the case the day before, she was wearing loose-fitting clothing. "Over in the Adams building," I answered. "What about yourself?"
"I work in City Hall in the Operations Department. My niece Madison is one of the girls out there playing. Do you have any family on either team?"
"Oh me, no," I answered. I chose not to mention how I had no interest in a husband or kids. It's not that I don't like kids. Brenda's two girls are great, and I liked Leah Khan, but I just had no desire to be tied down by a family. Having a husband and kids to worry about would put an end to my long hours at work. "I'm Kara Suttner."
"Lena Khan, my husband's cousin owns the Golden City Dragon."
"I had dinner there last night. I usually get takeout, but it was a last-second stop, so I ate there."
We watched the game as we chatted. Once it ended, I noticed a girl with two braids down her back in a yellow shirt with red shorts come running towards us. As she got closer, I could see her Asian features.
"You looked to play well Madison," I commented
"I missed two goals," she said. "Aunt Lena, are we doing anything special this afternoon?"
"Your dad mentioned how you need some new sandals, so I was thinking of taking you shopping. I did let him know he wasn't getting you back until Monday."
"Isn't this your weekend to have me as it is?" Madison asked her.
I heard Lena chuckle. Madison seemed like a great kid. She made me think of Brenda's daughter Janna. When we reached the parking lot, Lena's beat-up-looking car wouldn't start, so I sat and waited with them for AAA to arrive. When the tow truck arrived, it turned out her fan belt had snapped, and she needed a new battery. Lena decided to have it towed to the dealer. She mentioned the alternator was acting up as well.
"There goes shopping," Madison huffed.
"Tell you what Madison, why don't I give you and your aunt a ride to the mall," I offered. There were a couple of things I wanted to look at as it was.
"It's not necessary, I can call either my husband or a friend for a ride," Lena said.
"It's not a problem Lena. I have a bit of shopping I should do as it is,"
During the ride, I learned that Lena's sister had died rather suddenly when Madison was two and that Madison's dad was in the Reserves and half expecting to be called up and deployed at any time. If that happened Lena and her husband would assume temporary guardianship of her niece.
The first thing we did was raid the food court for lunch. Madison had chicken nuggets and she had the look of a veteran dipper. I had a meatball sub from one of the other booths. Once lunch was over, I went with them as they bought Madison's sandals.
"Kara, I'd hate to ask this of you, but would you mind taking Madison to the movies while I do some personal shopping?" Lena asked me.
"What do you think Madison?" I asked. She smiled at me. I made sure to exchange cell phone numbers with Lena before we separated. When Madison and I got to the theaters I was glad there was a kid-friendly movie showing. We sat through twenty minutes of theater advertising, ten minutes of coming attraction previews, and close to two hours of the actual movie. Once we were out of the theater, I called Lena so we could meet back up. She was done with her shopping, so she sat and chatted with her niece while I did what shopping I wanted to do. She had a call from the dealer as we were leaving so, we swung by there. Her reaction to what the service manager said made me want to throw my hands over Madison's ears.
"Lena, it's not the end of the world just because you need a new car," I told her. "Tell you what, I have an appointment at Midtown Buick on Monday, why don't I pick you up beforehand and you can look around while I'm doing what I need to do."
"I have to work," she said. "Plus, I have a doctor's appointment."
"I'll make it worth your while," I said. After I explained my offer, I dropped them off at the restaurant and headed home. The next morning, I went to church and spent the afternoon doing laundry. I had taken the day off from work Monday due to my appointment at the Buick dealer. I was just leaving for the dealer when Lena called my cell.
"My appointment is at 3:30 if you think we'll be done early enough for me to make my appointment," she informed me.
"It shouldn't be a problem," I told her. "Are you at home or work?"
"I'm at home. I took a personal day. To be honest I probably needed one."
"OK, I'll meet you outside Dragon," I told her. From there it was a thirty-minute drive across town to the Buick Dealer. When we pulled into the dealer, I looked at the recent model reddish-gold colored small-sized SUV parked near one door. We went inside. A short Hispanic man got up from his desk several feet away and walked over.
"Kara, I think we are all set," he said. "If you're ready we can take care of the paperwork."
"Could I borrow a quick piece of paper, blank is fine?" I asked him. He grabbed a piece from a nearby printer. I quickly wrote out a note and signed it. The dealer agent witnessed it. I then handed my keys to Lena.
"We'll get together later this week to take care of any formalities," I told her as I handed her the keys and note.
"This is too much," Lena said after reading the note.
"It solves your transportation problems though."
After signing a lot of forms, I was soon getting behind the wheel of the SUV I had eyed when I pulled in. For an evolving digital society there sure was enough old-style paper involved in buying a car. I felt good about helping Lena solve her transportation issues.