It was a beautiful late spring day and I had just gotten out of bed in my apartment. It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning at about 10 o’clock of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. I had been out with a number of my friends the night before. We had gone clubbing, drinking and dancing with girls we met in the club.

My buddies and I were celebrating the start of the holiday weekend. I’d had quite a bit of alcohol but I was not drunk when I came home. I did have a little bit of a headache but I was not really hung over. Especially, like I would have been if I had come home knee walking, puking drunk.

I had decided that I was not going to come home drunk as a skunk and lay around all day with a head pounding hang over. I had told myself I was not going to wake up this morning feeling like warmed over death and feel like I would have to get better to die.

I had been through my days of being hungover like that and it didn’t take me very long to tell myself: ‘You dumb ass, you know what causes this and you did it to yourself. There wasn’t anyone standing beside you twisting your arm to drink that much.’

On getting up I went into the kitchen, grabbed and took a couple of headache tablets. I jumped into the shower, shaved and brushed the garbage truck taste out of my mouth and freshen my breath. After my shower and shave I was pretty much feeling like a human being again. I got dressed in my tee shirt, sports shorts and thought about what I wanted to do for this fabulously beautiful sunny holiday weekend.

I knew that I sure as hell didn’t want to spend the whole day in my apartment cooped up alone on such a beautiful spring day. So, I got on the phone and called my buddy, Steve, to see if he had any plans for the day. When Steve answered the phone I asked him, “Hey, guy, this is Levi. What’s up with you this morning?”

He responded, “Oh, Man, I was just about to give you a call. Fran (Steve’s live in girlfriend.) is here and we did not want to waste such a great day inside so we called a bunch of our friends to see if they wanted to go across the street for a volleyball game.

That would get us all outside in the sunshine and fresh air. But they all had different plans or they were too hung over to do anything today after being drunk on their asses last night. They all said that they felt like they’d have to get better to die.”

I told him, “Let me make a couple of calls and see what I can do, man.” I called several of my other friends and they all were either hung over from last night or they had other plans. I called Steve back and told him, “No luck, man. They’re all either hung over from last night or they have other plans, too.

But, you and I and Fran can go over to the park and get some exercise on the volleyball court. And maybe we can pick up another player to complete the teams. I’ll be over there in about a half an hour.”

Steve replied, “Ok, Man, we’ll be here waiting for you. Fran and I have the volleyball, so all you need to do is shag your sorry ass on over here, Muy Pronto.”

“Ok, you two stay cool until I get there, Buddy.”

I hustled my ass on over to Steve’s place. He and Fran met me out front and we walked across the street to the park. We found an unoccupied volleyball court to play on.

Since there were only the three of us, I told Steve, “Hey, man, I’ll play on my side of the court and you and Fran can play against me until we can pick up another player. Just cut me some slack and don’t be too hard on my ass.” We played several games and as you would have expected they skunked me every game.

To be honest, I think that Steve would have skunked me by himself and Fran wasn’t any slouch either. They wore me out chasing their spikes. We took a 30 minute break for us all to catch our breath, drink some cool water and rest and then we resumed our game.

After we played several more games, I noticed a young girl sitting on the bench watching us play. I called time, stepped up to the net and told Steve, “Hey, man, have you noticed that girl sitting on the bench over there watching us play?”

“Yeah, I have, dude. Do you suppose that she would want to join the game with us and play on your side? Of course, Fran and I think you’re going to need two more partners to help you beat us.” He snickered at me looking at the sweat on my forehead and the sweat thoroughly soaking my shirt.

“Hey, I don’t know. Let me go over there and ask her?” With the volleyball in my hand I walked over to where she was sitting and said, “Hello, Miss, my name is Levi.”

She immediately asked, “Oh is that Levi like the jeans?”

“Yes, yes it is. It is spelled the same and pronounced the same way, too.”

“Hi, Levi. My name is Clemma; it is nice to meet you, Levi.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Clemma. My friends and I have noticed that you were sitting here intently watching our game. And since they are skunking me every game we wanted to know if you would like to join our game. I’d like you to join us on my side of the court since I sure need the help in the game. If you would really like to, you are very welcome to join us and play on my side.”

“Ah, thank you, Levi, but, I am not much of a volleyball player. I have just been enjoying watching you and your friends play.”

“Well, you are still welcome to join us at any time if you would like to. We would love to have you play on my side of the court. You would make the game that much more even and you can see that I’m not much of a volleyball player either. We just came out to play and get some exercise, fresh air and sunshine and enjoy the really beautiful and nice spring day.”

Steve, Fran and I played several more games while Clemma watched. When it began to get late in the afternoon we decided to call it a day. Steve said, “Levi, Fran and I have some other plans for this evening. So, we are going to pack it in and head back to my apartment. We need to get something to eat and get showered and cleaned up.”

“OK, man, I’m just about pooped the way you and Fran ran my ass all over the court today. We’ll catch you and Fran later. You two have a good evening.” Steve and Fran both said good bye and hoofed it back for their apartment.

After Steve and Fran left, I walked over and sat down on the bench with Clemma. I was really worn out. But, I asked, “Did you enjoy the game, Clemma?”

“Yeah, you and your friends put on a good show but you look like you are beat. You’re all soaked with sweat. You’re going to need a shower when you get home.”

“Yeah, I’m really beat. And I’m really hungry after all of that exercise. You look like you are hungry, too,”

“Oh, yeah, I am just famished, Levi.”

Then I told her, “I am going to walk over to that little restaurant on the other side of the park and get something to eat. Would you like to go with me? I would be happy to buy your supper for you. I really hate to eat alone and you look like you would be good company to have supper with.”

Clemma said, “Thank you, Levi. I would love to have supper with you and I think that you would be good company for me to have supper with, too.” Clemma was wearing a pair of wrinkled walking shorts and a wrinkled short sleeve blouse that looked like she had been wearing them for a couple of days or more as though she had been sleeping in her clothes.

She had a very pretty face but, her hair was tangled and matted as though it hadn’t been combed, brushed or even shampooed for several days or longer, too. She had a very shapely figure and I had to wonder why such a pretty young girl like her was in such a totally unkempt looking condition. No matter, I was not going to hold that against her. She had a very pleasant demeanor and personality about her and she talked very nicely and very intelligently.

We walked over to the restaurant and sat down in a booth and I told her to order whatever she wanted from the menu. She ordered a plate lunch and I ordered a different plate lunch for myself.

When our meals came we chatted and ate and as we were chatting. I asked her, “Why were you just sitting in the park this afternoon and not out with your friends on such a pretty day as today, Clemma?”

She replied, “They were all out doing something else today.” She ate all of her plate lunch and she looked like she was still hungry and I asked her, “You have just devoured everything on your plate like you haven’t eaten today. Do you want something more to eat, Clemma?”

“Yes, I do. May I have some more, please, Levi?”

“Of course, Clemma, you sure can.”

I called the waitress over and told her, “Bring her a second plate lunch.” The waitress said, “I’ll have to charge you for the extra plate lunch.”

I replied, “That’s Ok. Just bring her another plate lunch, please.”

I turned to Clemma and said, “You’re eating like you haven’t had anything to eat in a couple of days.”

“I have not eaten a whole lot in the last couple of days, Levi.”

“Well we’ll take care of that for you this evening.” I said as the waitress brought her a second plate lunch. I sat and sipped my cup of coffee as she finished her second plate lunch and we continued to chat. After she finished her plate lunch we chatted a little longer and then we got up out of the booth and I paid for our meals.

We walked outside and dark had fallen by that time. I said to Clemma, “Since it’s dark I’ll walk you home or to your apartment. Where do you live, Clemma?”

She quickly replied with sadness on her face and in her eyes, “I don’t have a home or apartment to go to, Levi.”

Then I asked her with amazement on my face, “What? Where are you living then?”

She sheepishly replied, “I have spent the last several nights in the homeless shelter on the other side of the park.”

“Why are you spending the nights in the homeless shelter?”

She replied with tears beginning to form in her eyes, “Because, my Mother kicked me out of her apartment.”

“I am not going to let you spend another night in that place. It can’t be safe for a girl alone like you are to sleep there. Come on I have a couch that makes into a bed and you can stay in my apartment if you would like to and if you feel safe staying with me.”

“I think that I’m reasonably safe with you, Levi. I think that spending the night sleeping on your couch would be a whole lot safer than spending the night in the homeless shelter. Besides, I don’t have any other choices that are any better than the homeless shelter. Which way do we go to get to your apartment?”

I am sure that people would tell me that I was out of my fricken mind. They’d say letting a girl that I didn’t even know and didn’t know anything about spend the night in my apartment for the night was stupid. I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, well there are people that pick up stray cats and dogs and help them, too. And I’ll be damned if I was going to turn this seemingly innocent young woman out to wander the streets by herself.

Hell, she could possibly be raped and/or killed wandering the streets after dark. Besides, I would like to think that if I was in her predicament there would be someone who would help me.’ Then we started out walking as I led her toward my apartment. I told myself, ‘She’s likely to be assaulted and raped and maybe even killed.

She fell right into step with me as we started walking toward my apartment chattering with me all the way. I just couldn’t believe that anyone would kick a sweet, young and innocent, girl out on the street to live in a homeless shelter. Then I got to thinking what if she was an underage run away. I asked her “How old are you, Clemma?”

“I’m 19, Levi.”

“Have you finished high school yet?”

“Yeah, I have. I just graduated a few days ago.”

“We need to talk about this a little more when we get to my apartment.” When we got to my apartment I told her, “First things first. You probably have not had a shower since you left your Mother’s apartment. Is that right?”

She nodded her head and said, “Yeah, that’s right. I could use a shower but, I was deathly afraid to take a shower at that homeless shelter.”

“Stay right there where you are.” as I went to my bedroom and got out an old pair of my shrunken walking shorts and an old shrunken tee shirt and handed them to her. I showed her the bathroom and got her a towel and wash cloth. Then I said to her, “There’s some women’s shampoo, hair conditioner and body wash you can use that are in the cabinet.

You can lock the door on the inside while you are in the shower, too. The shorts and the tee shirt won’t fit you well but, at least they’re clean and you will feel a whole lot better when you have showered and you can get into some clean clothes. There is a clean shower robe hanging on the hook on the back of the bathroom door if you want to use it with the shorts and tee shirt I have just provided for you.”

I heard the shower running and about 30 minutes later Clemma came out of the bathroom. Man, did she really look pretty when she came out of the shower. Her pretty face was clean and her still wet hair was shining. She said, “I found some lipstick and some make up in the cabinet, too, and I used them. I hope that you don’t mind that I used them, Levi.”

“No, I don’t mind at all. That is stuff my ex-girlfriend left here when she walked out on me in the middle of the night a few months ago. Come sit down here and let’s talk about you, Clemma. You said that you are 19. Do you have anything that shows me your age?” she reached over on the end table and grabbed her little clutch purse and handed me her driver’s license.

Her driver’s license showed that she was a few months past her 19^Th birthday and her picture looked much like how she looked now. I asked her full name and her home address and she gave it to me verbatim and it matched what was on her driver’s license.

Then she asked me, “Can I see your driver’s license, too, Levi?” I reached into my back pocket and gave it to her. She looked at it and asked me a couple of questions and said, “I think that you are on the level and you are this guy shown on the driver’s license.”

“Now that we both think that the other is on the level you need to know this. Since this is my apartment these are my rules, Clemma.” I told her. “Clemma, I’ll let you stay here and I’ll help you but, you are not allowed to bring illegal drugs, weed or alcohol into this apartment.

You will not bring anyone into this apartment without my permission. I usually have a six pack or part of a six pack in the fridge and if you want to drink one or two of them or all of them all you have to do is ask but, you need to ask me first.

I’ll protect you, shelter you and feed you. I will not abuse you physically or sexually and I will not lie to you. If you lie to me or steal from me I’ll kick you back out onto the street faster than your Mother did and you will be back to that homeless shelter again.”

“Do you think that you can live with these rules?” I could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

She said, “Yeah, I can, Levi. I can live with that and I want to thank you for all that you have done for me so far and what you’re about to do for me. I didn’t think that I could spend another night in that homeless shelter and you have made it possible that I don’t have to spend the night there tonight.

Every time I laid down to go to sleep on that terrible cot someone was always pawing me and wanting to molest me. I slept with my clutch purse under my head to keep it from being stolen. I was terrified of what would happen and I could not get any sleep. You have treated me so well and I can’t thank you enough. Besides I don’t like to drink beer because it tastes bitter to me.”

“Clemma, I am going to go take my shower and then it will be about time for us to head to bed. You can sit on the couch and watch TV while I take my shower if you want to.” After my shower I put my dirty clothes and our wet towels in the hamper and returned to the living room with Clemma.

I told her, “I put our dirty clothes in the hamper to be washed in the morning. I normally do my laundry on Saturday or Sunday morning and we can do that tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow morning we need to get up early have breakfast and wash your clothes and mine. Do you have anything to wear besides what you had on?”

Clemma replied, “No, my Mother would not let me bring anything with me other than what I was wearing and I have slept in them each night since she kicked me out of her apartment. I know that they were sweaty and very dirty and really needed to be washed.”

“Well we are going to get up at 7 o’clock in the morning and we are going to wash your clothes and some of mine, too. We are going to wash the towels that we just used, also, after we have had breakfast in the morning. You can sleep in my bedroom tonight and you can lock the door on the inside just like the door in the bathroom.”

Clemma replied to me, “Levi, I can’t do that. You have done so much for me already but, I can’t take your bed from you. I’ll sleep here on the couch and you should sleep in your own bed.” She walked over to me hugged me with tears in her eyes. She said, “I slept those three nights in the homeless shelter and what you have done for me tells me that I really don’t have anything to fear from you, Levi.

I know that you are a good man from the way you have treated me already.” She put her arms around me holding me more tightly and the tears began to stream down her pretty face.

I kissed her forehead and started to pull the couch out to make it into a bed and she said, “No, that’s Ok, Levi, I can sleep on the couch the way it is.”

“OK then, I’ll get you a pillow, a sheet and a blanket to use.”

She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek and said, “Thank you, Levi. I know that I am safe here with you tonight.” With that I kissed her forehead again, told her goodnight, turned and went into my bedroom for the night. As I normally do I left my bedroom door open when I got into my bed. That was if she needed anything from me in the night. All she had to do was to walk in and tap on my open bedroom door or just shake my shoulder.

In my normal morning routine I awoke at 7 o’clock and got out of bed. After using the bathroom I walked into the living room and gently shook Clemma by her shoulder. Then I told her, “It’s time to get up and greet the day, Clemma.” When she opened her eyes I told her, “OK, Sweetie, you need to get up, we have things to do and things to get done today.”

She got up off of the couch and said, “Good Morning, Levi.” with a sleepy voice and sleep still in her eyes. She walked toward the bathroom and I went to the kitchen to start making breakfast for us.

A few minutes later she came into the kitchen and asked if she could help me. I said, “Yeah. You can make the toast for us as I fry the eggs and bacon. One egg or two and two, three or four pieces of bacon, Clemma?”

She replied, “One egg will do and two pieces of bacon’ll do me this morning, too, please, Levi.”

“Ok, I’ll have two pieces of toast and whatever you want. And pour us both a cup of coffee, too, please.” I wanted her tummy to be satisfied after breakfast this morning. Over breakfast I told Clemma, “We need to go wash your clothes and mine after we finish our breakfast.

Make sure that your underwear is in the wash, too, Clemma. Then when your clothes are dry we need to go to the mall and see if we can get you a couple of more changes of clothes, too, OK?”

“Yes, I especially need at least one change of underwear. All the clothes I was wearing is what I had on when I left my Mom’s apartment.”

After we finished breakfast I got up to clear the table and Clemma said, “Levi, let me do that since you cooked our breakfast.” as she stepped over to my side of the table. Clemma put her arms around me and she said, “I don’t know how to thank you enough, Levi, for all of what you have done for me and what you are about to do for me today. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

I replied, “Your helping me is enough thanks because I could never let you return to that homeless shelter as long as you are willing to let me help you.” Shortly after we ate, she and I went down to the laundromat. I asked her to stay with the clothes until they were finished washing and drying. When she came back from the laundromat she had folded the clothes and had put them in the clothes basket.

I asked her, “Who taught you to fold the clothes, Clemma?”

She replied, “My Mother taught me to do that. I did the laundry for us most of the time I was living with my Mom, too.”

“Wow that’s great as most girls your age probably don’t know how to do laundry. Now you need to change back into your own clothes so that we can walk down to the mall and get you something more to wear.”

“She came out of the bedroom even though she was wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday she looked good. The fact that they were clean and fresh really made her look very pretty. And I told her how really pretty she looked. She just kind of blushed a little and wiggled her entire body at my compliment.

We walked down to the mall and found a girls store and she picked out two pairs of slacks, two pairs of shorts, two blouses and two changes of sox and underwear. I paid for her clothes with my credit card. Some people would say that I was a stupid dope for doing all of this for her but, what the hell.

A little food in her tummy and buying her some clothes was not going to break me. And I sure as hell would like to think that someone would help me like that if I was in her predicament. I don’t know how anyone could not help her in her situation. Or if they refused to help her they must really be heartless people. Or worse they wanted to take advantage of her which I wasn’t ever going to do.

When we returned to my apartment and Clemma saw the bill she said, “Levi, I should not have bought so much in that store that you have had to pay for.”

I told her, “Sweetie, What little I have had to pay to keep you safe and well is worth it. And I know that you are well and not being abused in that homeless shelter. I would do it all over again to make sure that you are OK. I would like to think that you would do the same thing for me if I was living out of a homeless shelter.”

“Now at least you have a couple of changes of clothes that you can wear. And you don’t have to wear my old shorts and tee shirt unless you just want to sleep in them.”

She came over to me, put her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek and told me with tears forming in her eyes, “No one has ever treated me as nice as you have the past couple of days, Levi.” That evening Clemma told me, “Levi, let me make supper for us tonight, OK?”

“That’s OK and I’ll help you and show you where all of the pots and pans are and whatever else you need to fix supper for us.” She went straight to work and made our supper for us and within an hour she made us a really great, tasty evening meal. Then I asked her, “Where did you learn to cook like this, Clemma?”

“My Mother taught me and I had to help her make supper for us most nights. Some nights I had to make the entire supper for us.” I began to think that Clemma was missing her Mom and she didn’t know just what to do about it but, she didn’t say anything to me about it.

After supper when the dishes were done I opened a bottle of wine and poured each of us a glass of wine. We went into the living room, sat down and I asked her, “Clemma, tell me, why did your Mother kick you out of her apartment?”

“Well, after Daddy died about three years ago Mom had to get a job to support us. She got a job in a cafeteria serving food on the food line. She met this guy and about a year ago he started spending a lot of time at our apartment and sleeping with my Mom.

He kept coming on to me and I kept telling him the leave me alone. It got to the point that I almost had to scream at him to leave me alone. And he would yell back at me to leave him alone. Of course, he could yell a lot louder than I could and Mom could hear him if she was in the other room where she couldn’t hear me when I yelled at him.

He made it look to Mom like I was coming on to him. Finally the other day he came on to me again and I told him to get away from me. He yelled at me to leave him alone. He yelled to Mom that I was coming on to him again. Mom came into the room and told me to get the hell out of the apartment.

She would not let me take anything with me except that I picked up my clutch purse as I left. I walked around on the streets and finally found the homeless shelter. You know the rest from there, Levi.”

The tears started streaming down her face again. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you for what you have done for me and how well you have treated me, Levi.” She said through her sobs and tears.

I took her into my arms holding her tightly, kissed her cheek and forehead and told her, “You’re safe now, Honey. You can stay here with me as long as you need a place to stay.”

Then she melted in my arms and continued to cry for a little while until she said, “I don’t know how I got so lucky that you found me and brought me into your home, Levi. I think that I may have been raped and/or killed if I had continued to stay in that homeless shelter. It was a hell hole to spend the night in even for one night not to mention several nights like I had to do.”

I wiped the tears off of her pretty face and replied, “I don’t know how I got so lucky to find such a smart, talented and pretty girl like you, Clemma.”

We relaxed on the couch the rest of the evening as we watched TV. Clemma sat right next to me holding my hand as though she was afraid I was going to leave her. She really didn’t want me to leave her. Later in the evening after the late news and weather I got sleepy and told her, “After getting up early I’m tired and I’m going to go to bed, Clemma.”

“Yeah, we’ve had a busy day and I’m ready to go to bed too.”

After I hugged her I told her, “Good night, Sweetie” and I went into my bedroom and went to bed. Clemma made her bed on the couch and went to sleep there. The next day was a holiday and Clemma got up before me and started to make breakfast for us.

I woke up smelling bacon and eggs frying and coffee brewing. When I got up, Clemma had breakfast almost fixed and ready for us. As I walked into the kitchen she said, “Good morning, bright eyes. Are you ready for breakfast?”

Walking over to her I put my arms around her kissed her forehead and cheek and asked her, “How can I not be ready for breakfast since you have already made it for us?” She giggled and just kind of wiggled her cute little butt as she stepped over to the table and we sat down to eat.

During breakfast Clemma told me, “With me here eating all of your food I need to go to the grocery store and get some groceries for us, Levi.”

“Make a list of what we need and then I’ll walk down to the grocery store with you and get the groceries.” About mid-morning we walked down to the grocery store and I pushed the cart while she picked up the things off of the shelf that she had on her list. I paid for the groceries and we brought them back to my apartment. We relaxed on the couch together until mid-afternoon.

Clemma got up off of the couch and asked, “Would you like to go for a walk in the park with me, Levi?”

“Since you asked so nicely, how could I refuse to go for a walk in the park with such a sweet and pretty young girl?” We walked to the park and she held my hand every step of the way. She told me, “It is such a nice day and I’m really happy that you are here walking with me, Levi.” as she squeezed my hand.

Squeezing her hand back I replied, “Having you here with me makes the day even nicer, Clemma.” With that she stopped us, turned and stood up on her tippy toes to kiss my cheek and she hugged me tightly. I had to remark to her, “It’s so nice to get a kiss from such a pretty girl on such a beautiful spring day in the park, Clemma.”

I thoroughly enjoyed having this cute, shapely little chatter box walking hand in hand beside me during our trip to the park and back. It was getting late in the afternoon and I told her that. I continued, “Clemma, It is going to be dark before long so, we really need to return to the apartment and fix our supper.”

Clemma squeezed my hand and we turned around to return home to my apartment. It was wonderful having her soft, warm body bouncing off of my arm and shoulder as we walked along headed back to my apartment.

On the way back to the apartment, I thought to myself, ‘What a delightful young girl to have holding my hand as we were walking back. I think that she is stealing my heart if she hasn’t done so already.’

We got back to the apartment and we fixed our supper. After supper we sat down on the couch and talked. I asked Clemma, “Your name is very pretty how did your parents choose that name for you? It’s really not a name that we commonly hear.”

“My Mother said that she heard it on a TV series before I was born and she thought that she would name her little girl with that name if she ever had a girl. And incidentally, she said there was a male character on that program whose name was Levi just like your name, Levi.